campsites

Nessie’s all hot and bothered

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What could be nicer in a heat wave to go camping? That’s what we thought last weekend – especially as Nessie had been fitted with a new leisure battery, so we were hopeful of ice cubes in our drinks and maybe even some choc ices!!

We decided to go back to Hook Farm campsite as it is a an attractive site if you end up spending most of your time lying in the shade with a book. We hadn’t been there since August 2021 and it was nice to reminisce about our many previous happy trips there as we drove down the familiar roads.

Various shaped tents including a gazebo and a toilet tent pitched in long grass with trees surrounding.
A previous trip to Hook Farm

One of the things that makes the campsite attractive is the undulating nature of the site. Unfortunately that has a couple of downsides – one is that it’s hard to find a flat pitch, you just have to accept that everything will roll off the table and that you’ll slide down your tent in the night! Fortunately we have some little wooden wedges we keep in the bag with our Primus stove, so at least our cooking was safe! We have previously purchased some non-slip table mat stuff, but being as we hadn’t used it in years it was no longer in our camping box, so we didn’t have it with us!

I arrived first in Nessie, so it was my job to choose a pitch. I took it very seriously considering where the sun would rise and set, and which trees would give shade earliest. I was careful not to drive down any steep tracks given the experience of the other goat a previous time when the ground was damp and we nearly had to call the farmer to be pulled out as her wheels spun and spun in the mud!! However, even with my caution, I still got into trouble, as poor Nessie could not do any sort of gradient at all over the bumpy grass! There was one bit where I’d tried everything I could think of – reversing, a less steep bit of slope, low gear, and her wheels just kept spinning. I was going to give up and cry when a grannie came over and suggested to me a way I could reverse out onto the track. Fortunately her advice worked and once we were on the track again we were ok. I had located what I thought was the best spot, but sadly there was just no way Nessie could get there, so I drove back to the gate and waited for the other goat to arrive.

Fortunately there was a nice area by the gate where no one else was camping yet, so we decided to leave Nessie where she was and camp in that part of the field. Being as the weather was boiling, I slept in the awning (Barry) without it being attached to the van. You wouldn’t want to do it in rainy weather, but actually it was nice to see a view of the moon out the door and to wake up to a view of the clouds and trees.

We tried a new set up to try to make some shade. Our tarp skills aren’t very good, but we were pleased that it lasted all weekend. We used the shepherds hooks which worked better than tent poles as we could mallet them into the ground.

A fawn coloured square tarp casting shade over two camping chairs and atttached to a black gazebo tent.
Our tarp set up to make shade

We did very little on Saturday other than go for wander in woods and take a walk round the site to look at everyone else’s set up. There was lots of wildlife to see & hear on the site – a red kite, lots of butterflies, grasshoppers & crickets, song birds, but best of all was our sighting of a family of weasels as they scurried along the hedgerow! Neither of us had ever seen weasels before, so it was a real treat.

Sadly the new battery didn’t do the trick and the fridge died before the weekend was out. Fortunately we had other ways of keeping things cool … but another post to follow on that.

Sunday we packed with trepidation hanging over us – would Nessie make it up the steep drive?! First attempt she wasn’t happy as two wheels were on grass, but with a bit more reversing we managed to get all four wheels, on to the dirt track, put her in low gear and she made it!!

Poor nessie, this wasn’t her favourite camping trip!

L & R

Gilbert’s first road trip

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Last weekend I set out on my first road trip of the season – and Gilbert’s first road trip ever!  He was excited!

First off, we drove up to Donnington near Telford to call in on a friend and see her new house.  It was a long drive – and, despite having a special travel seat, Gilbert maybe found it a little traumatic!

We stayed over at Willows Caravan Park nearby.  A nice site, seemed quite new and facilities were nice. I was texted instructions with a code to let myself in, fortunately there was a friendly warden on the other end of the phone to help me as I couldn’t work out how to use the unusual padlock!

There was just time for dinner and washing up and then it was bedtime.  I had taken a spot with electric hook-up and forgot that this meant the charging light would glow all night – must make a little cover for that!  I also forgot to switch the fridge off overnight.  By the time I remembered I was all cosy and tucked up in bed, so I thought it would be ok, but with all the excitement of the adventure, I think I slept quite lightly and it did wake me a few times.

In the morning I was joined by faithful Henrietta for breakfast, which was just as well as Gilbert was nowhere to be found!!

I searched everywhere for him while I did my camp chores and was beginning to think he must have decided to abandon me for a new life at my friend’s house! Finally, I spotted him – the trauma of the journey followed by the rough and inconsiderate way I’d swivelled the pilot’s seat, meant he’d spent the night hiding under the van!!!

Despite the fact it had rained, he was none the worse for it and felt much better after a special ride in my pocket to sit in the sunshine for a cup of real coffee – made in my lovely thermal cafetiere!

After coffee we were back on the road, driving across the Pennines.  We stopped off in Tadcaster for lunch – I had a nice sandwich in the Lemon Tree Café and Nessie had a nice big drink of petrol!!

I made it to Humanby just in time to meet my sister off the train.  We had a lovely few days in a friend’s cottage enjoying the sea views and exploring the local area.  We were particularly delighted by our afternoon tea in the Bondville Model Village nearby.  Although we weren’t camping we did enjoy making hot chocolate over a campfire on the beach! Benefits of always having everything in the back of your van – you can have an adventure at a moments notice!!

We also really enjoyed the pretty coloured pebbles on the beach and making some beach art.

A few days in the cottage and then it was back on the road again.  This time I came down the east side of the country and had my lunch stop at Clumber House – a national trust property.  This worked quite well as not only was the café nicer than a motorway services (it had bay windows overlooking an ornamental lake!), but it meant I had a proper break while I walked around the grounds and gardens.  I’m a National Trust member so it didn’t cost me anything to go in.  This meant it didn’t matter that I didn’t explore the whole place, but I did enjoy what I did see, including the impressive kitchen gardens.

Back on the road again, I spotted a sign to Elton Village Store, so I thought I’d go find it to have another little break and buy supplies for dinner.  It was a pretty village with a very friendly shopkeeper. It would be nice to go back and explore that area more sometime.

I made it to Ekeney House campsite near Olney in good time.  I had wanted to camp nearer Bedford but the campsite I’d tried to book was closed due to problems with their water supply. I was very glad it wasn’t dark when I arrived – the entrance was a single track farm track off a busy road which I had to drive down for over half a mile.  As I drove I was thinking ‘I hope it’s nice as this feels pretty isolated’. 

It didn’t start well. I knew I was to let myself in and pick my spot, which I did.  I then went to explore the facilities – there was a shower and a toilet, but I would have been too scared to use either!  I was frightened that if I managed to get the door to close on the metal container that housed the toilet, I might not be able to open it again and no-one would know I was there!!

Back at my van I made myself a cuppa, feeling relieved that I had my boxio toilet with me. Things started to look up when the campsite lady came over to visit me.  She was lovely and had lived there for over 50 years, telling me all about having planted the trees that have now grown up, the hyacinths she’d been planting recently and the peacocks and rhea birds that she keeps – and forewarning me of the funny noises they make!  Knowing that she and her extended family were in the house just over the hedge made it feel less isolated.

Feeling reassured, I went for a little walk to explore the area that had been planted as a woodland to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s diamond jubilee in 2012 and came across a deer – who was even more surprised to see me! I then made dahl for my dinner as the sun set.

I was thinking to sleep up in the roof being as I wanted to be able to use the boxio toilet, but as I was getting ready for bed, I could feel the temperature in the roof area was colder than down below, so I made up the rock-and-roll bed instead. I still put the bed boards in the roof anyway and I think that did make a difference in keeping the downstairs bit cosy and warm.

In the morning, there was no opportunity for a lie-in as I was going to work in the Bedford office.  I’m very pleased to report that it was entirely possible to sleep in a van and turn up in the office to do a days work the following day… which opens up all sorts of possibilities for road trips without having to take leave!

As I set off to drive home, I thought the adventure was at an end – but I was wrong! Google maps didn’t even give me the option of going via the M25 instead taking me on the North Circular and through Hammersmith and Putney.  I’ve never driven in London before – it’s been one of my fears that I knew I should try and conquer one day, but hadn’t yet got round to.  Not sure dusk at the end of a long, tiring drive was the best time to tackle it, but I felt chuffed with myself for managing it … and I even quite enjoyed seeing the River Thames and the sunset over Wembley.

L

November camping?

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Is camping in November a possibility? Well it turns out if you have a van it is!

I’m not sure this week was typical for November, but I’m still claiming it!! I wasn’t too sure what I thought of camping when the evenings are dark and chilly, so I thought I’d play it safe and try out a campsite that had been recommended to me by the River Thames in Chertsey. It wasn’t that far from home, but it seemed to take longer than I expected to get there, so I didn’t manage to arrive in daylight as I’d hoped. I had to wait until the morning to see where I was and discover the views of the river.

I had a cosy evening with Nessie. I had the stove burning a lot of the time as I made risotto for dinner and then a stove top sponge for pudding and then water for a cuppa and for washing up and for my hot water bottles. The stove kept the van reasonably warm – but what I hadn’t thought of was that with all the doors & windows shut, it also got quite humid with all the steam from the cooking. I took my laptop, but it wouldn’t work in the chilly damp environment (it’s fine again now I’m home, I’m typing on it now!). Even the matches I left out got damp and wouldn’t work!

The facilities at Chertsey are superior – but then you pay a lot for the site, so I’d have been disappointed if they hadn’t been! And I wasn’t the only one camping – there were lots of motorhomes, quite a few campervans and a couple of tents. Busy for a Thursday in November!! I think some people use it as a stop over if they are travelling via the M3 or the M25, but others seemed quite settled and were obviously planning to be there for some time.

After I’d had my breakfast I did my camp chores – the main one being dealing with the condensation in the van. We’ve had several days of still, misty weather. Even at home I’ve noticed my washing has been taking a long time to dry so just opening the doors wasn’t going to acheive anything much. Previously I’d used a microfibre cloth, but I hadn’t been that impressed, so I’d upgraded to one of those cellulose kitchen sponges. That worked pretty well – it was absorbant and I could easily wring it out.

Chores completed, I walked along the river a short way and then into Chertsey. There weren’t that many shops to browse, but I did find a delightful coffee shop called Revive where I treated myself to elevenses.

The camping and caravanning club sites are well run, but they like their rules – one of which is vacate your pitch by 12noon. But then, a brisk walk back to the campsite was probably no bad thing after the large slice of cake I’d had! The deadline also made me efficient with packing away the last bits – and I was home again in time for lunch!

L

The big road trip!

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Having survived my first road trip, I set about planning a bigger one – to Keswick in the Lake District.

The first night was a halfway stop over near Lichfield. I stayed in Cosy Nook campsite. It was indeed tucked away in a little nook – effectively in someones back garden! When I arrived, I wasn’t sure I was in the right place and pulled in across the road and rang because I didn’t want to run the risk of actually pulling into someones driveway!!

As I arrived fairly late and I was only there one night, I kept it simple. No awning and I slept up top in the roof bed, so I could have my little Boxio toilet in the downstairs. I had a nice pitch by the gate into the adjoining woods, but given I didn’t know the area I was pleased to be sleeping in Van-nessa and to be able to lock her doors.

The campers next to me were actually very friendly. A couple who lived nearby, but liked to escape in their motorhome. The husband seemed to be a bit of a gourmet and I enjoyed chatting to him about food. He shared with me his recipe for cheesy balls, so I’ll look forward to trying them out some time!

After a morning walk in the woods, I hit the road again. I was unimpressed to have to pay the M6 toll again – not good planning to break my journey halfway down it! Especially as Nessie wasn’t classified as a ‘car’ and had to pay more!!! (I spent most of my first experience on the toll road wondering how it worked and whether I would have to self-select my vehicle type and if so what the classifications were. In someways I was quite relieved that the toll booth decided for me what I had to pay, but shame it decided she was expensive!)

Terrible traffic on the M6, but it was made more fun when I spotted another NV200 with a pop top roof. He’d pass me, then I’d overtake him & he’d overtake me. Entertained me for quite a while! The driving north of Manchester got much more pleasant – quiet roads and nice views.

I arrived at the campsite to discover my ‘super service’ pitch was near the lakeside and have lovely views to the hills. However I hadn’t realised it was a fully hardstanding pitch – and I only had 4 metal pegs with me! Fortunately I’d arrived in time to rush to the nearest camping shop before it closed for a whole box of Gorilla pegs.

The other issue with the gravel hardstanding was that although I had mats down throughout the awning I could still feel the stones through which made kneeling down uncomfortable. I’d planned to sleep in Barry the bedroom so that I didn’t need to put my bed away each morning, but I only had a thin blanket to put over the groundsheet and below my sleeping mat. Then I had a brainwave – the bed boards from the pop up roof are cushioned. I made a little sleeping platform inside the awning and had a lovely soft surface to kneel and sit on.

The weather in Keswick was perfect – warm and sunny every day. The shallows of the lake were the temperature of bath water for paddling in! I’d time my adventure to coincide with the Keswick Convention so I enjoyed attending the evening meetings each day and going to some of the seminars. I had a few friends who were also at the convention that week, and they were all super kind in making sure they included me. What I had expected to be a solo trip was actually pretty sociable! Particularly I enjoyed going on some walks with my friend Helen and her family exploring a bit more of the local area, including a boat ride to walk round the other side of the lake.

After sociable 5 night stay in Keswick, I found it really hard to hit the road again on my own. On the last morning the thought of packing everything away on my own felt overwhelming, and the idea of driving off on my own into the hills felt very lonely. It wasn’t helped by the fact that having pack up, I left my bags of rubbish by my van while I popped into town quickly. By the time I was back the seagulls had pulled it all apart and spread it all over my pitch – yuck!!

I took the scenic route south through the Lake District, which was beautiful. I stopped in Ambleside for a coffee, but it was heaving. My learning point for next time is to plan something specific for the way home. That worked well on my first road trip where I visited the cave houses. This time, by the time I was on the road and started thinking of it, I didn’t know where to go nor whether I had enough time to fit it into my journey.

I felt super sleepy on the second part of the drive and I knew I had to stop as soon to keep safe. I pulled off at the next services, but at the junction saw a sign for a nursery, so I went there instead. I parked up in their car park and had an actual snooze followed by an enjoyable mootch round the shop. The cafe looked lovely but I was still feeling full of cake from my last stop. Much nicer than the services would have been, I’m sure.

I learnt from my M6 toll experience last time and had planned a different campsite to break the journey on the way home. I stayed at Springslade Lodge in Cannock Chase. It was a lovely sunny evening and I arrived in good time, so I put just Harry and Harriet up – using Harriet as a mini-bathroom. I was very flattered when the man from the camping group next to me said he’d been impressed how quickly I’d got everything set up!

For the amount I’d had to pay, I wasn’t impressed by the facilities. Sadly the cafe at the site wasn’t open the following morning, so I set off promptly planning to get brunch at my first stop. After the previous day’s success I decided to stop at another garden centre and found Bicester Avenue Garden Centre about the right distance away. This one turned out to be very different to the nursery – it was more of a shopping complex with various other stores as well as a huge garden centre. It made for a proper break though as I wandered round the shops (and made some purchases!) as well as eating in the restaurant.

Then there was just one more leg of driving before arriving home safely after my longest adventure to date!

L

Just Nessie and a goat

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Recently I braved my first solo trip with Nessie. I took the opportunity to work out of the office in Basingstoke & afterwards stayed a night camping near Micheldever.


I’d forgotten how long things like checking tyre pressure can take on a new vehicle, but important to be safe. Fortunately the traffic was good & I wasn’t late for work. And I enjoyed showing her off to my colleague at lunchtime!!


The campsite wasn’t as hard to find as the instructions implied and it was a quiet site with just one other camping party. The site overlooked a stream & water meadow, so when I arrived I enjoyed relaxing with an after-work cider while watching the bird life.


I set up the inflatable awning just as the drizzle started and then tried a new recipe for dinner of beef barley. For pudding I attempted a stove top cake. (I’ll share the recipes once they are perfected).


The evening soon disappeared & it was time for bed. My plan had been to sleep in the roof and have the new toilet downstairs …but the new toilet didn’t arrive in time! Fortunately there was a flush toilets on site not too far from my van, so it wasn’t a disaster.


I decided to sleep up top anyway to try out the bed boards and I slept fairly well up there.
In the morning I went for a pretty walk to Stoke Charity past a lake & some former watercress beds.

I had a coffee back at the van before it was time to pack up. I was relieved to discover I could pack down the awning by myself without too much difficulty. Bonus treat, the campsite owner kindly packed me off with some rhubarb from his garden.


Here’s where I stayed Winchester Watermeadow and here’s my review.

L

This goat has wheels

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You already know that goats like to camp in style, but last week I was super brave and not only tried out campervanning for the first time, but also did my first night of lone camping.

The advantage of a van is that you can lock the doors, so it gives an added feeling of security to camping on your own. Driving this van was actually quite easy and it’s not actually any bigger than a big-ish car. I tried it out in a couple of car parks as well as on country lanes and dual carriageways. It’s an NV200 and hired from Sussex Campervans… I’m very tempted to get my own one!

I tried sleeping in the top bunk the first night and the main bed the second night. Sleeping up top would take some getting used to, but down below I slept very comfortably. I stayed at Riverside Farm Campsite. It was a lovely location by the river, but I felt it was overpriced for what it was.

The first night I tried out a new recipe and cooked it in the van – mushroom risotto. Very tasty. For pudding I had one of those little individual pots of fruit salad. The photo is of the second night when I cooked Rowbury Lamb stew over the fire for dinner – also very tasty!

L

The new camping season has begun!

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The new camping season has arrived! So we thought it was time to try a new campsite – Sussex Topiary Campsite near Horsham.

The first question when we arrived is where is the topiary? There are trees, but we couldn’t see any pretty shaped ones!  The second question was where’s Reception?! The first place we tried turned out to be a derelict shed! Turns out there’s a house amongst the static caravans that’s the Reception.

We arrived on a sunny day, but it had rained all week so the camping field was very boggy. Instead we were given a hard standing pitch.

The hard standing pitch was gravel and it was good as it meant we didn’t get muddy.  However, we don’t have any hard standing pegs! We made do with what we had, but it was hard work to hammer them in with the mallet… and once they were in they didn’t necessarily stay there!  When hammering the plastic pegs from our Kampa tent (AKA Alice) I managed to split one of them in two right down the middle!!

Needless to say we were the only tent on the site! There were half a dozen caravans who looked like they might be fairlly long-term residents.  The caravan next to us had a good set up with a nice awning. Our neighbours on the other side weren’t doing so well & had keeled over!!


We didn’t use all of Alice’s humps, just the maim tent & the vestibule door. But we were still able to have a bedroom each, a palatial en suite in the middle hump and a kitchen area in the vestibule. The vestibule was just big enough for a kitchen table with our stove, two chairs & a coffee table. It was just as well, because it rained overnight & all the following morning!!


The site is well located to access footpaths so on the Saturday afternoon (when it wasn’t raining) we went for a walk to build our appetite for dinner. The Downs Link path is nearby and is a good path using what looks like an old railway track. Sadly the track back to the campsite wasn’t so good. A bit muddy, turned to very muddy…and then to completely flooded quagmire! There was no way I could get through in my walking shoes, but the other goat had her wellies on, so she sloshed through to look for alteratives. I thought she’d disappeared completely, but she eventually reappeared having found an alternative route – through a field & over an electric fence!!!

Sunday morning we hunkered down in tent waiting for the rain to stop and enjoying the slower pace of life that camping enforces. When the rain stopped we moved to sitting outside by a fire waiting for the tent to dry.

I was really pleased that even though Alice is made of fabric, she dried out pretty quickly. I’d packed towels so we we were able to wipe down the remaining wetness on her windows to pack her away. I bought her with a seperate footprint groundsheet so that means the bottom of the tent stays clean & dry for packing away.

Overall we feel much refreshed for our trip and excited that the camping season has returned. The campsite is in need of some TLC in terms of cleaning & upkeep, but has potential…we’ll share our scores soon.

R

Hello from a field

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Camping season has begun!!We are currently enjoying coffee & cake by a fire to take off the chill in the air.

The we managed to get the tent up before the rain, and it stopped to enable us to go for a walk & cook dinner on the fire last night. However everything is muddy! Good job we packed our wellies!!

It wasn’t too cold overnight…especially if you have double thermals on, carpets & down sleeping bags.

Last time we camped at Pit Hill we brought the spaceship & camped light using Betty’s boot as our kitchen. This time we brought Alice & camped in style!

More about who Alice is another time…

R & L

Look what we found!

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Look what we found… a nice shady spot to camp in a heatwave! We had a lovely couple of nights at Pit Hill Farm – the campsite we stumbled across when walking the Wayfarers walk in Hampshire.

We kept things simple this time. We had a new simpler camp set up to try out (more about that next time!). We also tried out some new easy camping food called ‘Look what we found”!! Very easy to use and tastey too!

Very pleased with both our finds!

R & L