Mini Break – Page 3 – WanderLeefy Adventures (formerly Adventures In a Motorhome)

Our Royal Ramblings around Sandringham, Norfolk

October 5, 2015October 5, 2015Posted in 2015 trips, Attractions, Historical places, Local Food, Mini Break, Norfolk2 Comments

Bluebell the motorhome is parked on a lovely spacious pitch overlooking Woodland within Sandringham Country Park. We are nestled upon the Caravan Club club site- a first for us, but there were no CLs close enough for us to park up on Friday and not drive again til today, so here we are.

We are lucky in that Sandringham is only an hours drive from home, so we arrived on Friday bang on the check in time of 12:00 ready to explore. On arrival we were told about SCD (Seasonal Canine Disorder) from the cautious warden and advised not to take the dog out into the Country Park. Panicking, we didnt know what to do for the best, as the country park goes for miles and we were smack bang in the middle. We decided to walk Jazz as normal, but not let him off lead ( well we dont do that anyway) and be extra vigilant for signs of illness.

The weather was fantastic, blue skies, no clouds, so we decided to set out on a ~~6.5~~ 8 mile walk to Wolfreton and back through the park and past the visitor centre. The walk was glorious, taking in the wonderful Royal Wolfreton Station, once the main station where Royals would disembark on their way to Sandringham, but now a residential property which has been wonderfully restored privately. You can access the station, and visit the museum and it’s all free. Remarkable.

  The walk took us over Dersingham bog (on the boardwalk of course!) with views of the wash and then back through the country park. We haven’t walked that length in a while (it turned out to be 8 miles as we added 3/4 mile each way getting from the campsite to join the AA Route.

We had a great sleep on Friday night, the site is very quiet, and we were treated to hearing the Owls in the woods. They sounded very close to us! Always a lovely sound.
Saturday dawned another sunny day, so we got the bikes off the rack and set out on a ~~15.5~~ 23 mile cycle, a route we found on the Caravan Club website. The route took us through West Newton, Amner (and past Amner Hall where Kate and Wills live- not that you could see it!) Great Bircham and its impressive windmill (sadly now closed until Easter- we’ve been up previously and it’s fantastic).

We then carried on through Fring, Snettisham – where we stopped at the picturesque Rose and Crown, winner of Pub of the Year 2015, and we can see why, it’s very pretty and our sandwiches were delicious. It was then the home stretch through Dersingham and back to Sandringham campsite via the visitor centre.

We passed several shops selling local produce, and took advantage of the fact stopping to get cheese at each, and chutney atSandringham visitors centre, building ourselves a nice little local cheese board for later that night! Not sure why the cycle ended up being 7.5 miles longer than the route suggested, we don’t think we went wrong! Anyway, we were glad to get back as it was just about our limit and actually there were a surprising amount of hills- but it was a lovely day nonetheless.
Saturday night was spent chilling and watching Strictly. Here’s a strange story- I went to enquire about a TV arial lead at reception as Friday night our TV signal off the status arial was ok but sometimes broke up, and we noticed everyone else on site had Arial leads. I was shocked that they were not available to hire, you had to buy them and they were £15! I’m not sure if we are out of touch with these larger commercial sites or what, but I was surprised to hear that, especially in an area where TV signal isn’t so good, you would think that they perhaps would let you have them for free to hire with a deposit or something? Especially when we are paying £20 a night? Suffice to say, I didn’t buy one, and in the end we had no problems off status arial so that was satisfying!

Sunday dawned and we were up early ready to pack away and the short drove to Sandringham House. It’s 1.5 miles from the campsite, so we could have walked t you can’t take dogs in so we wanted to reduce the time that Jazz needed to stay on his own in the van.

It cost £13.50 each to get into Sandringham, this included the stunning gardens, downstairs of the house, and also a large museum. We felt it to be very good value. The gardens were spectacular, the leaves just starting to change colour.

The first view of the house was exciting, it’s a stunning property you can see The Queen chooses to spend Christmas here.

We weren’t allowed to take piccies inside, but we got to see the lounge/saloon, drawing room, dining room (where they have their Turkey!) and ballroom. It was better value (IMO) than Ballmoral.

Inside the museum were loads of old Royal vehicles and a wealth of history and information. Also, a very large Pumpkin!

The west lawns were our favourite

Finally, after going to pick Jazz up, via the shop may I add, we went for a quick look around the church where The Royal Family worship on Christmas Day. What a pretty spot, the inside is lovely. We will watch the news with a vested interest on Xmas Morning

Jazz licking his lips on the above signalled time for home- we’d had a lovely break, and are now looking forward to doing Leicestershire over half term!

Until next time

Cycling The Bure Valley Way, Norfolk

July 13, 2015July 12, 2015Posted in 2015 trips, Caravan Club CL, cycling, Mini Break, NorfolkTagged 20152 Comments

A few days ago, we found ourselves with a unexpectedly free day, which happened to be sunny- Hurrah! Since our last trip, which saw us cycling along The Marriott’s Way, we’ve been on the hunt for other local traffic free cycle trails to go onto our list of places to go. It wasn’t long before we found The Bure Valley Way, a cycle/foot path that follows the 15 inch Narrow gauge railway that runs 9 miles between Aylsham and Wroxham. A quick Caravan Club search ensued and we were on the phone to Heath Farm CL in Buxton, exactly half way along the Bure Valley. Perfect.

Buxton is less than an hour from us so we were up and on the road and pitched up by 11:00. The site was really pretty, with fields surrounding it. Be warned- it’s a very basic CL, offering 2 stand alone water pipes, electric, chemical loo point and a toilet and shower (although it was a very basic one, we chose to use our own facilities on board!)- but the price was remarkable – just a mere £9 per night!! What bargain and really, what more does one need?!

Keith’s agenda for the day was to be able to test his new bit of kit, his Memory Map Adventurer 3000 GPS (currently on sale). We’ve had the old version for 5 years now and it has successfully ~~prevented navigational arguments~~ guided us ever since, until someone dropped it *ahem* and the screen COMPLETLY smashed in!!

Once set up, it was soon off on the bikes. Heath Farm campsite was only 1 mile outside of Buxton and we used the memory map to guide us down a very tiny back road into the pretty village and onto the Bure Valley Way. There is a small path that follows beside the train line for the whole 9 miles.

We chose to head towards Wroxham first seeing as the sun was only set to be out until lunchtime before it was supposed to cloud over. It was about 5 miles and we were passed by several small steam trains – it was a lovely sight.

Wroxham is a largish village on the Norfolk Broads and has everything from a supermarket to Kebab shop, tourist info to fishing tackle shop, and most importantly, what we were after… a nice pub with area to sit out overlooking the river.

After a pint each and a chance to catch our breath, we ate our packed lunch and then, after a quick look round Wroxham Signal Box were back onto our bikes for the return leg – this time to the other end of the line to Aylsham.

It took us just under an hour to cycle the 9 miles, and we rewarded ourselves with a nice ice cold can of coke from Tescos and some Ben and Jerry’s to take back to Bluebell’s freezer for pudding!

We doubled back on ourselves the 3 miles back to Buxton station where we were to leave the trail and head back to our campsite, passing numerous train spotters that we had seen earlier on! During our cycle, we were passed by probably 10 trains, all in wonderful condition, and with lots of passengers on board. I think there were some visiting engines from another railway also running that day. Hearing them choo chooing along the railway was a lovely experience.

We headed back to Bluebell (*Memory map informed us we had cycled 21 miles!) and enjoyed a really lazy evening and following morning, just what we needed with it being the end of term, we are frankly frazzled. The campsite owner was very easy going, he told us there was no hurry to leave, so we enjoyed a lay in and fry up, before packing up and heading the short journey home. Definitely would return, and do the cycle to Wroxham again – but next time, would leave the packed lunch and enjoy fish and chips instead!!

Until Next time

The Marvellous Marriott’s Way- cycling in Norfolk

June 28, 2015Posted in 2015 trips, Caravan Club CL, Mini Break3 Comments

Bluebell the motorhome is parked up back at home having whisked us away for a sneaky mini break this weekend, up to the other side of Norwich. We stayed on the fantastic Breck Farm Caravan Club Certified Site – a real gem, situated right next to the Marriott’s Way, our adventure for the weekend. The Marriott’s Way is a disused railway line that has been converted into a 26 mile off road path for walkers, cyclists and horse riders. It runs from our home city of Norwich to Aylsham.

We arrived at Breck Farm within 45 mins, and were treated to glorious sunshine so wasted no time and settled onto our pitch which overlooked a paddock, whilst Jazz met the locals…

After a quick set up we dismantled the bikes and were on our way. Saturday’s plan was to cycle from our site (1 mile Norwich side of Attlebridge) to Aylsham and back, a return trip of 30 miles. That’s the longest we’ve done before in one sitting, but it was enjoyable, despite us feeling shattered on our return to Bluebell!!!

We passed Attlebridge Station, a wonderfully converted old station house which is now a very popular CC certified site (we tried to get on there but it was full- definately one to return to)

A few miles further along we found a perfect refreshment stop, Whitwell Sation- another converted station, this one turned into a bar/cafe/museum housing loads of interesting vehicles and locomotions.

A lot of the route was under a fabulous green canopy of trees and shrubs, and we passed through loads of old railway bridges – some had “sound boxes” which you could wind up and hear sounds from the past.

After 5 hours of cycling we returned back to Bluebell, albeit a bit saddlesore!

The weather was still being kind, so we wasted no time in getting the ol Barbie out and luckily found a couple of declious rump steaks on our fridge along with corn of the cob, some sausages and lamb kebabs!

We enjoyed a lovely chill, watching the sun go down and turned the Bbq into a fire pit so we could keep warm, and get the marshmallows toasting in time to see the last rays shine.

We slept like logs, certainly helped by the massive bike ride, but before we knew it the sun was up again and it was time to get up and complete the trail. This morning we wanted to cycle to Norwich and back, which would complete the Marriott’s Way. It was a round trip of 12 miles, and had some stunning sections through the forest.

It took us 1hr 15 mins to cycle the 11 miles into Norwich and complete the trail, and only 45 minutes back- I think the driving rain possibly contributed to the fast speed back!!

Quick refreshment stop at the start point in Norwich.

It’s fair to say cycling that amount of miles over 2 days is NOT for us!! We are exhausted and can barely walk!! Haha. Really enjoyed it though, and will definitely return and cycle a tad more leisurely sometime soon! Still, a great test of our new wheels – Jazz enjoyed his new riding position up the back rather than on the handlebars as before.
On our way home, we managed to find a spot to park Bluebell near to Norwich airport, just in time to see the Vulcan Bomber pass over as part of its final farewell tour. What an INCRREDIBLE sight- it was mere luck, but we managed to stand directly on the flight path, therefore it went right over our heads…. Marvellous.

It was a great atmosphere and lovely to see so many people turn out to see it.

We met a lady with an identical Jazz too!!

Seeing double!!!

Fantastic weekend, can’t wait til our next trip in a couple of weeks.

Until then x

The Lovely Lake Distict- Part 1

June 16, 2015June 16, 2015Posted in 2015 trips, Ale, Mini Break1 Comment

Blubell the Motorhome is parked up safely at home (although she did hear a whisper that she may be getting a little outing in the next couple of weeks!). Today’s blog entry is about a trip in our other motor, Yoda the Skoda, who is in our garage recovering after a mad dash to the Lake District and back! Why didnt we take the motorhome I hear you mutter? The objective of the weekend- The Hardknott Pass.

It all came about a few months ago- I’d asked Keith what he would like for his birthday, given it was only two weeks after the wedding. His answer- a trip over the Hardknott Pass- something we’d been unable to do on all our previous trips to the Lakes, due to the size of our van. I set about searching for a hotel, and came across The Ennerdale Country House Hotel – what’s more, it was dog friendly! Hotel booked, we popped it in the diary and forgot all about it until the wedding had been and gone!

Things are never simple though, are they- Keith started experiencing severe headaches not long after we returned from Paris, and actually spent the run up to his birthday in bed poorly. In fact, I doubted we would get away. Thankfully he managed to get an emergency appointment and was checked over- nothing serious, thank goodness, and doctors orders were a weekend of rest (and mountain air!) and some massages to relieve tension. You don’t need to tell me twice, an hour later, we were on the road- a day earlier than expected, but with one thing in mind- The Lake District.

7 hours later, we’d pitched (parked!) up at a dog friendly B and B at Bowness on Windermere, Virginia Cottage, where we had managed to get a last minute room booking for that night. First impressions of the area were great, it did help that the weather was absolutely AMAZING. I’ve been to the Lakes for years and years and never had weather like it there before.

We had the most glorious evening at Bowness, and enjoyed a delicious meal at The Royal Oak, washed down by a couple of pints of Jennings’ Cumberland Ale, right next door to our digs.

Perfect ❤️

Next morning, we woke feeling fresh as daisy- enjoyed a lovely cooked breakfast courtesy of the guest house- Jazz enjoyed his homemade doggy treats, what a nice touch, and we set off- sun burning down on us- I even had to wear sun cream! Never had to do that before in the Lakes I’m sure!

First stop- the vehicle ferry that crossed Lake Windermere.

After a short queue, the ferry arrived, we paid our £4.20 and off we went. It was a lovely calm crossing and a great way to see the lake, especially in the sunshine.

5 mins after driving off the ferry we found ourselves at our fist stop- NT’s Hill Top- once Beatrix Potter’s house, but also where the famous American Painter Thomas Kinkade painted his famous picture “Julianne’s Cottage”. The house was closed but the gardens were magnificent.

Handily there was a lovely looking watering hole next door, therefore I’m sure you agree, it would have been rude not to have nipped in for a “swift half”!

Next stop- Tarn Hows, also owned by National Trust, a picturesque accessible tarn- ie, you’re a can drive there and there was a nice circular walk of 1.75 miles around.

There was also a pretty waterfall to visit there, adding about an extra mile onto our walk.

We managed an ice cream after our walk before heading off for the main reason we were there in the first place.. The Hardknott Pass

As I am the worst passenger in the history of passengers, there was no way Keefy was getting his hands on the steering wheel- so I took charge and enjoyed the trip over in wonderful conditions. Keith was in charge of pictures- there was only one bit in which he exclaimed “we’re driving up a cliff!” – I checked the handle on the passenger door afterwards and there were no fingernail marks, so I must have done an alright job! Having said that, I’ve just noticed there are no pictures of us going up!!

On the summit of Hard Knott is a Roman fort, so we stopped to have a look/let the brakes/clutch cool off/ admire the many cyclists attempting/ and watch in amazement as a fellow motorhomer tackled the pass!! (In a conversion- but still same length as Bluebell!) – Hats off to you sir!

By now it was most definitely lunch time, so we drove double speed down the rest of the pass (only joking!) and disembarked at the nearest eatery- the handily located Woolpack Inn in Boot, where we enjoyed some delicious homemade flatbreads.

Onwards to the hotel where we checked into our decadent room – a real bargain at £60pn incl breakfast, and there we settled into the bar for a few pints of Ennerdale Brewerie’s FABULOUS “Blonde” before turning in for the night, very happy (and mildly tipsy!) bunnies.

👍🍻

February half term 2015; An overdue escape to Oxfordshire

February 19, 2015Posted in 2015 trips, Attractions, Caravan Club CL, Historical places, Mini Break, OxfordshireTagged cycling, Oxfordshire, walking8 Comments

Monday
Bluebell the motorhome is parked up on a lovely little certified location (5 van Caravan Club site) just on the outskirts of Oxford, at Kidlington.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/search/+the+moors,+kidlington/@51.8307518,-1.2983899,17z

We arrived after a rather uneventful but a bit longer than anticipated journey west. We hit several batches of roadworks on our way and the weather was horrific!

The certified location was easy to find, and is in quite a residential area. There are 5 well spaced out pitches surrounded, surprising given its location, by fields. There are electric points on each pitch and a water point and Elsan point and we feel it’s excellent value at just £11 pn. There is even a handy coop store almost opposite the site!

Given the terrible weather we decided to abandon our planned bike ride, instead deciding to take advantage of a short rest bite from the rain and found the Oxford canal tow path, which is just a few hundred yards way from the site, for a little wander.

Soon the rain came back, so we hot footed it back to the warmth and dryness of Bluebell, where we enjoyed a relax and an early night!

Tuesday
We woke up this morning to a totally different weather front- blue skies and sunshine, so we were up bright and early to take full advantage! We’d planned to catch the bus into Oxford (bus stop at end of road) but given we were unable to do our planned tow path bike ride yesterday, decided to encorporate this with our day trip into Oxford, taking advantage of the Oxford Canal towpath from The Plough Inn at Wovercote into the city centre. We used the excellent cycle network to navigate our way mainly off road from Kidlington to the Plough where we then picked up the towpath for 4 miles into the city centre.

^this last picture shows a section of the canal path that runs between two different canals- the Oxford canal to the left of the towpath and the Thames canal to the right!^

Oxford is extremely bike friendly and so we easily found a safe place to park up the bikes for the day, whilst we explored the city by foot. The weather was fabulous, picture perfect blue skies with a slight chill in the air- a perfect day to explore the city. First stop was the Tourist information centre, where we were able to get a map of the city which included a suggested self guided walking tour to take in the sights. It was an excellent way to see the city- and at £1.50 for the brochure worked out much cheaper than the guided tour (£9 pp)

It’s thirsty work this cycling and walking malarkey, and it wasn’t too long into our exhibition that Keith sniffed out one of his favourite types of establishments- a historical public house! The Turf Tavern is found close to the Bridge of Sighs, and is really very cool. It’s built right into the city walls, with 13th Century foundations and has a very impressive list of previous drinkers (see picture below)

After a swift pint, it was time carry on our whistlestop tour, and next up was The University Quarter. We both found the architecture absolutely wonderful, and the lack of graffiti was really good to see- apparently Rome is terrible for this.

We were keen to check out The Eagle and Child pub, as allegedly it was where Tolkien and CS Lewis used to frequent to discuss their literature.

It was a cosy kinda place, with lots of character, but sadly they wouldn’t let us in with the pooch, so it won’t be finding its way on my list of dog friendly pubs which I’m intending on writing at some point, and so after a quick nose in, we went on our merry way in search for somewhere we could go with the dog. 🙂

^ Jazz couldn’t have been made to feel more welcome in the Kings Arms, Oxford, where we enjoyed a burger and he got spoilt with plenty of fuss, dog biscuits and a big bowl of water.^

By this point, time was ticking on, so we decided to pick up our bikes and head back to the campsite- but first of all we nipped to see Oxford Castle, where we experienced a splendid marriage between old and new. The main tower is partly ruined from the Norman period, and the moat is still visible as is the motte. The Bailey courtyard was turned into a prison in the 14th century and only closed in 1996, when it, along with the courtyard, was redeveloped into a hotel and “Castle Quarters” containing fancy restaurants and such.

We decided to use the sustains cycle network to get us back to the campsite, and were very impressed with the cycle network signs and route even though by the time we got back to the campsite we had clocked up 18 miles on the bikes, and 5.5 miles on foot- leaving us both feeling like this:

Wednesday
The nice weather was set to continue for another day, so we had an early start and drove to Ufffington White Horse, where we had a wonderful 9.5 mile walk that took in the White Horse, Uffington Castle, The Ridgeway, Wayland Smithy, and The Ashdown Estate. The views round the entire walk were truly spectacular!

^standing above the White horse looking down^

^Uffington Castle site- on the summit of White Horse Hill and the site of a large Iron Age fort^

^ a large section of the walk was on the Ridgeway- an ancient route between Dorset and The Wash, described as one of the oldest road in Europe^

^Wayland’s Smithy- a Neolithic chambered long barrow, believed to have been the home of Saxon smith-God Wayland^

^Ashdown House Estate^

^Red Kites flying overhead on Weathercock Hill and the view from Weathercock hill to the house^

After an exhausting but completely fabulous walk, we headed the 20 mins or so to our next campsite, one just outside of Wantage, another CC CL – not as nice as the first one, but still for £12 pn with electric and water, we didn’t care- we soon settled in and even managed to pick up a BT Fon hotspot.

Thursday
Bluebell the motorhome is parked up back at home – sadly we had to return a day early due to having some work business to sort out, but also the weather gods turned against us, so it wasn’t a difficult decision to make. We did however get chance to cycle the 16 miles of the Phoenix trail, a disused railway line turned cycle path running between Thame and Princes Risborough. We made a very early start in an attempt to avoid the bad weather heading our way, and got 3/4 of the way before it kicked in. The wind picked up so much it nearly blew me off my bike, and the rain started lashing down, but still, we continued and enjoyed the ride nonetheless.
There are some interesting sculptures along the way, and lots of red kites flying above. There is a beautiful railway house/station conversion half way along, and the last section before Princes Risborough offers some lovely views across the fields. Sadly, the weather deteriorated so I didn’t get as many pictures as I’d have liked, but here are those I did get…

As you can probably make out – I was fairly chuffed to be back at the van – modelling my best drowned rat impression!

So there we have it, another trip done, and a long overdue one at that. We are sad to have had to come back a day early, but the weather looked terrible for this evening and tomorrow, and we’ve had a couple of work issues to come back home to. The joys of being self employed! Still, we’ve had a marvellous break and enjoyed some brill weather.

We travelled 350 miles in the motorhome from home to home again, and thats used exactly 1 tank of fuel at £65. We’ve cycled 36 miles, walked 15 miles and watched an entire series of X Files! We spent £36 on site fees and had a lovely meal out in Oxford. We’ve spend less than £150, and thats been for a 4 day break, so we are pretty happy with that!

Our next task is to start planning our Easter break, as we leave in 6 weeks time!

Sorry its been a lengthy post – until next time

A long weekend in Rural Essex; Oct 2014 part 2

October 29, 2014October 29, 2014Posted in 2014 Trips, BritStop, Essex, Historical places, Local Food, Mini Break, Sightseeing1 Comment

Bluebell the motorhome is safely tucked up at home again after a lovely few days exploring the Essex countryside.

We had a pleasant night at BritStop number 209, and a very quiet nights sleep. With the clocks going back it was nice to enjoy our extra hour in slumberland, however we did find ourselves waking up the hour early! In actual fact, we were pleased we did- it had only just gone 08:00 and we’d just finished our breakfast when we noticed cars arriving onto the field in which we were parked on. Turns out the pub landlord had parked us on the community football pitch and although we did know this – the goalposts that he had directed us to park behind were a give away, it hadn’t occurred to us to double check at the time of parking that the football field would not be in use (neither of us are into football one bit). In our minds why would he, the pub landlord, tell us to park behind some goalposts of an in use football pitch, knowing that the pitch would be home to a football match at 09:00 the next morning and then not to bother to tell us/warn us about said football match. Well- turns out we were wrong, and that was in fact what he had done. The footballers were obviously not impressed to see us there, and rather than take the normal approach and come and ask us to move, they decided the best way way to kick a football full pelt right in the direction of Bluebell, which of course slammed right into the side of us – but amazingly caused no damage whatsoever *phew* Needless to say, we were on the road, albeit with a few ruffled feathers by 08:20 on a Sunday morning (I didn’t realise there was such a thing as pre 10:00 on a Sunday!)

We had found a localish walk that we fancied in our trusty onboard walks box which started at nearby Earls Colne. The walk itself was varied, taking in meadows, a disused railway track, along a riverside and an ancient woodland. Somehow, we managed the entire 6.5 mile walk without taking any photos!!! Not sure how that one happened-sorry!!

After a pleasant picnic lunch, we decided to head back to the tranquility of beautiful Thaxted for our overnight stay. We’ve actually stayed here before – the parish council very broad mindedly encourage visitors in motorhomes into their small town by having designated free parking for up to 48 hours. Perfect. The town itself is gorgeous, with a lovely windmill, guildhall, 14th Century church, lots of historical picture postcard houses and the house where Gustav Holst composed his famous works, The Planets.

You can read about our previous adventures in Thaxted here

As you can see on the photos above, the weather when we arrived on Sunday was overcast but Monday morning dawned in beautiful sunshine, so again we found ourselves heading out walking at 08:15- this time on a 3 mile walk around the village outskirts.

I’d been put in charge of the map and GPS ^

Thaxted Guildhall
We were very lucky, we were just taking in the sign outside the Guldhall when a gentleman asked if we would like a look inside- he was a member of the parish council and was about to open up to give his grandson a special visit, so we were invited up to have a look inside. It was a real treat, it only opens to the public occasionally as it’s still in use as the parish council chambers.

first floor- the council chambers (sorry for blurry pic)

top floor, now an art gallery

out the window of the top floor, looking down the high street. The blue step just above the telephone box on the right is where Gustav Holst used to live

After a good luck around (thank you kind man) we had a quick cuppa and set off towards Saffron Walden, via the scenic route (suggested on the tourist board outside The Guildhall

It was a lovely journey round the quant little villages but again we failed on the picture front- this time I blame Keefy as I was driving and he had the camera!! Our favourites were: Thaxted obviously, Finchingfield, Arkesden and Saffron Walden.

Onto Saffron Walden just in time for some lunch, after which we set off on the 3.75 mile (which somehow turned into 5.5miles according to our GPS) World War 2 trail around the town. It was a lovely walk, which took us all the way up to Audley End House (EH)

Over a bridge that during the war was mined and barricaded to prevent German tanks passing through in the event of a Nazi invasion

Passed a Pill Box

And numerous remains of mortar spigot emplacements all around the town.

It was a very factual trail and we both enjoyed it- although having already done a 3 mile walk that morning we both felt exhausted afterwards! The sunlight was beautiful though throughout

We decided we would try and get on a site that evening as we were running low on water and desperate on a toilet empty. Having made a couple of phone calls we soon got booked onto the nearby Little Henham Hall Farm Campsite At £12 for the night with electric it was a steal, and we were lucky enough to have the site to ourselves. The view across the field was lovely and we had a wonderfully peaceful night, enjoying the luxury of being on electric hookup, and being able to have a loooooong shower- bliss. Although there was no facilities onsite other than a Chemical loo point, water tap and 5 hookups, it was perfect for us and struck the exact balance of what we need to feel totally relaxed. From now on we are going to try and incorporate more small sites into our holidays. Although we love staying on BritStop sites, and don’t like the larger regimented campsites one bit- we feel these certified back to basic sites may be just what we could do with every third night or thereabouts.

Next morning we were again treated to a phenomenal sunrise right from our bedroom window.

Eager to enjoy what was forecasted to be the last of the glorious weather, we set off to West Stow Country park, half way between the campsite and home. We enjoyed having a gentle wander around the Country Park before heading home.

Once again we’ve had a brilliant mini break, and have been particularly lucky with the weather. We travelled exactly 200 miles over 5 days- and the total cost was just under £200.

We are impressed with this as this includes my splash out birthday meal which obviously was more expensive than we would usually perhaps spend *well, I’m worth it!!* 😉

Until next time
Lx

A long weekend in Rural Essex; Oct 2014 part 1

October 25, 2014October 26, 2014Posted in 2014 Trips, Ale, Attractions, BritStop, Essex, Historical places, Local Food, Mini Break, Sightseeing1 Comment

Bluebell the motorhome is currently parked up on a lovely field behind BritStop number 209. We aren’t too far from either Halstead or Braintree and the sun is shining for us all to enjoy.

Yesterday was my birthday and to celebrate we chose a nice looking Brit Stop to book into for a splash out meal. We chose number 210, a vineyard/restaurant in Essex, and had a pleasant hours journey through the countryside to get there.

The BritStop itself didn’t disappoint one bit- as soon as we arrived we knew we were going to enjoy ourselves!

Bluebell parked amongst the recently harvested vines

After a quick sandwhich for lunch we took ourselves for a leg stretch down to the very pretty village of Coggeshall. The village itself is quite large and is home to 3 pubs, some nice shops, a couple of nice looking restaurants and tea rooms. Pretty much every single property is listed and we spent a very happy couple of hours doing the well designed Coggeshall town walk (leaflet obtained from the library) which took in all the main sights.

The very pretty Paycockes NT property- a former wool merchants house

The colours around the river were breathtaking especially once the sun peeped out.

Another highlight was a cheeky look into Grange Barn, another NT property in the village. Grange barn is an 800 year old barn, with huge timber roof- in fact it’s the largest and oldest in Europe. I say sneaked as the lady was closing up for the night and let us peep round without charging us! Thank you nice lady.

After a couple of refreshment stops we tottered back to the van to get in our glad rags ready for our big night out. Keefy had arranged a private wine tasting followed by dinner. He’d even booked the best table in the house <3

I cannot put into words how much I LOVED the entire night- many many thanks to our wonderful hosts, we had such a great time. The wine, of which we tried 3 English whites (the one from that vineyard was particularly good), an English rose, an English red (from a Norfolk vineyard down the road- which was superb!) and their own sparking wine which was fantastic. The girl conducting the tasting was knowledgable, friendly and patient and we supped our way through fair amount of wine! A nice touch was the complementary glass of fizz we each received as a birthday treat from the lady afterwards, as an aperitif. Delicious.

We had a lip smackingly great 3 course meal. I had goats cheese, beetroot, pickled Apple and walnut salad to start – a lovely reminder of food we enjoyed in The Dordogne region of France, followed by fish tagine- too good for words, and white chocolate and cappuccino cheesecake. Keefy enjoyed squid to start, homemade chicken schnitzel with hen egg on top and the best sticky toffee pud (with rum sauce) that he’s ever had. We washed the meal down with a bottle of their 2013 white- the whole experience was perfection.

If you love good quality local food and wine you NEED to visit this place ^ Look it up in your Brit Stop book- number 210- and if you aren’t a member then go buy a book www.britstops.co.uk so you can be in on the secret. And if you haven’t been convinced yet……… How’s this for a morning view from bed???

The morning after the night before…
How do you top an evening like we had? We took full advantage of the Autumn sunshine and hit the road to Braintree, where we joined the Flint Way- a 7.5mile off road, traffic free cycle route along an old disused railway line.

A particular highlight was the station at Rayes which despite being redundant for many years now, still captured the feel of a busy working railway by having a disused carriage set up at the station as a museum and a busy cafe housed within the old station building.

Further along the line was another old station, this time Bannister Green Holt, which proved to be a nice place for a picnic.

The scenery along the whole route was lovely and it was a really nice way to burn off some of the cobwebs from last nights tasting!!

The 15 mile cycle nearly finished us off- so once we arrived at our Brit stop for this evening we had a major chill, and a couple of pints in the pub. We are shattered after our eventful couple of days so an early night is planned with the intention of a nice walk tomorrow.

Until next time
Lx

Sunshine on the North Norfolk Coast

July 25, 2014Posted in 2014 Trips, BritStop, Mini Break, Norfolk, Seafood6 Comments

Bluebell the motorhome is parked up back at home having whisked us off to the Costa del North Norfolk coast for a sneaky night/couple of days of sunshine, beach time, swimming in the sea, good food and an enjoyable 8 mile walk. It’s been a little while since our last outing due to work commitments- summer term is always a grueller for us with summer concerts, exams, gigs etc, so we were delighted to find ourselves with a gap in the diary this week, that coincided with the weatherman giving the virtual thumbs up on getting some decent weather!

We were planning a trip to Sandringham House and Castle Rising, but after seeing the weather forcast predicting temperatures of 28-30 degrees, a trip to the beach just couldn’t be resisted, so we chucked our beachwear in, loaded the essentials ( Pimms….check, gin…..check, bikes, picnic, etc) grabbed our Brit Stops bible and hit the road. We were to return to a Brit Stop pub/restaurant that we’ve been to twice (read about it here and here) before, number 239, situated right on the North Norfolk Coastal Path, in between Hunstanton and Wells next to Sea.

Bluebell the motorhome in the car park of BritStop number 239

The outside of BritStop 239

We arrived just after 12:00, it only took just over an hour to get there from our house- ideal for a one night trip. A quick hello to the staff, confirmation that we had a table booked for dinner that night and Keefy set about dismantling the bikes whilst I packed the picnic bits into the cool bags. All loaded up, we cycled the 3 miles to the nearest beach, Brancaster Beach, which we’d visited back in February and vowed to return to in nicer weather.

Brancaster Beach in the summer sun- we could have been in Spain!

We enjoyed our picnic on the beach, several glasses of pimms, and a right good chill (or rather bake!). We even managed a swim in the unusually warm sea, it was like a bath!

a few beach snaps 🙂

As dinner time fast approached, we packed up our kit, cycled back and had a sneaky nap (well all this sunbathing is tiring!) before getting on our glad rags, and moseying across for our 7:30pm booking.

The pub/hotel (I’m referring to it as number 239 as you have to be a member of BritStops to stay there in your motorhome and Steve and Mandy are working very hard on the scheme, which we fully support and recommend) is quite an upmarket place, but in a nice subtle way. It has all the appeal of a cosy village pub, with roaring log fire, views over the sea and splendid ale, but then its annex is a fairly posh affair, almost mimicking a Michelin Starred restaurant with its table layout.

The menu is amazing, and ranges from fresh local oysters, fish, steaks, traditional pub food- you name it. We both opted for a battered fish and chip dinner and a crisp bottle of white, and it was delicious.

enjoying my fish and chips

After dinner we nipped Jazz out to walk it off and enjoyed the sunset.

red sky at night, sailors delight..

After a blissfully quiet nights sleep we awoke and enjoyed a Harling Sausage Bap (The Harling sausage is a sausage made by our village butchers and it is delicious!)
Today’s plan was to do the 8 mile circular walk from Holme Next to Sea through Ringstead and Old Hunstanton. Sadly, we were unable to park at the car park at Holme next to Sea due to a ridiculous height barrier meaning we couldn’t get in! Sorry Holme, you just lost our £3:50 parking charge we would have happily paid and money at the kiosk on cold drinks! We carried on up to Hunstanton and found a suitable spot there, and therefore starting at a different point. The walk was lovely, it took in a stretch of the North Norfolk Coast Path and The Peddars Way, as well as some of the sand dunes along the coast between Hunstanton and Holme- interesting, as you walk right beside and then through the Golf Course!

walking on the North Norfolk Coast Path, through the dunes, with the sea on one side and the golf course on the other

walking towards Holme next to sea and looking back to Hunstanton

walking through Ringstead Downs, a pretty area belonging to Norfolk Wildlife Trust

a lonely medieval barn ruin

the pretty school house in Ringstead

We had a great night away and have come home feeling like we’ve been on holiday- good job, as we are now busy with gigs for the next 3 weeks, but are looking forward to our 2 week trip later in August!

Are you off out in your van over the summer? If so, where? Need some serious holiday inspiration as ours feels ages away yet!

Until next time

A weekend mini break exploring the beautiful Essex countryside

May 11, 2014May 12, 2014Posted in 2014 Trips, Ale, Attractions, BritStop, Essex, Historical places, Local Food, Mini Break, Sightseeing4 Comments

Day 1Bluebell the motorhome is parked up behind Brit Stop number 216- which is nestled in an absolutely gorgeous part of Essex’s countryside. The sun is shining despite the forcast warning of rain all day (win!) and we are having a brilliant weekend, that has been a combination of a little work and some play!

Brit Stop 216

Yesterday, after a gig in Suffolk, we hit the Friday rush hour traffic (although in reality we had a great run) with the destination of Thaxted, a pretty town in Essex, that was on our map for three reasons: it was close to a gig we were doing the next day, it was listed in both our Brit Stop bible and our Europe Camper Stop book as there being a motorhome aire in the car park, and it was close to the Secret Nuclear Bunker at Kelveden Hatch.

Thaxted Motorhome Aire- the parish council welcome motorhomers to park for up to 48 hrs, free of charge

We arrived at the carpark in Thaxted at around 18:30 and were instantly made to feel welcome as motorhomers in their village. If only all towns had this mentality, the amount of space allocated for motorhomes was minimal, however because of their welcoming attitude we relaxed and went for drinks and a meal in their pub.

The Swan Hotel, Thaxted, where we enjoyed a lovely meal

The town of Thaxted is just gorgeous: it has a picture perfect windmill, a good example of a traditional long house and Armshouses, an interesting Engine house that houses the village fire engine, a medieval Guildhall, the house where Gustav Holst lived, and numerous other medieval properties.

Thaxted Windmill

LongHouse and Armshouses

Engine House

Guildhall

Standing outside Holst’s former house! Very exciting treat for us

Next morning, we decided on another quick wander around the town of Thaxted, before a 40 minute drive south towards Kelveden Hatch- a small village which is home to a decommissioned Secret Nuclear Bunker. The bunker has been on our list of places to visit for a while; it was only revealed in 1992, prior to that it was run by the government and would have been used to house up to 600 Government officials, including the Prime Minister in the event of a Nuclear War.

Visiting Kelveden Hatch was absolutely incredible – it was without a doubt one of the most interesting places I’ve ever visited. It stirred up a mixture of emotions from us both- fascination at how it was built, maintained, and how it would have been used to “run” the country in the aftermath of a nuclear blast; fear over the prospect of how it would have affected not only our country but the world, how close it came to happening, the impacts of it happening, the preparation that civilians needed to undertake in the event of an attack; the questioning of morals when we discovered that the survival guide written for civilians was giving false hope in order to maintain calm and order in the hours running up to an attack; and amazement at the engineering of this humongous underground city, that was built underneath what looked like from the outside, a normal farmhouse!

the farmhouse which sits over and disguised the bunker below. scary!!

What made the bunker even more interesting to visit, aside from its amazing history, was the way in which it was presented. All the equipment and materials displayed were as it was during the years it was in operation, meaning you really didn’t need to use any imagination at all whilst waking around the dimly lit, long cold corridors. Unfortunately I didn’t take any photos whilst inside due to the numerous signs informing visitors that to do so required a £5 permit, something which in hindsight I wished I’d done – I didn’t because I was intending on getting a guide book or postcards at the end of the visit, but once we got to the end they didn’t really capture the atmosphere. I know though, that our visit will remain in my memory for a very long time.

It was also incredibly good value for money- at just £7 per adult, this fee included a very comprehensive and engaging audio tour, and we both came away agreeing that we would have happily paid several more pounds each to visit.

Once we’d completed our humbling tour, and after a quick lunch in the car park, we made the journey north for 36 miles (though a tremendous rain storm!!) towards Castle Hedingham, another picture perfect village which is home to one of the finest kept Norman Keeps in Britain, and where we are intending to visit tomorrow. As luck would have it, as soon as we pulled up, the rain stopped and the sun returned, and so we celebrated with a cheeky beer in the amazingly characteristic saloon bar of Brit Stop 216 before a village wander past all the old pretty houses. This area rivals some of the pretty villages we are lucky to have in Norfolk and Suffolk, and we had no idea about how chocolate box pretty it was going to be here.

having a beer at Brit Stop 216 and decided what to eat later!

So tonight we are booked in for a meal at 216, we have worked up an appetite that’s for sure, and Keith’s in his element as he had an interesting chat with the guy that brews the beer for the pub, two pints of which he enjoyed this afternoon! I’ve got my eye on the Turkish specials board!

Day 2
After a delicious meal accompanied by several pints (well, we were researching the gravity fed ale!!) we enjoyed an early night and a lay in this morning, helped somewhat by the rain that was pouring when we awoke this morning! Last night our meal was delicious- I tryed the Turkish special, Lamb and Aubergine casserole, and Keefy tried a homemade burger. Both were mouth wateringly good, and were enjoyed washing it all down with some of the local ale.

enjoying our meal

the beer here is gravity fed

Our intention today was to visit The Castle at Castle Hedingham and once the rain had stopped we made the short journey there. The Castle is said to be one of the best preserved Norman Keeps in Europe, and is set within several acres of enjoyable gardens and woodland. We enjoyed walking round the gardens and woodland walks first, tiring out Jazz so he could sleep in the van whilst we went for a look inside.
We were lucky to see some lovely displays of Rhodedendrums and bluebells.

the gardens at Castle Hedingham

The keep is astonishingly well preserved- the arches and a real treat to be able to not only enjoy from the outside but also have a look around the inside.

never too old to dress up as a Knight, eh?!

The arch in the banquet hall is said to be the largest Norman arch in the world that is fully survived, and is 28 feet wide!

We really enjoyed our visit here, and again, thought it was a bargain at only £7.50 each to enter. On our way to the castle we had passed a road sign saying that the local Water Mill was open today as part of a national Mills Open weekend. Since the weather seemed to be behaving we decided to head on over for a look round.

We had rather a narrow approach into the car park and negotiated several low flying branches but I thing we survived with no damage! It was a lovely way to spend an hour or so, chatting with the volunteers who were very knowledgable, and we even got to try som biscuits that had been made from flour that had been ground at that mill. They were delicious. I was allowed to turn the wheel to make the water wheel go round and we’ve got a video of this, so il try and figure out how to include it on here.

Alderford Watermill

During our visit, we were recommended a short stroll that left Alderford Mill and walked down to another local mill, Hulls Mill. It was not possible to visit inside as it was privately owned and had been turned into a very large house, but nevertheless, we really enjoyed the pretty circular walk, and the mill itself was gorgeous. I would love to live somewhere like that!

Hull’s Mill

Both these mills were recorded in the doomsday book, giving an idea of how old they are and it was really enjoyable seeing them.

This marked the end of our visit to Essex, so we grabbed a quick cuppa for the road and headed home- but we had an amazing weekend and we both are quite smitten with this area, so I know that we will return soon!!!

Until next time!
Lx

Sunshine on the Norfolk Broads

March 16, 2014May 12, 2014Posted in Ale, BritStop, Broads, Local Food, Mini Break, Norfolk, Trip prepTagged BritStops, broads, England, Norfolk, weekend StopsLeave a comment

Bluebell the motorhome is back home and emptied after a lovely weekend up on the Norfolk broads.

We had two meetings this weekend, one in Norwich on Friday afternoon and one in Hingham Saturday morning, so decided to turn it into a micro break- this is why we adore living here! Luck was on our side as the forcast was good too!

We set off Norwich bound Friday after a gig, and headed for the Toys R Us carpark just off St Benedict’s st, as we knew that had no height barrier. We left Jazz guarding the van and darted off to the city to make our 4:15 appointment (top secret) 😀

An hour later and we were back at Bluebell and heading round the ring road towards Wroxham. We consulted our ever trustworthy BritStops book prior to leaving and as luck would have it, one of our faves was listed in the 2014 guide and was right near where we needed to be for our top secret meeting on Sat morning. We arrived at Brit Stop 235 just before 6pm, double checked we were ok to stay and booked a table for dinner. After a quick shower and a leg stretch for the pooch, we hot footed it the hundred yards or so across the car park and got ourselves a pint of Nog each and the menu.

This is one of our faves because it serves the most amazing locally sourced food- every time we’ve been we’ve had the venison pie, it is gorgeous and tonight was no exception! We both chose a starter too- I had black pudding Bon bons and Keith had mussels cooked in Ale. Both were mouth-wateringly good – the mussels working surprisingly well cooked in ale!

We managed to sink a few pints of nog in the process of eating and we both were mildly tipsy by the time we hit the sac a couple of hours later! We even managed to buy 4 pints of nog to takeaway 🙂 brilliant and another reason why we adore using BritStops. We paid far more than we could have for one night on a campsite, but enjoyed a great meal and some beer and don’t have to drive! The pub made £70 out of it- Win win

Next morning we arose with a slightly sore head I’m not going to lie, but a bacon bap soon sorted that and we hit the road towards Hingham, where we were meeting a man about a boat 😉

Hingham is a gorgeous little village and we spent a great 3 hours or so exploring and chilling in the beer garden of the Swan Hotel, watching the world and his wife go by (I was still hanging so was on the coca cola!) Keefy however was living by the “hair of the dog ” prophecy and enjoyed 2 pints of Adnams Broadside which he tells me worked like a treat.

Around 2pm we checked our ever trusty Bible (ie the BritStop guide) and found a little pub not far away that we hadn’t been to before. 15 mins later we were installed into a nice quirky type pub and enjoying a cream tea.

This, along with a 2 hour nap(!) fixed me so at dusk we took Jazz out for a leg stretch and to take in the sunset.

We had a great nights sleep despite our two hour afternoon nap and awoke fresh as daisies this morning. We had passed a very pretty village yesterday, Coltishall, so headed there for an hour before heading home in the glorious sunshine.

Until next time
Lx

Category: Mini Break

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