Weekend Away - Bath & Bristol

Although I've been slow to update my blog, Big Brig hasn't been idle over the past few months.
Back at the end of January we decided to head to Bath Chew Valley Caravan Club Site for a long weekend, so we could spend a day in Bath & a day in Bristol.

We left work early on the Friday, and made the 2.5 hour trip to north east Somerset, and arrived early evening at the site. After setting up our pitch, Annie made dinner, and we relaxed in Big Brig for the rest of the evening.

Big Brig pitched up at Bath Chew Valley Caravan Club site

The next morning we headed off to Bath, utilising the out-of-town Park & Ride to avoid having to find a suitable parking space within the city centre. We spend the whole day wandering around the lovely city of Bath, mooching in all the shops & admiring the lovely buildings.

Bath Abbey

Pulteney Bridge in Bath

Lunching at Wagamama we were reinvigorated for further retail therapy in the afternoon, before hopping back on the bus to the car park, ready for the trip back to Bath Chew.

On Sunday morning we headed off to Bristol and went for a wander around the shopping district. Although it was Sunday, most shops were open for business and there were few crowds.
For lunch we were booked in at Raymond Blanc's Brasserie, where we both enjoyed a lovely roast dinner. Yummy!

Blanc Brasserie for lunch

Annie about to peruse the menu

We both decided on the delicious roast dinner which did not disappoint!

In the afternoon we walked along the river & past the dockyards, watching the street performers & musicians on our way to Brunel's SS Great Britain, where we spent a lovely couple of hours viewing the ship & the museum, learning how luxury cruises began way back in the mid 19th century. The ship is fully restored back to it's original condition, and is open for exploration, which is greatly enhanced by an excellence audio guide. It's well worth a visit if you're every in the vicinity.

Brunel's SS Great Britain

Brunel's SS Great Britain

Upon returning to the campsite, we spent the evening in the village pub called the Red Lion, which holds a quiz every week for locals & visitors. We were made to feel very welcome by the regulars, and although our performance in the quiz was not worthy of Mastermind, we did manage to post a semi-respectable score, thereby not embarrassing ourselves. I was just happy we didn't come last!

Having thoroughly enjoyed our long weekend away, we packed up the following morning, and began the trip home at around 1pm.

Big Brigadier Goes Wild on NYE!!!

New Year's Eve 2011 was our first experience of 'wild camping', which is where you just pitch-up somewhere that is not an official camping or caravanning site. In Scotland this is common practice and you're legally allowed to camp anywhere, but in England you are only supposed to camp if you have the owners permission. We didn't let that stop us though!

We decided to embark on this adventure of freedom in Kingston, on the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset. It's a tiny village up on the hills above Swanage, and having done a little reconnaissance a few weeks before, we knew the perfect spot.

For our NYE activities we were booked into The Scott Arms, which is a delightful country pub with stunning views of the Dorset countryside overlooking Corfe Castle. About 500 yards further up the hill from the pub is an enclosure off the road, where Big Brig would be out of the way and causing no harm. So early evening on 31st December we drove over to Studland, up through Corfe, and into the village of Kingston. Apart from a lone dog walker, there was no other activity in our camping spot, so we parked up and got settled.
The pub was hosting a 'Hollywood Glitz & Glamour' night, so we donned our party outfits and headed down to join the fun!

We enjoyed a fantastic night - the food was top quality (as you can see!), and the drinks were flowing nicely!

Yummy goats cheese to start!

Delicious sirloin steak for main course.

You can't beat a good cheese board to finish off a lovely meal!

The pub had organised a roulette table for the evening which proved to be very popular, and when the disco kicked off after dinner everyone was in the mood for a boogy!

Midnight was greeted with a count-down, cheers and party poppers, and the disco continued cranking out the tunes, taking us well into the early hours of 2012.

The weather was miserable as we left the pub at the end of the night, but it didn't dampen our spirits on the short walk back to our camping spot, and of course Big Brig kept us lovely and warm, ensuring the cool January air remained outside!

A soggy start to the 2012!

The following morning we drove down to Swanage, and enjoyed a hearty breakfast at Ocean Bay Cafe, before heading over the Sandbanks Chain Ferry back home to Bournemouth.

Christmas Festival in Arundel

Earlier in the year Annie & I had visited Arundel in West Sussex to see the impressive castle and have a mooch around the village, which is full of lovely gift shops, galleries, and has some great olde worlde pubs. Whilst there we noticed a flyer for Arundel's annual 'Christmas by Candlelight' festival which was being held in early December on a Saturday that also coincided with my birthday, so we decided it would be a nice cheeky weekend get-away in Big Brig.

So that's what we did!
We left work early on the Friday, and made good time on the drive over to Arundel. We were staying at Manyards Caravan Site just outside of Arundel. Whilst the caravan site won't win any awards, it was functional and ideally located within walking distance of both Arundel village and the local train station. This meant that we could park up and not need to move the motorhome for the whole weekend, which is a bonus. Motorhomes are great for the flexibility of being able to go anywhere, but the downside is that every time you need to drive anywhere you have to ensure everything is packed away in its proper place. Whilst this is never a problem because we try to keep Big Brig nice & tidy, it does mean that you have to plan ahead - you can't just nip down to the shop for a pint of milk; you need to turn off the gas, unplug the electrics, wind up the steadies, close the roof vents, secure everything inside, etc. So having either good public transport connections close-by or being within walking distance of where you want to go is always advisable.

After a quiet night in the van we awoke to a lovely chilled December morning.

A frosty start to a lovely winter's day.

Annie had secretly stashed lots of birthday pressies for me in various cupboards around Big Brig, so after brewing up a cuppa, I set about hacking my way in to reams of wrapping paper & sellotape. As you can see, I was properly spoilt!!!

Cosy in my pit, about to open birthday cards & presents!

Cards galore!

All my pressies!

My favourite present!

After devouring toast & crumpets and another cup of tea for breakfast...

...we headed off into Arundel around lunchtime for the start of the festival. The village was buzzing with people eagerly awaiting the start of the festivities! The main road had been closed off to vehicles, and was full of stalls selling gifts & crafts, and food & drink. The village mayor officially opened the event, and the town crier was on hand to organise proceedings. The local choir sang Christmas carols, and both a brass band and a steal drum band played at various points throughout the afternoon.

Arundel Castle

The brass band

Singing Christmas Carols

After a couple of hours of soaking in the festivities we decided to take a walk along the river to a pub that had been recommended to us. The Black Rabbit is about 1.5 miles from Arundel village centre and is situated on the banks of the river Arun. Being keen to support the local economy we made the difficult decision to have a pint (it wasn't that difficult really!), and proceeded to spend a lovely hour out on the river bank, watching the sun set over Arundel in the west.

Enjoying a pint on my birthday by the River Arun

The sun setting over Arundel Castle

It was nearly dark by the time we left, and the walk back to the village was along a non-lit road, but traffic was light and we soon arrived back to enjoy the remainder of the festival.

In the evening we had another lovely meal in Big Brig, and then walked to the local pub (The Crossbush) for a night-cap!

Our plan for the following day was to catch the train to Chichester, where another Christmas market was being held. The English winter weather wasn't so kind that day, but it didn't stop us! Adorned with umbrellas and warm coats, we trekked off to the station, and arrive in Chichester a little before lunchtime. The market wasn't that great, and the damp weather made traipsing around the town far less appealing, so after a couple of hours we decided to enjoy a lovely Sunday roast at The Fountain before heading back to Arundel & Big Brig.

Annie about to tuck into her Roast Beef at The Fountain in Chichester

Having booked the Monday off work, we enjoyed a leisurely Sunday evening back at the caravan site, before packing up & heading home the following morning, happy in the knowledge that Big Brig had provided us with another wonderful weekend away!

A Trip to Moors Valley Country Park

On the first weekend in December we decided to head over to Moors Valley Country Park (www.moors-valley.co.uk) with our good friends Nat & Russ and their two daughters Izzy & Molly.

Nat & Molly in the back of Big Brig!

Izzy enjoying her first trip in Big Brigadier!

Christmas cards from the girls.

Annie & Natalie.

Our aim was to buy a Christmas tree, and we were not to be disappointed!
The trees on sale at Moors Valley are sustainably harvested by the Forestry Commission (www.forestry.gov.uk/christmas), so both the quality and provenance of the trees is assured.
Although there were hundreds of trees for sale, it didn't take us long to find the one we wanted. In prior years we had been restricted to buying 5ft trees due to having to transport them home in a normal car, but an additional benefit of having Big Brigadier is the ability to transport a huge Christmas tree, and that is exactly what we did.
It was Natalie who found and held up our 7ft Nordmann Fir for our inspection. It was a lighter shade of green than most of the other trees, and being symmetrical and not too bushy it proved to be exactly what we were looking for!

The chosen one - a 7ft tall Nordmann Fir, which we nick-named 'Norman'.

All wrapped up!

We then had a quick look around the Christmas-themed gift centre, before heading off to the play area for fun on the swings and slides!

Molly & Izzy enjoying the slide!

Molly & Annie having a go on the slide!

Nat takes a ride!

Izzy & Molly on the swing!

Annie risks life & limb on the zip-wire!

After the fun & games, we ended the afternoon with a picnic in the back of Big Brig, before heading home to decorate our newly bought Christmas tree.

Izzy, Annie, Russ, Nat & Molly enjoying a picnic in Big Brigadier!

Our good friends Nat & Russ.

Barancy the reindeer (random name!!!)

Worn out after all the fun, Molly takes a nap on the trip back home!

Big Brigadier Goes on Safari!

Right... time for a catch-up!
Owing to the festive season my blog posts have been fairly scarce (well, non-existent!). So I've got a few trips to write about to bring everything up to date.

First off was our trip to Longleat Safari Park in late November. Leaving work early on the Friday evening we headed out into the heart of Wiltshire for a two night stay at Brokerswood Country Park Caravan Site (www.brokerswood.net). Located just 20 minutes drive from the safari park, Brokerswood was a quiet site, off the beaten track, but with all the facilities we needed for a comfy stay. Open all year, it had a cafe & shop on-site, and 15 minutes walk away was a lovely village pub called The Kicking Donkey (www.kickingdonkey.net), where we spent our first evening having a lovely dinner and a few drinks.

Annie Chilling at The Kicking Donkey

After an early night we awoke refreshed from a good night's sleep in Big Brig, had breakfast & freshened up, and then made our way to Longleat.

Longleat Safari & Adventure Park (www.longleat.co.uk) is normally closed over winter, but for the first time ever it was opening in 2011 under the name of 'Christmas at Longleat', which featured a Christmas market, Europe's tallest artificial Christmas tree, an outdoor skating rink, and the manor house decorated in the style of fairy tale & Christmas stories.

Our first priority though was to see the animals, and we certainly weren't disappointed. Riding around the safari park in Big Brig was a great experience, which provided much better views than if we had been in a normal car.
Favourite animals were the lions & tigers, camels and Big Anne the elephant!

Playing a game of chicken with a camel!

 

 

 

Sitting no more than five feet from Big Brigadier!

We decided to skip the Monkey drive-through... knowing how mischievous they can be we feared for Big Brig's TV aerial and windscreen wipers!
The safari drive took us a couple of hours. You are encouraged to stop & start as often as you like to admire the animals, and a free CD provides narration as you traverse around the lovely large enclosures, viewing the animals in surrounding that matches their natural environment as close as is possible.
All the animals looked content, and are probably as curious of us humans as we are of them!
After the safari we attempted the maze, which when planted was supposedly the largest hedge maze in the World!

After the maze we took a boat trip to see the gorilla, who lives on an island in the middle of Longleat Lake with all the mod-cons, including central heating & satellite TV!

The lake itself is home to a hippopotamus and numerous seals, and whilst the hippo was hiding in the shallow mud banks, the seals had great delight in putting on a show for us whilst we traversed the lake. 

After the lake cruise we visited the petting zoo, where you can get up close & personal to lots of cute, cuddly, and invariably less dangerous animals!

 

Our trip to Longleat continued with a tour around the manor house & grounds, which were wonderfully decorated, each room depicting a different fairly tale or Christmas story. Every room had a tour guide, who were dressed in costumes such as Peter Pan, Cinderella, Scrooge, and Snow White.
With the daylight fading we enjoyed the tree-lighting ceremony, which involved a 15 minute music & lights display to bring an end to a wonderful trip!

We headed back to Brokerswood Caravan Park with great memories of a festive day out. Dinner that evening was courtesy of Chef Annie, who cooked up a feast of home-made lasagne. Yummy!
The following morning we packed up and headed home, our heads full of wild animals & mazes, and our thoughts of where next Big Brig would be taking us!