Down to Devon

We slept well at Lotmead Farm Park although there was a steady roar of traffic from the main road. Another sunny day promised as we peeked out at 7:30am – and there were staff arriving already! We emptied the loo cassette and after breakfast we moved the van over and filled up the fresh water and emptied the grey water. I offered to pay for these essential services but that was waived away. We took back our punnet we had used to pick our strawberries for supper last night and said we wanted to fill it up as a present for someone and John, the manager, toook us in to the best beds to pick from. We had quite a chat to him and he was telling us how much he likes Britstoppers as they are always pleasant and cooperative. It was the locals who tried to beat the system by sneaking producde out of the PYO without paying or just eating as much as they could before they go to the tills to weigh it.

From Lotmead we drove across Swindon to see Eileen’s cousin Derek and his wife Ursula and  also George their first grandson (8 months). We left Derek and Ursula at 12:30 and headed to Avebury – a special place to both of us and always somewhere to stop by however briefly. On the way to Avebury the road climbs steeply up on to the Wiltshire Downs and we pulled over to enjoy the view back across Swindon and the Thames valley.

Avebury was heaving – still it is a hot sunny day in August so I guess that is to be expected. We did not stay long. Our initial plan from here was to visit Montacute House near Yeovil but the times did not work out and we were not inclined to leave lunch that long. On impulse we stopped in the visitors’ car park at the Caen Locks just past Devizes on the Kennett and Avon Canal. It is a truly impressive flight of 29 locks which lifts the canal 239 feet. This was a good lunch stop and we had a walk along the canal and watched the boats toiling up the hill and we had a chat to the CRT chap managing the water levels.

It was a long hot drive from Devizes to Kilmington and we had a few traffic hold ups in the small towns we passed through – especially Westbury and Ilminster. The traffic was quite heavy but on the whole it moved quite well. Note to self – avoid long south westerly drives in the summer as this puts the sun full on the front!

We arrived at the Millers Farm Shop (Britstop D25) at 17:30 with just enough time to zip round the shop and get some goodies for supper. It is quite a big operation here and a huge shop and cafe too. They say that they open at 7:00am so we might pop in for some bacon for breakfast!

Mileage reading tonight: 118730kms
Mileage covered today: 177kms
Mileage total so far: 536kms

32nd night on Bertie