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.