Chertsey Camping and Caravan Club Site (N51.389339, W0.489691) and Windsor

Saturday, 17th May 2025

Today is the main object of our visit here, ie to attend Salma's first Holy Communion.

All goes well, and Salma is beautiful in her Holy Communion dress.

Sunday, 18th May 2025

Family time at Gary's

Monday, 19th May 2025

A short walk (only 1.64miles, there and back). 

We walk the path on the opposite side of the Thames path, where Kathleen fell and broke her wrist, approximately one year ago, so as, not to tempt fate.

We manage to avoid another broken wrist, but, the walk, short though it is, does nothing for my painful ankle / achilles tendon.

The rest of the day is spent sitting in the sun, followed by an Indian Chicken Curry.

 

Tuesday, 20th May 2025

More family visiting.

 

Hawton Waters, Hawton, Nottingham (N53.030944,W0.813016)

 Thursday, 15th May 2025

En-route to Chertsey CCC site, as our base to visit Windsor, for Salma's First Holy Communion, and, of course, to see Gary, Susana and Gabriel.

An almost traffic free 156 miles, excluding of course the usual crawl past Darrington/Wentbridge. How long can it take to repair a bridge?, it must be at least two years now, I wonder if they are using the same Contractors as were used to "refurbish" the Tyne Pedestrian / Cycle Tubnnel?

Weather disappointing, forecast said cloud along the East Coast, possibly as far South as Hull. Well, the cloud extends at least as far south and west as Newark!, so, we have a chilly and dull 13C.

Hawton Waters (N53.030944,W0.813016) is a CAMC Certified Location. a few miles south of Newark-on-Trent. Our stopover for tonight. 

Approach from A1SB is straightforward, and, entrance clearly signed.

There is a large lake, presumably for fishing. "Checking in" all done remotely, code for gate emailed to you, along with directions to find your pitch, water etc. Seems very pleasant and quiet, might be worth a longer return visit. I even heard a Cuckoo, the sign of Spring.

It would appear there is only us, and a caravan here. Surprisingly, Kathleen seems happy with this, she normally likes more "signs of life".

Friday, 16th May 2025

After yesterday's silly and cloudy weather, today, we have glorious sunshine and a forecast 21C.

Off to a good start, easy going, with light traffic, until the M25!

We are so relaxed we stop for coffee and cake at about 11:00 with only 60 miles to go. Then, we have the "pleasure" of the M25. Traffic is at a crawl, particularly between junctions 17 and 16, where we never get above 10mph. Made worse by the heat.

 Eventually we reach Junction 11, and, then, just a couple of miles to Chertsey, Chertsey Camping and Caravan Club Site (N51.389339, W0.489691).

Chertsey Camping and Caravan Club Site N51.389339, W0.489691.

Tuesday 25th June 2024

 Visiting family, Windsor

Wednesday, 26th June 2024

Walking a section of the Thames path, Kathleen trips, falls, and breaks wrist. Five hours in St Peters Hospital A&E, Chertsey, to have wrist set, plaster etc. We are advised to return home and continue treatment at Sunderland Royal.

Thursday, 27th June 2024

Leave Chertsey 07:00, and, drive home. Not the planned end.

Chertsey (contd)

Saturday, 3rd February 2018

Raining, but, not quite so cold.

We do the "Grandparent baby sitting" role, to allow Gary and Susana to do last minute shopping for party items, for Salma's second birthday party, planned for tomorrow.

A very enjoyable afternoon, although Salma steadfastly refuses to have her afternoon nap. Gabriel entertains us by practicing his guitar, particularly his rendition of "Happy Birth", which he plans to perform tomorrow at Salma's party.

An excellent meal in the evening, clearly, Gary gets his cooking skills from his mother, not me!

The final excitement is using Uber for a taxi  ride for the first time. A "conventional" taxi company wanted £70 to take us from Windsor to Chertsey (a distance of about 8 miles), an Uber driver did it for £29. Driver polite, car clean, driving safe. What more can you ask, I will use them again.

Sunday, 4th February 2018

Dry, but cold.

A quick lunch, then off to Maidenhead to set things up for Salma's Birthday Party.

The party is excellent, all of the children seem to enjoy themselves, just about all of the food is eaten, no-one is ill, or injured in the melee, and the parents have a good old chin wag, a resounding success.

Monday, 5th February 2018

The weather forecast says it may snow, we escape with just a few flakes drifting across the A1, as we drive home, but, it is very, very cold again.

We leave Chertsey C&CC site at 09:00, and have a totally uneventful drive home.

Chertsey

Thursday, 1st February 2018

Bright and sunny, but, bitterly cold. Like most Northerners, I suspect, I tend to believe the hype that we live in the frozen North, and it is so much more pleasant and mild in the South of England, I am beginning to dis-believe this myth!

We investigate the whereabouts of the Catholic Church, so, Kathleen's Sunday Mass requirements are organised, then make our way into Chertsey make our way to Windsor, via Staines, on the bus.

Today is our Grand-daughter, Salma's, second birthday, it is only a few weeks since we saw her, but, she is comming along in leaps and bounds.

Grandson Gabriel is at school, but, we have a pleasant evening when he comes home, from school, Grandad doing the homework duties, very enjoyable. I wonder how long before the homework is too difficult for me? Frightening how quickly they grow up!

Friday, 2nd February 2018

A dry and sunny morning, but, not very warm.

A little explore of Chertsey, looking for a cake shop (without success), before 11:00am coffee.

After lunch, a very pleasant stroll along the Thames, toward Staines.

On reflection, we should have got the bicycles out and cycled. 

Despite the fact we are inside the M25, and in the Greater London catchment, we are walking along a mixture of quiet road and Thames Path. 

This is a rather beautiful part of England, probably less than ten miles from Central London and perhaps three miles from

Heathrow Airport, but, with plenty of open spaces and probably more wildlife (squirrels, ducks, geese, woodpeckers) than we see on a typical walk at home.

It is a pity the houses are so eye-wateringly expensive!

My original idea is to walk to Staines (approximately 3.7 miles, along the River Thames from Chertsey), and catch the bus back. But, instead, we walk as far as Penton Lock, and then retrace our steps to Chertsey, to clock up 5 miles of walking.

Ferry Meadows and on to Chertsey

Tuesday, 30th January 2018

A bright and sunny day, temperatures about what one would expect, for January in the UK, ie 6-8C, altogether a very pleasant day.

Lazing about and reading books, or, Private Eye, in my case, until lunch time.

After lunch, the bicycles are unloaded. This will be our first bicycle ride for six weeks, due to combination of, poor weather, winter coughs and colds, post Christmas idleness.

Peterborough certainly appears to have excellent cycling infrastructure, we are able to ride from the campsite to the city centre (3 miles) on tarmac cycle track / shared path, without once going on the road.

In total we cycle approximately 9 miles, not bad for our first day back in the saddle after a six week break.

It is the first time I have ever been to Peterborough, I am pleasantly surprised, initial impressions are very favourable, the campsite is clean and well organised (as you would expect from the Caravan and Motorhome Club), the Nene Valley Country Park around the site, is well organised and attractive, and, the town centre is pleasant with a good selection of shops (if you like shops).

The site is large, and there are many activities available in the Nene Valley Country Park, so, I would suspect the site is popular with families, which in turn, probably means it is busy during School Holiday times, but, it is pleasantly quiet during our stay, just as we like it!

Wednesday, 31st January 2018

After yesterday, which was rather pleasant, weatherise, today is dull, and, it begins to rain just as I am in the middle of packing up (ie disconnection TV aerial, rolling up EHU cable etc.

We have a leisurely departure (10:00) and make our way the approximately 100 miles to Chertsey.

Despite the fairly constant rain, it is an easy run, even the M25 is moving at a steady speed, so, we arrive at Chertsey Camping and Caravan Club Site (N51 23'27" W0 29'21") before the 13:00 booking in time.

We have been to the Chertsey C&CC Site several times. For essentially a "city" site, (we are only a few miles from Central London), it is rather nice, but, being also just a few miles from Heathrow Airport, one of the busiest airports in the world, some aircraft noise is to be expected. Not enough to spoil our enjoyment, or keep us awake.

The weather brightens, with full sunshine for a while, but, by evening, it is very cold. 

Today is our Wedding Anniversary (31 years), after getting booked in and set up, we head to  the Kingfisher for a celebratory meal. Definitely a good choice, very pleasant surroundings, right by the River Thames, and a good choice of dishes, some unusual items and, some more traditional meals.