A visit to Frome (very nice market town nearby) and then a “guilty” wander around Longleat listening to the last of the concerts – Tears For Fears. There seemed to be tickets available but a bit expensive at £75 each so we gave entry into the arena a miss.
Sunday we drove over to Shearwater lake and walked the circular route around the lake. The footpaths of the last stretch back to the Car park (next to the tea rooms) were overgrown so we definitely walked the best way around the lake – anticlockwise.
The walk is shown below – just ignore the “tail” where I’d forgotten to turn off the tracker!
Our walk around Shearwater.
Shearwater Lake
Shearwater Lake
Lunch was at the Royal Oak at Corsley. Food was excellent and would highly recommend the Sunday roast.
Sunday Roast at the Royal Oak, Corsley
The cheeseboard was immense – it should keep us in cheese for the remainder of the trip!!!
Desert at the Royal Oak, Corsley
Tomorrow we head into the Cotswolds for the great “off-grid” experiment. We have a week at Newton Grove CL site, near South Newington, near Chipping Norton. A reasonable walk to the Falkland Arms at Great Tew, where we understand we may bump into David Beckham. We might need to spend some time in the pub to recharge the laptop battery.
It’s been a busy day today. Fresh off the back of our trip to Stourhead House was an evening of entertainment at Longleat, part of their summer programme of concerts. When we left the campsite to visit Stourhead the club site was barely a quarter full. When we returned late afternoon, nearly every pitch was taken.
Tonight’s act was Diana Ross and the walk to the concert from our site was around 20 minutes through the Longleat estate. Diana Ross was on-stage from around 9pm for a 90 minute show. Well attended with 5,000 concert goers present for the show.
Longleat House
Stunning setting for a concert
If somewhat on the cold side for July
Diana Ross concert, Longleat 01 Jul 2022
Diana Ross Setlist, 01 July 2022, Longleat
Set 1 I’m Coming Out More Today Than Yesterday My World Is Empty Without You Baby Love Stop! In the Name of Love You Can’t Hurry Love Love Child
Set 2 Chain Reaction I’m Still Waiting Upside Down Love Hangover / Take Me Higher / Ease on Down the Road
Set 3 Why Do Fools Fall in Love If We Hold on Together If the World Just Danced Theme From Mahogany (Do You Know Where You’re Going To) Ain’t No Mountain High Enough I Will Survive
Tomorrow sees Alison Moyet as the support act to Tears for Fears. We don’t have tickets for this concert but maybe we’ll take a wander around Longleat during the evening.
It was a day to accumulate small, useless artefacts of knowledge. It started with the River Stour – in fact the head of the River Stour. Whilst looking for the route of the River Stour I discovered this wasn’t quite so easy as there are a total of FIVE River Stours in the United Kingdom.
One each in the counties of Dorset, Kent, Suffolk, Warwickshire and Worcester. The name is of ambiguous and disputed origin, with one theory being that the name derives from the Celtic “sturr” meaning “strong”. However, the river-name Stour, whilst common in England does not occur in Wales…
Secondly, the Grand Tour is not just a TV series hosted by Jeremy Clarkson. The Grand Tour was the principally 17th to early 19th century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tutor or family member) when they had come of age – around 21 years old. The tradition finally declined in Europe as enthusiasm for classical culture waned, and with the advent of accessible rail and steamship travel.
The head of the River Stour on the Somerset / Wiltshire border is located at Stourhead. The river flows across southern England before finally entering the English Channel at Christchurch in Dorset. At the head of the River Stour is Stourhead House, a National Trust property. Stourhead House was one of the first country villas to be built in the new Palladium Style, the design much influenced by its owners trips on the Grand Tour.
The house was designed for Henry Hoare I by the architect Colen Campbell although Henry died before the house was completed and so never got to enjoy life at Stourhead.
Stourhead House
Stables at Stourhead house
Henry Hoare I, (“Good Henry”) and his successor, Henry Hoare II (“Magnificent Henry”) both made their money as bankers. The private bank, C Hoare & co remains the oldest private bank in England.
The house tour is a selection of rooms on the ground floor. All pristinely preserved and beautifully furnished with original furniture, fixtures and fittings. In 1946 the house was given to the National Trust to care for and look after for future generations. In the entrance hall are portraits of all the key Hoare family members and knowledgeable National Trust guides to pass on the family story.
The garden was described as “a living work of art” when it first opened its doors in the 1750s. The world-famous garden was designed by Henry Hoare II as a series of carefully constructed views, like scenes from a Landscape painting. Henry Hoare II built a dam to form the lake and around it he positioned classical temples and Gothic buildings as well as rare and exotic trees.
The garden was at the forefront of the English Landscape movement and for this achievement, Henry was nicknamed “the Magnificent”.
Frequently our trips start out with a purpose and then over time we add new places. This tour was booked with the intention of attending the Cotswold music festival at Cornbury. Also known as “posh fest”.
We’ve since added a visit to Longleat before our stay in the Cotswolds and also added some new sites to the end of the tour. Oh, and due to the ticket prices at Cornbury, we may now no longer attend the festival!
It has been some feat booking 4 nights at the CAMC (Caravan and Motorhome Club) site within the grounds of Longleat but finally, after frequent daily searches we managed to complete the four day reservation. We arrived on site, Thursday, complete with our 4 individual reservations – one for each night!
It was a short – around 2 hours – journey from East Devon to Longleat with some horrendous thunder, hail and rain storms on the route from Honiton to Warminster. By late afternoon, the weather had calmed down somewhat and it stayed dry enough for us to erect the small porch air awning and finish setting up.
This is our pitch at Longleat.
Our pitch at Longleat
The nearest pub to the site is the White Hart Inn at Corsley and we headed there in the evening for some welcome grub and a few pints.
Its been nearly two weeks since the last diary entry. We’ve been very busy but not entirely focussed on activities around the New Forest.
One of the reasons we like the Black Knowl campsite is its proximity to Brockenhurst and the mainline station with fast links to Waterloo and Poole – there isn’t a great need to use the car. Our first train journey took us to Havant and then on to Hayling Island for lunch with Chris and Alison. This was the first time we have seen their Hayling Island retreat since the rebuild began last summer. They’ve created a fantastic home here on Hayling Island.
Later in the week we headed to the Reading / Newbury / Basingstoke area to visit friends and for Moe to visit family. A trip to Reading would not be complete without lunch at the London Street brasserie, one of the top dining spots in Reading.
Wednesday was a special day for David, his 60th! Happy Birthday David.
David’s 60th birthday celebrations
On Thursday I met with my ex-business partner (another David) at the Rowbarge in Midgham. Fortunately he was available both Wednesday and Thursday as I’d somehow managed to double-book him with David’s 60th on the Wednesday. Groan, must be an age thing!
The weather has been predominantly fine throughout this trip – dry and mainly warm but frequently with a cold wind. We have experienced some tremendous thunder storms during several evenings and nights.
On Saturday, just over a week ago we headed on the bikes for lunch at the Royal Oak. They are coping well with staff shortages – focused solely on providing nice ploughman’s lunches in a cardboard box! Washed down with a few pints of Equinox cider, this was the perfect way to spend the afternoon before our return back to Black Knowl.
Cycling to Fritham
Cycling to Fritham
The Royal Oak at Fritham
Last Monday, Chris and Alison arrived in their motorhome and joined us at Black Knowl. As always there are lots of ponies, shetland ponies, donkeys and cattle of all breeds roaming around the National Park. Many of the ponies are with a new-born foal.
This one is tired out!
Mare and foal
This herd of Llamas was not running wild…
Herd of Llamas
On Wednesday we visited Compton Acres gardens in Poole.
Compton Acres is a large privately owned garden which was founded in 1920 by Thomas William Simpson, an entrepreneur who had become wealthy through the manufacture of margarine.
Compton Acres consists of five themed sub-gardens: an Italian garden, a rock and water garden, a heather garden, a Japanese garden and a less formal woodland garden called the “Wooded Valley”.
The Italian Garden is a formal garden is designed to be enjoyed as a spectacle with water, fountains, statuary, topiary and mass plantings providing seasonal colour.
The Italian Garden, Compton Acres
Joe and Moe at the Italian Gardens
The Wooded Valley is a mature pine wood which has been developed as a woodland garden with winding pathways and dramatic waterfalls.
Many rhododendrons and camelias thrive here. Shade tolerant shrubs edge the terraces and glades together with woodlanders, including ferns and foxgloves. On the lower paths a series of pools are cunningly constructed to give the impression of a flowing stream.
The Wooded valley at Compton Acres
The Wooded valley at Compton Acres
Chris posing with the statues
Koi at Compton Acres
Japanese Gardens
Sunbathing at Compton Acres
Saturday and Alison drove Chris and I for a day out at the Three Okefords Steam rally at Shillingstone, near Blanford Forum. Whilst not on the same scale as the Great Dorset Steam fair there was plenty to see and the event had a nice local feel to it.
View across Three Okefords steam fair
Vintage Steam roller at Three Okefords
Traction engines at Three Okeford show
Shepherds hut van conversion at Three Okefords
Shepherds hut van conversion at Three Okefords
Shepherds hut van conversion at Three Okefords
Scale model Traction engines
Scale model Traction engines
Sunday 22nd May and we cycled to the Sir Walter Tyrell inn for Sunday lunch. Would recommend, the food being excellent. Moe has a new battery for her bike and performance (of the bike, that is) is back to normal.
Monday was our 30th Wedding anniversary and we had a trip to and picnic to Fordingbridge. BBQ in the evening.
Wednesday was our penultimate day in the New Forest and we drove to Lymington for the day.
Last year we managed to book this three week stay at Black Knowl, Brockenhurst which is one of our favourite campsites. It’s also one of the Caravan Club’s most popular sites so we had to be early off the mark in gaining this reservation.
Black Knowl CAMC site
The sign at the entrance to the campsite has shown full for each day of our visit so far. That’s a pretty good effort when the price of a pitch and two adults is more than £40 per night! We arrived about 45 minutes after the barriers opened and they’d already checked in some 26 outfits. We had a choice of just two pitches but by placing the van onto our pitch “nose” first, we were able to be positioned to take full advantage of the predicted sunny afternoons and evenings.
We have already booked next years trip and we were even faster, managing to secure a fully Serviced pitch for May 2023.
We had arrived at Black Knowl after around a three hour trip along the South coast from East Devon and quickly had the toys unloaded and the awning erected.
Our pitch at Black Knowl
All in time for an evening stroll around the woods near Ober corner. The weather forecast is great and there was a nice sunset to be seen on our walk.
Sunset in the Forest, May 2022
Friday we did the circular walk from the campsite to Brockenhurst and back across the meadows, encountering a new born foal, full of energy.
New Forest new born foal
Saturday and we headed out on the bikes for a 30 mile round trip to the pub, passing through a magnificent Bluebell display at the start of the journey.
Bluebells in the New Forest
Refreshments at the Royal Oak, Fritham
This particular venue is the Royal Oak at Fritham. Has a nice selection of real ales but after the journey from the campsite something a bit more refreshing was required – Equinox cider. Saturday evening is also Fish and Chips night, courtesy of Tony’s Frying machine, so much of the healthy work from the bike ride vanished with cider and fish and chips. The Royal Oak has a great beer garden and also a huge Marquee in case of any inclement weather!
Our route back took us along small country lanes, the journey time being just over an hour.
Cycle ride to the Royal Oak at Fritham, May 2022
Sunday is “rest” day. Cycled into Brockehurst for some provisions and the newspaper and then chilled. Tomorrow we head to Hayling Island.
We left Camping Monfrague on Tuesday 29th March 2022 around 09:00 with another 300 mile tow ahead to Santander. Traffic was clear and we arrived at Camping el Helguero near to the coastal town of Comillas around 4pm. The site is pretty level, clean, functional and being the only one open on this stretch of the coastline was pretty busy with travellers mainly waiting a day or two prior to their departure back to England.
Our pitch at Camping el Helguero
Our ferry, the Pont Aven was due to leave Santander at 16:00 on Thursday and this left us a day to visit Comillas. The weather continued it’s cold and damp feel as we caught a local bus on Wednesday morning.
Had a spot of lunch in town, took a few photos (below) and then waited for the bus back – which didn’t arrive – leaving us with a 5km walk back to the campsite!
Beach at Comillas
View over Comillas
Centre of Comillas
We were pleased to board the ferry on Thursday afternoon, destination Blighty.
Our ferry was due to arrive in Plymouth late morning, allowing a comfortable drive home but unfortunately, during the night, there had been a medical emergency and a lady was air-lifted to hospital. The boat had to travel towards France to allow the helicopter to land – either a distance issue or a sea swell issue – not sure which. This gave us a 4+ hour delay into Plymouth so we decided to find a CL site nearby.
Smallcombe farm was our chosen site and we arrived there around 5pm. The owners were very friendly and helpful, the facilities excellent for our one night stopover. Electric hookup and water on each pitch and a central service area with two toilets, shower and even a washing machine! It was just a 30 minute walk to the Church House Inn at Rattery and we walked there for dinner later that evening. Wonderful local country pub with several log burners providing a nice warm atmosphere
Pitch at Smallcombe Farm CL site
The Church House Inn, Rattery
Saturday we arrived home and started the process of unpacking!
We headed into Plasencia for provisions first thing. This included stopping at one of the Ruta de Pan bakeries in the centre of Plasencia – La Tahona de Esther. Moe bagged some delicious cakes and I ordered a rather nice looking loaf of bread.
We then drove to Jerte Valley.
The Jerte Valley, situated in the northern region of Extremadura is famous for the cherry blossom in Spring; an amazing spectacle when over two million trees bathe the valley sides in white.
Following a century-long family custom, the cherries are grown in the traditional way on terraces carved out of the high mountain sides of the Jerte Valley. We had arrived at the perfect time since the trees were in full bloom.
Chery Trees of the Jerte Valley
As we drove along the valley bottom, we spotted a signpost for a mirador and after a 10 minute drive, we found ourselves once again marvelling at the magnificent landscape, The concrete statues were a little more of a mystery but appeared to be in recognition of the local workers.
Mirador de La Memorie
Statues at the Mirador de La Memorie
Views across the Jerte valley
and a fab place to eat our bread from Esthers!
In the evening we ate at the campsite restaurant with Jenny and David.
We wanted to find a nice walk around the national park for Day 3. We were considering the red route which takes in all the significant landmarks and in total is 16km. We had already visited the information centre and the kind Spanish park warden lady had smiled sweetly and said it’s a nice easy route which should take around 3 hours.
When we visited to grab a map today, the second Spanish warden looked at us; then looked a second time and said maybe it will take 5 hours. What she clearly wanted to say was that perhaps there are more appropriate routes for a couple of oldies and one somewhat overweight oldie!
We decided on a shortened route which would still see the main sites but chop about 40% off the walk.
We joined the route at the car park near “Feuente del Frances” and trekked along the side of the river Tajo.
Alongside the River Tajo
Fauna alongside the River Tajo
Perhaps Joe needs to shed a pound or three
Alongside the River Tajo
We would arrive at Salto del Gitano where the large outcrop of rocks is home to the many vultures and birds of prey which inhabit this national park. We spent a while observing the sheer beauty of the location before heading onwards and upwards to the Castillo de Monfrague,
Moe observing the Griffin vultures
Salto del Gitano
We eventually arrived at the Castillo de Monfrague, 3 miles into the trail after a gruelling 3 hours. The last mile to the top of the castle was just brutal but it was certainly worth the effort. The views from the top of the world were absolutely stunning.
And we finally got to eat our packed lunch!
Views from the Castillo de Monfrague
You can just see the road bridge across the river which is where we departed for our hike today.
Views from Castillo de Monfrague
Top of the world
And finally a late lunch
The return journey was all down hill and a darn sight faster the route to the top. Fantastic hike, maybe next time we can do the full 16k. Here is what we managed to achieve.
