Touring Again

Once again I have let far too much time pass between updates and again so much has happened.  When I last wrote Nicky and I were gainfully employed in London but we’ve tossed in our jobs moved out of our houseshare and hit the road again in our campervan.

When I left you last I was working at Hireright doing pre-employment screening for the financial services industry and Nicky was in her role as sole chef at the Roastery Café.  With the London lifestyle not appealing to us we decided to pack it in and travel again this summer.  The added consideration being that my Parents were coming over and we could spend some time with them on their holiday.

So mid June we packed up our stuff, left most of it with my brother and put the bare essentials in the van, and picked up my parents from Heathrow.  We got straight into it visited Hampton Court Palace before showing them where we lived in London and getting them to Victoria Station to go and visit Gunam and Sunita in Chichester.

I had arranged their train tickets to go to Chichester, West Sussex then to Dawlish, Devon and then to Bristol, where Nicky and I would meet up with them again.  This gave Nicky and I a couple of days on our own and we did a few things in the south, Lullingstone Roman Villa, Darwins House, Chartwell (Winston Churchill’s House), Salisbury (including Mompesson House and Old Sarum), Stonehenge.  We were wild camping in the van again during this period and reused a spot just outside Winchester that we had found last year.  The second night we stopped in a little Somerset village called Wellow as they had a large discretely located carpark/field.

 Mozaic at Lullingston

 Darwins House

Salisbury Cathedral

Stonehenge

The next day we rendezvoused with my parents at Bristol Temple Meads and since they were due in 20mins and we were on 20 mins free parking it was just enough time for us to literally run around to 2 english heritage sites and return to find their train was delayed 10 to 15 mins.  So with Nicky protecting our now illegally parked van from a conspicuous parking warden I anxiously waited.  First stop for Mum and Dad was SS Great Britain (Brunels Steamship), while Nicky and I took a walk around the riverside, then we all walked to get a view of the Clifton Suspension Bridge.  The afternoon was spent in Bath with visits the Roman Baths, Assembly Rooms and Fashion Museum, the circus (a street), the Royal Cresent (another street), unfortunately I had hoped to go to Prior Park for the view but by the time we got up there it was closed, so we finished the day with a drink and a stroll in a picture postcard village called Castle Coombe reputed to be the most beautiful in England before heading to a campsite near the Cotswalds town of Bourton on the Water.

 Roman Baths

Castle Coombe Village

The morning saw us in Bourton on the Water to stroll through the town and visit the Cotswalds Motoring Museum.  We had planned to visit Hidcote but on arrival we found a stream of cars queued out the drive and the few cars coming the other way were suggesting best give up as the car park was chocker, so unfortunately for Mum but fortunately for Dad we retired to a pub another National Trust site the Fleece Inn for Lunch.  We got back on schedule by heading to Stratford Upon Avon to visit Anne Hathaway’s cottage and Shakespeare’s Birthplace.  It turned out there are 5 Shakespeare related sites in and around the city and for the less than the individual entry of the 2 above you can go to all 5.  So the next morning back into town we went for, Hall’s Croft, his eldest daughter’s home with her husband Dr Hall and then the site of Shakespeares former home which unfortunately a previous owner who resented paying taxes on the house had it demolished.  They are currently in the final year of a few seasons of archaeological digs on the site and Nicky and I were able to see it in action and spend 20 mins or so speaking to the archaeologist overseeing the project which was very enjoyable.  Charlecote Park followed, a grand rural resident but due to the day of the week the house was closed, no bother as it was the grounds we had come to see anyway.  Next stop Kenilworth Castle and Elizabethan Castle, unfortunately we were very pressed for time because this was the day we were taking Dad to the Jaguar Heritage Museum and he was confident he would need 2 hours there.  So quick whizz around and view over the garden and we were off to Coventry and after driving straight past the Jag Museum we got there in the end, it was a rather innocuous building which was being completely detracted from the swathes of advertising banners and flags for the new housing estate next door. Turns out the museum is not nearly as expansive as Dad had imagined as we were all out within the hour and Dad managed to stretch it to almost 1.5 hours but he had looked in every nook and cranny.  I got the impression he was a little disappointed in the number of vehicles on display, about 30 perhaps.  A planned stroll through Coombe Country Park had to be abandoned due the traditional English summer weather (the torrential downpour).

Anne Hathaways Cottage

The next 3 nights we stayed with my brother Mark and his fiancée Dana, Mum and Dad in the spare room and Nicky and I on the street in the van.  We visited Silverstone to see Marks workshop and the track, then Bletchley Park (Britain’s WWII code breaking centre).  The next day I took all the women to Oxford and the Ashmolean Museum while Mark took Dad to Duxford Imperial War Museum (trainspotters of our Blog will know that Nicky and I went last year), the aircraft one.

After leaving Marks we stopped in the oldest pub in England for a beverage, it is Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem and is built into a rock crag in central Nottingham.  Newstead Abbey, home of Lord Byron, was next followed by Bolsover Castle, Bakewell in the Peak District to pick up some tarts, then onto our destination Much Wenlock, where we watched England get knocked out of the Euro 2012 in a local pub.

In the morning we visited the historic Ironbridge Gorge area before starting our canal boat holiday in the afternoon.  So for the next few days the pace totally went out of our holiday as we cruised leisurely along the Llangollen Canal, visiting Chirk, Langollen and Ellesmere (you travel slower than walking speed).  This was very enjoyable and we all felt it very worthwhile.

Canal Boating

We returned the boat early on Friday morning a set off on our long trip around North Wales, stopping at Porthmeirion, Caenarvon Castle and Abergele only before camping just outside Rhyl.  The next day we walked around Rhyl, Chester and Holmfirth (Last of the Summer Wine) and then drove a couple hours North and stayed at Scotch Corner.

Beamish Museum took up the vast majority of the next day with just enough time for a quick visit to Corbridge Roman town before we stayed at Hadrian’s Wall Camping and Caravan Site, the site Nicky and worked at for 10 weeks last year.  Our old bosses Graeme and Sue were very kind and put on a big dinner for us all.

I took Mum and Dad out to the Farne Islands to see the nesting seabirds, including Puffins and we stayed in Berwick upon Tweed the extreme North of England.  From here we shipped my parents off to Edinburgh for a couple of nights and Nicky and I visited Berwick Ramparts and Barracks, Bamburgh Castle and a few sites (Flodden Battlefield, Heatherslaw Corn Mill, Etal Castle and Village) in an area called Ford and Etal Estates (Northumberland) before driving to Falkirk to meet back with my parents which we will do in the morning.

Well if you lasted this long thank you I appreciate your interest J.  I’ll endeavour to update more regularly as we are on the road again.