We were itching to set off! It has felt a long time coming. The neighbours came out to see us off and wish us well on our trip. They are so excited for us 😁
The journey to our first stop was uneventful, luckily. It was 150 miles and we had a short stop enroute. We are overnighting at The Swan Inn at Whiston with a meal at the pub. Beautiful weather. Fingers crossed for more of this where we're headed.
We didn't want to take the normal route up the
A34 so went a slightly different way to join it at Newbury. We went through some lovely villages and
there were some beautiful hedgerow flowers enroute.
Our first port of call was Balmers CF at Wigginton near Tring. It was a field on a small farm that opens to disadvantaged children so there were a few animal noises around which was lovely.
 |
| The chickens kept following Mike around |
Aldbury is a lovely quaint village and has been the centre of a few TV programmes. Unfortunately, the café we had found out about was closed so we settled for a seat by the village pond, until, that is, I was ‘christened’ by the pigeons in the tree above.
We set off back up the hill following some serious cyclists - and managed to keep up with them but we do have batteries on our bikes. They turned off before the real hill though - they obviously knew what to expect. In actual fact, the hill was OK and not too arduous at all. We went over a canal and it took me back to our canal trip last year. The towpath would have certainly made for easier cycling.
We stopped at the café/shop in Wigginton and sat outside with our tea and cake. The sun was really hot - a lovely change. It was a real central hub for the village and many people converged there when the schools finished for the day.
Back to the field and sitting out in the sunshine was lovely but the wind was chilly so only stood it for an hour or so. Good nights sleep.
Thursday - The Plough, Caton near Cambridge
Our stop today is Cambridge, or rather just outside at Coton at a pub called The Plough, found on Search4sites. It was an easy entrance and parked up in the field through the carpark and we are the only ones here. Looks like they use the field for gatherings such as bonfire night. A few broken bits of glass but nothing too drastic. Gorgeous weather and sitting outside, there is plenty of bird song but you can also hear distant road noise but that's not too bad
We got here around 11.30 so after a cuppa and a check of the indicator bulb, we set off on our bikes into Cambridge. The cycle way took us through some of the new buildings of the University of Cambridge. We had to ask about where the cycle route went and luckily there were some staff who were able to help us.
In Cambridge market place, we had to look for a free bit of fence to padlock our bikes to as there are plenty of bikes around! We had to carry around our batteries which became heavy and when Mike wanted to sit for a while, I continued having a look around and left my battery with him.
It was great to be in a University City and it took me back to by student days when my parents lived in Bristol and I wandered around Bristol up and around the University there. I passed by Kings College, which looked rather impressive.
I passed another rather ornate gate which may have also belonged to Kings College, I saw the Round Church, although I didn't go in and I also saw the Corpus Clock which has a grasshopper type insect moving a disk while a pendulum swings below it.
On the way back along the cycle track, we saw many punts in the river (at £20 each person) and a house with an observatory on its roof.
Dinner at the pub - not brilliant. It's a gastro pub and all the dishes on the
menu had posh sounding names. We had olives and Bruschetta with Balsamic and
Olive Oil to start which was lovely. The olives reminded us of the ones we used to marinate - gorgeous but the rest was a let down. The Fish and Chips
were oily and stodgy and the spinach & ricotta ravioli with tomato sauce was
bland and not very flavoursome at all. Still it was payment for our stay
overnight and we have been fed so can't complain too much. It is a very good stop for getting into
Cambridge on the bikes though!
Further travelling today across roundabouts with sculptures and canal barges on the River Cherwell. It really is warm for April. Even the wind is warm. The site at South Newington is a lovely site that is run in a nature-friendly way. So quiet. The field was rather on a hill so we had to park at the bottom near other vans. The grass was well cut and there was a small wooded area with short walks through it. Also well appointed picnic tables.
I took myself off for a walk across the fields (I found maps in the information area). A well gated and signposted walk. It went through the village of South Newington which is a lovely little village, very olde worlde and picture postcard.
Once out of the village, I took a slight detour down to the ford and sat there a while.
On the way back up to the road, I heard a very loud songbird in the tree so I stopped to look for it. As the trees are not in leaf yet, you'd think I'd be able to find it but no, not until it flew away. It was singing from the lowest branch of all as I was looking to the upper branches. No wonder it was loud! I remembered to set my Strava app for this walk and found that I had covered 2.3 miles - not a bad ramble on a hot day. The temperature in the van said 25°C!
On Mother's Day, our daughter Amy had given me a Daisy pot plant that she had crocheted. It's really good so I made a macramé holder for it and it fits quite well hanging from a hook that we didn't know what to use it for!
We sat outside for a while and even after dinner although I had a jumper on by that time. It was a clear night and we were able to see the stars too as there was very little light pollution.
Saturday - Elm Lea CS, Cerney Wick, Cotswold Water Park
We travelled along a few Roman roads on our way here. The owner came over to us when we arrived explaining about the field that was almost under water a few weeks ago! We managed to park on top of a mound (part of the old ridge 'n' furrow) just in case.
He also told us about the walks
around & about, the lakes, where to catch sight of birds and where to
go cycling. Unfortunately there was too
much information to take in.
After a cuppa, we set off for a walk and got a map from the information board. We found a bird hide that the owner was talking about and decided to go for that. We couldn't get down to any lakes, all the paths were tree lined, which was lovely but when you are wanting to see water, it was a little disappointing. The first lake was private and we had to circumnavigate that before arriving at another lake (not that you'd notice it) before heading down the path to the hide.
We returned the same way otherwise our walk
would have turned into a hike! 2.6
miles. Our feet felt like it was further
though. A nice cool beer when we got
back.
 |
| It's good to be retired |
It has been a wonderful trip away and I expect the beautiful weather had something to do with that but I didn't really want it to end - so that bodes well for our 'Highland Fling' in May/June/July.
Travel back home with about 40 mins hold up
through Marlborough. Yes you've guessed it - no work men to be seen just
someone operating the traffic lights and I swear our queue was missed on one
traffic light rotation.
En-route, we passed through Savernake Forest near Marlborough. Such lovely colours on the trees an d surprise, we drove straight through Marlborough without stopping! That hasn't been achieved for a long, long time. The road works have finally finished. (spoke too soon)
We've been here before and we are parked in
the same spot. Hard standing but not very level. This time, however, we managed to get up on a ramp (previously it hadn't made a difference then we
found out it was broken!). I think this is the most level we have ever been.
Muddy shoes though as I couldn't see where I
was walking on the field while we were parking up and there are lots of mole hills!
Lazy start to the day then a walk around the
village after breakfast. It's a lovely Cotswold village but no shops and only
a church and 1 pub that is sporadically open. The church has some wonderful
tapestry kneelers.
Maria and Adrian arrived around lunchtime. Had a cuppa and catch-up then went for a walk along Sabrina Way then over the fields, back into the village and of course the village pub, The Plough. We did partake
and sat by the log burner. It was lovely and toasty. Otis, the manager told us they had stopped
doing food partly due to the increase of national insurance they have to pay
for their staff. They now run it as a B&B and are open as a pub on Fridays
and Saturdays. They plan to to the odd evening function in the future, which
may be worth while keeping an eye out for.
The walk back was in the dark so it was lucky that we'd taken torches. M&A had bought some antipasti to have before our spag bol. Food
was delish and we had lots of talk and laughs to accompany it. A game of The
Great Game of Britain, where Mike won, and the evening was complete. It had
been a really nice day.
Sunday
M&A made bacon butties and used cheese
topped rolls which made a nice change. I
must admit sitting in their campervan made me realise just how much room we do
have in ours.
M&A and I went over to the church to see if
there was a service not really expecting anything as it was so quiet but when
we opened the door we saw the congregation.
We piled into the pew at the back of the church, Peggy the dog included.
The vicar started his sermon. On reflection, I think we joined the service just
at the point on the 2 minute silence. Oops. We apologised to the vicar at the
end and he said at least we came.
M&A then left for home. I went for a walk
that we found on the OS app. It was around 2.5km but as I was nearing the end
of it I felt I wanted to continue so did the loop we did yesterday along the
Sabrina Way - no stopping at the pub though this time.
Chill time in the afternoon, dinner and chat
and bed. Heard the owl again.
After breakfast, we set off to visit my Auntie Joan in Prestbury near Cheltenham. A little hairy driving in Cheltenham and the parking was along the road which was quite busy. Anyway, we managed to spend about an hour there then headed back home. I must remember I haven't done any cleaning this time (I usually do it before we leave a site)
Lovely relaxing and walking time away.
In the evening, we all went to the pub for our meal and dogs were allowed in too. We were well impressed with all the dogs in the pub as none of them made any noise whatever.
The food was excellent and good value for
money. We had a real good laugh and played Uno and I had a few more logical
questions. We were all feeling tired and thought it would be time to go but on
looking at the time it was only 8.30! We must be getting old. We thought that
was too early so had another drink and more laughs.
We kept the heating on overnight and we were
lovely and toasty.
Bacon and sausage butties for everyone
for breakfast which went down a treat then they all left as they have work on Monday.
We'd brought the bikes so we could take a ride
out during Sunday but had forgotten so much such as helmets and padlock
but also the pedal for Mike's bike which had to be removed to fit on the bike
rack. Last night, there was much ribbing Mike about wearing lycra!
We did go for a walk though and found the
source of the Thames (not very impressive) but it was good to get out and about
although there was quite cold wind.
 |
| The Source of the Thames is in the background at the edge of the trees |
 |
| Is that it? |
