Saturday 8 August  Anyway, to get back to this trip, I brought the caravan across from the storage site a couple of days before and we packed virtually everything we could think of - one of the luxuries of a caravan is not having to squeeze everything into suitcases. Books, DVDs, mandolin - plenty of space for everything with cupboards to spare. We left home at 10.50 and made good progress although traffic on the M25 was heavy. We stopped for a break at Wisley (junction 10), knowing that there are good lay-bys here just off the motorway. We go down the A3 to the first exit and go round the roundabout and back up where there is a lay-by separated from the carriageway - nothing worse than being parked on the side of a trunk road with traffic whizzing past inches from your ear. By the time we reached the M4 turn off the traffic was worse and we couldn't get onto the M4 at all as it seemed to be completely blocked. So I carried on up to the M40 and the satnav recalculated and directed us down into Henley via Marlow, nicely avoiding Henley town centre. We arrived at Henley-on-Thames CC site and were allocated a spot near the loos and services, which was fine in view of my knee injury. A woman in the neighbouring van said she thought she could smell gas from our caravan but Tom, the site manager, kindly came across and checked everything and did the soap bubble test on all my gas joints and gave us a clean bill of health. Early evening we set off to our sister and brother in law's house at Wargrave and spent a very pleasant evening with an excellent Indian take-away which because of the fine weather, we were able to eat outside on their patio. Sunday 9 August  We went back to Wargrave and drove on to the Marina at Reading with Pat and John. John's boat was all ready for us to go off for the day and the weather was perfect. We sailed up to Henley, stopping for an excellent lunch on an island in the Thames. There were many other boats out on the Thames (including Paul Daniels and Debbie Magee). And all down the River there were beautiful river-side properties, the value of which must have been astronomic. John's boat was very comfortable having a large cockpit area for sitting outside, and a four berth cabin with dining area and galley. The locks were not too busy and overall we only had to wait a couple of times, and then only for a very few minutes. We cruised home in the evening sun and finally got back to their house at about 8.00pm, then back to the site to relax after a very long day.  Margaret, John and Pat by the river  Monday 10 August A fine morning. We had breakfast and began to prepare for our journey to Broadway. There was no hurry as the satnav said it would only take a couple of hours to get there, so we left at 10:50. The weather deteriorated as we drove and by Oxford it was dull and damp. We then had a pleasant run through the Cotswolds and then down the huge "Fish Hill" into Broadway (wondering slightly how we would ever get back up it at the end of the week). We were on the site by 12:30 and found a good pitch and set up easily. After lunch we had a rest then went into Broadway to have a look around. It was all very pretty with all the buildings made from Cotswold stone and various shops selling arts and crafts.  Broadway village green We left the village and went up the hill to Broadway Tower to see the views across seven counties (or so it said on the information board). Back to the caravan for tea and then later we had another drive to look at Evesham then watched a DVD of The Good German with George Clooney. Tuesday 11 August  I needed to go into Evesham to buy double sided tape (the caravan's registration plate was coming off), and a mandolin string (one had broken). I popped down early and had a McDonalds breakfast then wandered around Evesham eventually finding a little music shop which had the strings in stock. After fixing the registration plate we drove off to "The Slaughters" (Upper and Lower), which are both very beautiful. The stream in Upper Slaughter was low enough for us to be able to drive through the ford. Upper Slaughter was perfect for walking around as its very quiet with almost no traffic.  Back at the site, my sister and her husband had arrived in their motor-home so we sat outside with them for a while then I drove us all to Broadway to have another look at it. The weather was very fine and warm, so we were able to eat our evening meal together outside sitting by the caravan. Broadway CC site seemed to me to be slightly more formal than Henley. Its probably because all the caravans are in rows, whereas at Henley there is a big grassed area which can also be used. It was funny to walk down the row of caravans and see everyone doing the same thing - drinking a glass of wine and eating their dinners. Wednesday 12 August  All six of us drove across to the Nags Head at Great Malvern which is a very fine pub with a vast range of real ales. I was driving but still managed to sample a bitter with a touch of ginger, the name of which escapes me. We drove back to David's with wonderful views on our left and the slightly forbidding Malvern Hills rising steeply above us on the right. We sat in the garden then strolled down the lane David lives in, then drove back to Broadway - the satnav somehow taking us on a different route for a good part of the way. Wednesday night at Broadway is fish and chip van night. The notice said "6.00pm" so we went down a little later at 6.30pm and had to queue half an hour, then just as we got to the counter they ran out of chips! However, now that I knew Evesham fairly well I was able to drive down to a fish and chip shop I'd seen there and get rather better fish and chips than the van seemed to be serving up. After sitting outside for a while we did the usual thing of taking the stroll around the site, looking at the things people brought with them - bird feeders, solar lights to put around their pitch, and the inevitable barbecues.  Cotswold stone cottages at Chipping Campden Thursday 13 August  Margaret at Stratford We said goodbye to Dorothy and Gordon who were driving home today. We had a lazy morning then drove off to Stratford Upon Avon, passing through Mickleton where we saw Three Ways House, the home of the Pudding Club.  Unfortunately the Theatre was surrounded by scaffolding and cranes so the classic view from the bridge was rather spoiled. After looking around we drove off to find somewhere to eat our picnic, ending up in Shipston on Stour where the car park had one picnic bench but with no river views. We drove back on an exceptionally pretty route and came to Chipping Campden which was breathtakingly beautiful so we had to stop to take more photographs. Back at Broadway we relaxed until dinner then in the evening had a final look at Broadway, enjoying a beer in a busy pub just off the village green. We finished the day by watching the DVD "Next" with Nicholas Cage. Friday 14 August Having experienced the pitfalls of driving on an August Saturday last week we decided to travel home a day early. We left at about 10:30 and climbed the huge hill out of Broadway with no difficulty. Half way up I noticed that I'd forgotten to put the towing mirrors on and had to stop at the next lay-by (note for next time - use THE LIST!). We followed the A44 all the way to Oxford - what a poor surface for much of the way! Not ideal towing conditions, until Oxford after which it was dual carriageway or motorway until Lewes near our home. We stopped at Beaconsfield Services, one of those annoying service areas where you have to leave the motorway and travel some way across innumerable roundabouts before you get there. We got home about 3.00pm having had a really good time, making us look forward to France next month. |