Thursday
It's been a day short of 3 months since we last went away in the caravan so to take advantage of the long weekend, we set off on Thursday. It should have been a 2 hour journey but took us about 4 hours because of a hold-up in Marlborough. Anyway, we arrived safely and set up and there was details on the notice board of where our pitch was.
Good Friday
Rain is forecast for around lunch time and the rest of the weekend, so we decided to make
the most of the better weather and take a walk. On the site, there us a shed
with various tourist information bits
and pieces and among them a map of the orchards and walk-ways. There looked to
be a path over to the pub, the Yew Tree in Peterstowe so we headed that way.
Of course, we took the wrong path and ended up in a rather
lovely and very ornate garden. A lovely young Labrador barked at us but was
extremely friendly. This alerted the owner of the house to come out. It was the
owner of the camp site too so luckily, we'd met him before. He explained we
had taken the wrong path and that we would need to ‘hop' over the fence to get
on the right track. Well we did as told
all bar the hopping bit but so did the dog ‘Lilly'. She joined us for about
half a mile. It was lovely having a dog
join us. However, when she started playing with some newly emerged bumble bees, we
thought we’d better take her back. Her
owner had started looking for her so she gladly went with him.
We carried on our walk around the arable field and eventually
ended up on the road and a short distance to the pub. We had certainly earned
our sit down and coffee.
The Yew Tree was a working village pub, rough and ready but extremely
friendly. There was music on in the evening but couldn't book a table.
The walk back was easier. Mike mapped it and it took us
(going the right way) 28 mins and was 1.4 miles.
Time for a rest and tea and biscuits!
Ross-on-Wye is a cute little town . The half hour parking that we
took didn't do it justice so will have to come back for another visit. It's an ‘old
style town with individual, independent shops but recognisable show too. Some
quirky builds and paint jobs on buildings too. A little hilly in places.
We drove to the Yew Tree in the evening but didn’t stop. The
car park was packed so we knew we wouldn't get a seat, let alone food! The barman did warn us to arrive around 6pm but we thought that a little early seeing as the music didn't start 'til 9.
We ended up at the next village at the Kings Arms. Very much
an eating pub with plenty of tables but that detracted somewhat from the
ambiance of a pub. The food was ok but nothing to write home about.
Spent the evening back at the van chilling with a bottle of red and
chocolate!
Saturday
A wonderful nights sleep! Mike had to wake me up as we had
go be in Gloucester for a particular time. So after a rushed breakfast we headed off.
Following the required visit to collect a hitch lock, we
headed in Gloucester for a look around. There was a set of statues over a jewellers' that looked like it should chime on the hour so we went for a coffee in
the café opposite to wait...... and yes it did chime although I was a little
disappointed that at 12 midday not all the bells chimed. We later found out the other chimes were for
the quarter hours. Nevertheless still different and a crowd pull.
We later visited the Cathedral and had a look around as it has some amazing stained glass windows.
Cakes and flowers bought we then set off to Cheltenham to visit
my Aunt and Uncle. It was a lively few hours catching up and swapping photos.
Easter Sunday
Better weather than was forecast so we drove to the Forest of Dean. Stopped at Beechenhurst and did part of the sculpture trail. We found 7 out of 15 sculptures but only walked part of the trail. That took us 1½ hours.Back at the site and we decided to move the caravan onto a hard standing area as the rain was due to come in and last overnight. Thus would make getting off the site very iffy. It didn’t take us long and both Mike and I used our reversing skills in the process. I certainly need more experience but unfortunately don’t get it.
I went for another walk around the fruit trees, saw Lilly again and her owner Andrew. We spoke about the wood he found whilst doing up the barns which he turned into coffins, one for him and one for the ‘boss. That naturally lead onto death but not in a morbid way.
Back at the van, a drink and some needle felting ready for meeting the girls next month.
I’m getting used to this life. Shame about working.
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