sightseeing – 2gocaravanning

After January’s jobs at home were all finished, February saw us heading off to Ferry Meadows CAMC where Steve was assisting in training the 2026 new starter intake on the use of site machinery. It was a new venture and an added string to Steve’s bow, one that has proved to be very rewarding for him. The satisfaction he felt in sending the delegates off to their sites having delivered their machinery training was clear to see on his face. Him so proud of them, and me so proud of him for discovering a new found skill in training.

The weather was cold but thankfully dry and sunny whilst they were training so my days there were mostly spent exploring the many pathways around the lakes of Nene Valley Country Park right next door to the site. Snowdrops and daffodils were out in abundance, trees were starting to bud and blossom was looking spectacular against the bright blue sky. There was also plenty of activity on the water with swans and various other waterfowl and birds splashing about.

At the beginning of March having had 3 weeks at Ferry Meadows, we went straight to Warwick Racecourse site to start our 3rd season there as site managers. Our colleagues from the previous 2 years had moved on to manage another site, so we were looking forward to sharing the role with colleagues who we had worked with a few years before when we were all still Assistants. We all settled in well and each couple had a successful first few weeks, until 3 unforeseen events happened all in the space of 2 weeks which then unfortunately led to all 4 of us needing to leave the site. One of those events for us being that after a short spell in hospital Steve’s Dad unexpectedly passed away.

We needed to take some time away from working just to be at home to process the situation and deal with life after the loss of a beloved parent. Our days were spent busily organising the practical stuff, getting to grips with paperwork and legalities such as Probate and banks before focusing on the next task in hand. Once the funeral had taken place we decided we needed to get back to a routine so made plans to return to work.

Instead of returning to permanently manage one site to the end of the year we decided to take an option to work at 2 sites providing 6 days cover at each whilst the main managers have their time off. This then enables us to have 2 consecutive weeks off in between so giving us the best of both worlds whilst adjusting to a ‘new normal’.

Exebridge Lakeside CAMC site is situated on the border of North Devon and Somerset. It is a long site that stretches out on 3 levels with a large central facilities block in the middle. Pitch types are hardstanding, serviced, grass and reinforced grass, there is also a tent field and a huge dog walking area. Sunset views from your pitch are a regular treat. A path leads directly from the site to fishing lakes which can be fished with a day permit from the local angling club and the setting is stunning. 5 minutes walk further on brings you to the Anchor pub which is set in a picturesque location with a beer garden running alongside the River Exe and if you walk over the bridge you’re in Somerset! The pubs’ food and setting make it a winner on all counts.

Salisbury Hillside CAMC site is equally a gem of a place. Situated 9 miles from Salisbury and as the title suggests it is set on a hillside. There is a level top area of pitches situated by the facilites block and the rest of the hardstanding and grass pitches in glades descending down the hill. These are set amongst tall trees which are currently providing much needed dappled shade and cooler pitches. Views from the entrance are incredible stretching for miles across fields of the Wiltshire countryside. We are treated to stunning sunsets at Exebridge and spectacular sunrises at Salisbury.

In-between our times working at these 2 locations we took the opportunity of being in the area to stay at Haycraft CAMC near Swanage and Longleat CAMC near Warminster.

Haycraft is on 2 levels with grass, hardstanding and serviced pitches and a brand new facilities block. Its proximity to Swanage, Corfe Castle and the coast makes them ideal to visit by bus or train from the site. The bus stop is a 10minute walk down the lane to the main road passing the heritage railway station on the way. We opted for both, bus on the way out and steam train for the journey back.

Haycraft, Swanage, Heritage steam railway and Corfe Castle

Longleat was a one night stopover between our 2 contracts. It is a large level site set in crescents amongst the trees with direct access to the Safari Park. We didn’t get chance to visit but could hear the sealions calling loudly for their fishy treats! On the way we passed Stonehenge. A queue of stationary traffic meant we had a perfect view just long enough to get a photo.

Catch up with us on the next blog to see where we are headed. A music festival and Scotland are calling…….

After arriving home from our Peterborough and York trip it was time to get ready for Christmas. The cottage was duly decorated and I tried my hardest to get organised with gift buying. I can plan a holiday down to the finest detail more than 12 months in advance but when it comes to Christmas I’m afraid I’m very much ‘just in time’ much to the frustration of my daughter who has everybody’s gifts sorted by the latest end of September!

With Christmas festivities and family gatherings all done we had another motorhome trip planned for over New Year, this time we were off to Henley on Thames, London and Cambridge. We collected Mo from storage on the 29th December, with no delays this time due to weather, and prepared to set off on a dry sunny morning towards Henley. The majority of our gear is left in the motorhome so all we need to pack each time is food and clothes making it a quicker getaway. There are still always some last minute questions though – did we take the towels back after washing? how much coffee was there left in the jar? do we need to restock the toilet rolls? Steve always reminds me that we are not travelling to the moon and everywhere will have shops should we need anything vital, so panic over we go with what we’ve got.

Pitched up at Henley Four Oaks CAMC site we stayed put for the remainder of the day, the following day was dry but cloudy and we walked the 25 minutes into the town. The shops are interesting and plentiful to browse around and the walk along the river has lovely views.

The following day we moved on to Abbey Wood CAMC ready to explore London for the next few days. The site is a wooded area set on a hillside that you would never knew existed amongst the residential streets. It feels quite rural and has bright green parakeets chirping away in the trees. It was New Years Eve, we were not close enough to see the fireworks at the Eye but the pops and bangs started in the vicinity of the site from around 6pm all through to way past midnight so we saw plenty from the comfort of our motorhome and watched the London Eye display on our TV.

The Elizabeth Line is within 15 minutes walk from the site and is an easy ride into the City and then on to the sights so we used this on New Years Day and visited the Churchill War Rooms. It was raining all day so we arrived very wet and soggy but had plenty of time to dry out during the 3 hours we spent exploring the maze of underground tunnels, war rooms and exhibitions. The streets of London were very busy with people and the big clean up was clearly underway from the night before with barriers and road closures being taken down.

The following day it was blue sky and sunshine so we headed back into the City and visited the Piccadilly show room of Lotus to view the 99T F1 car driven by Ayrton Senna to win at Monaco and Detroit in 1987. Senna is a hero of Steve’s so quite alot of time was spent here! From there we wandered through the streets spotting famous landmarks, through St James Park, past Big Ben and to our next venue at County Hall where we had booked to see the Agatha Christie play ‘Witness for the Prosecution’ It was set in the original County Court building and was an excellent venue to stage such a good play.

January 3rd was blue sky and sunshine again so a perfect day to visit Greenwich. After taking the Elizabeth Line we then swopped to the DLR and had a birds eye view rattling along through the spectacular Canary Wharf, through a tunnel under the Thames and emerging in the lovely neighbourhood of Greenwich Village. The shops, houses and chilled vibe felt like a world away from central London as we strolled through the parks and browsed the many independent shop windows. We visited Queen’s House a 16th century mansion which now houses the Maritime art collection aswell as the Tulip Staircase, the first self supporting spiral staircase in Britain. A walk up the hill to the Royal Observatory gave amazing views looking back over the historic Old Royal Naval College and beyond to the impressive skyline of Canary Wharf. The National Maritime Museum is also very interesting to look around but the exhibitions are so vast you need a good few hours to see it all so we barely touched on all there was to see there. A wander on down towards the Thames took us past a traditional pie and mash shop and as it was around lunchtime it worked out ideally to pay it a visit! Deciding which pie to have was quite a dilemma, with single or double mash? with liquor or gravy? I opted for the liquor as it wasn’t likely I’d get the chance to try it anywhere else and was surprised it was a parsley flavour. I never knew that! Steve played it safe with gravy. The whole experience and the traditional shop/restaurant which has been open since 1890 was one we are so glad we stumbled upon. Onwards to the Cutty Sark, built in 1869 it was one of the fastest tea clippers of its time and in its seafaring career made 8 return journeys bringing tea to London from China. It is sited in dry dock on the shore of the Thames and now exists as a museum where you can visit its decks and learn about its history.

Back at the site we were checking the weather forecast and hearing on the news that snow and ice was forecast over the weekend. We were due to travel to Cambridge on the Sunday and although the likelihood of it reaching us in London was quite low we decided it was best to move on a day earlier than planned and miss any potential snowfall or black ice on the roads.

Cambridge Cherry Hinton CAMC is situated in an old quarry and the pitches are laid out in several dead end roadways with some being down slopes, so with more snow and ice potentially on the way we opted to choose a pitch out on top on the level. Except for a brief respite of an hour in which we walked to the local shops it rained almost constantly in daylight hours for our first two days so we watched alot of TV, ate alot of food and played alot of card games!

At last a dry sunny but cold day so we caught the bus into Cambridge. The bus stop is a 10 minute walk back on the main road and whisks you into the city in about 25 minutes. We strolled around getting our bearings, stopped off at Cafe Nero for a hot chocolate and then walked along ‘The Backs’ where the River Cam winds its way behind the Colleges. It was a stunning day giving glimpses of perfectly manicured College lawns, breathtaking architecture and time-honoured traditions. We stumbled upon the Wren Library in Trinity College designed by Christopher Wren in 1676, housing medieval manuscripts, letters of Isaac Newton, Shakespeare’s first folios and A. A. Milne’s original drawings for Winnie the Pooh. Out of all the jaw dropping items there the only ones you couldn’t photograph were the Pooh ones as Disney have the copyright!

And so ended our New Year Adventures. Another trip under our belts, more CAMC sites visited, more leisure time spent in Mo and more amazing memories made.

We shall look forward to re-visiting all these places again as time allows but in the meantime there’s still a whole world out there yet to see.

Catch up with us next time as we finish our wintertime at home and head back to site to open up for the season…..

Tag: sightseeing

Half Year Catch Up

New Year, New Adventures.