30th April 2010 - May Day Weekend, Minnows

We decided to go to The Minnows, affiliated caravan club site at Sampford Peverell near Tiverton. Not too far away, Just an hour ‘s drive. On the way back from Bath at Easter we called into see this site and it looked OK. When I got home I did some research and found out that it was next to the Grand Western Canal Country Park.

Billy booked us in for May Day weekend and I mentioned it to my sister who also has a motor home ( lot larger than ours).

We left after work on Friday and when we arrived my sister (Sue)and her husband (Glen) were already there and had saved us a pitch next to them.

It was the first time we had been away with them with our campers, although in the past (8 years ago) we used to regularly go with them when we both had caravans.

We pitched the camper and went into Sue and Glens’ van for the evening where we sat watching caravanners pitch up. It reminded us of how much easier it is with a campervan.

1st April 2010

On Saturday, Billy and I decided to go in Taunton shopping., we left Sue and Glen deciding what they wanted to do. They have 2 cocker spaniels so do not like to go far without them.

Billy and I drove to the Gateway Park and Ride (half an hour away) where there is no height barrier. This is a new park and ride that opened the beginning of April, we paid our £2 each return and headed off to Taunton. Taunton was bigger than I thought it would be, with all the major shops, including a Debenhams.

When we were in Taunton it started to rain but when we got back to the Minnows the sun came out. Sue and Glen were just sitting down for a cuppa (good timing) so we joined them for tea and then Billy decided to put the awning up.

We thought about flashing up the barbecue but decided against it because we had not bought anything to cook. Instead we walked along the canal to the pub (15 mins). There is a choice of 2 pubs, The Globe and the Merrie Meade. We decided on the Merrie Meade (mainly because they had doombar ale and homemade chips). We had a nice meal and walked back along the canal tow path just as it was getting dark

2nd April 2010

Not a brilliant day weatherwise, although not as much rain as yesterday. We decided it was not good for cycling though so drove to Chelston Motorhomes, which was the off the next junction on the M5. Sue and Glen decided they would come with us so they hopped on the bus and off we went. When we got back it was a bit windy so we all had lunch in the awning where we were sheltered from the wind.

Again not the weather for a barbecue so we spent the evening in Sue and Glen’s motorhome.

3rd June – Bank Holiday Monday

Last day at the Minnows and although the weather was not brilliant we did not want to rush home.

After breakfast we decided to go for a walk along the canal tow path with Sue, Glen and their dogs (Magic and Trix)

We were out about an hour and when we got back we took the awning down and prepared to leave.

We headed off to Tiverton as we had hoped to see the end of the canal on our bikes, but did not get the bikes off the camper due to the weather, also Sue and Glen did not have bikes.

We arrived at the canal in Tiverton where there were a couple of cafes, one of them being a barge on the canal. We took some photos and left, making our way home without using the motorway.

4th June – Day out in the camper

We both had the day off work to finish the weekend off, so we decided to drive into Cornwall.

We picked up some pasties from the butcher in Tideford.and drove to Falmouth, we parked up overlooking the beach. It was a bit drafty but we pulled back the door and sat enjoying the sunshine, sheltered from the wind. We ate our pasties and stayed about an hour just enjoying the view and the relaxation.

Several people walked by and acknowledged us.

We then walked through the town before returning home.

10th April 2010 - Trip to Cornwall to try my new bike

Weather forecast was good for weekend so decided to try my new bike out.
We had always said we would like to go on the camel trail.


We did not leave until Saturday, giving me time on Friday night to surf the internet and look for a pub stopover not too far from the Camel Trail.


We headed off to Padstow at 12 noon on Saturday and arrived at the Halfway House in St Jiidgey (http://www.halfwayhouse-stjidgey.co.uk//) but the field they use for campers was soggy however they said we could park at the front, the pitch fee would be £7.50 but this would be waived if we ate in the pub.


We agreed to come back later and booked a table in the restaurant.


We asked the way to the Camel Trail and the landlady drew a map of somewhere we could go with a small camper and your own bikes.


We drove down some narrow winding roads and found ourselves at Old Town Quay.

Lovely spot and camel trail was above, we cycled to Padstow, we did not stop as we had been to Padstow previously so we cycled back to the camper, boiled up the kettle for a brew which we took up on the Camel Trail to admire the view.



We decided to take a look at Padstow Touring Park, (http://www.padstowtouringpark.co.uk//) another site I had found on the internet. It looked good and we ended up booking a pitch for Spring bank holiday after being told may day bank holiday weekend is very busy in Padstow as it is Obby Oss Festival in Padstow.


When we arrived back at the Halfway House we changed and went across for dinner. We had a lovely meal, a couple of glasses of wine and retired to bed.


We were told that breakfast would be served between 8 and 9 in the morning if we wanted it.

6th April - New Bike

Billy has been going on at me to get a new bike and we have been looking for a ladies large frame bike. In the past I have had a man's bike but not been comfortable.

We decided that today would be the day to look around and headed off to Partridge Cycles at Exeter in the camper.

We found a bike straight away, which was odd as we had looked elsewhere and not seen anything suitable.

The saddle was a bit uncomfortable so I changed it for another one and then put it in the camper and I was the proud own of a new Giant Expression.

We then continued our day with a visit to Martins of Exeter to look around campers for ideas.

Then we continued to Stoke Gabriel on the river Dart to look at the Ramslade Caravan club site. We drove down to the river and parked up in the car park. It was now 16:50, the car park attendant asked if we were stopping as he would only charge half the price due the time. We paid £1.50 and went into the cafe for a cream tea. We got chatting to locals and asked how long you could stay in the car park and were told the car park attendant left at 5pm and does not return until the morning, so they did not see any problem staying there anytime (although they did say there was a sign that said no overnight parking) They could not believe that the car park attendant had charged us when he was leaving 10 minutes later. Nor could we
but we will be back as it is a lovely place to visit.

Easter 2010 - Bath Marina and Caravan Site

Thursday 1st April


We had planned to go to Bath Marina Caravan site (http://www.bwml.co.uk/marina/ meet my sister and her husband, but they could not make it so we left after work on Thursday and arrived at the site at 21.30.


It was dark so we could not see a lot, the office was closed but our paperwork was waiting for us outside with our pitch number and directions of where to go.


We pitched for the night and settled in for the weekend.


2nd April 2010



Woke on Good Friday and found out that Park and Ride was still running.


It was pouring with rain so we decided to take the


Park and Ride to Bath, we dodged the raindrops but had a good day looking around the little curiosity shops
We had a coffee at Costa in WH Smith and Lunch in Strada -courtesy of Tesco reward vouchers. First time in a Strada but not much choice on menu for me.


In the evening we walked to The Dolphin pub (15 mins away)


We had a good meal,they were doing specials, buy a main meal and get starter free.


- Breaded Garlic mushrooms and Beef Stroganoff - very nice


We decided that there was still a lot more to see in Bath so we would return the next day.

3rd April 2010


Woke to our neighbours letting us know we had a puncture, not sure why, we had not been anywhere in van since arriving on Thursday night. Also on Friday Billy had been looking at the area by the tyre and he would have noticed the flat.

Billy put spare on and then we had to find a garage to fix the spare.


Luckily we found a HI Q not far away, they repaired the tyre and checked all the other tyres. The problem was with the valve, but the guy did not know how it may have happened.


Better late than never we took the park and ride into Bath again, it was raining a bit but not as much as the day before and as the day went on it brightened up.


We had late tea at the Cafe Rouge, again courtesy of Tesco reward vouchers. it was lovely and loads to choose on the menu. I had steak and frites and Billy had beef bourgignon, very good indeed and will be looking for more Cafe Rouges as we travel (tesco vouchers ordered for next trip)


The sun was shining when we arrived back at site so we decided to try out our new awning. We did not keep it up though.


We stayed in reading and and watched tv Saturday night as we had eaten late and arrived back late.


A good day after all
4th April 2010


Easter Sunday, no park and ride and not a lot open

We decided to go for a drive in the camper today. We ended up in Bradford on Avon, where we parked up by the river and walked around town but as it was Easter Sunday it was very quiet.

We found a lovely river walk and ended up in a country park where there was a tithe barn. Great place for picnics, next time we should take the camper here instead of leavng it in town.


I thought it was my first time to Bradford on Avon until we found a car park I recognised. I had parked in the car park before when I worked for EMIS.

After walking around Bradford on Avon we drove to Castle Combe, supposed to the prettiest village in England.

You have to park at the top and walk into the village (like in Polperro) however it is not as interesting as Polperro. It is about a 15 minute walk and it is nice but not a lot to do, there are a couple of pubs but very busy as Easter Sunday. We decided not to stay and went back to the van for lunch.

Whilst we were eating our lunch we had a visitor. A stranger was looking through the front window (she did not realise we were in the van), Billy slid back the van door and asked if she would like to join us. She was shocked and very apologetic but was interested in the van as it was something they wanted to do when her husband retired. We gave her some info and we all had a good laugh about her nosiness.

Prior to this the door was wide open but a coach turned up and a party of Japanese walked by taking photos of us eating our lunch so we closed the door so that we would not become a tourist attraction.

We headed back to Bath and decided to walk to the other pub by the campsite - the Boathouse. When we arrived the car park was empty and there was only one couple in the pub. When we asked about food. They were not doing food that night although they had been very busy at lunchtime.


We left after our drink and decided to walk back to the Dolphin (where we had been on Friday night)

We took a different route but could not find the pub. We found another pub but they had stopped cooking food 15 mins before. We were getting hungry by now, we asked them where we could get food and they pointed us to a pizzeria or Indian down the road.


We plumped for Indian - it was called Desh and very nice, they were not licensed and you could take your own drink. Of course we did not have any with us but useful to know another time.

5th April 2010



Easter Monday, end of break and return to home today.


We did not hurry back as we were not in work on Tuesday.


Left about 12:00 and decided to go home the scenic route,not touching motorways.


We also wanted to look at some campsite on the way home.


First site was Bath Chew Caravan Park (http://www.bathchewvalley.co.uk/) - very nice site, close to village and pub.


We then looked at a few CLs in the Glastonbury area but they were out in the sticks and a bit too remote.


We stopped at KFC here and picked up a bargain bucket of chicken. We could have had a choice of Subway, Dominos, Pizza hut or a burger van but we plumped for KFC. Useful to know next time.


We drove up the road and found a layby where we tucked into our lunch with great views to see.


We did find a nice CL in Othery, near Bridgewater - Thornhills farm (http://www.thornhillsfarm.co.uk/certified-location.html), not far from pub in village and one we will go to in the future.


We continued on our scenic route onto A38 and stumbled on a Caravan Sales place with a good accessories shop.(http://www.somersetcaravans.co.uk/information) We went on to look at some Caravan Club sites - Cadeside, with only 16 pitches and no toilet block,


Another one was Minnows, near Tiverton, which was by the canal and motorway, we did not go in but once past read in the book that you could cycle along the canal path and there are 3 village pubs to walk to along the river. Sounds good.


After this we decided to get on the motorway and head home, arriving home about 6pm