Sandra:
Thursday – dawned bright, dry and sunny, we had had some quite wet days during out stay here so we were glad to be able to break camp once more and set off, for the slightly longer journey of 100 miles or so, south towards Devon to stay at Exebridge Caravan and Motorhome Club site near Dulverton. Richard had visited for a day some years ago but for me it was a first visit. Why, might you ask, did we go even further south for both of us. The idea cropped up when illness struck and we wanted to go and pay a visit as a result. Equally, a few more days away never hurts! We were, of course, going to see Gail and Mark, the Wardens at the site and good Twitter friends too. It was a very pleasant surprise to arrive on site to find Ann and Gary on site too for a few days. It was starting to sound like a superb ending to a fabulous summer tour.
I was curious to see how much leccy we’d gone through during our stay so after unhooking I had a look at the meter. With the little bit of credit when we arrived and a little bit more when we left we used just over £2 per day, the rate indicated on the meter was 35p/unit, notably less than what I’d paid at other sites over the easter break. So that was just under 6 units a day, we cooked on gas but heated the water for washing up and showers on electric. There was the fridge, phone charging etc too of course, and the on board charger from time to time. I say on board, I’m still using the Halfords battery charger which seems to be working well. At circa 180 quid for a new proper unit it will be in place for a while yet.
Sandra:
Back to the journey – after perusing the maps and SAT Nav we opted to drive down the Wye Valley road, passing Tintern Abbey and onwards towards Chepstow where we would pick up the M48 and transverse the River Severn via the newer bridge, (a first for me) and then onto the M5 south to Taunton. The agreed meeting place was Taunton Deane services – it has a good area for caravan and lorry parking and is completely separate from the car parking.
With Sandra not encumbered by a caravan I was happy for her to scoot off once we hit the motorway. I’d settled a safe distance behind a lorry, the sun was out, A/C was on and the stereo was shuffling some good tunes from the USB stick. A bit of Earth, Wind & Fire live, some Kool & the Gang – again live – were being absorbed by my ear drums at a far greater volume than is probably healthy.
Sandra:
The temperature was now rising steadily and meeting up for coffee and a snack was achieved but by now I was feeling the heat considerably. I returned to my car and our little convoy set off again and made good progress making note of the crossroads but unfortunately not realising the horrendous road surface was before the x-roads not afterwards – I hit the first one with a bang but Richard behind realising where they were slowed down and we progressed the rest relatively okay. I was, however, concerned that having only had my second puncture repaired a few days before, that another one was on the horizon – fortunately not.
As Sandra said, Trev and I had visited a friend on site, back in 2017. We were on our way to the lovely Warcombe Farm on the North Devon Coast and overnighted at a site near Wellington. Back then we made the mistake of turning left at the Black Cat crossroads rather than carrying on and were mighty glad Patsy wasn’t on the back. If only there was a site arrival video…
This time I got it right, having approached the junction very gingerly given the appalling state of the road surface and seeing Patsy leap into the air at one point. Okay, I might be exaggerating but you get the idea. Given the crumbling state of many of our roads it’s nothing short of a miracle that any caravan arrives on site still intact these days.
Sandra:
We duly arrived and checked into our service pitch with fabulous views over the valley. An evening drink in the local pub, The Anchor with Ann and Gary completed a productive and happy day.
I was more than happy to pay a premium for a service pitch, given that it was the last proper stop of the trip. Being hooked up would make it much easier to give the water system a thorough flush with Puriclean – much needed as is it hasn’t been done since last year. I was pleasantly surprised to see too that the serviced pitches had some of the best views on site – not always the case as they are often situated where it’s most convenient plumbing wise. I soon named it millionaires’ row though – think big shiny twin axle ‘vans the size of bungalows accompanied by big shiny motors the size of small tanks. Patsy raised the average age but lowered the average value! And she still looked fab.
Sandra:
Friday – Having decided later on in the planning of this trip to make the hop over to Devon, a possibility dawned for me to visit a place I haven’t visited for probably 35-40 years. Croyde Bay on the North Devon coast. From the late 60’s, firstly in a static van, then from the early 70’s through to the early 1980’s we visited there each year for our summer holidays, the majority of it in the various tourers my parents had. To say I have very fond and happy memories of carefree summers spent there would be something of an understatement. I was very grateful to Richard for agreeing to make the journey.
It's an area I am vaguely familiar with, having stayed on the coast in 2013 and 2017 and thoroughly enjoyed both times and having spent the last 10 years living by the coast I was looking forward to smelling the sea air again. There’s just something about it and I would find it a struggle to move away from the coast to be honest.
There was also the opportunity to put Sandra’s fab little Ecosport through its paces on the narrow winding roads and trying out the paddles rather than letting the auto gearbox do its stuff.
Sandra:
The day dawned bright, blue skies and very warm – we set off in good spirits and more or less followed the latter part of the roads we always took – even coming across the layby over the valley where breakfast of hot toast and tea were annually consumed. We arrived and as expected, it was busy but not overly so. As we rounded the headland and descended into the village and then the beach road, memories came flooding back – I bought a bodyboard at that shop, the ice cream shop, (still going!!) where you had a scoop of ice cream, clotted cream was put on top, generously mind with a spatula and then quickly dipped in melted chocolate which set immediately. Sprinkles were an option of course! Car parking down by the beach was as expensive as ever – a definite bonus if you are staying at one of the campsites. Fortunately, both being NT members we made for the car park at the end of the road and also were able to eat our picnic lunch at one of the tables in the car park itself. I loaded the girls into their pushchair – by now the weather was very hot indeed, tarmac and sand do not make good bedfellows with paw pads. Equally it was busy and the girls are not used to busy people walking around. They were more than happy to view the world sitting up high!! Richard has taken some lovely photos, hopefully a couple might appear here too. We went as far as we could onto the beach as dogs are not allowed from the end of March until beginning of September. I remembered there was another ice cream parlour there and we sat happily munching two large cones of ice cream, fortunately in the shade, whilst the girls continued their whole holiday theme of being feted and positively commented upon – their heads have grown exponentially!! All too soon, it was time to turn and head back to site – what a highlight of the trip, (there have been many as always), will be something I will look back and treasure in the future.
My childhood holiday memories are from a different part of the country but I know how important they are and how much they meant to Sandra, it was wonderful to hear her recollections of the journeys made from the north west . Trev and I did call in at Croyde on a previous visit when staying further up the coast but it’s great to hear it so fondly remembered.
Saturday was largely a washout and we did little of note for the most part. We tried a run into Dulverton in the afternoon in the hope of a walk around and give both the girls and us a chance to stretch our legs but a gap in the clouds vanished as soon as we pulled up, so a quick foray into the Co-op was as far as we got.
In the evening we had a wander to see Ann & Gary who were heading home the next day. A good chinwag ensued and Gary kindly extracted an ale from the packing to aid lubrication. It was lovely to catch up again.
Sandra:
Sunday dawned rather wet and dismal with the forecast not giving us much hope early on. We decided on Minehead – up the A396 via Wheddon Cross, (another stop on the family journey to Croyde) and down through Dunster. We opted to visit Dunster on the way back, so pushed on the short distance to Minehead, parking not far from the West Somerset Heritage Railway Station. We made for there, in the dry and lucked on a steam train coming into the station. Photos taken, we adjourned to the café for a coffee and toasted teacake, delicious they both were. We also had a good perusal at what is a larger than average second hand bookshop, DVD and CD’s. We managed to pick up a DVD – Calendar Girls for the princely sum of 50p! We have recently watched, ‘Brassed Off; The Fully Monty’ and this completes the three we wanted to see. We then took a stroll up and down the main part of the High Street – it was good to see some familiar shop names still trading. We then turned and went back down the other side and made for a little takeaway café right on the front by where we had parked the car. We decided on sausage baps and very tasty they were being ate in the car watching the world go by. It was busy but not exceptionally so.
On our way back to Dunster, we had a drive down the other half of the promenade to see Butlins entrance. Up until we started caravanning in the late 60’s our parents and grandparents regularly took us to Butlins either at Pwhelli or Barry Island. They were a different world to us children and two sets of grandparents as baby sitters was a plus!! The Butlins of today is nothing like yesteryear, Hi de Hi more fits the bill!
Next up was Porlock Weir, well worth the drive along a largely single track road from Porlock village. An idyllic little place.
On the way through we spotted a sign for a National Trust village – Selworthy – and on the way back turned off to have a look. A tight narrow road brough us up hill to a whitewashed church, with a car parking opposite offering some fab views.
Sandra:
We drove onto Dunster and after the obligatory twice up and down the High Street to find a car parking space we duly parked up not far from the market house at the top of the road.
We did, however, decide on the spur of the moment really, as this holiday was coming to an end, we had not had a cream tea and we were in Devon and Somerset! We came across a little café with a garden at the rear – perfect. It was a little oasis and we eagerly consumed a plain and a fruit scone each with lashings of jam and clotted cream. The tea – in a lovely big pot, with extra hot water was delightful too and several cups each were consumed. (In a month or so of travelling we have made serious indents in tea bag supplies)!
Ooh, it certainly went down a treat, tea from a pot always tastes better in my view and it was in a lovely quiet courtyard setting too.
I was ready to head to the car, my knee not keen on a stroll up and down the high street but Sandra had a nose in a nearby deli and called me over. An impressive collection of ales saw me reaching for my wallet again – well phone anyway. Lots of new ones to try and I came out with a handful, though one which purported to be local was in fact brewed in the well known West Country county of er, Cambridgeshire!
Sandra:
A return drive back to site completed a lovely day out – more memories of trips of the past and new ones for the present.
Before we’d left I’d charged the water system and barrels with Puriclean – so much easier on a service pitch, and while Sandra started on dinner I flushed out everything. Job done for another year, very satisfying.
Monday and intermittent wet stuff first thing but it soon cleared and a decent breeze meant that the canopy was dry enough to take down after lunch, so we set about breaking camp between cups of tea and yes, a beer for me. It’s always satisfying to be able to pack away dry, particularly given the unsettled weather which has been a hallmark of the trip.
The time for the last supper had come and, on a recommendation we headed to the Royal Oak at Winsford, about a 20 minute drive away. And what a recommendation it was, superb food, decent ale and friendly service. A fitting way to end the trip.
Sandra:
Tuesday dawned and with it the realisation that the trip was coming to an end. As always very mixed feelings. Still I was glad that we had taken the canopy down the day before and we were all but packed away. Final preparations done, girls sorted and goodbyes said and we started off. We stayed in convoy until we got to A361, me peeling off to top off with fuel and Richard to press on to the M5.
Suffice it to say after a short while I caught Patsy up and we had a regal wave at each other as I passed by. I still had around 200 miles to go so was, reluctantly, moved to press on. That desire, some 5 miles further on came to a complete stop. I guessed something was afoot given the huge numbers of police, fire and ambulances on blues and twos hurtling southbound. Initial thought was it was on the other carriage way but we soon came to a complete stop northwards. It was very hot again and was glad of cold water in the flask to keep me and the girls as cool as possible. Of course, at the same time thoughts of what was clearly happening some 25 yards in front of me. Everyone was out of their car and vainly I looked to see if I could see Patsy, sadly not 😕, there is something to be said for towing a bathroom behind you!!
Finally we were released and the accident appeared much smaller, one car and the concrete central reservation than the number of official vehicles. Hopefully the person would be okay.
Richard turned off onto the M4 shortly after and I made a lunch stop at Gloucester services and then, thankfully a steady drive North back to base.
An amazing trip, packed full of fun, laughs, history, good company, food, scenery..... I could go on. My last words for this blog must, however, be ones of huge thanks, hugs and appreciation to Richard. You are my shining star, here’s to our next adventures. 🤗
Aww, lovely words and I’d had a great time too. One more stop for me and I peeled off the M4 at J18, heading a little way down the Bath road to Cotswold View CL. The stop would break the journey – a wise decision after sitting stationary on the M5, and I could give Patsy a bit of a sort out and the carpets and rugs a good vacuum. There was no leccy on offer but at 7 quid a night it suited me just fine, access was easy and there was a friendly welcome from the owner.
No sooner than legs were down though and I was off again. The Petrol Prices app had indicated a garage about a 10 minute drive away, with diesel considerably cheaper than anywhere near the previous stop. Hetty having been replenished I continued into Chippy Sodbury to procure a couple of beers to go with dinner – a Co-op pizza – I know how to live. Minimal mess and minimal washing up though which was good.
Then followed a nap followed by a good around with a cordless vacuum. It shifted a lot but with the best will in the world it wasn’t as effective as my mains powered one at home. Faithful old Henry will be joining me on my next trip in October thanks to his long hose and superior suction. Ahem.
After the pizza I wandered up to the pub by the main road for a pint. Very much food orientated inside I took my pint outside to soak up the late afternoon sun. It was pleasant enough but the continuous traffic on the adjacent A46 helped me decide not to have another.
Back at Patsy I watched a bit of telly on the laptop then had an early night.
I awoke early – several times as it happens – and felt pretty lethargic as a result, however pack up was swift and I was out of the gate before 9am.
Traffic was kind and aside from the inevitable queues through the roadworks on the M25 by the A3 turn off – in place for another 2 years – the journey was good and pulled up at the storage yard just before midday.
Patsy was soon in her resting place and me back home, contemplating the amount of stuff that needed hauling up to the flat. The trip was well and truly over and it was back to reality. A fabulous time was had though, friends, new places and Patsy behaved herself, repaying my faith in her.
Until the next time,
Cheers & beers
Rich
