Sandra is opening the batting on this one:
Following our successful return to the mainland, we made back towards Cambridge to collect my car, meet a friend for dinner and get sorted to start the second phase of the Summer 25 Trip. This would take us to Rutland in the centre of England, over to Worcestershire and then onto Powys. We stayed at a site in Fulbourn, close to where my car was parked up for a couple of nights and went out for a delicious evening meal at the Carpenters Arms, Great Wilbraham A new pub for me and the food was delicious.
The next morning saw a bright, if slightly cooler, start on the just under a couple of hours drive to Uppingham area and to a CS site we had booked some time ago. As you may already know access was not good and sadly Patsy sustained another injury courtesy of some very underhand driving by a van coming in the opposite direction.
After the turn off from the A47 it was a mile and a bit to the site, mostly on a single-track road with limited passing places. Confronted with an oncoming van who made a token effort to move over I had to mount the grass verge to get past. Looking back, a stupid thing to do and I should have known better. It wasn’t until we pulled up at the site that I saw that the lower near side rear panel had been pulled away. I was fuming, almost shaking with rage – mostly at myself. I should have just stood my ground.
Thankfully, nothing else sustained damage. The motor mover was still aligned and the rear nearside steady lowered properly. The drain for the shower needed putting back in.
Sandra continues:
On paper the site had looked really pleasant and the benefits of a serviced pitch, a tea room on site had looked very appealing. The reality, sadly, was very different. Physically outside of the pitching area, the grounds were very pleasant indeed.
I won’t elaborate any further but suffice it to say, within a few hours of pitching up, we were discussing whether we wanted to move or not. We agreed and after making a quick phone call we found a nearby CL, 10 minutes’ drive away and we could move the following night.
I’ll elaborate; whilst having grub in the canopy our neighbour returned in a white van, they were well spread out and clearly ‘in residence’ for a while. I jumped up, opened the laptop and checked out the footage from the dashcam – it was the same van. My ire returned – I would have hoped a fellow caravanner would have been more accommodating, when seeing another approaching. Clearly not in this case. Git.
They also had a dog which they were quite happy to let roam free – said dog was ‘whole’ – he still had his ‘two veg’. This meant that we’d have to be extremely careful with the girls. I was in no mood to approach the fella – clearly, he was the unofficial boss of the place – the owner was nowhere to be seen. It was then that we decided to look for somewhere else. We just couldn’t relax. Fortunately we’d not yet paid for the week – not least because of the absence of any contact from the site owner.
Sandra continues:
The boat trip was excellent and the commentary very helpful. Dog, child and totally accessible with a tea bar on board made for a very pleasant trip. I had visited here some years ago but it was out of season and there was no boats running.
We had been away for a couple of weeks or so by now so I felt that a Sunday lunch out was in order. Cue some internet research and I managed to come up with a pub called the Wheatsheaf nearby in Oakham. I had never been there, nor had Richard, so was a bit of a gamble. It paid off, however, big time. I had a most delicious roast pork dinner and Richard the beef. The portions were hot, generous but not overly so. Richard managed his usual fruit dessert!!
It was superb, decent size portions and a pint of the delicious Everard’s Old Original to accompany. The inevitable Merlot for afters. Well, it’s fruit innit, one of ‘yer five a day!
Sandra:
Another day saw us making the trip of Stamford – its station I know very well indeed as it is on the trainline I use to get to Cambridge. It is made of beautiful light sandstone and picturesque it certainly is. I have only ever got off there once, that was at the start of Richard and I’s trip up north a couple of years or so ago. I had to get a taxi to the site as Richard was held up by an accident on the A1. So that was about it for then. This time, however, I was to see a very historic and beautiful town indeed. It was still very hot, so only a short stroll and keeping the girls off the hot floor was important. We found a cafe on the shady side of the street and we could both then pop to a couple of shops we needed to without moving too far. Fortunately, it was not busy, so that helped greatly.
The Friday night saw us head to Corby – not an obvious tourist destination it has to be said. However – and you might guess the reason – there was a funfair in town and I was able to finally get a ride on Steven’s Waltzer – owned and operated by John Guest. It was a case of third time lucky, having missed out when it was in Worthing and later, Uckfield. Built by the long defunct Maxwell who turned out the majority of Waltzers back in the day, this is one of very few to have a spinning top. Two superb rides, the second of which was the longest ride on a Waltzer so far at seven and a half minutes. Fair to say I was a bit wobbly when I came off but it was great to notch up my fifteenth new Waltzer of the year and the twenty-fifth in total.
Sandra:
Finally, a short 5-minute drive from the site saw us in Uppingham, a very pleasant market town, one street and a square, (tbh, I would call it a village). We sat on the square outside a very olde worlde cafe and I splashed out on coffee and cream scones. The latter, unquestionably an indulgence, were great apart from the inevitable wasp invasion. There are certainly plenty of them this year as we have made our travels so far. A person who is a beekeeper whom I know has said he has not known so many for a long time and has had to adjust his numerous hives to stop them from attacking and killing the hives.
Uppingham scored extra points because of the presence of an old fashioned hardware shop. I could spend hours in places like this – and lots of money – but settled for small cable ties for the lights for the canopy, and some strong white tape to tidy up Patsy’s damaged rear.
Sandra:
Oh yes, sorry I forgot. One of the nights we were at Refectory Farm site we had a lovely chip meal from a spotless fish and chip shop in Uppingham. It is lovely to be able to ring the changes too and give Richard a night off from cooking. Whilst on that point, it must go on record that the food has been superb, such accomplishments in a caravan with a slow cooker and a newly acquired air fryer haven been delicious indeed. Thank you.
If there’s one thing I enjoy more than cooking at home it’s doing it in the ‘van and I too have loved the food we’ve turned out – it’s very much a joint effort. Sandra will usually sort the girls’ food first, then we’ll get cracking. Often prepping something to go in the slow pot for the following night too. An accompanying beer of two helps of course. The washing up is less enjoyable, particularly on a non-serviced pitch!
Sandra:
Our next move was slightly longer – about 2 ½ hours drive across the Midlands, the inevitable A14, M6, M42, M5 and onto A roads.
We had to follow a lengthy detour, on the advice of the owners, very sensible too it was. The roads around the site are numerous and SAT NAV would take you down very narrow lanes indeed. Add into that the whole area seemed to be under siege by the repair workers – there were road closures and diversion signs all over the place! So many that you easily lost which diversion sign you were following.
You could almost sense the frustration in the voice of the nice lady on Google Maps when I ignored her instructions to turn down a single track lane about the width of the caravan! I imagined her throwing a strop and saying “go your own bloody way then!”
Sandra:
We finally arrived at the next stop a CS just outside the village of Martley in Worcestershire – again a very well appointed site with fully serviced pitch, a shower block and toilets plus plenty of room to set up home. The slight downside, at least during our week there, was the road noise, certainly during rush hour and somewhat during the day. It was quieter at night however which was something. The reason for this was simple – all the road closures around were forcing large volumes of traffic onto the road including all the vans, HGVs servicing a very large cake making factory on the outskirts of Worcester some 5 miles away. Add into this the farm machinery – lots of harvesting going on 24/7 and it did get quite busy, plus not a very wide road either.
We were to make several trips from here, including plenty of rest periods too:
We were in need of caravanning supplies and a quick Internet search found a shop which was on the way to Malvern. Richard and I had visited Malvern a few years ago, so combining all the requirements made sense. It was another scorching hot day, so we opted to make for the Park by the theatre which promised seats in shade, a cafe and toilets. We popped Iona in her pushchair and Skye was confined to the grass. We found a shady spot with seats and sat down to eat our usual picnic lunch. The rest of the visit was a drive round from the air conditioning comfort of the car.
What I had not realised, or more likely long since forgotten, given I studied music at school, that just outside of Worcester is Elgar’s birthplace. Given that fact and it is a NT place, (I am a member), and a short 5 minute drive from site, we decided to make a trip. The gardens were beautiful and we had seats in the shade with the girls whilst we took turns to look round the very modest cottage. A very enjoyable visit indeed. It was another very hot day but the total dog welcoming place including the cafe made for a very interesting visit indeed.
My knowledge of Elgar stemmed only from Last Night of the Proms but it was, nevertheless a fascinating place to visit, an unpretentious and delightful cottage that I’d happily call home. There was a demonstration of an early gramophone player and a brief history of recorded music which was fascinating. Elgar was the first person to record at the famous Abbey Road studios in London.
Sandra:
Another visit was to Droitwich Spa. This was a place I used to visit but it was some time ago, now pedestrianised, a new ring road and reinstatement of a large section of previously filled in canal, we found ourselves in a very different place and I really struggled to get my bearings. We eventually found a nice cafe on the High Street with outdoor seating. It was somewhat cooler than of late, so a sit outside and a coffee was very pleasant indeed. We picked up a few supplies, due to the heat, we were having to shop little and often, fridge was doing well but it was a struggle. New fans did help though when they arrived.
A warm Saturday afternoon saw us headed to Stourport-on-Severn – Sandra had located ‘Treasure Island’ – a fun fair by the river with, of course, a Waltzer and I was able to notch up my 26th machine with a couple of rides.
Afterwards we tried in vain to park near Stourport Basin for a stroll around the waterside, but there were no parking spaces that didn’t threaten steep financial penalties or the wrath of residents, so we headed instead to the Riverside area for an ice cream and a short stroll by the Severn.
And that’s it for Part 3. More to come as we headed west into Wales.