Knighton / Tref-y-Clawdd

We called at a delightful café on our way back from a week of camping in Shropshire.   It is called the Tower House Gallery/Oriel Tŷ Tŵr in Knighton/Tref-y-Clawdd on the England/Wales, Shropshire/Powis border.

We had soup and bread, followed by cake.  The bread was unusual and especially nice.  When we commented on how good the bread was, they gave us the recipe which  they are happy to share the recipe with anyone.

The recipe is as follows:
500 g spelt flour
200g mixed seeds
2 sachets instant yeast (approx 14g)
1 tblspn olive oil
1 tspn salt
1 tspn sugar
500 mltrs warm water

Mix all the ingredients into a sticky dough and pour into a lined 2lb loaf tin.  Leave for approximately 15 minutes in a warm place until the dough rises to just above the tin.  Bake for 1 hour at gas mark 6/200C.

I've made the bread at home and it makes a most tasty loaf.

Across the road from the café is an interesting ironmongers called Prince and Pugh Ltd.  We bought some enamel plates for the van.

There are some interesting roads and buildings in Knighton.  It is well worth a visit.

Coming home

Having set up camp on arrival on Good Friday, we then went into Church Stretton for dinner.  After eating we had a look around the town.  It seems a pleasant place with many interesting and historic buildings.  We were treated to the scenic route back to the van over the moorland above Church Stretton.  It is a beautiful area nestled in the Shropshire hills.

We had a comfortable night camping and enjoyed seeing round our friend's land the following morning.  It is an interesting venture.  He is creating a forest garden and his partner is converting the stable buildings for growing mushrooms.  We have taken to calling our friend 'The Squire' now that he owns a patch of land.  His methods are 100% organic and aim to disturb the land as little as possible as its current status is transformed from grazing land into horticulture.  The Squire has planted a great many trees of many varieties - choosing some species for their production and others for the way in which they can benefit the others.  It is a long term project and will not start to become viable for at least four years.

After our guided tour it was time to pack up and prepare for the drive home.  After a brief panic not being able to find the van keys, and then a relaxing cup of tea, we set off, travelling home on a slightly different route via Llandrindod Wells to Brecon.  This time we did not find a tea room unfortunately - they do not seem to be so popular in Wales as they are in England, and most of the journey home was through Wales.  At last we did find somewhere nice to stop for refreshments - The Llanfaes Dairy Icecream parlour, 19 Bridge Street, Brecon, LD3 8AH.  Their orange and mascapone is the most divine icecream I have ever tasted.  Sadly, with the weather so hot and still being a fair way from Cardiff, we decided it would not be possible to get a tub of icecream home without it melting.  Llanfaes do not supply outside a 20 mile radius of Brecon, so we may have to visit Brecon more often to taste their icecream delights.

Spring camping

This blog has been severely neglected because we have had little time for expeditions over the winter.  We have however been working on improving the van and making it more comfortable for camping.  The layout in Pema the Peugeot is that the front seats swivel and the back seats flatten to join up with the front seats to make two beds.  This makes too very narrow and slightly short beds however which are not entirely comfortable.  In so many ways this van is perfect for us that we have wanted to invest in improving it. The awning we kept from Bertie is great in some ways but really too big for this smaller van.  Having a small fridge is cute, but takes up a lot of space.

So we have made some changes.  First we bought a new awning.  It is only slightly smaller than the old one (which we have decided to keep as well) but has a sewn-in groundsheet, a detachable inner bedroom and is of a lighter material.  We bought suction clamps for attaching it to the van and this works well.

Next we removed the fridge and gave it to someone on Freecycle.  This liberated space has made a nice little wardrobe - sufficient for four or five coat hangers.

Now for the sleeping arrangements.  We discovered that a 19L Really Useful Box fitted snugly between the seats and was about a cushion's depth lower than their height.  I made a cushion of the right size and the three boxes in a row with it on top turns the two narrow beds into one reasonable width bed.  It will still be a bit snug for the occasions when we have to both sleep in the van, but usually one of us sleeps in the awning, so it is roomy for one.

So with everything sorted out it was time for a try out.  On Good Friday we travelled up to Shropshire to camp on a friend's patch of land.  We took a motorway-avoiding route to the site, just north of Church Stretton, and were lucky to meet little traffic.  We stopped at a delightful tea room just outside Winforton on the A438 in Hereford.  I give The Buttley Tea Room 5***** even though the flackjack was a little too sweet for my taste.  The garden is pretty and well-kept.  The refreshments were presented beautifully in nice crockery and with fresh fruit decorating the plate.  The staff were most pleasant and accommodating.  We shall certainly be calling there again next time we are heading that way.  They do not seem to have a website but their postcode appears to be HR3 6EA.

Longleat – part 2

From the point of view of convenience for returning to Longleat on Sunday, Longleat campsite was not so convenient.  To walk back to the estate would have taken about 5 minutes.  You can see the car park from the entrance to the campsite.  To get there in the van however, was a long and circuitous drive through country lanes which took nearly 20 minutes!

Nevertheless we eventually arrived back at the Longleat estate and proceeded to enjoy the indoor activities.  These included the mirror maze, Animal Adventure, Old Joe's Mine, a simulator ride, the State Chariot and Longleat House.  In fact the weather was mostly dry despite the horrendous rain of the previous night but we were happy to continue with the indoor activities.

The mirror maze was fun.  It was actually quite tricky to find King Arthur's sword Excalibur.  I don't think I would have spotted it if my clever son Richard had not sussed out how to find it.

The simulator was okay – not the most interesting I have been on.

We almost didn't bother with Old Joe's Mine because it looked like some gimmicky tourist thing.  We were so glad we did.  The 'mine' is where they keep a colony of bats and is a low light area.  It was fantastic being among the bats and having them flying around you.  We could get up really close to them whenever they settled.  The young keeper in there was most knowledgeable about the bats and we stayed talking to him and asking questions for quite some time.  This turned out to be one of the highlights of the day.  The photo is a little fuzzy because you are not allowed to use a flash in there and the bats generally didn't stay still for very long.

On the Saturday we had sampled 'safari burgers' for lunch and they were a great disappointment.  Expensive and not very good.  On Sunday we discovered the Cellars Café and this was fantastic.  Great food, reasonable prices and a pleasant setting.  Highly recommended.

The tour of Longleat House was also wonderful.  It is a beautifully maintained and decorated house.  We were quite unprepared for the extent of its splendours – artwork, furniture, the ceilings are amazing, costume exhibits, books, silverware.  I was totally engrossed.  Unfortunately we were not able to view Lord Bath's murals which was a shame.

We finished our weekend with Animal Adventure.  This is an area with small animals such as rabbits and guinea pigs and more exotic animals such as porcupines.  It is aimed at younger children I would say.  There is also a butterfly area – although they were quite difficult to find. 

There was the opportunity to hold a snake and a tarantula.  I would have quite liked to have held the snake but there was a queue to do this and I was really tired by then and couldn't face standing around.  Dan and I went to find somewhere to sit, but Richard and 'ö-Dzin waited and did get close up and friendly with the snake and the spider.  Thank you to Richard for the photographs on today's posting.

Longleat is a great attraction.  The passport ticket is expensive but you get a lot for your money.  I don't think it would be worth it for one day, but if you can spread your visit over two days then I would say it is reasonable value.

Longleat – part 1

In October we had a family weekend at Longleat.  We had been promising to take our sons to this famous safari park for many years and at last we achieved it this year.

The weather was overcast and threatening rain when we arrived at Longleat around 10 am on the Saturday.  We decided to begin with all the outdoor activities while it was still dry and save the more indoor areas of the estate for the Sunday in case the weather had turned wet.  So we began with the drive through the wildlife park.  First up was an area where you can leave your car and see the animals wandering quite close by.  It felt a little like having been dropped into Jurassic Park – the giraffes are so extraordinary and feel deeply ancient.  They were grazing with zebras, huge camels, ostrich and several others species.

Next up were the monkeys, but this section was closed to cars so we could only see them through the fence as we slowly drove past.  Then we saw the rhino, and a large herd of deer.  We were able to park here and hand feed them.  This was a lovely experience.  They are so timid and took the food so gently.

We carried on into the section of the safari drive where you have to keep your windows closed.  We saw lionesses—but sadly no lions—and tigers and wolves.  This tiger definitely knew how beautiful he was and that it was his duty to lie in a position where he could be fully admired.

All too soon the safari was over and we were back at the main car park.  We had lunch and in the afternoon took in the hedge maze, the boat trip to see seals and hippos and the train ride.  There were some really fun sculptures of giant ants to be seen from the train ride.

It was great feeding the seals from the boat.  They were so fast and full of personality.

As it was nearing closing time at Longleat we headed for the Caravan Club campsite.  Last year we joined the Camping and Caravanning Club, but this year we are trying out the Caravan Club.  This was our first visit to one of their sites.  It was clean and had excellent facilities.  We would recommend it.  The pitches are sizeable, but it was the first time we have had to pitch the awning on a hard standing.  It was difficult to peg it down.  The weather was definitely heading towards a rainstorm by now and we were concerned that we were going to have a problem.  The van only sleeps two so at least two had to sleep in the awning.

We had a pleasant evening but then the rain arrived and it was pretty torrential.  The van leaked a little from the passenger side sliding door, the awning did not provide a useful connection to the van, and rain got in over the groundsheets in the awning so that everything got wet.  We survived neverthless!  We have decided that we have to get a different awning.  This one is too big for the Peugeot – the tunnel opening is wider than the length of the van and there is no metal strip on the van for attaching it.  Khyam have been very helpful and suggest that we get an awning with a smaller tunnel that can be attached using magnet clamps or a sucker system.

Surya Eco Yoga Camp

In July I attended the Surya Eco Yoga Camp, near Falmouth in Cornwall as a workshop leader.  It was the first time that I had really lived in the van and am even more delighted with it now than I was before.  It was most comfortable for living in for a week and is so easy and comfortable to drive that I find I do not get so tired on long journeys.

I think it would be impossible for two adults to live in just the van for any length of time—it is too small—but for one it was fine.  I left the one side of the van made up as a bed for the whole week so that I didn't have to keep fiddling with the seats.  The hob is most efficient and I enjoyed cooking meals.  The only thing that was not working was the fridge.  It would not work on the gas, only on electric, and I had no electric hookup of course at the eco camp with compost toilets and everything 'back to the land'.  Today however, I had the fridge looked at and it turns out that the only problem with it was an incorrect hose connection, so it should be fine from now on.

Heading South

The teaching session in Whitley Bay on Saturday 17th was from 10 till 5.  We decided to head straight off after the session and try and get about a third of the journey home to Cardiff covered that evening so that there would not be so much to do on the Sunday.  Before we set out I had tried to find a campsite around the Harrogate region to stay at Saturday night, but every one I looked at was fully booked for that night.  We had noticed however, on the journey up, that it was possible to pay to park overnight at a motorway services.  For some reason this had never occurred to us before as an option.  So we decided to just drive and see where we ended up.  We ended up at Tamworth services on the M42.

There are several advantages to stopping over at a motorway services: you can just stop when you are ready to; you do not have to worry about finding the campsite before it gets dark; the car park is always lit so it is easy to find your way around; facilities are guaranteed; and breakfast is easy to come by.  I was so glad we hadn't booked one near Harrogate in the end, as the roads were so clear and easy on Saturday night that we ended driving much farther than we had intended.

We found a quiet corner to tuck ourselves away and had a good night at Tamworth services.  There was not too much traffic in and out over night, so we were able to get a good night's sleep, and the curtains in the van are good enough to make it dark for sleeping.  There were shower facilities available as well as toilets and wash hand basins at this services, so we were well set up.  It cost £8 to park overnight – cheaper than most campsites.  I think we will always do this on a long journey in future as it means we do not have to decide how far we will travel in a day or an evening in advance.  Not all services are as good as this one, but if you do not like the place you can just drive on to the next one.  Campsites are generally nicer than motorway service car parks, but motorway services do provide a convenient stop-over on a long journey