Indian summer in Cheddar
We’ve been spending a lovely week in Cheddar, one of my very favourite places. We needed to be in the area to change over our vans, which meant dropping off some parts to be fitted to the new van on Monday, ready for us to pick it up on Friday. Perfect opportunity to spend some time in Cheddar as it’s not far from the motorhome dealership.
As luck would have, the weather is simply beautiful this week. Blue skies and sunshine. We set off from Portsmouth to Somerset, stopping in North Devon for 2 nights at Milton Farm Caravan Site in Milton-on-Stour near Gillingham. A lovely start to this little trip. This is a small independent site, situated beautifully on the bank of the Stour. We simply spend a day or so relaxing in the sunshine, enjoying the peace and quiet of the campsite.
On Monday, after we’ve dropped off some parts to the dealer, we move on to Witheridge Farm CL (Caravan & Motorhome Club – CAMC) in Cheddar. Another lovely little site, close to Cheddar Gorge and Cheddar Village. The owners are very helpful and friendly, giving us hints and tips on some great walks around the Gorge and where the best place is to get cheese (Cobbs of Cheddar). They even give us some chopped tomatoes when we’re halfway through cooking dinner before realising we don’t have any..!
On Tuesday we decide to try one of the walks; a 10 mile circuit around the Gorge, taking in Beacons Batch, the highest point of the Mendips. It’s a beautiful walk through the countryside, and from Beacon’s Batch you can see for miles! We see the Severn Bridge and Wales, we watch the planes take off and land from Bristol Airport. We can see the beautiful Somerset Landscape. Another wonderful area to explore!
On Wednesday our friends Susie & Jason from The Edge of Europe join us at the campsite. It’s great to see them as we haven’t seen them since we were all in Spain, so it’s time for a good catch up, a few drinks and a tapas buffet! Luckily they’re staying a couple of nights, so we get to spend another day together exploring Cheddar.
Finally it’s Friday! New Van Day!!!! We’re both very excited! We spend some time doing the handover on the new van, before spending several hours trying to move ALL OUR STUFF(!!) into the new van… Trying to find a place for everything, it was quite a challenge! But at last we’ve finished the job and we’re on our way to a nearby campsite, Phippins Farm caravan park, to try everything out on the new van and make sure everything works ok. We make the most of the opportunity by catching up with some more friends who live in North Devon, as we’re not that far now.
Unfortunately, on Saturday Luna gets quite unwell… She hasn’t been herself for a few days but now we’re getting quite worried. We find a vet that’s open on Sunday near Portsmouth and we decide to drive back a little earlier than planned. Typical however, by the time we’re waiting for the vet to open on Sunday morning, Luna perks up a bit… Still, not wanting to risk anything so close to us travelling, we get all the recommended medication for her.
With Luna on the mend, it’s time to start heading East, with a visit to Canterbury to visit our friends who we worked with last year. We spend a lovely few days catching up, chilling out and doing some last minute chores and shopping before we head to the Tunnel to start this winter’s adventure.
Europe! Here we come!!!
We love Cheddar Gorge as well, a lovely place to chill out. What are the plans for Europe?
We have just spent a month in Northern Spain in the most amazing weather. Just moved into France and it is still 26 degrees. Hope it is still flip flops rather than woolly hats for you guys as well!
That sounds lovely! We’re heading to northern Spain slowly, through France, and finally to Portugal to do everything we didn’t do last year. Hope you have a fab trip! Might see you in France ?
Ahh I’ve always wondered what Cheddar Gorge is like. I wanna do that walk! Poor little Luna, glad she was ok. So many places we’ve yet to explore in the UK.