Houghton Mill near Huntingdon
Not such a nice day today, dry but overcast. You cannot expect wall to wall sunshine in England at any time, but in October, definitely not.
We have been away long enough now to have built up a collection of washing, but one of the little rules here is no washing lines, so it is decide that we will go into Huntingdon on our bikes, and visit one of Kathleen’s favourite shops (Wilkinsons), to buy a clothes drier thing that we can hang on the van.
Off we go, across Godmanchester common, to Godmanchester then Huntingdon, a wasted trip since Wilkinsons are out of stock of clothes drier things, but we buy the ingredients for the Moroccan Chicken dish I am planning for tonight, so all is not lost.
On our way back we get a brief spell of sunshine and explore Godmanchester a little, another lovely little backwater.
Wednesday, 7 October 2009
Sunday 4th October 2009
Houghton Mill near Huntingdon
The weather so far has been excellent, and Sunday dawns even better, brilliant sunshine, not a cloud in the sky and if the local radio is to be believed 18C. I have used the internet to check out the location of the nearest Catholic Church, so we peddle off to St Ives a couple of miles through the woods. While Kathleen does her duty at church, I read the Sunday paper, and then we to the riverside in St Ives for coffee and carrot cake. Followed by another pleasant walk to work it off!
The weather so far has been excellent, and Sunday dawns even better, brilliant sunshine, not a cloud in the sky and if the local radio is to be believed 18C. I have used the internet to check out the location of the nearest Catholic Church, so we peddle off to St Ives a couple of miles through the woods. While Kathleen does her duty at church, I read the Sunday paper, and then we to the riverside in St Ives for coffee and carrot cake. Followed by another pleasant walk to work it off!
Saturday 3rd October 2009
Houghton Mill near Huntingdon
Kathleen cannot wait to make use of her “free” pensioners bus pass and we are told there is a good bus service from the village, so we walking into the village and take the bus to Huntingdon. Huntingdon has a good selection of shops, with a couple of supermarkets and even a Wilkinsons. I am irritated to find that the 3 Internet Dongle I have just bought in South Shields for £19.99 is only £17.99 here!. So Huntingdon is the nearest place for substantial shopping, but it is otherwise disappointing its old charm has been spoiled by shabby new developments. We even find a Greggs, where we have a sandwich lunch before returning to Houghton Mill.
After a bit of sitting reading the newspaper (what a hard life this is), we go for a walk along the river, for get some exercise for an hour.
Kathleen cannot wait to make use of her “free” pensioners bus pass and we are told there is a good bus service from the village, so we walking into the village and take the bus to Huntingdon. Huntingdon has a good selection of shops, with a couple of supermarkets and even a Wilkinsons. I am irritated to find that the 3 Internet Dongle I have just bought in South Shields for £19.99 is only £17.99 here!. So Huntingdon is the nearest place for substantial shopping, but it is otherwise disappointing its old charm has been spoiled by shabby new developments. We even find a Greggs, where we have a sandwich lunch before returning to Houghton Mill.
After a bit of sitting reading the newspaper (what a hard life this is), we go for a walk along the river, for get some exercise for an hour.
Friday 2nd October 2009
Houghton Mill near Huntingdon
We choose a Sustrans, cycle ride. It is about 13 miles and is very a very pleasant ride with not a hill in sight. The weather continues to be fine and sunny, just right for peddling along and counting the squirrels we see. We pass by a working lock on the River Great Ouse, along a lane called “Common Lane” (which is anything but common, since it is lined with houses whose owners I am sure will not be voting for Mr Cable), and along a tarmac track across Godmanchester Common, skirt the edge of Godmanchester, then along the river to St Ives (a very pretty place) and then back to where we started.
We choose a Sustrans, cycle ride. It is about 13 miles and is very a very pleasant ride with not a hill in sight. The weather continues to be fine and sunny, just right for peddling along and counting the squirrels we see. We pass by a working lock on the River Great Ouse, along a lane called “Common Lane” (which is anything but common, since it is lined with houses whose owners I am sure will not be voting for Mr Cable), and along a tarmac track across Godmanchester Common, skirt the edge of Godmanchester, then along the river to St Ives (a very pretty place) and then back to where we started.
Thursday 1st October 2009
Houghton Mill near Huntingdon
Our departure from home is delayed because we forget the iPod (an essential part of our evening entertainment),, we did not realise this until we are on the A19 and passing the exit to Hartlepool. Yes, we do carefully make a check list of things to be picked, but of course making the list is only one part of the equation, you also have to use it whilst packing.
We arrive at Houghton Mill Caravan Club site at about 16:00, the weather is excellent for October, pleanty of autumn sunshine, initial impressions are favourable. It is the usual high CC standard, but with the added advantage of being fairly small and a bit less formal than some of the CC sites we have visited.
We spend the rest of the evening exploring, until it gets dark. The site is in the grounds of a National Trust owned working Water Mill, and it is only 5 minutes walk into the twin villages of Houghton and Wyrton, where there is an Alladins Cave type village shop, two pubs (the Three Jolly Butchers is the best one in our view) and more thatched cottages than I have ever seen in one place.
The friendly Warden loans us a file about two inches thick of cycle rides, walks and other “things to do and see”.
Our departure from home is delayed because we forget the iPod (an essential part of our evening entertainment),, we did not realise this until we are on the A19 and passing the exit to Hartlepool. Yes, we do carefully make a check list of things to be picked, but of course making the list is only one part of the equation, you also have to use it whilst packing.
We arrive at Houghton Mill Caravan Club site at about 16:00, the weather is excellent for October, pleanty of autumn sunshine, initial impressions are favourable. It is the usual high CC standard, but with the added advantage of being fairly small and a bit less formal than some of the CC sites we have visited.
We spend the rest of the evening exploring, until it gets dark. The site is in the grounds of a National Trust owned working Water Mill, and it is only 5 minutes walk into the twin villages of Houghton and Wyrton, where there is an Alladins Cave type village shop, two pubs (the Three Jolly Butchers is the best one in our view) and more thatched cottages than I have ever seen in one place.
The friendly Warden loans us a file about two inches thick of cycle rides, walks and other “things to do and see”.
Friday, 3 July 2009
Wednesday 1st July 2009
Home
I make the mistake of suggesting to Kathleen last night, that today we should just drive to the ferry port at Calais and see if we can get on a ferry today. If not we can follow plan B and stay at the Calais Aire or drive to Guinnes just a few miles from Calais. This will suit both of us really, since I know Kathleen is anxious to see the new grandson, Daniel, and I am anxious to ensure I see Gary & Susana before the depart to Houston.
But Kathleen is so enthusiastic, she is out of bed at 06:00 in the morning, this is the earliest she has been out of bed by at least 3 hours for the past 12 weeks! She of course makes enough noise clattering around that although I hold out until 06:30 I am eventually forced to get up too. I should have waited until this morning to make my suggestion.
The journey is uneventful, in her enthusiasm to ensure we get to Calais promptly, she even directs me onto the toll section of motorway and pays the toll.
We are in for an unpleasant surprise when we get to the ferry check in, at about 10:00. We have a return ticket for tomorrow at 09:20 (which cost £75), and based on previous experience with Sea France and Norfolk Line, we would expect to be charged an extra £10-£15 to switch. Wrong!. This time we are travelling with P&O and they want a whopping £65 to allow us to switch. Now I could understand this if we were switching from a really off peak time (like 02:00 in the morning) to a peak time, but we aren’t. Anyway we grudgingly pay up, and resolve not to use P&O again ever!
We stop off for a very pleasant lunch at a small pub just off the M11, and arrive home at 20:00 all we have to do now is unload the wine we have brought back with us, hopefully enough so that we will not have to buy any at UK inflated prices!
Finally now that we are home, and I have access to the lead which someone forgot to pack (plus I thanks to Andy's sterling efforts, the garden looks superb, so I will not have to spend the enxt few days weeding and tidying), I will try and upload some photographs so that you can see the sort of places we visited, so keep watching.
.
I make the mistake of suggesting to Kathleen last night, that today we should just drive to the ferry port at Calais and see if we can get on a ferry today. If not we can follow plan B and stay at the Calais Aire or drive to Guinnes just a few miles from Calais. This will suit both of us really, since I know Kathleen is anxious to see the new grandson, Daniel, and I am anxious to ensure I see Gary & Susana before the depart to Houston.
But Kathleen is so enthusiastic, she is out of bed at 06:00 in the morning, this is the earliest she has been out of bed by at least 3 hours for the past 12 weeks! She of course makes enough noise clattering around that although I hold out until 06:30 I am eventually forced to get up too. I should have waited until this morning to make my suggestion.
The journey is uneventful, in her enthusiasm to ensure we get to Calais promptly, she even directs me onto the toll section of motorway and pays the toll.
We are in for an unpleasant surprise when we get to the ferry check in, at about 10:00. We have a return ticket for tomorrow at 09:20 (which cost £75), and based on previous experience with Sea France and Norfolk Line, we would expect to be charged an extra £10-£15 to switch. Wrong!. This time we are travelling with P&O and they want a whopping £65 to allow us to switch. Now I could understand this if we were switching from a really off peak time (like 02:00 in the morning) to a peak time, but we aren’t. Anyway we grudgingly pay up, and resolve not to use P&O again ever!
We stop off for a very pleasant lunch at a small pub just off the M11, and arrive home at 20:00 all we have to do now is unload the wine we have brought back with us, hopefully enough so that we will not have to buy any at UK inflated prices!
Finally now that we are home, and I have access to the lead which someone forgot to pack (plus I thanks to Andy's sterling efforts, the garden looks superb, so I will not have to spend the enxt few days weeding and tidying), I will try and upload some photographs so that you can see the sort of places we visited, so keep watching.
.
Monday 29th June 2009 – Tuesday 30th June 2009
Sainte Claire, Neufchatel-en-Bray (ACSI2009-728) N49.73781 E1.42803We return to one of our old favourites. This is one of the first sites we stayed on when we began the campervan journeys, and we have returned at least once each year since I think.
Just to show anyone who is concerned about driving here, this is a shot through the windscreen as we drive along, this is typical of traffic levels even during the day.
The site is beautifully kept, and the chap who runs it always takes you to your pitch and guides you onto the hard standing so that you don’t damage his grass, which he obviously cares for very carefully. We have been here so often now that one of the French families who have a static van here, recognise us on our arrival.
The site is much busier than we have seen it before, and for once I would say the GB’ers out number the Dutch and Germans, we will have to stop recommending it to people, otherwise we will not be able to get on ourselves!
After we get settled and have our lunch, we are just about to set off along the cycle track (in preparation for eating cream cakes for afters), when the David and Carol the Welsh couple from the previous site arrive.
From here there is a cycle track which goes in one direction to Dieppe (about 20 miles away), and in the other direction to Forges-les-Eaux (about 13 miles away). Dieppe is on the coast, so overall going there must be downhill there and uphill back, while Forges-les-Eaux is inland so it must be uphill on the way there and downhill on the way back. On previous visits here it has always been my intention to cycle both routes. But Kathleen has always wimped out after a few miles. So on the first day, we set off for Forges-les-Eaux, and (someone) wimps out after about 8 miles. To be fair we set off at about 15:00, so we had the heat of the day to deal with and it was hot (30C).
In the evening Kathleen gets out the guitar, but the singing is cut short by our French neighbour, who informs us that she has just been informed today that her nephew has committed suicide by driving his mother car into a wall. So she is understandably upset and having difficulty with being surrounded by revelry from us and our English neighbours. Kathleen stops immediately and we try our best in our inadequate French to be apologetic and sympathetic.
It turns out that two of our English neighbours Jack and Joan are from the north east, Joan from South Shields and Jack from Boldon Colliery, although they now live in South Shields, they are on their way to Costa Brava towing a caravan.
Next day we set off at 09:30 in the morning before the heat builds up, and we make it comfortably to Forges-les-Eaux. Kathleen says she is training for the Coast-to-Coast when we get home.
We decide we will go to the nearby Lidl to buy “a bottle” of Gin for the Boss. We go on our bikes. When we get there she cannot resist buying three bottles of gin, six bottles of wine, and two three litre cartons of wine, oh’ and a bottle of coke and a bottle of cheap “Bacardi”.
Try carrying that lot on a bike, it is not easy.
As if that was not bad enough the “Bacardi” was rough. I swapped a couple of large glasses of it with David & Carol for a lemon, and I think that I got the bargain, but there again, for 4Euro what do you expect!
The site is beautifully kept, and the chap who runs it always takes you to your pitch and guides you onto the hard standing so that you don’t damage his grass, which he obviously cares for very carefully. We have been here so often now that one of the French families who have a static van here, recognise us on our arrival.
The site is much busier than we have seen it before, and for once I would say the GB’ers out number the Dutch and Germans, we will have to stop recommending it to people, otherwise we will not be able to get on ourselves!
After we get settled and have our lunch, we are just about to set off along the cycle track (in preparation for eating cream cakes for afters), when the David and Carol the Welsh couple from the previous site arrive.
From here there is a cycle track which goes in one direction to Dieppe (about 20 miles away), and in the other direction to Forges-les-Eaux (about 13 miles away). Dieppe is on the coast, so overall going there must be downhill there and uphill back, while Forges-les-Eaux is inland so it must be uphill on the way there and downhill on the way back. On previous visits here it has always been my intention to cycle both routes. But Kathleen has always wimped out after a few miles. So on the first day, we set off for Forges-les-Eaux, and (someone) wimps out after about 8 miles. To be fair we set off at about 15:00, so we had the heat of the day to deal with and it was hot (30C).
In the evening Kathleen gets out the guitar, but the singing is cut short by our French neighbour, who informs us that she has just been informed today that her nephew has committed suicide by driving his mother car into a wall. So she is understandably upset and having difficulty with being surrounded by revelry from us and our English neighbours. Kathleen stops immediately and we try our best in our inadequate French to be apologetic and sympathetic.
It turns out that two of our English neighbours Jack and Joan are from the north east, Joan from South Shields and Jack from Boldon Colliery, although they now live in South Shields, they are on their way to Costa Brava towing a caravan.
Next day we set off at 09:30 in the morning before the heat builds up, and we make it comfortably to Forges-les-Eaux. Kathleen says she is training for the Coast-to-Coast when we get home.
We decide we will go to the nearby Lidl to buy “a bottle” of Gin for the Boss. We go on our bikes. When we get there she cannot resist buying three bottles of gin, six bottles of wine, and two three litre cartons of wine, oh’ and a bottle of coke and a bottle of cheap “Bacardi”.
Try carrying that lot on a bike, it is not easy.
As if that was not bad enough the “Bacardi” was rough. I swapped a couple of large glasses of it with David & Carol for a lemon, and I think that I got the bargain, but there again, for 4Euro what do you expect!
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