The Road to Somewhere Part 7 – The end is nigh.

Ever felt like you’re going to drown in your own snot? I bet you’ve never read a blog starting with that sentence before! But the Cetirizine which has done such a superb job over the summer has been found wanting in the last couple of days due, I suspect, to the cornfields being cut near our last site. However we have moved on and are enjoying a few days at the Caravan & Motorhome Club site at Alderstead Heath in Surrey. A nice short run beckons Wednesday when we return home.

Right, where we? Ah yes, we had a good week down in North Devon with my cousin and family. The weather did it’s best to spoil it but there were some bright moments to be had. The evening down at little Barricane Beach – just around the coastline from Woolacombe – devouring Sri Lankan curry was lovely.

Another highlight and one in which the weather did play a positive role was our fishing expedition. I didn’t catch many – less than one to be precise – and I wasn't the only one to draw a blank but the star of the show was my cousin Andy who, within fifteen minutes of casting, hooked a Shark.  It was a fighter and took some getting aboard, and even then continued to put up a very spirited fight. Even the more experienced crew couldn’t handle it – and those teeth would have done some serious damage - but we did get the chance to grab some quick photos before it was returned to the water. Fishing aside it was great to be on the water with the sun shining and getting a look at the lovely coastline too.

My birthday is not something I like to celebrate these days but to commiserate Janet cooked a beautiful roast beef dinner with all the trimmings – for ten of us mind – all from the confines of her caravan kitchen. It tasted superb – but then Janet’s cooking always does – and was really appreciated by all.

Another bright day saw myself and Trev head in to Exmoor, pausing first at Simonsbath for some lens clicking, then at Exford for a cream tea. At a pub. Yes, that’s right. We stopped at a pub and I didn’t have a pint. Make a note, it’s rare. But the tea and scones were delicious.

We continued, emerging on the coast at Minehead and returned via Porlock, which looked delightful but parking was impossible. There were no such issues right down on the coast at Porlock Weir however. What a cracking spot. Tea was taken – along with sausage and chips at a lovely spot overlooking the harbour. I think I’ll leave that upcoming cholesterol check a little longer.

We could have re-joined the main coast road by turning tail and heading back to Porlock but instead turned left and took the private Worthy Toll Road, dropping two quid in the slot for the privilege. ‘Road’ is perhaps overdoing it a bit – there was some tarmac here and there – but it was good fun and took us through some lovely countryside.

The last full day saw Sarah – Andy & Janet’s eldest – say goodbye to her twenties. We celebrated with a pub lunch in land. Eating out is easy for most of us but for Sarah and daughter Esmae it’s a lot more tricky, them both being Coeliacs. The Muddiford Inn offered an extensive gluten free menu and judging by the empty plates appeared to be enjoyed by all.

After an overnight stop in Cirencester it was back to Cambridge and time for the sad task of clearing HRH’s bungalow. We’d furnished her room at the home with a fair but of stuff but there was still plenty left – some was to be distributed to children and grand children – but there was still plenty that needed to be disposed of.

A pause in the proceedings came on Thursday, thanks to a trip to the coast. The care home had planned a day out for some of the residents – including HRH – and were short of pushers. Of wheelchairs that is. We went to Hunstanton and were rewarded with a chippy and ice cream for our efforts. More importantly Trev's Mum enjoyed it too and hopefully it helped her integrate with her new neighbours at the home.

Friday brought with it our last day in Cambridge and the day that we handed the keys to Hilda’s bungalow back to the council. The end of an era as she’d lived there for at least twenty-five years. Sad obviously but given how ill she was at the beginning of July, there has been about the best possible outcome – for her and Trev and her family. She is being fed, watered and cared for in a safe, secure and pleasant environment. It’s still early days but she does appear to be settling in well.

So, that was our summer getaway. Fun eh? Well, there have been some good moments – meeting up with friends and family and discovering some lovely new campsites such as Riverside and Lynchets Farm as well as returning to old favourites like Highfield Farm Touring Park in Comberton and Warcombe Farm in Devon. There was as well the night away from the caravan in Swindon where we were invited to the launch of the 2018 Bailey Unicorn caravan range.

Overall it’s not a summer I will remember with particular fondness though. Another leading member of the cast in this summers’ blockbuster has been my sodding left knee. It’s been fine – as long as I don’t use it for it’s intended purpose – like walking. It’s got me down and I’m not ashamed to admit that it brought me to tears on a few occasions both in pain and frustration though I don’t doubt the events of the summer played their part in that too. It’s been a trying time for many however.

Right, onwards and upwards – what’s next. Well, term starts next week, so driving duties resume – and fortunately that’s one thing I can still do even with the aforementioned knee. It’s traditionally a busy term so hopefully there will be lots of overtime to keep the caravan trips coming and the beer flowing. Patsy our dear old Coachman caravan gets the longest rest of the year – until the end of October when it’s half term and we have our 9th Twittercamp – at the Camping & Caravan Club site near Devizes. All are welcome – just get in touch for more details. In the interim here’s product reviews to be written up and lots of site arrival videos to do as well. We’ll get there.

Ok, until then, thanks for sticking with us this summer. It’s certainly been different.

Cheers

Rich & Trev.

The Road to Somewhere Part 2 – Fish Finger anyone?

Yes, another nice cryptic title for you, although those who have kept abreast of our exploits on Facebook and Twitter recently will know what I’m on about. If you haven’t – stay tuned.

So, what have we been up to? Well, more 65 mile round trips to Addenbrookes Hospital to see HRH a.k.a Trev’s Mum, who seems to be improving although the list of things they are finding wrong with her is growing and growing. At 91 (nearly 92 you know) it’s hardly surprising, although If she were a car going through and MOT I’d be worried. No idea yet though when she’ll be out so we’ve booked a CL site south of the city and much closer to the hospital which we’ll be moving on to Sunday. It says on the website that the nearest pub is 300 yards away, although of course that is of absolutely no interest to us. At all. In any way. Whatsoever….

We’ve been visiting in the mornings – anyone local will tell you what a nightmare getting out of Cambridge is at rush hour. So we’ve been around when lunch arrives on the ward. Yesterday Hilda had ordered fish fingers, chips and mushy peas. Imagine her face then when it turns up with one, yes just one, fish finger. The expression on her face was priceless – although one I’ve seen many times before. Incredulousness mixed with severe disapproval. The poor assistant didn’t know where to look and hurriedly returned to the mobile servery to see to see if another could be located. It couldn’t, there were none left. The withering look eased only slightly when an extra portion of pudding was promised. It made my day – mean I know – but at the same time the situation gave two clear signs that she was feeling better – appetite and moaning….

Away from the hospital, there isn’t much else to report although we have been into Littleport again and found something of interest thanks to Steve Buckley who gave us the heads up on Facebook:

It’s a statue (nothing get’s past me does it!) of a motorbike erected in 2003 to commemorate 100 years of the Harley Davidson company. All very nice but what’s that got to do with Littleport? Well, William Sylvester Harley was the co-founder of the company in the USA in 1903 and his parents – William Harley Senior and Mary Smith  - came from Littleport and emigrated around 1859.

Littleport may seem a quiet sleep place now – occasional traffic aside - but it wasn’t always the case. In May 1816 riots broke out, triggered not least by high unemployment and spiralling grain costs. A number of  - and woman were brought before the court following the riots. Some were acquitted and for those convicted, imprisonment, execution or transport to Australia followed. For a more in depth look you may want to visit the relevant Wikipedia page HERE.

That’s really been it, sightseeing wise and to be honest I’m not that bothered. It’s been nice just to relax and enjoy what summer caravanning has to offer. Chilling with a book and cooking, eating – and yes drinking – outside. Whilst Trev almost invariably cooks when we’re at home – thanks not least to our working hours, I’m happy to pick up the reins – or should that be tongs – when there is some cremating to be done. And yes, that is me not wearing a long leather coat…

After two nights of cooking ‘at home’ though it’s back to the pub tonight as we have some friends joining us that we haven’t seen for far too long. The Swan on the River is as it’s name suggests and just 400 yards or so away and across a bridge. The beers – the regular Doom Bar and the guesting Workie Ticket, all the way from Tyne & Wear – have been in excellent nick. I was really pleased to find ‘Workie’ on draught after having tried the bottled version up in Northumberland over three years ago. The other two pubs in Littleport have offered nothing new in the way of ‘research’ – more well known ales from Cornwall and from the Suffolk coast.

Right that’s it for now. Just a little one I know (Not the first time I’ve had to utter that phrase sadly….) Hopefully next time I’ll have some pictures of this lovely site for you.

Until then, cheers!

Summertime in Seven Part 6 – Essex and a Wedding

Next up in our summer jaunt was Essex, in the guise of Colchester, the reason for which should, hopefully, be reasonably clear from the title! Another hassle free trip of around 60 miles from Cambridgeshire, heading south on the M11, then east on the A120 at Stanstead, hopping on the A12 for a short while before turning off for the site, conveniently nestled just off the roundabout. Our bright red tug Rosie – although not as bright as she could be if someone could be arsed to clean her – returned another excellent 31 mpg, belying her hundred plus thousand miles. Of course being naturally erm, careful, I would always like more but have to remember that our caravan is no lightweight, although at least this time of year there’s no poncey long leather coats and associated garb weighing her down.

We’d checked the site out before – when visiting my cousin just before Christmas – and whilst it was inevitably going to be a bit noisy given it’s location, it was that which made it ideal. In fact even more so than we had imagined.

Check out our site arrival video on You Tube HERE and photo’s of the site HERE

Caravanning has been good for many things for us, but none more so than hooking up again with my cousin who is my closest – and almost only - family. There’s about 13 years between us and has always been at least 60 or so miles. He got married and had kids and I well, didn’t. Not the kids bit anyway! We did used to meet up but mostly at all too frequent funerals and we lost our Mum’s within six months of one another.

It was a post on Facebook that came to the attention of one of Andy’s girls that we were staying in the ‘van, not to far away in Weeley and we met up with my cousin Andy and his wife Janet for a meal. Wind forward a year or so and they’ve bought a caravan and we’re now meeting up a regular intervals and finding that we have more and more in common.

Anyway, back to the weekend. There was to be a fellas pre wedding briefing – i.e something to eat and a few beers -on the Friday night which we were invited to. Handily it was only a short walk from the campsite to the pub and as well as my cousin, grandson Braydon, his youngest daughters partner Tim and groom Derek we got to meet for the first time Derek’s brother and best man Sean, Dad Henry and 2nd cousin Aaron. It was a great evening – the grog and grub were good, the conversation flowed and hopefully any pre-match nerves were steadied.

A fry up was a necessity Saturday morning but at least we had nowt else to do until the ceremony at two, so a nice late morning snooze ensued until it was time to get scrubbed up and ready. Unusually for me I’d eschewed the chance to get dressed up in a suit, mainly because it was unlikely that any of ‘em would fit, because, as we all know, clothes tend to shrink over the years. Knowing that I always put on a few pounds when away, I’d packed the shirt most likely to still fit but even that was depressingly tight. Nevertheless we emerged reasonably smart and headed off up the A12 in the direction of the church and, beforehand, a pub for a quick pint.

The church at Stratford St Mary over the border in Suffolk was where my cousin got married some 30 years ago although our most recent visit was for Braydon’s Christening around 10 years ago. One of the few occasions we met that wasn’t for a funeral.

We arrived at the church before the scheduled 2pm kick off, but soon had to scuttle inside and take our seats as the bride had had the temerity to actually arrive on time. Andy of course accompanied Sarah in and of course she looked lovely as did the bridesmaids. The men looked very smart in their morning suits too.

The ceremony was lovely – it felt natural and ‘right’ not a carefully staged show. The choice of hymns took me back to my childhood – school assembly was probably the last time I sung them – or at least mouthed the words!

With the photo’s taken in the church yard it was time to hot foot it back to Colchester for the reception – to be held at a golf club, again not too far from our site. A glass of bubbly was presented on arrival which we gratefully accepted but were  first at the bar seeking out a pint. No real ale sadly but the keg IPA would do.

With more photo’s taken by the official snapper it was time to sit down for the reception – and what a cracking job the golf club had done in dressing the venue – it looked stunning.

The all important speeches had been originally scheduled before the meal – or so we thought, but we were going to get our feed first. Whether this was to allow the speakers more time to ingest some more Dutch courage I couldn’t possibly say, however my belly was extremely grateful. The meal – a hog roast – was delicious and I welcomed the offer of seconds, although the already overburdened buttons on my shirt didn’t!

It was finally time for the speeches. My cousin, not showing a hint of nerves opened the show with a largely adlibbed speech although clearly the rehearsal – such as it was – in the pub the night before – helped no end!

In a break from tradition both the bride Sarah and her bridesmaid and younger sister Amanda chipped in with their own and the best man Sean closed the show.

There is a tradition, or protocol – well out of date - that says children follow marriage, not the other way around. That was at one time the only acceptable order, but life with all the blows it can dispense can get in the way of such things, knocking you down many times on the way. Thus it was Sarah’s 10 year old son Braydon who stole the show and gave an entertaining and very moving speech about now them being a family that brought a tear to many an eye in the room including mine. It was a moment I will remember for a long long while.

With a pause in proceedings after the speeches, there was only one option – the driving range next door! Myself and Trev went with Tim whose Dad was soon to join us. Tim’s phone was soon ringing with the news that the cake was about to be cut but before we knew it, the new Husband & Wife had arrived to join us! It was great fun – one of those impromptu things and personally, though I haven't played for years, have never ever hit a golf ball better. Clearly all that lubrication in the guise of gassy IPA paid had off.

Following the cutting of the cake it was time for the first dance before everyone had a chance to join in. For once I kept well clear but there was plenty on the dance floor acquitting themselves far better than I could have done. The evening buffet came out a short while later and that was the focus of my attention much to my straining shirts chagrin.

After the buffet energy levels began to seriously flag and it was time to say goodbye. On the way home we reflected on what a wonderful day it had been and how much I had enjoyed reconnecting with my family.

Last summer in France was about bread – lots and lots of it. It became an addiction. This year seems to be about bacon – well pork at least. With reserves in Patsy’s fridge at an all time low – i.e. zero – we went in search of a fry up and a Harvester just up the road duly provided. Our reserves having been recharged it was now Rosie’s turn with a fill of diesel and we took the opportunity to restock the fridge as well. You can guess what with, but some beef and chicken made it in along side the various regions of Pinky & Perky.

Dinner was at Andy & Janet’s with Jan producing another truly fine roast dinner. We had the inevitable de-brief about the wedding and all agreed what a great day it was and we mused about when their other daughter – Amanda - was likely to tie the knot with Tim. Somewhere exotic had been mooted by them and the four of us agreed that would be fine as long as there’s a caravan site nearby!

Before we left Andy produced some ‘sides’ that he had purchased to attach to the pull out canopy on his caravan. Said canopy suffered some storm damage in the spring and is now awaiting it’s fate in his back garden. We have the same canopy Andy said we could have them. Never ones to turn down a freebee, we happily accepted them and they’ve already been put to use at our current site. Thanks once again Andy.

And our weekend in Colchester and Essex was over, but what a great weekend it was. The good news is that we will be meeting up with Andy & Janet again at our penultimate site of the summer, down in Suffolk in just over a week.

One last thing – the photo’s are not the best. I decided to use my cheap and cheerful phone rather than lug the DSLR about and regretted it as soon as I started snapping. Still, some photo’s are better than none, although I didn’t manage to get every family member. Trev has also put together a slide show with a selection of photos from us and others that you can view HERE. I hope you enjoy.

Next up, Norfolk…..