Shieler's blog

A trip to celebrate Shieler being back on the road after an incident with a jack and some rust.

Hottest October day in the UK ever!

A lazy trip to Fenland included a walk to the Wash, lots of insects (good ones included tree bumblebees, ruddy darters and burnet moths - bad ones were mostly thunderbugs).

Shieler tried out her new home on returning to Girton - seems to fit ok!

10 quid for a solar shower?! I don't recommend Karma Farm campsite for those looking for home comforts, or a bargain. Although it's very friendly and quiet, lack of facilities makes the price way too high.

Did a fair amount of cycling on Saturday and Sunday, to some peculiarly-named villages. Barn owl, avocet, shoveller & Shelduck at Karma Farm. Lakenheath Fen: bittern (booming), golden oriole (calling), marsh harriers, cuckoo, cranes (from a distance!), whitethroat, grasshopper + Cetti's warblers (heard).

Didn't have time for the stone curlews at Weeting - saved for a future visit...

We were ever so slightly nervous about unfolding and sitting in our St. George's cross chair in deepest Wales.  Not that we expected anti-English feeling, or that we're ashamed of it - but the half-price deal after England's debacle at the World Cup sometimes seems like a false economy.  We needn't have worried though - apart from being able to claim a Royal-wedding-exemption, pretty much everyone we met or overheard was English.  I say "we" - of course taken together Sarah and I are only 50% English.

The weather wasn't what you might stereotypically expect from a Welsh bank holiday weekend, either.  Although too windy for "the veranda" (it practically blew down), we enjoyed sunshine all weekend, taking in walks at Strumble Head and Dinas Head and catching quite a lot of bird life (Dartford + grasshopper warblers, whitethroats, chough).

We spotted some good free-camping spots at Strumble Head and Pwllgwaelod (the latter has facilities!).  However, Tir Bach campsite is perhaps the best we've visited - great on all fronts except perhaps being a bit far from the coast.  You can't beat swilling beer while looking over a view that stretches for miles while a Red Kite soars within metres.  Swallows nesting in the showers is a bit of a surprise!

There was still time for some sitting on the beach and a pre-Burgoyne blast up some of Pembrokeshire's steepest gradients (above 20% it's hard to look at the GPS without falling off, but I did spot 24% gradient at one point).

Watching the Morris dancers mingle with the bikers at Monsal Head on Saturday, you could be forgiven for thinking it was a typical bank holiday weekend.  In essence, everybody was doing the same thing the lambs were doing in the field - manically following each other round and getting over excited.

But this wasn't a typical bank holiday weekend.  For one thing, it was blazingly hot.  All weekend - although only on Saturday did a teatowel become necessary (in lieu of a sun hat).  The barbecue made its first outing of the year, once we got the right gas canister, after we bailed halfway to the Peak District and stayed at Wing Hall.  It was thoroughly tested several times over the weekend, tackling everything from burgers to Gloucester Old Spot sausages direct from the freezer in Chessington Close.

Natural history highlights were a pair of redstarts; a family of dippers feeding their brood and scrapping with the resident grey wagtails; some tree-spotting and orchid identification in Lathkill Dale.  On a random side-of-the-road stop on the drive back we even completed the British wagtails, see photos for proof...

A good rule of thumb: if there are fewer people in the pub than there are miles to walk there, it's probably not worth it. Especially in the dead of night. In Polstead.

Even Google Maps tried to dissuade us - a search for "The Cock Inn" in Polstead was censored, and there were no pubs nearby called "The ####".

We didn't mind too much though, because we were staying at a fancypants campsite featuring 5* Loo-of-the-Year nominated facilities. Only that could make up for the dismal, sorry excuse for a farm/campsite that was Kecksys Farm Campsite. "More of a rubbish dump than a farm", I think Egon Ronay would say.

All in all, a good weekend - discovered a good nature reserve at Bradfield Woods (willow tits) and got in a front-seat helicopter flight. Not half bad...

Crawling at 15 mph behind a horsebox on a winding B road in pitch darkness is nobody's idea of a good Friday night.  It didn't seem quite so bad after we got to Southwold - bottle of wine always helps too.

The photos don't do it justice but Saturday was, as Wallace & Gromit would have it, A Grand Day Out.

Bearded tits "pinging" and riding the reeds in the wind was the highlight of a walk that also included great crested grebe, marsh harrier, sparrowhawk, curlew, shoveler ducks, teal, lapwing, pochard, redshank and coming face to face with a hind.

A pint of Adnams "Ghost Ship" in Walberswick reminded us of "Bruges Zot" and the ferryman got his vector addition spot on in the old-fashioned ferry (row boat against the tide).

Sunday was a typical British seaside day so what better than a trip to Southwold for some arcade action at the pier.  Hunkin attractions highly recommended, see video below

The warning signs were there. Scampering out of the van on the first night at Deepdale, we were lucky enough to see a full moonbow.  That means it was (nearly) a full moon and it was raining somewhere else, right?  Within seconds the first drips were falling - giving an indication of just how windy it was.  Horizontal rain or super strong winds were with us all weekend.

Saturday was a bit of a wash out, although a few blackberries and a pint in the Red Lion were our reward for stretching our legs.  Passed the time reading in the van and thinking how glad we were not to be in a tent (see photos!).

At Titchwell on the way home we finally found the resident Bearded Tits - quite a good group just to the W of the main path.  Couldn't quite manage to squeeze the Marsh Harriers into the same 'binocular frame' - but it wasn't far off.  Saw some little stints too.

Now to find out what to do with a cob nut...

It didn't get off to a perfect start, and there were one or two hiccups on the way, but a great initiation for the van. Stonehenge on the way to the edge of Bodmin moor for some camping with Chloe, Kris, Ruan and Ellery, then an exploration of North Devon and a stopover in Gloucestershire.

Memories of South Penquite Farm include playing submarines, free range guinea fowl, gathering firewood for a couple of good campfires and flagons of ale from The Blisland Inn.

Starting off the next day it seemed that having two toddlers swinging from the steering column most of the weekend had not been great for the van, in particular the indicators.  However, the hand signals and perusal of the fuse box turned out to be unnecessary.

Highlights in North Devon were stopping by Tintagel for lunch, a walk from Porlock Weir (good place for a future expedition maybe, overnight camping seems feasible), sneaking into the Clovelly "theme park" for ice cream and, unfortunately, wiring the exhaust back up after the bumpy drive at Cloud Farm proved too much.

Our route home involved a Cambridge to Cambridge leg, but not till after a great evening free camping and an evening walk that included a dizzy kingfisher, a fly-past by a peregrine and a visit from a hobby.

A quick trip to a lay by in Fulbourn for some spaghetti turned into an (unsuccessful) hot air balloon chase.