Goodbye BOT Hello Somerset

Wednesday 29 August

We had a leisurely wake up this morning. Two nights ago we decided that the (once superbly comfortable) blowup bed was now a pile of pants and had to go. We were both suffering severe backache and life was becoming unbearable with the pain.. We also think sitting in lounge suites talking all day hasn’t helped matters. The strange thing is, we get none of this in Campy as you are forced to sit more upright in the chairs and the bed is definitely firmer. Anyway, up to Dad’s flat go the Duvalays and despite them going directly on to the floor of the lounge they are infinitely more comfortable and we have had two great nights sleep. We think when we return ti living in a house we are going to order a set seats from a Volkswagen to replace the Ercol.....

Today we are breaking the journey to Tintagel by putting on Kev’s big Sis Carol and Warwick. but can’t get there till 5pm as Carol is working and Warwick in packing up the Anthony Gormley at Barrington Court. Kev however, had arranged to give blood in Chard in the afternoon so we had to set off in reasonable time. In the end after a couple of cups of tea, we set off into the heavy rain which didn’t stop until we passed Bristol.

We have had a lovely time at Burton on Trent and it was lovely to see all our family and friends. We have been so busy that our feet really haven’t touched the floor and we have seen someone every minute of the week. No trip to Burton would be the came if we didn’t take a trip to Marston’s. We managed to pop in and pick up a special offer pack of 6 bottles of beer in a handy Marston’s 6 bottle carry bag all for £9. the beers include -

1. Old Empire 5.7%
2. EPA 3.6%
3. Burton Bitter 3.8%
4. Double Drop 4%
5. Pedigree 5%
6. Strong Pale Ale 6%

We arrived in Chard at 3pm just in time to rush to the Guildhall to give blood. Kev was the last one in the place to give blood. After a bit of shopping we returned to Campy and was just writing the blog when Warwick arrived home at 4.30pm holding his back; sore from all the bending and lifting of all the small figures.

Birthday Boy

Tuesday 28 August


Kev’s Birthday today only 54 years young, had a lovely load of cards and everyone kept to the agreement (no gifts!) except Dad who is a law unto himself and as the family patriarch he can do what he likes! Thanks Dad you're the best. Big thanks to all my family and friends for the lovely cards and to Jo & Paul and Petra for the quality chocs.

This morning we packed a picnic lunch and flask ready for the outing in the afternoon and picked up Audrey. We then had a quick dash around Burton on Trent shops to get some essentials, maps of Weymouth and France, Bodyshop, blah, blah blah. We arrived at Shugborough Hall near Stafford about midday and set up the table and chairs for lunch on the grass verge next to Campy. Unfortunately, the verge was right next to the high speed rail track from Stafford to New St, Birmingham, it was really noisy when a train went by it was enough to stop all conversation. Anyway, lunch duly dispatched we set off for the house. 

We didn’t realise it but we were quite a distance from the house and we were greeted a very nice chap in a green uniform who asked us if we were going to the house and if we wanted to go to the house on his minibus, so on the bus we got and we were off. We were glad we did as it was quite a walk and the view from the bus was really good. On arrival we passed the old stables walked to the ticket office to get our entry tickets. Now as you know National Trust houses are usually free entry for members and we were rather surprised when we were told if we wanted to see the Servant’s Quarters and the Farm it would cost another £7.50 each to enter. We decided to say no thanks. We also had to pay £3 for the car park which Dad could redeem off his ticket for entry. 

Personally, and on first view, I felt the house was lacking some of the grandeur of other houses we have seen of late. It’s a dull grey colour and looks drab as if was made of concrete. Architecturally, it is uninspiring and frankly we preferred the design of the out buildings to that of the house. Internally, the house has a feel of being owned by a corporate body (in this the Council) and clearly it has to pay its way by hosting weddings, conferences, and I am sure all manner of other functions. Also the furniture in places looked out of place. 

I do realise that I am being a bit negative in this blog and to be fair some of the rooms are nice and I hope the pictures will do it justice.

What we didn’t realise and later found out, was the house and the grounds are indeed owned by the National Trust but they have been leased out to Stafford Council on the understanding that they manage the the said grounds and house. Also, when the Anson’s (AKA Patrick Lichfield) handed the keys to the house over to NT I think in the 60‘s they leased some of the rooms back, enabling them to carry on living in the private rooms in the upper part of the house. After Patrick died at the early age of 65 in 2005 the family relinquished the lease and removed all the furnishings. The upstairs is now filled with a mixture of furniture and carpets some genuine but most from the council who had some furniture of their own in storage. They have furnished the apartment as best they can with lookie-likie furniture but in my opinion the atmosphere wasn’t quite authentic enough to pull it off. You also had the feeling that the place was not quite up to the standard we have come to expect from the NT. 

After the walk around the house was complete we went for a cup of tea in Lady Walk Tea Room. Copious amount of tea for 4 for only £4 so we were impressed with that. It was a shame it came in a tea pot that had definantly been in the war as it’s lid was bent almost beyond recognition. Still it tasted ok and you can’t have it all your own way.

The grounds to the estate are well laid out with nice walks along the River Trent at the bottom of the garden the path led us to a Chinese house which I assume was called so because of the design of the roof but that is about all that could be said for it. To the right is an oriental type bridge which is painted pink! We took some photos on the bridge. We then moved on down a beautiful tree lined path to the cat monument? We have no idea what that is about as there was no information to explain its existence. In essence it is a 4m high structure with a cat lying on top of a large vessel which in turn is resting on the back of 4 rams. Again I have no idea of the significants of the rams. Opposite is a disused tennis court all covered in moss and un-loved. 

In conclusion, We found Shugborough Hall not at its peak and it is a shame. Nevertheless we did have a nice day honest and I really enjoyed the company of Petra, Audrey and Dad. A good day was had by all. Off for a slap up meal down the Dog and Partridge now to round the day off.

Best view of the house (the out buildings)

 Battleship Shugburough

 Nuf Said.....

Clearly, Council ladders don't quite stretch to the top.....

Burton on Trent

Sunday 26 August

Today was Caroline and Peter's turn to entertain us. We were really looking forward to seeing them and of course Christopher and Charlotte. We have known Caroline for 21 years and always look forward to seeing her and catching up on what's going on in her life. We were treated to a great lunch and saw Chris's new motorbike. Thank you both for a really relaxing a day it was just what we needed. Oh and for doing our washing, the shorts will never be the same.......

Saturday 25 August

We slept really well last night, not sure if it was because of the alcohol but it is more likely the luxurious super soft bed provided for us. After breakfast we said our goodbyes and made our way to The Belfry to spend the day with Petra’s Dad, Alan and June . We keep forgetting that this is the first time most people have seen our little ‘Campy’ and the reaction to her has been great. But no reaction has been to the standard of dear June. To say she liked it would be an understatement. She couldn’t get over how much room there is in the van and she explored her in great detail. Obviously, it gives us a nice warm feeling inside when you get a reaction like that. 

After lunch we met up with June's daughter Jan and Keith. They are fellow campers and have also just bought themselves a campervan (Rainbow). We spent ages discussing the our mutual treasures and of course all the bits and pieces that no self respecting camper would be without.

We were in full flow when suddenly June burst on to the scene carrying a small ornamental wheelbarrow full of bits and bobs including a pair of secateurs! On her head was large straw hat and she had bright pink lips made so by the over zealous use of lipstick. Finally, she was carrying a Hurricane lamp which Alan never took his eyes off as it is one of his prized possessions. Anyway June then announced that she was leaving home and now was coming with us. Dear June you are such good fun and we love you very much. Thank you for brightening up the day.

We left Alan and June and made our way back to Kev’s Dad in Tutbury for dinner. Audrey arrived and we were treated to what was supposed to be a nice joint of boiling ham with all the trimmings - it had been in the slow cooker all day in cider. It turns out the ham was not ham at all it was in fact a joint of pork. Unfortunately, Dad didn’t label the meat when he put it in the freezer and it all looked the same when he came to take it out. Anyway, it made no difference gravy substituted the parsley sauce and we had a lovely meal. Audrey provided a huge sherry trifle which we are proud to say we all saw off. Well done dad we are always impressed with your culinary skills.

Friday 24 August

Aaaah.... the smell of the Marmite factory and beer bubbling in enormous vats; we must be in Burton on Trent. We arrived at Kev’s Dads at midday just in time for a nice lunch and a welcome cup of tea on the balcony. 

Dad couldn't take his eyes of Campy....

We’d very kindly been invited to stay the night at Paula and Kevin’s home in Linton. We arrived at about 5pm and were introduced to their lovely dogs ‘Alfie and Bob’ who kept us entertained and made us very welcome. Paula and Kevin live in a beautiful converted contemporary barn which is exactly what we would love for ourselves one day. Staying there almost made us feel like being civilized again and immediately start looking for a house but then, we thought of all the effort involved in dragging all our stuff out of storage (and that of putting it in there in the fist place!) and the open road still beckons. One day perhaps.

We went to their local pub and enjoyed the Burton beer (note to self, fill up the boot with Marston’s Pedigree before leaving Burton) then back to their house for a takeaway curry. We had a late night chatting and drinking rather a lot!!

It was lovely to see both Paula and Kevin and we had a smashing time Thank you for making us so comfortable. We look forward to seeing you for a weekend in Spain during the winter.

Here is a picture of Campy, taken from Dad’s balcony, as you can see it has the solar panel on the roof. We have really noticed the difference and the battery was showing a reading of 13.7v which is great. So it looks like we can now be totally self sufficient with electric. Brilliant!

It's all in the detail...

Thursday 23 August

We left Campy with Bilbo today to have the work done as agreed. This consisted of having the 80w Solar panel fitted. This had to be stuck on the roof and wired into the electronic charging system. Also, we were having trouble with bed mechanism which needed a small adjustment and finally a small part of the roof lining needed adjustment. Bilbo kindly gave us a loan car for the day. We were hoping for our old Golf which is still in the car park but instead we got a Passat, a lot older but very quick on the acceleration and it felt very low to drive.

First stop was East Grinstead, not as you might think to have a good look around the shops but to use the launderette. By midday we were all clean and looking through the National Trust book for somewhere to go we discovered we were only 1.5 miles from Standen House. We have been to this house twice before and really love it. We both admire Arts & Crafts and Standen is right up there with the best examples. Like yesterday, this is a house you could see yourself living in.

In the pictures are some of the objects that we love about the house and what makes it so special to us.

After a picnic lunch in the grounds we headed back to collect Campy and we were off at about 4pm heading for Knowle, Solihull. The M25 was kind to us and Campy (now running in nicely) clocked up 43 mpg which is leaps and bounds better than the 30 mpg we were getting when we first picked her up. We arrived at the site a nice fishing lake with all facilities called Blythe Water.   

Polesden Lacey

Tuesday 22 August

The sound of the 7.05am flight from Fuengirola coming into land at Luton was enough to get the kettle on and we were up washed and dressed in no time at all. We decided that as Campy is back to Bilbo tomorrow perhaps she should have a treat with a bit of a wash and brush up. Out with the buckets and sponges. After breakfast we were off back to do battle on the M25. 

Strangely the traffic wasn’t too bad and we made good progress. We have booked onto a site near Bilbo’s but before we went there we thought we would break the journey by popping into Polsden Lacey at Great Bookham, near Dorking, Surrey. When we arrived we were quite surprised by the amount of cars in the car park, clearly this was not going to be a quiet stroll around the country house and gardens. It turned out it was a sort of mother and child day and the gardens were full of push chairs and children running all over the place. 

The house however, is lovely and was owned by Mrs Grenville a famous Edwardian hostess who had a rags to riches life. She purchased the house in 1906 to hold lavish parties and to society-climb. Not very well educated but a good judge of character she used her skills to climb to the dizzy hight of entertaining royalty in her home. This was all in the 1940/50‘s so you can work out for yourself who would have been there but was an abdication about that time!! The house has lots of photo’s of visitors from Princes to Kings and was decorated very elegantly. It has the feel of being a very comfortable home and you could imagine yourself living quite happily in it. (not something you can say about all NT houses). Anyway, it is easy to see why guests would love to be invited. 

Something we found amusing was that guests were not expected to rise before midday and if they did they were to sit quietly in the balcony....

Following Grenville’s death in 1945 the house was handed over to the National Trust through her will. In their wisdom they immediately sold a good portion of the contents of the house to raise money. Now we are great fans of the NT but it is inexcusable that at that time they felt it appropriate to sell off the family silver like that. It turns out they have been trying to buy it all back ever since! 

Granville did have a house in London so some of the furniture was brought over from there. The downstairs is intact and gives the visitor an idea of the opulence that surley would have continued upstairs. Apparently, there are plans to complete the renovation of the 17 bedrooms in the near future. Our favorite rooms were the library and the gold room both simply breathtaking but for different reasons.

Emerging back into the sunlight we continued our visit into the gardens which are extensive, beautiful and well kept. The views from the garden are amazing and one could easily spend the day sitting on one of the lawns simply looking at the views.

So a great day was had at Polsden Lacey. 

We are now camped at Westerham Heights Farm, Westerham is situated on the top of Biggin Hill. Now ‘that was a climb that was’, it is easy to see why the site is called Westerham ‘Heights’. We arrived at the site at 4pm so decided to polish the van then it rained.......

Henry Moore - Hoglands

Tuesday 21 August 

Wow, what a day we have had today at Hogwarts Hoglands, Henry Moore’s house, gardens and studios at Perry Green, nr Much Hadham. Steven took us on a very strange route through the countryside and although the house is 35 minutes from our campsite we hardly saw any cars at all. A nice contrast to yesterday’s madness and mayhem.

So keen are we, that we arrived at the house at 10.15 the house wasn’t due to open till 11.00. So we had a cup of tea and patiently waited. The house is across the road from the car park, ticket office, small shop and refreshments. While we waited we couldn’t resist going into the shop to kill a bit of time and eye up all the Henry Moore products available. We paid for our ticket two for the price of one (God bless the National Trust) and we strolled over to the house with our electronic guides around our necks.

As soon as we got there we were met by a lady who told us all about the history of the house which apparently goes back to the 18th century (Elizabethan). It was added to in the 19th and made into two separate cottages. Moore came upon the house following his own house in London being damaged during an air raid during the second world war whilst he was visiting a friend. He rented half of the house and basically never moved out. Over the years he purchased the other part of the house and farm land to the rear making a huge garden. The garden was in effect his sales room and his works were strategically placed to great effect. More was a shrewd business man and was his own agent preferring to keep all the money rather than give a percentage to an agent. Therefore all of the transactions were carried out in the small house office. Considering the Moore’s considerable fortune, he was very careful with his money they had a mend and make do approach to life and had no interest in personal possessions other than art. 

Following Henry Moore’s death in 1986 and that of his wife Irina 3 years later, the house stood empty for 15 years until it was signed over by Moore’s daughter to the Henry Moore Foundation. The house was sympathetically renovated and all the belongings (on loan from the daughter) have been put back in to the house as they were before they died. Its a deeply personal collection of their furniture, art and collection of all manner of objects collected and given to them over the years. As the house is so small, only eight people are allowed into the house at a time and they limit the amount of tours they allow each day. We feel lucky were able to take a look. Before entry to the house we had to put all our things (bags etc) into a locker no cameras allowed and we had to put shoe covers on our feet. It was all worth it and we loved the tour we were given by the member of staff who was incredibly knowledgable and informative.

Following the tour of the house lasting three quarters of an hour, we ventured into the gardens and started looking at all the sculptures. We were really lucky as it was a lovely day and we took our time enjoying all the exhibits and the countryside. Even stopping to look at the sheep, a favorite of Henry’s.

For lunch we had a real treat and went to ‘Hoops’ restaurant/pup (owned by the Foundation). We had a fantastic meal. The restaurant serves top quality food and we really can’t recommend it enough. If you go to Hoglands include in your budget a treat and have lunch at Hoops. 

Filled to the brim we staggered back into the gardens to start the tours of all the studios. They do not open till 2pm so expect to stay all day. The Studio’s were a fascinating insight into the way Moore worked and made sculptures. One of the studios is an old barn converted into a gallery that was rescued by Moore and resurrected in the gardens now housing a collection of 6 tapestrys commissioned by Moore and made for him by West Dean Collage and were absolutely stunning.

Finished, we made our way back to the ticket office and couldn’t resist buying a Henry Moore cushion for Campy. It looks resplendent and is a lovely reminder of a perfect day spent at Hogwarts Hoglands....

Return visit to Bilbo for Campy

Monday 20 August

We sadly said goodbye to Josie for a while last night, but not without taking copious amounts of home-made biscuits with us (thank’s Jo xxx). We got back to the campsite quite late and it was completely dark, really black as night. Some selfish vibe merchant had stolen our parking place on the site last night so we found a suitable flat bit and parked ourselves up there. Kevin put his head torch on and ventured into dark and was immediately invaded by thousands of flying creatures. They were buzzing around in his head, eyes and going in his ears, and it was not good......diving back into the van we locked ourselves in and spent the next 20 minutes swatting flies, gnats and mosquitos. Ah the joy of camping...

The morning brought a new sunny day and no flies, well apart from bluebottles. I do not think we will be returning to this site it has not been that good for us what with the noise of the planes overhead and the late night attending to the fields and the long grass and the farm smells.. 

Campy bless her has developed a small fault with the roof lining that needs the attention of the clever people at Bilbo. We wanted to get it sorted before we go ‘foreign‘ and gave them a call on the off chance, amazingly they could fit us in today, so it’s to East Grinstead we go! The traffic going clockwise on the M25 was horrendous we were so glad to be going in the opposite direction but we took a mental note not to go back that way to Hatfield. (Hatfield is directly on the opposite side of the M25 to East Grinstead) We arrived at 10.30am and Carmie was there to see to us. It was great to see all the teams’ friendly faces again. Unfortunately after a valiant try, the fault could not be fixed there and then so we have to go back on Thursday. 

Whilst there we decided to have a retro-fit of a 80w solar panel to the roof of the Van we do have a portable solar panel but it is not as powerful as the new one will be, it takes up valuable room in the boot and we are worried about leaving it out all day when we leave the van alone. This means it is of limited use to us a full timers and is more suited to occasional campers needing a bit of a boost. The new system will enable us to have a constant trickle charge to the batteries during all daylight hours what ever the weather and if we are there or not. If anyone knows of someone who wants a hardly used portable Solar briefcase 45w charger in perfect working condition please let me know.

Once we had finished at Bilbo we set off in the same direction as before on the M25 for Hatfield, only to find that all the rest of our fellow travellers realising that the other direction was a non starter had all turned around and headed straight for the Dartford Tunnel. Steven in his wisdom wanted us to leave the motorway and head through London and Greenwich and past the Olympic Stadium incurring Congestion charges and a bucket full of stress.....Yah right! So we stayed exactly where we were and sat with the rest nose to tail for 10 miles. It took about an hour to get there but once through the tunnel all was well and we had no further holdups.

Our new site is as we said near to Hatfield, We have come here because we have always wanted to see Henry Moore’s house and gardens. We have booked in advance the tour of the house so we can’t wait to see it tomorrow. (watch this space)

Our new camp site is in the grounds of the Sue Ryder Hospice (Stagenhoe Park). We do have the feeling of being put on the verge of a car park and the ground is on a bit of a slope but Campy sits quite comfortably up on one ramp and with her derrière in the bosom of a giant weeping willow. However all that dims into insignificance when you looked up at the aircraft flying overhead that is coming it to land at Luton airport. I’m not saying they are close but we can feel the rumble of the ground as they pass. 

Oooooh Mr Darcy

Sunday 19 August

We met up with Josie again today and as Paul was sleeping off the night before (working in a night club) we headed of to Basildon Park. It was a lovely day, boiling hot and sunny.

Basildon Park is an impressive Georgian mansion, surrounded by glorious parkland, which was lovingly rescued from ruin by Lord and Lady Iliffe in the mid 1950s. The house is a re-creation and restoration of the 18th-century mansion but done with great love and taste. They restored the elegant interior and scoured the country salvaging 18th-century architectural fixtures and fittings. The Grand Georgian Mansion has also been the star of several television and film productions including Pride and Prejudice. We had a guided tour of the house and played croquet on the lawn

For the girls........