September: Moreton

The weather through August had been hot, so with this and school holidays, and slow moving motorway traffic in mind we stayed at home, which was fine as we live in a seaside resort and just ten minutes from the beach!

This weekend we took to the road again and headed for Moreton: Moreton site
The site has a nearby railway station...so this time we intend to set up Wilby as a base and roam from there by rail.  It was raining a little when we set out from home in the morning and was still drizzling when we passed sign appropriately named Puddletown...but soon afterwards the sky cleared.

Our first stop was Weymouth, where we readily found parking in a large car park a short walk from the beach.  I felt disappointed to find the town rather tatty, with blanket-wrapped elderly seated lined on the promenade and the clean sandy beach sadly clear...so we only stayed for an hour or so...before heading away to find the camp site. 
Upon arrival the staff were friendly and the area clean and well managed...so we set up camp before going for a walk locally...down Woodford Lane...

The lane led to wide open fields and distant views...

After this we went to the nearby pub for a drink before bed : )

 

Next day we headed for the station and caught a train to Poole.  The sun was shining and we spent most of the day wandering around the town shopping...

The gecko has an interesting survival technique and life skill that is worthy of note.  When trapped it can cut off its own tail in order to move forward.  In time it regrows its tail and again becomes complete. 

After shopping we spent time looking at the boats and enjoying lunch on the quay side....

Later on I spent half an hour searching a small area of pebble beach for misty coloured sea glass chips. 

Now I need some craft ideas!

The following day we'd arranged to meet a relative for lunch in Wool...so before this we visited Lulworth Cove...which is absolutely beautiful! 

Probably needless to say, I came away with some small coloured beach pebbles...so much history to tell, if only they could speak...but now I need further craft ideas for these : )

Lulworth cove is stunning...and the thatched cottages in the area equally beautiful.  There are plenty of attractive places to eat...with fresh fish dishes and homemade apple cake : )  

Incidentally, but importantly for us, most of the beach area is dog friendly.













July: Newport (West Wales)

Frankly the weather has been too hot recently for us to want to go anywhere or do anything, and in consequence Wilby has been parked up for a couple of weeks...until we could stand it no more and headed away to Pembrokeshire!

We stayed at the Morawelon site which was situated beside this....

 

 

 

 

Newport Sands...a short distance away....some folk paddled across at low tide...

Clear water, sun, sea, sand...and ice cream!

One of the highlights of our stay was a bus ride to nearby Cardigan on the Poppit Rocket...which was driven by a fella who had his mind totally focussed upon getting us to where we were going!  He hurtled through narrow country lanes, up hill and down dale...with no regard whatsoever for on-coming traffic!  It was thrilling!

June: Devizes

Just a couple of nights spent beside the Kennet and Avon near Caens Hill Locks.

We walked along the towpath to the top of Caens Hill and then along for a mile t'other side.
We also visited the white horse at Bratton Hill Camp Fort.

 The wildflowers in the fields were beautiful...

A friendly face...

June: Brecon

The Brecon area has become a firm favourite...it's simply beautiful!


 We weren't alone...others were also enjoying the river...the heron, ducks and some brilliant blue dragon flies...

May: West Wales

Alan had a few days off work so we decided to head for west Wales where we'd found a site that advertised close proximity to both beaches and woodland: Pembrey Country Park

The sun was shining brightly as we left home and travelled towards Brecon.  Our first stop was the Llwyn Onn reservoir...which was simply beautiful.  There was plenty of layby parking as well as a picnic area and a path all around the lake.

From there we continued to Brecon, which was lovely...a vast expanse of loveliness in fact!

Upon arrival at Pembrey we found ourselves inside a country park...with miles of parkland, forest and a vast expanse of nearby beach just ten minutes walk through woodland from the site...Roxy loved it!

We'd taken our bikes...so on our second day on site we cycled along the coast track to Burry Port, and returned via the canal path.  Again with the sun shining...the weather was perfect...

While on site we met a couple with similar tastes to ourselves, who gave us a long list of their favourite camping sites, so we are going to be kept busy!!

 

Reminder to self...visit Pembrey again!

April: Hampshire

Three nights away in the New Forest!  We chose the site Setthorns because it is in a particularly natural setting, and being closer to nature than other sites in the area it didn't have toilets or showers. Wilby, of course, has both on board...so we were expecting to wake in the morning to find a queue of bears from the woods queueing to use our facilities!

The journey from home to Setthorns was interesting...as due to multiple road closures and a chatty satnav' we got hopelessly redirected around Salisbury in a circuitous route...several times.  The same thing happened a little later as we repeatedly passed increasingly familiar landmarks.  Later on though, place names like Tip Toe and Sway brought a smile.

Upon arrival we didn't see any bears...but before we'd properly settled in we had squirrels right outside the door.

The site was filled with bird song and wildlife.  Within an hour I'd seen robins, chaffinch, rook, tree creeper, sparrow, wren, blue tit and great tit...and as if that wasn't enough we heard a woodpecker!  Next morning when out walking we heard a cuckoo too.

 

Ponies, cows and deer wandered around the site, woodland, moorland and neighbouring area.  There were even ponies standing amongst the cars for sale in a local garage...presumably for those seeking something with natural horse power. 

The site was surrounded by woods...spot the camouflaged deer!

Aside from birds and animals...springtime flowers and amazing fungi were everywhere.

 

The site has cycle tracks and paths running through the woods and across open land, perfect for electric bikes...Roxy prefers to be driven in style!



Setthorns is a truly lovely site and well suited to walking, cycling and browsing. We'll certainly be going back.

Reminder to self: Wellington boots are needed unless the ground becomes sunbaked!

Second reminder: Make many return visits to this site!

April: Monmouth area

Today we woke early and decided to drive to the Abergavenny, Crickhowell and Monmouth areas.

We had been interested and disappointed to discover a few weeks ago that severe parking restrictions had been put in place by Monmouthshire County Council...but were surprised that these restrictions are so 'tight' that we were unable to park anywhere at all in Abergavenny.   However, we were lucky enough to find roadside parking in both Crickhowell and Monmouth, which meant we could browse the shopping areas in these towns and were able to buy something to eat there.

Despite the hassles of in-town parking we enjoyed our day out...after all, the main purpose of having Wilby is to find scenic places and to enjoy the peace of the countryside.