We started the day with blue eggs, fresh from the Fishery which also features many different breeds of chicken and other more exotic looking breeds of common pet animals.
Fresh Blue Eggs
Rabbit at Flaxland Fishery
Geese at Flaxland Fishery
Flaxland Rabbit
For lunch we headed via foot to the Sun Inn at Lydiard Millicent where we met David and Cathy. Nice pub and excellent company for the afternoon. A good 8 mile round trip, impeded only once by a herd of cattle which simply would not let us past!
Cattle Jam
Now whilst these cows looked friendly, a local walker did point out that someone in the area was trampled by a herd of cows just last week. We managed to find a detour.
Our first day near to Wootton Bassett and first on the agenda was a trip to Avebury.
Avebury is a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles, around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire, England. One of the best known prehistoric sites in Britain, it contains the largest megalithic stone circle in the world. It is both a tourist attraction and a place of religious importance to contemporary pagans.
It appears to be run by some kind of collaboration between English Heritage and the National Trust. Moe’s National Trust membership allowed us free parking and entry into the Manor gardens. The Manor itself remains closed due to continuing Covid-19 restrictions.
Constructed over several hundred years in the Third Millennium BC, during the Neolithic, or New Stone Age, the monument comprises a large henge (a bank and a ditch) with a large outer stone circle and two separate smaller stone circles situated inside the centre of the monument. Its original purpose is unknown, although archaeologists believe that it was most likely used for some form of ritual or ceremony. The Avebury monument is a part of a larger prehistoric landscape containing several older monuments nearby, including West Kennet Long Barrow, Windmill Hill and Silbury Hill.
Avebury Manor
Stone Circle at Avebury
In the eveing we hiked across the fields from the Campsite to the Bolingbroke Arms to enjoy yet another post-lockdown meal and drinks.
The problem was reported to Swift and Swindon Caravans and whilst the dealer was quite happy to take responsibility for the repair (under the 10-year body shell warranty) neither wanted to either a) Approve the van as safe to tow or b) Provide transport of the caravan back to Swindon caravans.
I wasn’t happy to tow the van, fearing that we would cause yet more damage as the front end oscillated up and down, slowly detaching further from the chassis – so initially decided to proceed with a DIY repair. That way we could salvage many of our early trips – although given the persistent cold and wet weather which has blighted the UK this year, maybe that wasn’t the greatest of plans! This bulkhead detachment is a known problem and there’s a very clear Swift procedure about how to rectify it, along with a full menu of products required.
For information, the Swift procedure is attached below.
The items were all available on eBay but it would take a few days before they all arrived. The most important item, the specialist construction adhesive / sealant never arrived. Apparently the Hermes driver couldn’t find Sainsburys in Paignton (click and collect) so presumably tossed it into the nearest field.
Anyhow, whilst waiting for products, Swindon Caravans called and the Service agent had escalated the issue internally and with Swift and they conculded that Swift would collect and Swindon Caravans would repair. Collection took place on the final day of our 3 week stay at Ramslade – all very professional and courteous.
Collection was handled by CADS Caravan Transport from Wigan and if I needed caravan transport in the future, I’d be sure to give them a call.
Return to base…
Aware that caravan dealers are extremely busy post Covid-19, our repair slot at the end of June seemed acceptable. We booked a Static caravan in the New Forest for 10 days (in fact, not much more expensive than at pitch with the Caravan and Motorhome club!) and on day Two, recieved a call from the Service Manager at Swindon Caravans to say Ruby was fixed and ready to go!
The service we have received from Swindon Caravans has just been fantastic over the 6 years we’ve owned this van. Yet another great result turned around super-quick.
Thursday 27th May 2021 was the earliest date we were able to collect the van. Everything appears to be in order with all the conrner steadies properly aligned and it’s also clear that the repair has been performed on both the nearside and offside front bulkhead.
Other than that, there really isn’t anything much to see.
The last time we saw Ruby the caravan was around a month ago, on the back of a low-loader near Dartmouth bound for the repair centre at Swindon caravans.
Anyhow, she was returned to us on Thursday, newly glued and screwed back together.
It’s the May bank holiday weekend and probably the first since lockdown was removed. It is also forecast to be preominantly warm, dry and sunny. We decided we would take the newly repaired van somewhere local to where it had been repaired (Wootton Bassett, near Swindon).
We hadn’t figured out just how busy this weekend would be. After around 20 fruitless phone calls, we decided to email and text a whole plethora of sites in the area. Over the next 24 hours, two sites had a vacancy for 5 nights.
We chose Flaxland Fishery, near to Wootton Basset and only a mere 10 minutes drive from the Caravan service centre.
Flaxland Fishery CL site
There is a nice view from the pitches across the fishing lakes. The only slight downside to the loction is that being around 200m from the M4, there is a constant hum of traffice noise.
Flaxland Fishery view over the lakes
View over Flaxland Fishing lakes
There are 5 pitches here, the maximum allowed for a Certified Location. Each pitch is equipped with it’s own dedicated water supply and electricity and the site is quite relaxed at having the grey water nourish the plants and trees.
We returned to the van on Friday to clear a few more things away, As it was a nice day, we went to “Plant World Nursery and Gardens”. The nursery is situated near to Newton Abbott and has a large display of rare plants from around the world.
The usual entry price had been reduced from £10 to £3 and the exhibits were looking in need of some tender care and attention. It seems maybe the gardeners have been on Furlough for too long!
Orange Tip Butterfly
Blackbird at Plant World
Panoramic view from Plant World
Late afternoon and finally received a call from the Caravan retrieval company who will take the van away next Tuesday.
As the weather was still dry, we took our chances and booked a table at the River Shack in Stoke Gabriel. Whilst dry and sunny, it was still bitterly cold. Nevertheless it was nice to experience some small semblance of normality (again!).
The River Shack would not be out of place in the wilds of Florida – shame the heat of Florida isn’t here.
River Shack, Stoke Gabriel
Joe with a pint
Harbour at Stoke Gabriel
And now a much longer pause to our Post Lockdown tour…
Monday was a wet and very windy day. We took a picnic onto Dartmoor and spent the afternoon with Rich and Ru in our awning, eating strawberries and cream and drinking some fine red wine. Ru didn’t share her Prosecco (again).
Structural damage to the front end of our Swift caravan has brought the first post lockdown tour to a grinding halt. Tuesday we returned to East Devon with all of our caravan personal belongings in preparation for the caravan to be taken away for repair.
This walk uses mainly surfaced paths and trails between Totnes and Dartington featuring one of Devon’s most historic towns, a rebuilt medieval hall, classic 20th Century architecture and a craft centre.
It starts and ends in Totnes and is between 5 and 6 miles duration. Difficulty class is “Easy” but we’ve been burnt by that one before!
The walk starts at the bottom of Fore Street at the lowest bridging point of the River Dart, built in 1828. On one side of the bridge is Totnes and on the other side, the ancient suburb of Bridgetown.
The walk follows the River Dart upstream, past (under) the modern road bridge which carries the Totnes relief road. From there, the walk continues past Totnes Riverside railway station which is the heritage line from Totnes to Buckfastleigh.
This path eventually crosses the long winding drive to Dartington Hall which we followed up to the main Hall. We had lunch at the cafe before continuing along the upper road towards Dartington village, past the sports fields before re-joining the multi-use path along the River Dart, ultimately re-tracing our steps back to Totnes. The total walk was around 6 miles.
River Dart, Totnes
Swans near the River DartRiver Dart KayakingDartington Hall lodgeDartington Sports fieldsEgret on the wetlandsViews from the Totnes bridgeMiddle Dart Valley circular walk
First trip of 2021 and only nine months since our Sterling Eccles Ruby SE had a replacement rear panel and there’s a problem with the front bulkhead.
Arriving on-site, Moe noticed the front nearside winding nut had drop and it was difficult to locate the winder onto it. Also, there appeared some damage to the trim as if there had been vertical movement of the front end as we travelled down from East Devon to Stoke Gabriel.
As I keep a close eye on the various caravanning forums this movement alerted me to the front bulkhead problem with some Swift Caravans. The same problem as the caravans recalled from manufacturing year 2017 but the cause slightly different (allegedly).
Mis-aligned wheel nut
Next was to examine the angle bracket securing the caravan sidewall to the bulkhead. On our 2015 Sterling Eccles this is hidden behind two cosmetic panels which have been stuck to the side wall of the caravan. These are glued with mastic and were easy tease away from the side panels.
Angle bracket securing front bulkhead – or not…
You can see the cosmetic cover lying flat in the picture. Difficult to see in the image but EVERY single screw in the sidewall has sheared off.
Sheared sidewall screws
In the inside of the van, the securing screws between the front shelf and vertical panels were also loose. In the case of the nearside screw, this had completely fallen out, the offside screw just loose.
Loose shelf attachment
On the offside of the van, the decorative panel within the gas locker was also removed and this revealed all screws were loose to varying degrees. However, non had sheared off and damage seems very limited in this area.
I haven’t got any pictures from underneath the caravan but there is movement between the sidewall and the floor. This is highly suggestive of that a number of the screws securing the sidewall to the floor have also loosened and sheared off.
This nearside will require the full attention of the Swift procedure on rectifying this problem (see next post).
