In to Scotland and our plans go wrong again!

In to Scotland and our plans go wrong again!

We emptied the loo before we left the Anglers Inn – what terrific value that stop over was. A nice meal and drinks for just over £20, free stop over, free water, emptying grey water and emptying the loo! The road north from Kielder was even smaller than the road in from the south and we felt we were entering to Scotland by the back door! Our first stop was planned for the Hermitage Castle which is a dramatic building

Over the hills and on to Keilder

Over the hills and on to Keilder

I actually writing this on 1st June as we have had no mobile signal at the last two overnight stops. So I am writing all three days blogs on 1st June 2016. We slept very well at Boston Park Farm but were up and about by 9am. We saw someone moving around at the farm park so we decided to take David Chappel up on his offer and wandered over to say hello to the animals – rabbits, pigs, goats,

Burghley House

Burghley House

After a peaceful night at Stonea we had a slow start and were on the road a bit before 10am for the 34 mile journey to Burghley House. A grey morning with no sun and brisk northerly wind. We had a pleasant drive across the Fens past Peterborough to Burghley House. We parked up in the coach park at Burghley and had it completely to ourselves although there were many hundreds of cars parked all around. There was a big

On the Road Again

On the Road Again

At last Bertie is on his wanderings again. After a long day getting everything ready and loading up Bertie and doing inumerable last minute jobs we finally left at 4pm! Just 80 miles today to The Golden Lion at Stonea in the middle of the Fens just a few miles from March. It was a lovely drive across East Anglia on mainly main roads but these were quiet. The hedges were dripping with May blossom and the sun shone through

Home Again

Home Again

We had a peaceful night parked up at the Clifton Cruisers Boatyard near Rugby – another Britstop. They also have a cafe and this morning we treated ourselves to a leisurely full cooked breakfast – really nice, quite cheap and freshly cooked there and then. We will be back. After the horrible day yesterday we were quite surprised to wake to sunshine. In fact it stayed dry much of the day although we drove through a band of heavy rain

A grey windy day at Kenilworth

A grey windy day at Kenilworth

We got away from the Stag at Redhill shortly after 9am after a good night although we were aware of the wind getting up a bit. The parking space was quiet and well away from the busy road and we did not hear anything from the hotel car park either. This is a good stop over although the food was not special last night. It was an easy drive in to Kenilworth and we arrived in the town shortly before

Sunshine over Herefordshire

Sunshine over Herefordshire

We woke this morning to bright sunshine and a clear blue sky. The first blue sky for over a week and very welcome. Compare the scene below with a similar view last night! After breakfast we walked across the fields to the next door farm to see their range of Berkshire Pork. We found everyone hard at work in the prep room packing the days orders. We bought some sausages, bacon and some chops all of which are now safely

Kinver and Richard’s Castle (its a village near Ludlow!)

Kinver and Richard’s Castle (its a village near Ludlow!)

Bertie is parked up in the farmyard of Kate and Guy Tudge’s farm in the tiny village of Richard’s Castle a few miles south of Ludlow. This is our first Britstop that is not a pub. Kate and Guy Tudge raise pigs and sell pork, bacon and ham which they mainly sell through farmers markets but also from the farm. Kate and Guy welcomed us warmly and showed us where to park – dog and cat also came to check

Moseley and Kinver

Moseley and Kinver

First stop today was Moseley Old Hall just 11 miles from Cannock Chase. A lovely tudor house that was encased in brick in the 1870s. This hiostoric house sheltered the fugitive Charles II after the defeate at the battle of Worcester and this is where he came after his famous sojourn in the oak tree at Boscobel. He hid here in the priest hole for several days before escaping south first to Bristol and then to the Channel coast and

On top of Cannock Chase

On top of Cannock Chase

We had a lovely meal (basic pub grub) at the Hollybush Inn last night and a good nights sleep in the car park. Another grey overcast day today so although the countryside was wonderful we did not feel inspired to take any photos – it all looked too grey and gloomy. We left the Holly bush about 10am and headed for Sudbury Hall (NT) which should have been open for guided tours only but actually it was closed all day.