2015 Conclusions

Following what's likely to be the last camping trip of the season here's the promised round up.

Nights Away

I've been away for a total of 28 camping nights, 18 of these were on Caravan Club sites, 3 each in boatyards and a pub caravan site, 2 in a festival temporary site and 1 each at a watersports centre and a friend's drive.

Of those 3 nights were at no-facility locations, I can certainly manage those for a couple of days.

Viability

There's no question that for me it is viable to have the campervan, but that's largely because I also use Dai as my every day vehicle. On that basis I can discount the general running costs as I'd be paying those anyway. At a quick guess for the 25 nights I paid something for I averaged £15/night which would total just £375. The 28 nights in even a cheapish hotel or guest house would probably average £60 a night before even considering that I do much of my own catering. Add on another £10 for that and I've saved around £1600. Of course I'll only know about depreciation when I sell Dai but typically it will be less that a car would be so I can disregard that. There's been some additional other costs such as the Waxoyl but overall I'm happy with the finances.

Awning

One of the things I wanted to think about this year was an awning, and whether I need or want one. The answer is a resounding no! The only circumstances where an awning would be useful would be if I was on a no facility site for several days (as it could house the larger porta potti) or if I wanted guests stopping. If either circumstance occurs I'll think again but until then I know I can manage without and indeed it would just be a nuisance with little benefit.

I wouldn't mind a sun shade but it would be difficult to fit one on Dai so I'll leave that for the future.

Washing Up

OK, not a major conclusion, but I realised most of the way through the summer holiday that it was silly to be boiling a kettle to wash up after meals if the site has a perfectly good washing up area with unlimited free hot water. They're quite sociable places as well. One tweak to facilitate this is one of the collapsible washing up bowls.

Jobs to Do

There's only one important job and that's to tackle the surface rust on the sills before it gets worse. As soon as I get a fine weekend I'll get on with that. I'm planning to largely empty the cupboards this year to help reduce condensation problems and inevitably I need to give the whole 'van a good clean.

Storage

I think I largely got the storage arrangements right last year. One thing this year though is a tendency to have some of the camper stuff (e.g. the window screens) stored away when I'm driving day to day but then put them in the front footwell when I go away to free up the storage for clothes, etc.

Changing Dai

Barring a major influx of funds I'm definitely planning to keep Dai until mid-2017. This year has proved the viability and suitability of Dai for long holidays. I would like to find something a bit bigger with two particular changes. I'd like a camper that doesn't use the front vehicle seats as part of the bed, the current ones are comfortable enough but they do take a bit of time to make up and take down and something flatter would be better. The other thing is a recurring theme of campervan owners - better toilet arrangements! I just need to wait and see what's available when I start looking, but if I can't find anything I'll just keep Dai for longer.

Never Raced but Rallied

This weekend's trip was to a boat rally, it's an annual event that I've attended on-and-off for many years despite no longer owning a boat. We returned to the pub we've used for several years which has the advantage of a full facility caravan site, better for me but more expensive, £20 a night isn't unreasonable at all but is a bit more than I'm used to paying.

Dai behaved all weekend, as usual. The fan heater did come out, it's getting to the time of year when I'd be reluctant to be away without hookup although it would still be manageable.

As that's probably the last camping weekend of the year I'll be emptying and sorting stuff out at the weekend (weather permitting). Last winter there was quite a bit of condensation in the cupboards so I plan to empty them, give everything a good wash and store it in the house.

I'll do a season's round up and summary in the next couple of weeks but overall it's been a good year.

Dai's First Festival

This weekend was the first Festival I've visited with Dai, in this case Bunkfest at Wallingford. It's a town festival, mostly folk music, but with some other styles of music. There's a main arena, at the Kine Croft, but there are other venues as well. A friend lives locally, and another friend was stopping with her, but I was stopping on the Festival campsite at the local sports club.

This was probably Dai's natural environment, somewhere with all the facilities, including food at all times of the day (and night). Two (fairly friendly) people could easily stop for the weekend, whereas for longer periods Dai is really a one person unit.

I really enjoyed the Festival, some good music (and some not so good), so I'll definitely look for more next year. The only slight concern is that this was partly so good as I was with friends, I'll think about that.

The last two trips I've taken the full set of foil window screens, I shan't bother again. I've decided they take up too much room and frankly I can't be bothered when it's easier to open and close the curtains. The curtains aren't as effective as I'd like but they do work OK. One thing I thought this week that I should have done was get privacy film fitted to the back windows. If I was going to keep Dai forever I'd still do so, but I'm still planning to change in another 18 months or so, assuming I can find something better within my criteria.

Boats and Bombs

Another weekend away where Dai provided overnight accommodation. We had a group day on Saturday at a watersports centre in Essex. Having Dai meant I could easily stop over for the night instead of driving home. For some reason I couldn't really get comfortable when I went to bed, although that may be because of aching muscles more than anything (certainly felt the unaccustomed activity the next day).

When I bought Dai there was a full set of foil window screens. I've only ever used the ones for the windscreen and front doors, relying on the curtains for the back windows. For this trip, and the next one, I decided to take all the screens and experiment. The first conclusion is they take up a lot of space! That in itself means I won't bother normally. Next time away though it's at a town folk festival. As I'll be parked up for a couple of nights, probably with quite a bit of lighting, I will take them all again but then I'll revert to the previous system. The curtains don't really keep the light out that well but they're OK.

The advantage of stopping down in Essex, and of Dai's go anywhere size, was I could do something else today so I visited the Royal Gunpowder Mills at Waltham Abbey, somewhere I've wanted to go for ages. It's well worth the visit.

I can also report that the new radio behaved impeccably all weekend. I was mostly listening via the USB stick but did have the DAB radio on as well for quite a while. Sound quality is a lot better but I think that's down to me sorting out a poor contact on a speaker whilst I was in Norfolk.

Radio Update

The car audio system continued to play up throughout the holiday, and I concluded that it was almost certainly the unit itself not a power problem. The symptoms just didn't fit the latter. The existing radio was a relatively cheap one I bought from Halfords, partly to test out the viability of DAB radio. It did have the advantage of an integral SD card reader but the lack of a CD drive was an occasional problem.

A bit of searching on Google suggested getting DAB and SD would severely limit my choice so I settled on a unit with a rear USB port instead. Further searching found a Kenwood that fitted all my criteria, front and rear USB, DAB and even a CD drive (which has a useful dust cover). I ordered it at a good price via Amazon on the Friday, and got a 32GB mini USB drive from another supplier. Both were delivered Saturday, good service indeed, so I took advantage of some moderately dry weather on Sunday to do the installation. I was able to retain the existing DAB aerial and everything just plugged together.

So far, it's all good. The only slight irritation with the new unit is the time it takes to step through the music sources, you have to wait for each one to come up before you step to the next one. I've even been able to set the illumination to green which matches the curtains! DAB reception seems good, on the limited testing it's had so far in what is a decent reception area, everything will get a more thorough test on Saturday when I head to Essex for the day.

Norfolk Trip - The End and Conclusions

Now back home after 2 weeks away. The trip ended as a bit if a damp squib as it was training heavily in Essex this morning. The only thing left really at that point was to drive home and start sorting everything, putting washing on, etc.

There are plenty of positives from the trip and very few negatives. I've proved that two weeks away is manageable (just) and almost everything performed as expected. Being able to move sites easily was a major gain and confirmed that a campervan works for me. Something slightly bigger would be nice, but that's something to be considered in a couple of years' time.

Only two things caused problems. The car radio is still playing up, I'm fairly certain it's the radio itself - the existing one was cheap from Halfords and is, inevitably, just out of warranty. I'll start searching for something better (at least I'm an expert at taking the dash assist these days). The USB charger socket I put in by where the bed makes up was just too vulnerable and was broken early in the holiday. I need to decide what to do about that as it was useful for charging the phone or tablet overnight. I'll also need to work out a way of hiding the hole if/when I remove the socket.

The electric coolbox coped must of the time but struggled a bit in the really hot weather. Two things would help I think. One is that I should have left it running more when parked rather than relying on only when driving or on site when I could plug it into the mains, to facilitate this it would be useful to have a level meter for the leisure battery. The other issue is that there's not a lot of ventilation into the cupboard that houses the coolbox, a vent will be installed in the door before long.

If I can find something suitable I'd like to add one or two roof vents to try and reduce the inside temperature when parked. That's some more searching required on the the 'net. I know there are some marine types that might work but I need to be sure they'll stand up to 70mph wind and not let water in when driving.

Something that only really came to mind towards the end of the trip was that I really should make more use of the site facilities such as the washing up area. With the previous folding camper having a decent sink and a hot water heater I didn't worry too much but there's no real point in boiling a kettle of water on expensive bottled gas when I can use site water for free. I'll either get a folding basket or one of the silicone folding washing up bowls to make it easier to carry the stuff.

Talking of silicone it is wonderful stuff, I've used the folding kettle, folding bowl and folding colander on this trip, and I've got a silicone drainer for when I do wash up in house. There would be ways round all of these but something else would have to go to make the space.

I've got an odd night away in a couple if weeks then two weekends away later in the year. One of these is at a town folk festival. So far I've only used the window covers for the front windows and relied on the curtains at the back. Unfortunately the curtains don't really keep the light out that well, which has been a bit of a problem with the long summer days. I've got the covers for the other windows so I'll take those on the next few trips and see how I get on. It's a bit more to carry but when I'm away they tend to live in the front passenger footwell so it should be OK.

I was quite happy with all 4 Caravan Club sites, by and large you know they will be to a reasonable standard. I've got no complaints about anything, the wardens were all friendly and helpful and the locations worked for where I wanted to visit. There was only one of the attractions that disappointed, that was Thursford which is now less about the steam museum and more about the performances on the fairground and Wurlitzer organs.

Planning is already afoot for next year, it does depend on a couple of other things but I'm thinking of a week in Northumberland and a week in Devon. There are advantages to two separate weeks in maximising time away while minimising annual leave days. I'll need to decide before the site bookings open for next year.

Nearly the End

Last night was my last time on a campsite food this trip as I'm at a friend's tonight for a BBQ. it's further than you think from the top of Suffolk down into Essex, but I did call in on the Colne Valley Railway. It's over I'd the shortest heritage lines in the country, just about a mile end-to-end but the work that's gone in over the last 40 years is quite staggering. When they took over the site all they had were the remains of the trackbed. Since then they've dismantled, moved and reassembled one station, recreated another using salvaged and made materials, moved and rebuilt a couple of signal boxes, etc. The running on a Saturday is normally a diesel railcar, but there was also one of the steam locos running up and down doing a driver experience day.

As well as the big stuff there's a garden scale layout and a miniature railway. The former only operates on a Sunday though and the latter was closed due to track problems in the heat. The large OO model layout, which they were donated several years ago, was running but the two small models needed attention.

That's about the end of the holiday, although I'll do a conclusions report tomorrow. Tonight we've got our annual Essex Waterway Recovery Group bbq, then it'll be off home at a sensible time in the morning to get sorted out for work on Monday. It'll be odd wearing trousers after two weeks in shorts.

Today's History Lesson...

From the Long Shop Museum. Pay attention, there may be a test later!

The museum is fundamentally about Richard Garrett and Sons at the Leiston Works, famous mostly for their steam engines (and not to be confused with Herbert William Garratt who designed the articulated steam locomotive that bears his name - more on this later). They actually started in 1778 when the first Richard Garrett took over the forge at Leiston. Initially their main products were edge tools and general agricultural items but they soon moved into making the Balls Patent Thresher when the second Richard married John Balls daughter. From there they expanded into various agricultural machines, initially horse powered then started making steam engines. These later included agricultural tractors, road rollers and steam wagons. The company didn't do much in the way of internal combustion engines, probably as the son who was keen on developing that side of the business was killed in the Great War but they did a lot of electric vehicles including Trolley Buses and a fleet of refuse lorries for Glasgow.

The firm lost a lot of money following the Russian Revolution when the new government repudiated sizeable debts and in 1919 combined with several other steam and other engineers to form Agricultural and General Engineers Ltd. This only lasted until 1932 when trading conditions and poor management sent it into receivership. Leiston Works however were subsequently taken over by Beyer Peacock Ltd and renamed Richard Garrett Engineering Works Ltd, so in the end they did make parts for the Beyer Garratt engines! They made a lot of other machinery over the years, including dry cleaning and laundry machines (probably as a result of making steam boilers for that industry), extruding machines and, in wartime, arms, ammunition and FE2/B aircraft. After various owners in the 1970s the works finally closed in 1979.

The museum is well worth a visit for anoraks just to see the huge variety of things produced by a general engineering company of that era. There are plenty of items of interest including the Suffolk Punch steam ploughing tractor which attempted to compete (unsuccessfully) with IC engined models and a slightly odd industrial tram loco that's a cross between a railway engine and a traction engine. The Long Shop by the way was one of the first production line manufacturies.

After the museum I headed in to Southwold where I had an indifferent toasted sandwich in a cafe and a rather better pint of Adnams Ghost Ship in a pub, as well as stocking up on Sole Star for tomorrow's BBQ.

Trains and Boats and Trams

Yes I know it doesn't quite scan, and there was only one boat and one train (apart from the one that held me up at a level crossing).

With no particular rush this morning I breakfasted and sorted everything out ready for departure (i.e. coiled up the mains cable and retrieved the pitch sign). The target for the day was the East Anglia Transport Museum, as I had plenty of time I set the SatNav to take a winding route. I usually like to find a ford on these routes, this time the voice said, "In 400 yards take ferry!" Reedham Ferry is quite famous on the Broads, as is the railway bridge from the other day. It cost £4 to cross, for all of about 50 yards but I guess wages and maintenance have to be paid. I filled in a bit of time on the journey wandering round a nature reserve as the museum doesn't open until about 12.

As such museums go it's quite a small one, readily visited in an afternoon. They had 2 trams and a trolley bus running, there's also a small narrow gauge railway with a Simplex diesel loco. On top of that there are static displays, including quite a variety of vehicles. The cafe is OK, I won't say much more than that. By the time I'd walked round a couple of times and ridden on everything the rain was starting to come down quite heavily so, pausing to complete their visitor survey, I did a runner for the caravan site.

By the time I got here, a few minutes later, the rain had eased again. This site is slightly odd as it's split in two. One part is adjacent to the beach, but that was full anyway (not that I was bothered). The rest is reasonably open, to be fair to the site I've gone on a non-awning pitch although I'd booked a full one (at the time I hadn't quite decided whether I'd want an awning this year). They're just the same except a bit smaller. The pitches either side were free but someone has subsequently filled one of them. It really doesn't bother me any which way, although they're making quite a performance of getting pitched.

I've got one visit planned for tomorrow but I'm going to reconsider that. It's quite a drive southwards so I could, depending on timings, leave it until Saturday on my way down to Essex. On the other hand Southwold is on the way so I could combine with a visit there - the Adnams stock is down to one bottle plus a bit in my glass, I suspect by this evening it will be non-existent.

It's Show Time!

The Royal Norfolk Show was always in my plans for this holiday, and indeed I'd booked and printed my tickets before I came (it saves quite a bit of money). Despite the fact I snuck off the site, quietly, at 7 this morning after a brief breakfast there was still a 2 mile queue for the showground. It would have helped if people bothered to read the signs and had taken the left filter to the car park. Entry was simple though, in fact overall I was very impressed with the organisation. I know they've been doing it for a lot of years but it still takes effort to get it right. The litter pickers and toilet cleaners were on duty right from the start of the day which always helps keep things clean and tidy.

First stop was a bacon butty stall to complete my breakfast then, as it was there, I wandered through the Adnams sponsored food hall. If I'd been able to bring half what I'd have liked home I would have needed a second mortgage - loads of lovely looking food from rare breeds meat, pies and pasties through to more exotic Indian and Chinese meals. The pudding stand was particularly attractive, various sweet and savoury suet puddings, but it just wasn't practical to buy any.

After that I had a good wander around the show and the various stalls. I did take time out to watch various animal classes but to be honest I couldn't tell a good Hereford cow from a bad one. As I'd found a shady seat by their ring I watched some of the horse drawn gigs and phaetons. I must say they looked very elegant. I also got some pictures of the heavy horse teams as they made their way to the main show ring. They had a few minutes to wait so all parked in the shade of the trees and one of the lady stewards brought cups of water for the drivers and grooms. The first team were the CoOp Funeral Care team, but at least they had a cart not a hearse. Their colours were shades of purple, with the ribbons not only woven into the horses' manes but also into their (male) head groom's pony tail!

By the time I'd had lunch of a pie and a pint whilst watching some pig judging I felt I'd seen about enough. I'd been right round the site and whilst there was stuff I'd have liked to buy there was nothing I could realistically manage to take home.

Rather than just come straight back to site I decided to drive via Reedham to get some pictures of the railway swing bridge, which I duly did. It did swing open shortly after I arrived as there was a yacht coming through. From there I went through the outskirts of Great Yarmouth. There were some interesting looking vessels in the port so I stopped for a quick look and more photos. They were 3 oil exploration vessels.

The final stop was a bit more brown sign following, this time to Horsey Wind Pump. It's National Trust owned now and was interesting enough. Being built in the early 20th Century it was probably about the peak of windmill technology, with self regulating and self directing sails. The sails, etc. are long gone but the internal mechanism is still there. I managed the climb up to the top this time as although they were open stairs each section wasn't too high, but I did wimp out on going onto the balcony which had a slat floor. The pump was owned by the Horsey Estate and they still control the moorings in the outlet stream. Slightly strangely their bailiff just sits in his car by the entrance to the NT car park - you would have thought they'd give him a hut.

Radar and More

I guess a trip to an old Radar Station isn't everybody's idea of a good day out, but it suited me. Neatishead started as a radar establishment back in the early days of the war and the museum reflects this.

Although the guided tour is optional, in practice you can't really visit without doing it. It takes you through three specific phases, the Battle of Britain, the later wartime period then the cold war. You're then left to wander around the other parts of the museum including a section on RAF Coltishall.

For a volunteer-run organisation (there is one paid administrator/curator) it was well staffed, many of the people having worked there or on similar things elsewhere. As it happens we were joined on our tour by the current patron and chairman of the trustees, a former senior RAF officer. He was able to add his own bit of history to the story as he was being guided on a training run by staff at Neatishead when it went off-air due to a fire in 1966. 3 civilian firemen lost their lives that day and the control had to be moved back from the underground bunker to the WW2 control room for several years.

I had a bit of a chat with one of their ex-RAF IT people, we worked on similar systems in the 1980s, and I can also recommend their cafe. After lunch (a decent baked potato) I decided to visit Happisburgh, really for the sake of it. I've got a few photos of the light house and yet more wartime defences (a couple of pillboxes). Looking at the pictures it's frightening just how much land has been lost there in a relatively short period. The only defences now are a stone breakwater that's protecting the ramp down to the beach, even that's currently being repositioned due to further erosion. I know the experts now reckon it's not worth trying to protect individual areas of the coast as it just moved the problem elsewhere, I can see it won't be that many years until the lighthouse and other buildings will be lost or will have to be moved as they did with Belle Tout.

Shopping for Broads

Sorry, that should read Shopping and Broads!

I needed to do some food shopping and, being only a few miles away, the obvious place was Roy's of Wroxham (or Woy's of Woxham as some of my friends call it). That done it was off to Wroxham Barns, a craft centre. Bit of a waste of time really, half the craft shops were shut and there was little of interest except a cup of coffee and a freshly baked scone.

Next stop, on what was always intended to be a shortish day, was The Museum of the Broads. Well worth a visit and good value for a fiver. It covers quite a lot of Broads history and, at the moment, has a special exhibition on brewing! Some interesting, and different, boats there including a couple I wasn't even aware of such as an airdrop lifeboat from the early part of WW2. They were literally slung under a plane and then dropped to downed aircrew to try and make their way back to the coast. The most frightening thing in my view was a large punt gun used for wildfowling. Before guns that size were banned it would take 1lb of gunpowder and 2lbs of shot, nails, etc.  to load it. When fired the punt would be sent up to 25 yards backwards with the recoil.

From there I popped in to Stalham, braving the chaos of the Tesco petrol queues and having a quick look round. After that it was back to the site for lunch and a relaxed afternoon. I'm now trying to work out if it's cooler inside the camper, where at least there's shade, or outside in what little breeze there is. It wouldn't be easy to organise on Dai but in the future I think a sunshade would be very useful.

Steam, Cars and Steam Cars

Not a great day weather wise, it was damp when I left site and headed for the Strumpshaw Steam Museum. I probably wouldn't have known about this but for the TV programme Salvage Hunters. It's another of those collections started by one man, but it's now a trust. The difference to Thursford is immeasurable. This is anything but a sanitised tourist attraction, you can wander around amongst the engines, etc. Everything is oily and a bit grubby and they don't mind if kids start clambering on things (although they rarely get youngsters). It's quite an eclectic collection, including various steam tractors and rollers, a few diesel tractors and engines plus a couple of larger engines. One of the beam engines and a couple of the smaller ones were running (on compressed air) and they also started up one of the fairground organs. I had a bit chat with a couple of the people and a coffee, well worth a fiver.

Not really having much else planned I thought I'd drive down to Caister, but before I got there I saw signs for the Caister Castle Car Collection. I thought that looked a good visit and it had the advantage of being largely indoors as the rain was getting quite heavy. This started out as another private collection, that of a Dr Hill, and is now housed in purpose built galleries adjacent to the ruined castle. They have everything there from the very first cars (and bicycles which predate even those) through to some relatively modern "classics". If there was an issue is that the cars are so packed in it's not easy to take photos. A few cars stood out for me, including a small collection of steam cars (a White, a Stanley and a couple of others).

I made use of their tearoom but decided not to climb the 147 steps to the top of the castle tower - the wooden spiral staircase is open tread and I really don't like those. I did run down into Caister itself but with the poor weather didn't stop so made my way back to the site. There had been talk that the Vulcan would be flying over but no sign of it - I don't know if the info was incorrect or if plans changed due to the weather.

Another Day, Another Train

Having decided that timings just didn't work to do the museums at Thetford I got away at a reasonable time to head for the Mid Norfolk Railway. It's another preserved railway, single track now although the original was twin track. I had a bit of a chat with the guy running the museum room, and although the notice board said it was diesel today it turned out that we were hauled by a steam engine.

As such railways are it's fairly typical. Friendly enough but nothing special. I had lunch in the tearoom which was OK.

From there I programmed the satnav for the site for the next few days. It's a typical club site, but there's a shop close by one way (useful for bread) and a pub the other (useful for beer). I must admit that I got talking in the latter and supped a pint or two more than I should on an afternoon. One of the people there now spends his whole time touring Caravan Club sites. Not sure I'd want to do that but it suits him and his dog.

The next couple of days are fairly relaxed, there's a steam museum tomorrow (courtesy of Salvage Hunters on telly), and a couple of other visits before the Royal Norfolk Show. That will be a full day out, but it's a while since I've been to a similar event. It's getting close to 50 years since I first went to the Durham County Show and I'll admit to having a liking for such things.

If You go Down to the Woods Today...

You'll see lots of caravans and motorhomes, at least you will if it's these woods.

Got away reasonably on time from West Runton, one thing with the campervan is that packing up to leave site isn't much more than putting everything away each day anyway. As I hadn't even put the mains hookup on the only extra job was to remove my pitch reservation sign. I took a moderately winding route to Bressingham Steam and Gardens. The place is a little run down these days, see below, but well worth a visit. Obviously for me it's the steam part that's of interest, they have 3 separate running narrow-gauge railways, although only 2 tend to be open midweek and quite a few static displays and locos that are either to be restored or have had cosmetic restorations.

One area is largely given over to Dad's Army, with various vehicles and items from either the series or the film on show. These include the van from the film, the dustcart and the car that Pike drives in one episode. Interestingly (or not) I was at the station used for the King's visit a couple of days ago on the North Norfolk line. More tomorrow as I'm planning on visiting the Dad's Army museum.

I took a trip on what they call The Nursery Line as it runs round the area that was Bressingham Blooms. This was a huge Nursery which closed down about 5 years ago. The plan is to clear the site and return it to natural habitat but it's a massive job and is being undertaken entirely by the volunteers. As is often the case I got talking to the guard on the train. Apparently last year was the first time the trust has had a surplus in 15 years. The problems stemmed from the attempted restoration of the Royal Scot. Costs spiralled out of control, the restoration was halted and they had to repay the Heritage Lottery Fund a substantial sum. The good thing is that they now do have a bit more money available so hopefully it will get even better.

The cafe was a bit of a disaster, nice food and coffee but a server who frankly didn't have a clue. Having had coffee and cake earlier I decided not to bother with lunch. The second railway that was open is the one around the gardens themselves - a great way to see them with minimal effort in my view, but then I'm not really into gardens. I'm sure for those that are they'd repay a walk around.

Putting my anorak on one of the highlights for me is the only Standard Gauge Beyer Garrat left in the world. It's a relatively small industrial loco, hopefully one day they'll actually do a steaming restoration on it. I just had a double check on the gauge of the one I saw in Queensland, although that is considerably larger overall it's only 3' 6" gauge. As with their other larger locos though it's just sat in a shed almost ignored. They are restoring one of these at the moment and hope to reopen the standard gauge track next year.

From there it was another winding route past Thetford to the caravan site, with a brief pause to visit Boots for more shower gel, not that I need it here as there are no facilities. I've found another pitch buried a bit into the woods, as with the previous site the first pitch I tried sloped the wrong way but this one is level. This area of the forest is where the 7th Armoured Division, better known as The Desert Rats, trained on the, then new, Cromwell Tanks before D-Day. There's a walk around the area with various interpretation boards and the Division Memorial, a Cromwell on a plinth, is at the site entrance. Those few months were the only time the Division spent in the UK during the war as they went from El Alamein to Berlin (via Italy and France).

I've got a bit of working out to do for the next couple of days, I'm starting off tomorrow in and around Thetford but there's also a railway to visit and I don't want to be too late to the next site. I'll shortly be consulting the map and satnav to work out the best options. I'll also need bread and fresh stuff at some point.

Later update - you can't do everything! I'll still aim to do the Dad's Army museum but unless I'm very quick there I shall leave the Charles Burrell for another day. The other option, dependimg how I feel tomorrow, is to leave both of them and come back another weekend. It's not a huge distance from home (under 2 hours drive) so it's an option.

Phew, What a Scorcher!

Today started off looking very nice weather wise, and by the time I'd got to Aylsham for the Bure Valley Railway it was getting very warm. This is apparently the longest 15" narrow gauge line in Norfolk - I guess there's not a lot of competition! Allegedly they can't make it any longer without stopping for a loo break (no toilets on the trains of course). If you'll believe that...

Strictly speaking, like the Wells and Walsingham, it's not a heritage railway but a tourist line built on the trackbed of a former standard gauge track. It's certainly very popular, and is probably a good way to visit Wroxham although the town itself is a few minutes walk from the station.

First thing I spotted on heading for the town was Wroxham Miniature Worlds. This is a new venture in a shop/warehouse unit which was supposed to open on February but apparently finally opened in May. It's not finished yet but it currently has various model railways already built and running and they're now starting on what they claim will be the largest OO-Gauge layout in the world. There's also a Scalextric track and some very good static displays of model buildings, dolls houses, etc. I understand they did want a large pool with radio controlled boats but were turned down due to the amount of water involved. To say it will be nice when it's finished is being churlish, a lot of time and money has been invested already.

I did have a quick wander round the town itself, and had a decent lunch. After last night it was tempting to have some decent Fish and Chips but I resisted. In the old days little old ladies in a tearoom would hand around photos of the grandchildren, now they hand around smartphones and tablets. I've got some snack stuff for this evening that really needs eating so a more substantial meal seemed a good idea. One sight was a crocodile of school kids all wearing buoyancy aids parading through the town - you don't see that every day! Must admit I was quite happy to get back to the station and sit in the relative peace for a while.

Unlike the engine I was running out of steam by the end so it was a straight run back to the site. It's cooled down a bit but I'm sat sitting outside the campervan with a beer and, shortly, the Kindle. It's my last night here at West Runton, tomorrow night I'll be at Thetford Forest. I'd certainly come here again but I'm pleased I found this relatively isolated pitch rather than end up on the open field area.

A Brief Encounter

Having looked at the train times from Holt I decided to amend my plans and go shopping first as the earliest steam train wasn't until 11:15. I'd had venison sausages (told you I'd found the butchers, Dave) for breakfast today so I settled on Norfolk ones for later in the week, some more bacon and a nice piece of rump steak. I also procured a loaf of bread and 8 bottles of Adnams Sole Star, only 2.7% but a pleasant summer drink.

After I'd taken a few pics around Holt Station, visited the model railway and had a coffee, I boarded the train, only to meet a couple that I'd been talking to on the Wells and Walsingham a couple of days ago! They'd come up from Sheringham so we only had time for a brief hello. If I see them tomorrow on the Bure Valley I'll suspect stalking. The train quickly filled up so I didn't get a compartment to myself.

The North Norfolk, or The Poppy Line as it's styled, is fairly typical of preserved railways. The engine was a BR Standard Class 4, the coaches a mixture of corridor and open stock. Everyone was very friendly and knowledgeable, even the chap in the buffet took time to help someone planning a visit with disabled children, and knew whether it would be possible (there may be issues with the stock that will be running that week). It's not a long run down to Sheringham but there's a reasonable view for much of the way. I did note as we went through Weybourne station that it would repay a visit.

Rather than return straight away I took the time to have a wander through Sheringham. Typical seaside tourist place really (didn't expect much else) so I had an ice cream, I think it's compulsory isn't it? I then strolled back up the the station buffet for lunch which was quite pleasant. As I was finishing I was joined at the table by an elderly gentleman, actually there were 2 of them plus their minders. One of the carers did check it was OK, I was just finishing up anyway so by the time they'd sorted out the order I'd finished my coffee and said, "Cheerio!"

As is often the case there was a bit of a wait for the next train back but at least it was quite quiet. I think a lot of people had caught the first train from Holt and were spending the day in Sheringham. This time I got out at Weybourne for a look round there, and of course yet more photos! The model railway was nothing particularly special but it's always interesting to see other efforts. Getting out did give me a chance to get more photos of the steam hauled train, as is often the case I got chatting to another photographer, although he's moved over to video now. I'm not convinced it's for me though - it takes long enough to sort through still photos without having hours of video to edit.

I finished the journey back by diesel railcar, just for a change. One annoyance was that the museum at Holt Station was closed when I got back there, at 2:30pm. It would have been useful if there'd been a notice to that effect in the morning as I'd have looked round then. I'm heading in the opposite direction tomorrow so won't get another opportunity.

Having got back to site I decided it was time for a bit of housework, 5 minutes of running the 12v hoover over the floors. It's not brilliant but it takes the thick off! Tonight was fish and chip van night so I wandered down to the entrance for the advertised 17:30 only to find they'd obviously been serving fur quite a while. There was also no indication that you had to order and pay then join the queue. Having figured that out there was quite a long wait and frankly I wished I'd gone with plan B and had F&C in Sheringham for lunch and a snack for tea. They were OK but it's a bit of a hike back to the camper so they weren't overly hot.

Now sat sitting with one of the bottles of Adnams, listening to the bird song, dogs barking and the horn from the F&C van which has now arrived on the next door campsite!

Tanks for the Memory

Having breakfasted on orange juice, cereal bar and bacon butties I headed off, with a quick bit of shopping for kitchen roll in the sort of village shop that will sell you just one roll! I then headed up to the first visit of the day, the Muckleburgh Collection. Details are on line but it's more than just a heavy vehicle collection, although I think that's what it's mostly known for. There are plenty of other displays including a large section on the Norfolk Yeomanry. Everything available today was inside, they only have the moving vehicle stuff outside in school holidays, but it was a bit chilly in some of the sheds. I was glad of my "Do I come here often?" sweatshirt (which had been commented on earlier by one of the site wardens). Overall I spent nearly two hours looking round and was suffering a bit from information overload by the time I sat down for coffee and carrot cake. The only slight problem was the lack of photo opportunities, it's all so packed in that I just didn't bother.

The next stop was the Thursford Collection. I won't say I was disappointed by this, as I knew roughly what to expect. It's interesting, with some unusual traction engines, etc. but that's as far as it goes. The display is aimed more at showcasing the organs and stage than the engines themselves, and it really could do with a bit more light! I know they're trying to recreate a fair type atmosphere but it just doesn't work for me. I did have lunch there, a roast beef baguette, again OK but nothing special. Unfortunately I was too late to take the extra tour (another £3 on top of the £10 entrance fee) as it was fully booked, really though I wasn't bothered.

From there I decided to play a bit of Brown Sign Bingo or, as it was actually from the road atlas, Red Attraction Bingo. That's where you randomly follow the signs to an attraction to see what's there. In this case it was Baconsthorpe Castle. It's actually a fortified moated manor house, or at least the remains of one. It fell into disuse several centuries ago although the outer gatehouse remained as a residence until about 1920. I'm always interested in these places and it was a worthwhile diversion instead of driving straight back.

The radio has been playing up the last couple of days, having behaved perfectly before I came away. It's got a power problem again so when I got back I removed the dash and rechecked and tightened the connections. As it's an intermittent problem it's difficult to diagnose, I'll see what happens tomorrow. The only other problem is that the nearest toilet block was out of order when I got back - hope they've fixed it but I've not seen much activity. If they haven't it's quite a walk to the next one (assuming that's OK) or I may have to fall back on my own resources.

Back to railways for the next couple of days, bet you can't wait! 😀

A Rainy Day in Norfolk...

Doesn't have quite the same ring as A Rainy Night in Georgia but never mind.

One advantage of walking up fairly early on caravan sites is there's no queue for the showers. That dealt with and a sausage butty for breakfast eaten I headed off to Wells-Next-the-Sea. I was fortunate in finding space in a free car park at the top of the town, especially since I couldn't park in the harbour area (no campervans) and the beach would have cost £10, unless I got away with the car rate of a fiver. I had a good wander round and was tempted by a print of a steam loco in a bookshop (it had belonged to the owner's father-in-law) but it was framed and there's no way I could carry it around for the next two weeks.

The weather was quite good right up until, after a coffee and some carrot cake, I was wandering back towards the car. The heavens opened and stupidly I'd left the umbrella in Dai. I didn't get too wet fortunately by rushing back. Of course the rain promptly stopped as I got in to drive round to the Wells and Walsingham Light Railway. At 4 miles long it's the longest stretch of 10 1/4" gauge railway in the world. The locos are two 2-6-0 + 0-6-2 Garrats, Norfolk Hero and Norfolk Heroine. Today it was the latter (sub-named Edith Cavell). There's not much view for much of the time as the line is in a cutting but it's pleasant enough and the crew were very friendly and helpful, one lady had lost her hat on the way up so the driver slowed so it could be retrieved on the way back then, when the train started again, they stopped completely to let the people in the open carriages get under cover.

As I hadn't got out there I subsequently drive up to Walsingham for a quick look round before starting to wend my way back to site. I noticed an odd looking Church so decided to have a quick look. Binham Priory is quite odd, although dissolved by Henry VIII the church had continued to be used by the Parish. That's quite common but in the case is amongst, and still attached to, the ruins of the rest of the Benedictine buildings. Inevitably the rain had started again but with the aid of my umbrella I did get a look round.

The last call of the day was to Holt for another look around. I stocked up on fresh meat whilst I was there, including a pork steak for tonight's dinner. I may well shop there again when I do the North Norfolk Railway.
Tomorrow I'm planning on visiting The Muckleburgh Military Collection which I spotted today then the Thursford Collection of steam engines. I wasn't certain on visiting the latter but I'll see if I can combine the two.

My apologies by the way for the lack of photos. The pics are on the phone but it's easier to type on the tablet, also the phone signal is very variable but the WiFi only supports the one device. You'll have to wait until I get home and sort the website out, although that may be a while.

Dai 1 - Pigeon 0

I didn't get round to a blog post yesterday, after an afternoon and evening carousing with TOGs I ran out of steam! So here goes with a two day offering.

Saturday was a latish start by my standards as I didn't need to be in Lincolnshire until early afternoon. I finished packing everything in Dai then, after my overnight guests had left, departed around midday. It was a quick run over, with a brief stop to stretch my legs (this is a euphemism). The rest of the afternoon and evening were spent eating, drinking and generally being merry with friends. The hosts had kindly agreed to me pitching in their garden for the night which was handy, although as I'd actually been drinking low alcohol cider I was perfectly sober. I did run out of steam and had a relatively early night, inevitably that meant I was awake by 6 and ready to go before 7.

I snuck away quietly and treated myself to breakfast at the Little Chef before setting the satnav onto mild winding route setting to head to Reepham. I could have gone the quick way, straight down the A1 then across past Peterborough but I had plenty of time. The only unfortunate bit was that a pigeon flew right up in front of me, with no time to react it hit the windscreen with a heck of a Bang. After a quick walk round Reepham itself (it was shut) I headed down to Whitwell and Reepham station, my planned visit for the day. Eventually it will be a preserved railway, unfortunately at the moment it seems to be a catering establishment with an old station building and a bit of railway attached! To be fair they're concentrating on fund raising by any means possible at the moment but the "museum" display is virtually non-existent and in the end I decided not to hang about to pay £2 for a 5 minute ride. It does seem to attract cyclists and the local Mini owners club were there in force.

I then again took for the winding route to the caravan site at West Runton, the only problem being I was a bit early. Due to the narrow entrance road it's a 1pm earliest arrival, in theory to give the departures time to get away but there's always 1 - fortunately I met him where there was room for me to wait to let him past.  Before that though I headed down to the beach car park. I honestly can't remember how long out is since I last walked on the sand, probably nearly 5 years ago at Waterloo (the one in Liverpool where the nekkid men are). I also had a lovely cheese salad sandwich in the beach cafe - thick white bread, lashings of grated cheddar and loads of fresh salad.

There was a bit of a queue at the site to get booked in but the staff were very efficient so I was soon looking for a pitch. It's a bit of an odd site being built around a golf course. It's split almost into two halves, the first part is mainly a series of small terraces, some with a view of the sea. I found a nice secluded spot though in the woods, close enough to the facilities block and far enough from the main roadway. The second section of the site is much more open so I'm happy with where I am.

Ask that remained, after sorting out, was to polish off a couple of beers and wander down to the town to check out the pub. I only had one pint but it looks reasonable. It's a bit of a pull back up the hill to the site and the pitch but manageable. Then it was dinner and relaxation time. The mobile data signal is variable so I've decided to bite the bullet and subscribe to the Club WiFi. It's £25 for a year so not too unreasonable. The pitch also became even more secluded when the only other van actually on this bit left around 7pm. I can now only see one other unit.

I'm in two minds about the next couple of days. I've not got too much planned so one possibility is to walk down to the station and her a train to Norwich for the day. I'll see how I feel in the morning.

Last Day and Conclusions

I didn't stir all that early, the beer last night may have contributed, but one I'd had breakfast it didn't take to long to get packed up before heading in to Hebden Bridge. That's really the big advantage with the campervan, being able to pack up and call in places, not just go straight home. I had a good look round and bought a couple of books before starting the trip home.

I made another brief diversion into a motorhome dealers as I noticed a couple of smaller models. Not that I'm in the market of course at the moment! One was a quite nice looking pop-top conversion of a Toyota HiAce. When I was looking most of those were high tops and ruled out, that one I could go for. The other was a slightly odd conversion on a Fiat van. The roof lifted electrically then the two beds slid out sideways. There were some practical advantages but I felt it was over complex and liable to be troublesome.

After that it was just a case of hitting the motorway for a slightly unpleasant drive home due to the high winds. I stopped a couple of times and did finally get home in one piece.

Main conclusion is that I can manage off grid and on no facility sites but I'd only want to do so for a couple of nights. Otherwise I've got things sorted pretty much as I need so I'm happy. I had one breakage, the handle fell off my mug! Fortunately I've got spares as I had 4 in the old folding camper. Next trip will be the long holiday in a few weeks, need to check the gas and restock some of the tinned food but there's not much to do before then.

Day whatever it is on this Trip!

I can only really describe today as being friendly. It was a bit of a later start than I like, as I didn't want to disturb Colin, the boatyard owner, too early. He's a lovely bloke though and was much taken with Little Dai. It didn't matter time wise as I've wanted to go and play on the Shipley Glen tramway for a while but usually I'm heading for home. It's another interesting place, the remnants of a lot of Victorian amusements in the area. I had quite a chat with some of the volunteers, and enjoyed the excursion. The weather was variable but ok.

I then headed over the tops to the caravan site at Hebden Bridge, it was a bit breezy in places and my right foot was starting to cramp up from all the braking going down steep hills with hairpin bends. Good fun though. The site office was closed when I arrived but that didn't matter, find a pitch and book in later is the system. It's a bit noisy, the river runs right behind the back of the site!

After dinner I wandered up the hill to the local community pub. I had been warned that they'll talk to you! A lovely, friendly pub where you're accepted as a local simply by being there. I ended up having a pint or two more than I'd planned but never mind. It's the first time I can recall a barmaid with an extensive knowledge of whaling and the production of ambergris.

I will definitely be back here soon, if it was a full facility site I'd happily spend a week here but as it is I think s couple of days wouldn't hurt.

Having woken up at my usual time of 6am I took the opportunity to do my ablutions and have a shower in the relatively quiet facilities block (quiet apart from the chap who clearly needs to give up the Woodbines). A bacon and tomato sandwich followed before I got packed up. I tend to have a last walk to the toilets (which I did) and drop the barrier card off hehe leaving - good job I didn't do the latter as unusually you need the card to get out as well. Even then it took three attempts to get it to open.

Rather than head straight to the M1 I set the satnav on Eco Route and went over the tops past Sheffield. It was a glorious morning and a really nice drive, couldn't have done that when towing though.

After killing a little time I headed to the boatyard where I'd been promised parking. After a bit of confusion we guy sorted out and I'm securely moored next to the canal behind a locked gate. I'm sure the owner doesn't want, and wouldn't take, anything so I've passed some drinks money on via my friend to be given to him later.

After a short wait, when I chatted to the Canal and River Trust guys who were going the PR and advice stint I was collected and we headed for the pub. Lovely to see some old friends. It gets boring after that as it mainly involves beer, with interruptions for food and a pointless quiz. Since of us did move on from The Fleece to the local Wetherspoons for a while, then for various reasons were all headed out different ways. I wended my way back down to Dai where I'm currently supping a last beer before bed.

I'm totally off grid this time so the Porta Potti will come out before bed!

Leeds-ing Astray, Day 1

As I'm going to a bit of a do in Leeds tomorrow I decided to take the opportunity of a long weekend. Today I travelled up to Castleton in Derbyshire, with a few drops on the way.

As usual I planned around railways, this time the Rudyard Lake Steam Railway. The weather was fairly awful driving up, and realising I was going to miss the 11 o'clock train anyway I wandered around Leek for s while (partly because there was a free parking space so I used it).

it was still raining when I arrived at the railway, and really there's not a lot to see, the cafe etc. only open on weekends. I got a few photos before the train arrived, which turned out to be a diesel despite the signs saying steam. I'm not really surprised on a cold wet weekday.

The three mike run up beside the lake is pretty enough and I've come away with s few photos. Strictly shaking of course it's a reservoir feeding the canal.

After that I pointed Dai towards the caravan site, stopping in Buxton for a quick lunch. The site is quite a large one, but reasonably peaceful until I could hear a brass band playing. I had seen some signs for something on in Castleton, having walked down to the town after dinner there's the Castleton Garland procession happening. Couldn't get near enough to see anything so I'm in the pub!

The Peaks Inn had a good sign on the door for all walkers - Muddy Boots Welcome!

Not so Wild Camping in Essex

Another long weekend away in Dai, and the first when I wasn't stopping on a caravan site. The occasion was the first River Festival at the marina where my brother keeps the yacht. I was parked up in the back of the yard there but not exactly wild camping as I had mains hookup and the toilet/shower block was handy.

Over the weekend I finally got to the bottom of the alarm setting itself. I now know that if I set the alarm whilst I'm out I must turn the ignition on and off when I disarm it, other wise it will rearm again. The new gas struts on the roof have made a huge difference as well, I can now trust that the thing won't come crashing down on my head, so I'm pleased that's worked out well.

The river festival itself went well enough for a first time, they've got something to build on anyway assuming they go ahead again next year. I'll happily go again. I must admit to being bored with the M11 and A14 so coming home I set the satnav to shortest route, Dai is OK on motorways but is happier at 50-60 on smaller roads.

I've now just got to get ready for the next trip out, a 4 day weekend trip to Leeds via Derbyshire. Two nights will be on club sites but the other well again be off grid - a friend has organised the pitch and at the moment I don't know where!

We Have Lift-Off

I only got one job done over the weekend, mainly due to the weather.

I picked up the new gas struts for the roof a few days ago (quite by chance the supplier is local) so in the sunshine early Saturday morning I decided to try and fit them. The old struts were 180N (18kg in effect) each, after a lot of thinking I decided to go up to 330N as the old ones were a lot weaker than required.

Getting the old struts off was easy enough, it's only two nuts to undo them compress them a bit to ease them out of the brackets. Of course I remembered to prop the roof with a bit if wood first. Getting the new ones in was a lot harder though as I could barely move them! Having fitted one I checked it, put the prop back in and fitted the other. I then tried it again but the roof wouldn't move - until I removed the prop again, doh!

Overall very pleased with the result though, the roof now elevates and stops there instead of having to be pushed up with the hope it will stay up. It's a little bit harder bringing it down with the canvas inside as it did need a definite pull down but that's a small price to pay. It also means I can make decent use of the storage tray that's hinged under the roof, I plan to use this for clothes.

Dai Gets a Black Bottom (Ooerr Missus)

Following on from the MOT I wanted to get the underfloor rust sorted before it became a problem. Some web searching and emailing found me a company near St. Albans who would do a full Waxoyl treatment. Not the cheapest by any means but good reviews. Although initially he was saying May, when I phoned him he offered to do it today, he usually starts working Sundays about now anyway.

Have to say having met him I didn't regret the decision. He kindly ran me in to St Albans for the day while he got on with the job although the offer was there to stay and watch. I had a reasonable time wandering around, visiting the cathedral and generally enjoying the day before he phoned to say he was finished and would come and collect me.

Very pleased that he reckons there's no real problems, a little bit of rust that will be fine now but generally very clean and tidy. There's a little bit of overspray on the cills to be cleaned off one it's hardened, he explained that's down to having to get in to quite a narrow but vulnerable gap. It's got a 5 year warranty on the work which is good. All I've got left to do is a bit of cleaning up and to treat the surface rust on the cills below the doors. I'll do that very soon and should hopefully have the body solid for the next few years.

Phew!

Dai was in the garage this morning for service and MOT. No problems really with either although there was an advisory on rusting on the underfloor. I'll need to consider whether that needs dealing with. There's a bit of rust on the top of the sills as well that needs tackling soon.

What I do about these is partly dependent on long term plans. My original intention was to keep Dai for three years but after last weekend I'm not sure I'll wasn't to change then anyway. If I decide I'm keeping this one and not upgrading it would make getting things properly sorted worthwhile.

That's All Folks!

Well it is due this trip anyway.

After a good night's sleep I pottered about having breakfast and packing up. There was no rush so I took the opportunity of emptying the loo (although it has only been used one), disposing of the waste water and refilling the fresh and doing the rubbish. The new rubbish bin works and in general I've been very pleased with the recent jobs. Apart from the roof struts there's not much to sort now.

I'd planned to call in on Gresley and Wychnor Model Railway Group who were having an open day. Having actually found the place and realised that the access was down what seemed to be someone's driveway I was a bit early but that didn't matter. It was good to see club layouts in their home and in full (often they can split out a small part for exhibitions). One N-Gauge layout gave me heart, I think if I owned it I'd be considering a total remodel - with a big hammer!

I also called in to a garden centre, mainly for a visit to Lakeland Ltd. I won't say how much I spent but it was probably more than the rest of the holiday put together!

Overall a successful weekend away, it's a site and an area I'm keen to visit again, it's not too far from home and there's lots more to see.

Hold Very Tight Please, Ting Ting

As planned I spent the day at Crich Tramways Museum. They were holding s '40s Home Front weekend so lots of reenactors and veterans around the place. All good fun, everyone pleasant, and a jolly decent day out.

Highlight for me was in the bar, young lad in US Army uniform bought a drink for a D-Day veteran that he'd obviously never met before and then spent some time with him just talking.

By about 2 o'clock I'd had about enough and was tiring, I could have taken a couple of painkillers and carried on but I'd about seen everything anyway so headed back to site via the scenic route through Cromford. I didn't stop this time, but I'll be back soon for a proper visit to that part of the area. The great thing with having Dai is I can head up here first thing Saturday, do some visiting, stop the night and then do more visiting before driving home, all for the sake of under £40 in petrol and around £15 for the site.

Spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing with the Kindle and a couple of beers, now just debating whether to wander down the pub or not having had ham, sweet corn and new tatties for dinner.

Who were the Quarrymen?

I'd planned to visit Peak Rail today but decided you can have too much of s good thing and would do something else - play Brown Sign Bingo (that's where you just follow brown tourist signs and see what you find). Without g trying I ended up back much where I was yesterday. The first brown sign, for a heritage centre, was a fail as it had closed. I did get a rather nice looking Pork Pie at the farmers' market though. The next brown sign took me to the National Rock Centre. It's another of those lottery funded educational type places that sprung up a few years ago.

Before I even got to the centre though I saw a sign saying Light Railway, so much for not doing trains! The Steeple Grange Light Railway is an 18" gauge rebuild on former standard gauge quarry lines. You get two rides for your money plus an interesting talk on Limestone and quarrying.

After playing trains and generally chatting I headed down to the Stone Centre itself. There's not a huge amount there but it would be good for, and is aimed at, kids. From there I wended my way back to the site for a reasonably early finish to the day. I did a quick camper sort, doing the water and connecting the mains electric. I'd not bothered with the latter last night and regretted it this morning when running the fan heater for a few minutes might have got me out of bed a bit quicker.

I've had a couple of doh moments this trip. Last night I kept seeing cars stopped in odd places and driving slowly, it was ages before I realised that it was a treasure hunt. Then today I saw someone behaving oddly in a field. Then I noticed the metal detector in his hand.

Tomorrow I still plan to visit the Tramways Museum but might yet change my mind -you'll have to wait and see (and so will I).

Rainy Days in Derbyshire

Doesn't really look like it'll make a song title, does it?

First trip of the year is to the Caravan Club site near Belper, mainly 'cause there are several railway attractions nearby. I got on the road reasonably early and actually, apart from the weather, had no real delays from the A14 and M1 works.

Was a bit early for the Ecclesbourne Valley railway but a local coffee shop took care of that. It's not a typical heritage line (actually they prefer the term Community Railway) running mainly diesel railcars. I had a bit chat with the gentleman seeking the tickets from what is basically a steel garden shed. After I'd been for a wander he pointed me to a pleasant couple who're looking at campervans st the moment. They'd noticed Dai and obviously said something. We had a bit chat anyway and I have them a couple of pointers.

Having travelled the line up to Wirksworth I had time for a good wander round, a bit of a chat with people and a trip up the highlight of their efforts. The incline up to Ravenstore is 1 in 27, not much in car terms (although you'd notice it) but the steepest conventional line in the country. We were pushed by a Barclay's steam loco, it was very juddery with a lot of slippage. They're currently using the line to test some battery/3rd rail maintenance locos for London Underground (apparently a lot of the stations have steep grades in and out to aid deceleration and acceleration.

Having spent enough time playing it was time to head up to the caravan site . It's a nice site, but I'm in the middle of a huge pitch with my own water and drainage due to a rearrangement over there winter.

After pitching I walked down into Belper for dinner, fish and chips, very nice to but it was a bit further than I thought and it rained! Having walked back up the hill I then went down the other side to the pub. Nice point of Thwaites though, might go for dinner tomorrow.

One job had become apparent already, I'm going to have to replace the gas struts on the pop-top. I wasn't convinced last year, having tried a rearrangement on the packing they're definitely not up to the job. It's an easy fix once I measure them

Too much weather!

With jobs needing doing this weekend ready for the first trip of the year away I really could have done without the rain. This morning I was seriously working out whether I could get away with not doing the most urgent job, wiring for the charger to the leisure battery and putting the panelling back together, when there was a brief break in the wind and rain. A slightly hurried bit of sorting and that was done without me getting too wet.

I've also washed all the crockery and cooking stuff, repacked it and restocked the tinned and packet food. There are a few jobs I didn't manage to get done but nothing urgent. All that's left to do now is pack the personal bits and fresh food and hit the road - but there are a few days at work first!

Charging Ahead

They do say make hay while the sun shines, bit early in the year for that (although the grass is close to needing a cut) but today's fine weather gave me an ideal opportunity to complete the electrics I've been working on.

It turned into another slightly frustrating job and took all day, including a quick shopping trip, but we nearly got there. Put simply what I've done is installed a lighter socket and a twin USB charger into one of the back seat lockers. I've also installed a USB outlet between the back seats that will plug into the charger and a switch so I can power it all either from the engine running feed or from the leisure battery.

One mistake , which I'll rectify, was using too small a size of trunking to protect it all. I hadn't really thought that whilst you can just about get the 3 runs off 1.5mm2 cable through the stuff you can't get it round any corners. It'll come back out early enough and I'll go up a size.

There's one remaining job to do before it all goes back together which is to provide a feed to the leisure battery for the mains charger. It shouldn't ever be needed really as it charges when driving and my usage is very low but just in case! As the battery is in a solid compartment and it's a pain to get to I need to put a fixed feed in.

Next week will be final sorting and packing before I finally get to go away to Derbyshire.

And The Lord Said, "Let there be light!"

I've mentioned previously that I wasn't happy with the interior lighting on Dai. Basically there were just two spotlights at the back plus the vehicle interior light, none of which was that much use when during at the table or reading. Having tried some battery led lights last week (they were useless) I decided I somehow needed to get a 12v light fitted, the difficulty being the wiring.

Some lateral thinking made me realise that it should be possible to feed the wires behind the headlining from one of the spotlights but it wasn't going to be the easiest of jobs. I got a 12v led strip light ordered and made a quick call to my brother to see if he'd for a set of fishing rods (the electrician's type, not piscatorial). He hadn't, but was prepared to get some as he'd got a couple of jobs that he would need them for (he's a marine electrician).

Fortunately the light arrived Friday and brother brought the rods over Saturday after lunch. As expected it took quite a while but some lateral thinking from both of us saw a wire through with no real drama. This morning I was able to get the light wired up and fitted, I've just been out and had a look now it's dark and it lights up the interior brilliantly (pun intended).

I did carry on with the other electrics from last week for a while today but it was fairly breezy which made the job too dangerous - the tailgate wouldn't stay open! I know what I need to pick up to finish that job though and it won't take too long.

What a Load of Rubbish...

I hear you cry!

One of the things that's been a problem with Dai is where the heck I can put a rubbish bin. Last year I ended up with just a bin bag stuck in the back cupboard, OK but far from ideal. The problem is the very limited space. If I hadn't done the mains electrics it would have been easier but that was an essential job in my view.

Taking advantage of some slightly nicer weather this weekend I did a quick trawl of the local caravan shops in Wellingborough and Rushden. I wasn't after much (so wasn't disappointed)! I did finally find a nice slimline rubbish bin though. It's designed to hang on a cupboard or wall with a bracket that it will lift off but a bit of experimenting and I found it actually sits nicely against the coolbox. The bracket is only on with sticky-fixers at the moment but I'm not averse to dropping a couple of self-tappers into the sides of the box. It's not going to hold a lot, but ideal for the bits of kitchen roll and tissue, etc. More disappointing was the cheap LED battery lights I bought. I really want some additional lighting over the table and seats but I tried one of these last night and a glow-worm would be more effective. They cost very little though and I'm not surprised. I'll keep thinking on that one but at the moment I'm struggling to work out how to get a power feed to the relevant place without dismantling half the interior.

Another job I'd got on the list was improving the charging provision for phones, etc. I haven't finished this (partly because it's now raining) but the prep work is done. I found a panel mount USB charger and "lighter" socket combo on the 'net recently. The USB has a 1A and a 2.1A output, so will power just about anything and the separate socket is ideal for things like the camera battery charger. I'm part way through mounting these in the spare seat locker so I can leave things concealed on charge. I will bring one of the USB outputs to the area by the seats though so I can plug the mobile in when I'm in bed. Just to complicate the job slightly more I'm installing a switch so that these sockets can run only when the engine is running or be switched to the leisure battery. I could run them permanently from the leisure battery but the USB would drain it slightly so I decided to cover all bases.

Another recent acquisition was a rechargeable LED torch which also functions as a USB stand-by power supply - useful if it's pub o'clock and the phone (or Kindle) battery is dying. That will stay plugged in to the charger in the locker normally so always be ready for use.

The final purchase of the weekend may seem strange - a hot water bottle. We've found on the yacht that they're ideal for warming the bed when it's cold and as I only have limited heating on mains electric I thought it would be a good idea. Whether it will ever be used is another matter but at £1.99 (reduced from £2.99) in the cheap stores I reckoned it's worth a try.

New Year - New Resolutions

I freely admit that the blog got into July last year and then forgotten, partly due to doing other things. This year I promise to try harder!

I'm afraid this first post of the year is quite a long one.

 

Holiday Plans

The 2015 holiday plans have been made, changed, cancelled and remade again due to outside factors. I'd planned a trip to Devon and Cornwall to coincide with an event down there when a "do" involving Mikron Theatre Company was announced for the same weekend. As one can't do everything I decided to leave the South West for another year and revert to an earlier plan to visit Norfolk.

I'm hoping to get away most months from Easter onwards this year, I've got the means now so need to make use of them. The plans so far are:

April

I've booked a site in Derbyshire for the Easter weekend. It's fairly close to Crich Tramway Village who've got a 40's theme for the Sunday and Monday so they'll definitely get a visit.

May

A friend has organised a bash near Leeds towards the end of the month so I've decided to make a long weekend of it and booked a couple of days off work. On the Friday I'll travel up to Castleton for the night, finding something to do on the way. I'm hoping to find somewhere in Leeds to park up for the Saturday night and then on Sunday I'll end up at Hebden Bridge before wending my way home on Monday.

June

Late in June I'm off to Norfolk and Suffolk for my main holiday. There may be an event in Lincolnshire on the way, I'm then starting off near the North Norfolk Coast before heading to the Broads via an overnight stop at Thetford Forest*. I finally end up on the Suffolk Coast before the drive home. This trip is largely planned around preserved railways (of course) but I also plan to take in the Royal Norfolk Show.

*The two sites in that area are no facility. I can manage for a day or two with my internal facilities but wouldn't really want to make it any longer.

After That

I'm waiting to see if anything else is organised after that. I've got at least one non-camping weekend in August and a boat rally in September where I will be camping.

Jobs to Do

Of course there's always something to do. I spent last weekend doing some minor electrical work, I've installed a bypass switch for the radio so I can turn it on without the ignition switched on and I've also added a cutout switch on the intruder alarm LED - the darn thing is very bright and starts flashing when the alarm isn't set so I was having to cover it up at night. I can now just flick a hidden switch instead.

The next relatively minor work is to provide a 12v & USB charging point adjacent to the back seats. I'll probably mount the bulk of it in one of the seat lockers and just have an external socket handy for where I'm sitting/sleeping. The intention is it will be switchable so normally charging will be when the engine is running but I can switch it over to the leisure battery when required. I'm also looking to improve the lighting a bit. I want to upgrade the two existing lights to LED bulbs but I also need some lighting over the table/seats/bed area. The tricky part with the latter is getting the wiring tidily in place - I guess some trim may be due for removal and refitting.

I want to locate a rechargeable torch somewhere accessible and also provide a bottle holder (the existing cup holders are OK for a can or coffee but don't really hold by Ribena bottle). The other think I've never properly resolved is what to do about rubbish. At the moment I tend to chuck a bag in the bottom of the coolbox cupboard but this isn't ideal and the space keeps getting filled up with odds-and-ends. One thought for longer trips was a bin in the awning but...

Awning - To Be or Not To Be

I've decided that I'm not going to buy an awning this year. I'll see how I get on with the long holiday and then decide if I really do want one. Reading around on the 'net has suggested a good proportion of the campervan owners who've bought awning have then rarely or never used them.

I'm happier with not having the hassle of having to put the thing up when arriving on site for the first time and I still hadn't really worked out how to attach it to Dai. The downside is I did have some stuff that would stow in the awning, freeing up space and storage inside - that just means I'm going to have to be more careful in what I take and how I store it.

One of the things on the awning store list was the spare Gaz bottle though. There's only space for a single Camping Gaz 907 bottle which leaves me wit the prospect of either it running out at inconvenient times (generally when the bacon is half cooked) and then having to try and find a replacement or I'll end up buying refills before it's empty. As the darn stuff is expensive enough to start with I really don't want to waste it. I've concluded I can just about get one of the very small 901 cylinders into the gas locker space, they're horrendously expensive relative to other gas bottles but at least it will give a reserve.