After a couple of "normal" weeks at home catching up on the washing and ironing, we got itchy feet again so mid-September saw us heading off to Shepton Mallet for a visit to the Shepton Mallet Motorhome Show. We didn't stay on the showground itself, but found a small CL behind a pub near Ilchester. It was not one of our better moves as the site was very unlevel with long grass and right next to the main road with it's traffic noise day & night. We only spent 4 nights there and vowed not to go back. We had a complete day out at the Show, looking around all the stalls there, buying a few bits and bobs like a table, some skillet lids, gas ring diffusers but mainly getting our upholstery sorted. When we bought the van nearly 2 years ago the dealer had recovered the seats for us, but appeared to use the existing foam. As it is now 10 years old it was getting very thin and squashy especially for sleeping on. Anyway there was a very nice man who came and had a look and measure up and the upshot was that we ordered new firm foam to be fitted once we had got the van back home.
On the Tuesday we spent a very pleasant day at Lyte's Cary which is a National Trust House & Garden near by including having our lunch there before driving to Wincanton Racecourse Club site. This is a lovely level site overlooking the race track but very windy. We had a local wander around the first day there, but on the Thursday drove to Stourhead Estate, again a National Trust property which has been used in a number of films and tv dramas. We met our friend Sandra who has moved from Kent down to Dorset and after coffee and scones set off for a walk around the grounds. It was a beautiful day and the setting couldn;t have been more perfect we could hae stayed there for ever. The House itself was closed, so we have saved that for another visit.
From Wincanton we meandered across country down to Verwood and checked in at the Club site there. We would normally have stayed at West Farm where we used to store our folding camper, but they were full up, but it is only just down the road. Our friend Chris, who I worked with, and her husband were there with their caravan so on the Sunday we went out for lunch with them as well as Sandra and her husband. Chris, Sandra & I had quite a lot of catching up to do, but the men are all friends as well so we spent over 3 hours eating, drinking and gossiping. then it was back to their caravan for more of the same until it was time for Sandra & Perri to go home and us to head back to our van. A couple more days of woodland walks and drinking tea with Chris & Trevor followed then it was time to leave. We had hoped to stay at Chichester on the way home for a few days, but they were full up. It is really surprising how many caravanners are out and about at this time of year.
Once home we duly sent off our mattresses to Bristol to be sorted and settle down to some time at home.They were back within 2 weeks and of course we just had to try them out. I managed to find availability at Chichester for a week starting 14th October, so booked it quickly.
We drove down on a sunny Sunday, taking our hot-water bottles and thick duvet with us as well as wet-coats and boots, taking no chances. We actually had 6 dry days although the same could not be said for overnight! We walked around the harbour and marina at Emsworth, caught the bus in to Chichester for a tourist trail and Western lunch there. Another day saw us in the D-Day museum at Southsea and then walking back along the esplanade to Portsmouth. The one wet day we spent in the indoor shopping area of Havant. Bus passes and top decks are a great way to get around plus it saves me having to put everything away to move the campervan.
Now we have a couple of weeks back at home before going to another festival at Cirencester. This is one we have not been to before and we are just going on our own this time, so could be quite interesting. We do find having the campervan gives us so much more flexibility to go away at the drop of a hat and we don't necessarily have to find an all-singing all-dancing campsite as we are fully self- sufficient.
I am sorry there are no photos for this part of our travels. We do not always take the camera with us especially if it is somewhere we have been before.
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