Marsh Bolden, near Oxford

   The site is a little wet with a few slopes which could make for an interesting exit from the site – we’ll see...
   We're next to the Seven Stars pub which has recently been taken over by the people of the village. The site, however, is owned by the local farmer which I assume also owns the fields where the horses live. These horses, incidentally, are extremely friendly and come and nose at the caravan windows

and are very interested in the water bottles!  I do feel sorry for them though seeing them in the quagmire that is their field with no shelter other than the covers on their backs.  One of them doesn’t have a coat though and obviously hasn’t had a groom for some time with a matted coat and sorrowful look.  I do feel sorry for her.

   Well, this is the first weekend away with our friends Carol and John this year. Mike came to the site directly from his previous location at Drayton in the Clay. Coming from ‘clay’ to ‘marsh’ we wonder if we’re setting the standard for this years visits – we hope not!

  Carol and John were able to travel during the day so they were all taking up residence in the pub by the time I arrived.  Nice pub and they do food but we had decided to make our own food both nights to keep expenses down a bit. Carol cooked Friday night – sausage, egg, chips and peas then cheese and biscuits later – mmmm. As usual a good night was had by all. It wasn’t a late night either as we all felt really tired.

   Saturday saw us visiting Oxford. We used the Park and Ride. We had to buy a ticket before getting on the bus for £2 then remarked on how cheap the Park and Ride was compared to Salisbury. Little did we know that it was a further £2.25 each for the return ticket!  These Park and Rides are getting to be a real rip off. 

   Oxford is a lovely city due to the old architecture. I managed to find the Vault Cafe where we had a lovely organic lunch. We wandered the streets marvelling at the buildings & stonework before Carol and myself headed off to Primarnie and the men to the pub.  After that back to the caravan to feed the horses with the apples we’d bought.


   After a siesta for some – I think we tired Carol out!  We had dinner – Starters of Beetroot and Horseradish and Humus dips with pitas, Corn beef Hash and new spuds then Bread & Butter Pudding and ice cream. We know how to live! Absolutely stuffed afterwards though! We also played the ‘Michael’ card game and found it was actually quite good.

  There was a wedding in the village and it must have been in a marquee as the music was very loud. We also had a few neighbours who also went to it; a camper van who parked very close to Carol & Johns caravan and also a tent! Music actually stopped at 11.30 which was a surprise.

It had been raining on and off all through Saturday so when it was time to set off on Sunday we did wonder how we would all fair.  C&J were the first to set off.  They did slip and slide a little but a bit of pushing got them onto terra firma and away.  The camper van then left with no problem then Mike took a quick run at the slope and managed it OK.

Mike took a route home that wasn’t direct but as it was windy perhaps a little less likely to catch. We arrived home to find our neighbour in our garden repairing the fence the wind, on a previous occasion, had blown down.  What a star.

Boars Head Hotel, Draycott in the Clay, near Uttoxeter

    Easy to find location without any single track roads. Easy entrance and access to field. Field is well drained even though the area had recently had snow. It is also level! Water and electric easily accessible even though part had been cordoned off for drainage.
    Friday saw Mike and me winging our way up the A34 and A40 towards Birmingham. It was a boring journey for me as I was in my car following Mike so I didn’t see much other than the back end of our caravan! The reason I’ve got my own car is that I have to return on Monday whereas Mike is staying to attend a course for his caravan servicing business. We’ve said for a while that we’d like to go to the Peak District so this is an ideal opportunity.

   First things first – kettle on for a cuppa. We also had Poppy Seed cake that I’d bought from home Mmmmm. We wondered whether our friends Jackie and Wayne would like to meet us for dinner that evening. We would be eating at the hotel anyway. They were unable to but we arranged to meet up the following evening.

   Mike and I went for a look around Uttoxeter. We were glad we only paid for a short while as we didn’t find very much to see. We did find the Tesco’s though for shopping when we need to. There are a few roundabouts worth a mention though.

 
    One had a sculpture of a bull and the other a half man half animal (horse?). They did look interesting although I’m not sure the pictures do them justice.

   We ate in the carvery at the hotel on Friday evening. I saw Seafood Lasagne on the menu board and fancied that. What I didn’t know was that it was a starter. After a little confusion I ordered that with a side order of garlic bread. It was nice. Mike had a steak Pie which he enjoyed. There was also a restaurant area with an a la carte menu.

   Friday night was cold! - minus 3 degrees!   We were lovely and toasty in the huge heavy quilt but getting up during the night was a case of ‘Do I really need to’ as we’d not left the heating on. The following morning we discovered the water had frozen in the water container although as the sun was on that side, it didn’t take long to defrost. 

   Saturday and we started off going to Burton on Trent but didn’t stay long. We wanted to get some walking in so set of for Cromford to do part of the Derwent Valley Walks. We parked at the station then set off and we went up and up and up over the fields. We climbed into the snow line!

    Then we couldn’t find the path we needed to get to the canal so we followed another path down and eventually onto the road and back to the car.

 
  We then decided to go to Matlock Bath. I’d been there once before but Mike hadn’t. When we got there it was clear the biking fraternity from the whole of Derbyshire had also decided to visit! Bikes lined almost every part of the road sides. That would have been us a while ago. We continued on out the other side and on further. Little did we know that Matlock was the next town. We parked up there and had something to eat at the Peli Deli.  Lovely sandwich and salads. We sat in the window seats and watched the world go by. Just opposite was a park and it was so nice to see families playing and kicking a football around. It was a lovely day! A mooch around then back to the car and a slow meander back to the caravan for a siesta before dinner with Jackie and Wayne.

   They arrived early and caught me fast asleep!  Over to the hotel and drinks by a roaring fire. It was lovely and cozy. It was good to catch up with them again. We don’t see that much of them. We had a nice meal and more chat then said our goodbyes for a couple of weeks when we would be back up to attend a ball with them. When Mike and I returned to the caravan it was lovely and toasty as we’d left the heating on low.

   Sunday saw us visiting my brother and his family in Cheadle. Again, it was good to catch up with them too. After a coffee and a chat we went on to Leek to have a look around. We were surprised to find a market on even though it was Sunday. The pies looked rather tasty so we bought a few for our dinner that night.  We then went hunting for a Halfords as the side mirror glass had simply dropped out when I closed the passenger door of the car! We can’t think why that should have happened other than it being cold. We didn’t find a Halfords but no doubt Mike will sort it out during the week  – ‘just needs adjusting!’

  Mike stayed the week then headed down to Marsh Bolden near Oxford for a weekend of caravanning fun with our dear friends Carol and John.