The Scottish Trip - The End

I didn't get a great night's sleep for various reasons and, as I was awake at 6, I got moving very early. I left site a bit after 7, very quietly. The A68 is definitely a better drive in daylight but it wasn't too long until dawn. I'd really like to visit the Borders again but I don't think a long trip there is on for a few years unless I rearrange things. After that it was just a slog back down the A1. It was very misty at the start, and damp much of the way, so not very pleasant.

This trip was a bit of an experiment in terms of going away in winter and also in terms of the distance travelled. I managed fine in terms of the conditions, a thicker sleeping bag than usual and the fan heater were sufficient to keep me warm and cosy. The downside though was the much shorter days, especially being in the north. I really wanted to be on the sites in daylight which, with the long drives, meant there wasn't a lot of time for visiting. Today's 6+ hours was definitely too long a drive without a decent stop. It would have been less if I'd travelled further yesterday but that wouldn't have left time for a worthwhile visit to Stirling Castle (and even then I didn't really get a chance to walk round the town).

Dai isn't the greatest vehicle on motorways, being really a city van, that's fixable of course by buying a new 'van. That's on the cards for next year or, more likely, the year after. I will bear driveability in mind with the replacement (at the moment that looks like being a Citroen Berlingo).

To conclude I doubt I'll go so far from home in winter again, at least not until I've retired and have a lot more time. For now I've got to give Dai a really good wash and sort out the water pump. I may have a night away in January but that won't be too far away.

The Scottish Trip - Another Castle

I didn't blog yesterday as I was in a hotel and in any case it would be boring (eat, drink, talk, repeat).

Having seen Stirling Castle from afar a couple of years back I decided it justified a visit. It wasn't quite on the way back from Perth but was a reasonable detour. I'm really glad I did go, it's quite spectacular in places. One of my first calls was to the Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders regimental museum. The regiment only moved out of the castle in the late 1960s having had a long connection with it.

I don't generally go for the guided tours but this one was free and the timing worked out. There's only one thing that makes a good guided tour and that's a good guide, this one was excellent. He knew his history (he claims to watch BBC 4) and could put it across in an interesting and enthusiastic way.

The cafe had less to recommend it, £4 for a slice of cake is steep and it wasn't great. One thing that did impress me was that all the staff throughout were friendly, even if the were just walking through one of the courtyards they'd say, "Good morning!"

It was under 2 hours from Stirling to Melrose. The caravan site is right on the edge of the town, but quiet enough. It's fairly empty this time of year so I've pitched handy for the toilet block and water! It's got me a bit on the way to home, but it's still 5-6 hours so I'll be away reasonably early.

First job if I'm back early enough and weather permitting will be to give the 'van a good wash! It's absolutely filthy sheet the last few days of damp weather. I also need to look at removing the water pump to see if I can find what's wrong. I may have a night away in January so I can't leave it too long to sort.

The Scottish Trip - Eeek!

I wasn't quite as early away from site as I'd planned but it really didn't matter. It was straight back on the A1 past some familiar places to Berwick. I'd have liked to spend more time in Northumberland but I'm heading that way next year.

Berwick itself is a lovely town, spoilt only by the weather. You can tell it's in the north, even little old ladies were walking around without anoraks or umbrellas.

The A1 north was closed for some reason so I followed the SatNav, I think it was a public road it took me along, but at one point it became a muddy track. If you're going to close a major road at least make sure the diversion is well signposted.

People who know me very very well will know that I don't to heights, at all. I was getting fairly uncomfortable on the approach to the current Forth Road Bridge. In the end the traffic was steady anyway and I did get the chance to see the progress on the new crossing*.

From there it was a reasonable run up to the hotel in Perth. The food isn't great, after all who'd want a Black Pudding Stack with Crispy Bacon and a Poached Egg as a starter? :) I may have a voice left tomorrow after all the talking tonight but it was a lovely evening with friends old and new.

*You can look up the details but it's the longest 3 tower cable stayed bridge with cross over cables in the spans.

Whatever,, it's impressive!

Water, Water, Everywhere...

After yesterday's trip blog I hit what is, I think, the first real failure in 3 seasons using Dai. I turned the tap on and immediately the supply fuse blew. I'll check when I'm home but I suspect the pump has failed. Not a major issue, more a nuisance, I'm on full facility sites for the two nights away so I can manage.

One of the downsides of campervan conversions is that they tend to have slightly quirky electrics. Dai is even worse as there are my alterations involved. Had I been starting from scratch I'd have ensured there was a separate switch and fuse for the water pump, as it is there isn't so the lights went out as well.

Easy enough temporary fix, I just switched over to the engine battery whilst I replaced the blown fuse, but I'm glad I made provision to do that. When I get home I'll check things out, see if I've got a spare pump (I may have) and get another pack of spare fuses.

This has made me think about the electrical setup on the next campervan though. If, as is possible, I get a conversion done to suit I'll have to check out how the wiring is done and consider changes.

The Scottish Trip - It'll be Nice when it's Finished!

The Scottish Trip - It'll be Nice when it's Finished!

Although this isn't entirely a camping weekend I've turned a trip to Perth (the Scottish one) into a road trip with a couple of nights in Dai on the way to and from the hotel. I'd decided Durham would make a reasonable break point on the journey up so looked at the map for a suitable stop on the way. I've never been to Pontefract, it's got a castle, so I thought, "Why not?"

Unfortunately the castle is undergoing a multi-million pound restoration at the moment so much of it is inaccessible. Genuinely, it'll be fantastic when done and the new visitor centre, in a restored Arts and Crafts building, will be a huge improvement. As it is though it was a bit of a disappointment.

I had a stroll round the town centre and picked up a few bits of fresh food for lunch/dinner (the latter in the end) before rejoining the A1. I was thinking of calling in at Ripon but with deteriorating weather (it had gone from a bit drizzly to torrential) I didn't bother. I stopped at Scotch Corner for lunch as I was a bit early then got on site.

The Durham Grange CC site is an ideal stop over, being only a couple of hundred yards off the A1M. That does also mean it's noisy. It's also very handy for visiting the City as there's a park and ride in easy walking distance.

Having got pitched, which now takes all of 5 minutes, I sat down with my usual beer (a tradition I've kept on from when I had the folding camper, but that took a lot more effort to get sorted) thinking I'd just relax. Miraculously the rain stopped a few minutes later and the sun came out so I decided to explore. There's only one way to go on foot, that's out of the site, across both carriageways of the A690 and across two slip roads, not for the faint hearted. The view from the bridge over the A1M, shown above, is one that makes a lot of people realise they're nearly home! Penshaw Monument is certainly an icon from my childhood and probably that of many others.

With the sun setting, the temperature dropping and the traffic getting busier I decided it was time to brave the road crossings again, get back to the campervan and finish my beer. I don't need a very early start in the morning as it's a bit under 4 hours to Perth but I'll probably stop somewhere on the way.

Rally Antics

Not a typical weekend away as I was stopping at a boat rally. It's an event I've attended for many years, even though I no longer have a boat!

The rally was at the Blue Lias in Warwickshire. When we first started going there they had a caravan events field, but I generally stopped in what was known as the Donkey Field next to the canal. Since then this has been developed into a full facility caravan site, they've made a very good job of it, too.

Having arrived from work on the Friday it didn't take looking to down a pint and get booked in. Setting up Dai never takes long but this was also the first time I've pitched the awning properly for my guests to sleep in. It was a bit breezy but the pitch was well sheltered by a hedge. The only error was having the awning slightly too far from the camper which made getting the figure 8 strips tricky to get in to the j rail, the plus point though was they weren't going to come off again easily!

For the rest of the weekend Dai behaved impeccably, the awning worked as sleeping accommodation, just large enough to get the two camp beds in (really it could do with being very slightly larger). It was quite good being able to sit with the side door of Dai open and chat over breakfast out of the wind and rain. I took the awning down in the dry on the Sunday although I'll try and get it spread out to air as it won't be used again this year.

That's probably my last trip of the season, depending on booking train tickets to Perth. I've got a fall back of driving up there, probably stopping overnight on the way back. It will be interesting as my first winter trip.

The awning will definitely be used again. I think anywhere that I'm stopping for a few nights it will be useful as I'll be able to take more stuff such as the Cadac and a comfy chair.

Snowdonia Day 5 - The End

A belated post as having left the campsite and moved to a hotel in Llanberis I couldn't upload on either mobile data or the hotel WiFi. Although I stayed in Wales this was the last day in the campervan so this is the final blog post of the trip.

I'd part packed up on the Thursday night as I wanted a reasonably early start to get over to Llanberis. I was able to park in the hotel car park (I did check it was OK) which saved me about £7! I'd booked for the steam train up Snowdon, good timing as it was their 120th anniversary weekend. Originally the train was at 9:30 but they'd changed it to 10:30 which gave me a bit more time in hand. One advantage of being early is I end up talking to people, in particular I had a chat with the hog-roast man. Around 50 years ago he was there selling bunches of heather to the tourists for tuppence ha'penny, now he sells them pig sandwiches for £5 (and very good they are too, I sampled them later).

For me the steam train was definitely worth the extra over the diesel. Our loco for the day was Enid, the only survivor from the opening day in 1896 (literally, loco No. 1 crashed that day, the only significant accident they've ever had).



The heritage coaches have been rebuilt recently on original chassis, they're very well done though. It's not so much the visual impact of the steam, it's the sound. I mentioned this earlier in the week but there really is no better sound than an engine under load, and of course they're really working up the mountain.

The summit itself was in the clouds, and it was windy (although not as bad as the Saturday) but I did make the effort to climb the last bit to the trig point.



You don't get very long at the summit, around 30 minutes, as you have to return on the same train, I found the downhill run a bit nerve racking, although in truth it's quite safe. The loco and coach are not coupled, if the loco runs away an emergency brake will stop the coach.

After lunch and a couple of pints I walked round to the National Slate Museum. It's worth the entrance fee (there's no charge) and was interesting enough.



On the way back to the hotel I took a couple of photos of the Llanberis Lake Railway (I'll go back for a ride another day) and visited Dolbadarn, a fortified tower, just to complete the mix of castles and trains for the week.



The rest of the weekend was spent with friends old and new as we attacked the mountain to raise money for charity. Unfortunately Saturday's weather didn't match Friday and in the end the summit was beyond most of the walkers. We achieved our main aim though of remembering our late friend Carol and, as at the time of writing, raising nearly £3,000 for Children in Need and MacMillan.

The journey home was mostly along the A5 and was uneventful apart from a Volkswagen nearly taking me out on a roundabout. The campervan behaved impeccably throughout the week with no problems.

The only issue really proved to be storage again. Having to have kit for both the camping and the hotel, plus doing a bit of shopping, left me with kit stuffed into every available space, but I coped. It's something I'll be thinking about over the winter although at the moment unless I find a perfect unit I'm keeping Dai until the end of next season at least.

Snowdonia Day 4 - Castles and The Village with the Long Name

I decided to have a history day instead of railways, just for a change, I also wanted some non-tourist shopping (decent snacks for the next coupe of days) so I drove up to Conwy (or Conway as it used to be known).

You can't miss the history, partly due to the extent of the town walls which you're driving in and out of (in my case, while trying to find a car park with reasonable rates). I did find one just outside the walls.

The first thing, once I'd walked up into the town was coffee and Bara Brith. I also located a very good deli for later. I had a wander round, down to the harbour and round by the castle and walls.



Of course I was more interested in the bridges!



You can just see the end of the railway bridge as well in that shot. I did the shopping, including lunch, then headed down the coast, looking out for somewhere to stop and eat. That turned out to be Llanfairfechan, where I could park next to the prom for free. There was a breeze blowing but I had my Pork and Stilton pie and Cheese and Ham roll listening to the surf and watching the world go by. I have to say if I was going out onto the sea there I'd want something bigger than this:



He didn't go far offshore, presumably he was fishing, but even so, it's not a part of the coast to treat lightly.

The next stage was to pop across to Anglesey, just for the sake of it, and visit, as it says on their signs, The Village with the Long Name, Llanfair PG (not risking typing it all). Having missed the parking I looped round by a back lane to a level crossing, as chance would have it a train was due and the keeper was just shutting the gates (no automation here). It did give me a photo opportunity although in the end I only got one chance at this, I think it worked:



After opening the gates the keeper came for a chat, it can't be an interesting job really as he doesn't even have any control, he has to wait for the main box to pull off the locks (lever 37 apparently) on the gates.

I did get some photos of the now virtually redundant station as well before continuing back across to the mainland and down to Caernarfon. I'm quite impressed with my sat-nav's Welsh pronunciation. More driving around to find parking, as I didn't want to pay £5 for all day when I was only going to be a couple of hours at the most, but I got the last space in a small car park on the edge of the town. The weather took a turn for the worse with some brief rain, but it wasn't too bad. The castle itself is difficult to photograph as you can't get far enough away! It must have been terrifying for attackers to realise you'd be caught in a cross fire as soon as you approached the walls.



Tomorrow it's pack up and off to Snowdon. I'm just hoping the weather is good enough for the train to make it all the way to the summit, I'm not convinced it will be, then Saturday we do it the harder way, on foot.

Snowdonia Day 3 - Betsy Cood and Bedly Gert...

Which is exactly how not to pronounce two Welsh place names (but our late friend Cyril always called them that).

The rearranged plan for today was to visit Betws-y-Coed to go to the railway museum and have a look round the town. I was fortunate to be early enough to avoid paying for parking, finding space in the road down to the museum. As I was a bit early I went for a short wander down to the river and had a look round the 14th C church:



The museum itself is small, but reasonable for £1.50. There are a few full size artefacts and various models and dioramas. The model shop is decent and the tea room, in an old buffet carriage, is excellent - I deviated from my usual habit by having Bara Brith with my coffee instead of carrot cake (I returned later for a lunchtime baguette).

For some reason the town has become the home for several outdoor equipment companies, and in particular for their outlet stores. I ended up with a new rucksack, t-shirt and fleece for the Snowdon walk, they'll all be useful later though.

Before lunch I did have a ride on the miniature railway around the site, well I can never resist!



For the afternoon I drove up through Capel Curig and round to Beddgelert. It's a bit of a nostalgia trip round there, I even passed the campsite we first stopped at in about 1970 (a borrowed pair of ridge tents with a joining canopy, very effective). It's still much the same except the old corrugated tin toilets have been replaced by a stone facilities block - wonder if it's still Elsans inside? I did stop a couple of times for photos including this one of the Cym Dyli hydro-electric plant which is fed from Llyn Llydaw on the side of Snowdon.



I nearly got away without paying to park in Beddgelert as well since someone handed me a ticket, but then I noticed the Ranger wandering with his notebook, not sure if he'd seen but decided I'd best go and pay. I don't begrudge £2.50 to help the upkeep of the park and facilities.

I walked down to Gelert's Grave (if you don't know the story, Google it) as it's sort of compulsory:



There's a station for the Welsh Highland Railway just by the car park, as a train was due I nipped up the steep path. It turned out to be the Beyer Garratt no. 87 from yesterday. I took a few more photos anyway.

From there it was a wend back to site. I've raided the wardens' shop for some bacon so I'll fry a couple of rashers with sliced shallot and add it to cheesy pasta. I must get a few rolls tomorrow, I'll have the last Stottie for breakfast but of course I don't need much.

Snowdonia Day 2 - It Never Rains...

In Southern California, but by heck it does in North Wales!

I'd planned a walk up the Snowdon Ranger path today but a combination of a sore back and poor weather suggested a change of plan. I decided to "do" the Ffestiniog today and see how things are tomorrow.

I wanted to visit Blaenau anyway so was early for the first train. I had a wander round and took a few photos to try and show just how dominating the surrounding mountains are. The train appears to be coming out of one mountain:



I was pleased we had one of the Fairlies for the trip but you don't get the best of the sound on the downhill trip (the return was unfortunately a conventional tank engine).



It's a long time since I've been on the railway, and I'd never travelled the whole length that's now open, so it was all interesting. Going down I was in an enclosed carriage and photo opportunities were limited but at least I got a hot chocolate on the way.

Port Madoc wasn't a new experience, and was very busy. I had a wander round the small, but excellent, maritime museum, looked around the town and ended up back at the Harbour Station. This is also the terminus of the Welsh Highland Railway from Carnarvon, which was running another interesting loco, a Beyer Garrat articulated (see last year's blog for more on these):



I sat in the open sided coach for the return journey, I had the "compartment" to myself for a bit until a family joined me, I think the train was about full, annoyingly the person on the next seat forward spent the whole journey half leaning out which limited photo opportunities of the loco round the bends. I can't fault the catering on these trains, there's no connection to the open carriages so before we left one of the staff came and asked of anyone wanted a hot drink delivering at Tan y Bwlch.

I'll decide what to do tomorrow in the morning but I'm thinking of a drive to Betws-y-Coed (there's a railway museum) and possibly on to Beddgelert.

Snowdonia Day 1 - Trains, etc.

I made an early start as I wanted to visit a railway on the way, so left before 7, set the SatNav to "Avoid Motorways" and headed for the A5. There was only one very minor delay caused by a Steam Rally, plus quick stops for a breakfast sandwich and fuel, before I reached the Bala Lake Railway. I will admit to getting the yips on the road over the tops, you're climbing a steep unguarded road with a heck of a drop on your left side.

It's a pleasant tourist line, although there was a bit of a breeze coming off the lake into the open carriages. I've got quite a few photos for later publication. There's a 1 in 81 gradient back to the main terminus, the Quarry Hunslet pulling us didn't half sound good taking the load. The 1pm train, which was fully laden, was double headed which may have been even better.

It was their steam gala but there wasn't a lot more going on, I had a good wander and some lunch before making tracks round the other side of the lake to the caravan site.

For a Caravan Club site the warden seemed particularly relaxed, although I'd booked a non-awning pitch she wasn't bothered (it's quietening down after the bank holiday) and in fact recommended a quiet awning pitch and said not too worry too much about positioning.

I've had a wander round the village, taken a couple of photos, and I'm now having a couple of Doombars before deciding whether to eat in the pub or cook something. Should mention the pub is odd but friendly. It doesn't look much, more like a village hall building, and is a barn inside, but the landlord and locals have been chatty.

Awnings Away

Well it very nearly was!

A couple of weekends ago I managed to get some J-Rail fitted to the campervan. Having ordered a single length of aluminium rail (and been charged £12 carriage for it) the supplier then decided they couldn't do it mail order but it would have to be collected. It was too far away for that so I had no choice but to cancel and go elsewhere. I ended up with two pieces of black powder coated steel rail from a VW parts supplier.

Fitting was time consuming, if relatively pain free. The instructions with the rail suggested just bonding it to the roof but I wasn't convinced so I decided to rivet it on.

It was undrilled so I set to, cut it to length and then marked and drilled the holes (3.5mm initially for 3.2mm rivets at 150mm intervals). It's useful, but far from essential, having a pillar drill for this. I then positioned the two lengths on the side of the 'van, drilled pilot holes at the ends and secured it with self-tappers do I could use the rail as a jig for drilling the rest of the holes. Again these were 3.5mm as I intended to paint the bare metal and wanted the clearance. To give me a little bit of extra clearance I then opened out the holes in the rail to 4mm so I wouldn't have any problems when rivetting it.

I then painted over all the cut ends and holes in both the rail and 'van with black Hammerite, the latter wouldn't be seen anyway. Once that dried I located the rail temporarily and masked where the top edge would be with tape (should have done it while it was screwed on). A good thick bead of Sikaflex on the back of the first length, and especially round the holes and it was ready for assembly. I was using closed end rivets for the job as they won't let water in, with the generous amount of sealant i don't anticipate any problems. A few minutes with the rivet gun and repeat for the second length. The masking tape made it easier to remove the excess Sikaflex, along with some wiping where it had escaped around the rivets (a good thing it shows it was well sealed). 

Today I took the opportunity of moderately calm weather to actually put the awning up. No pictures yet as it was really still a bit breezy and I had to be quick but it was OK. It's not a great piece of kit, but a third of the price and half the size and weight of the Vango that I'd prefer. It works and it will do as somewhere to store things if I'm going to be on a site for several days or, the main purpose, as an occasional bedroom for guests.

We are Sailing...

And Kayaking. A friend organises a day of watery activities each year for the TOGs (Terry's Old Geezers and Gals) at the Water Sports Centre she's involved with. As they have the space I took Dai and stopped over for the night. It was a pleasant cross-country drive down through Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire to the centre near Waltham Abbey.

After a day of playing in sailing dinghies, kayaks and on rafts we sat out eating fish and chips and generally put the world to rights. Unfortunately the insects were definitely in a biting mood so we retired relatively early. Unusually I hadn't really set things up so it was a while before I actually headed to bed (it only really takes 5 or 10 minutes but I was definitely stiffening up and took my time). Can't say it was a good night's sleep but never mind. That wasn't helped by a dog fox starting barking just as I was about to settle.

As always I awoke early but the great advantage of having my own facilities is that I could make my bacon rolls and coffee without disturbing anyone else. I did have to apologise to a friend for not making her a drink, I only carry one mug! Nice to be able to sit looking out over the water in the relative peace and quiet though. Having spent the morning just chilling I again went cross country to home via Venture Caravans at Hitchin. There was no particular reason for visiting, just a look round. The trouble is that as usual I saw a large motorhome for a price I could afford but nothing small enough for what I need (except a couple of overpriced VW conversions).

I'm not out again until the end of August when I head for Snowdonia, but I have ordered the awning mentioned in the previous post. I still need to work out how to attach it to the 'van. I'll probably have to take it all up to parents' drive as I haven't got room here.

The Kit List Grows!

I'm well into my third season with Dai now, and I've been debating whether to replace or not next spring. As of this weekend I've decided I'll give it at least one more year (God and MOT inspectors willing).

One of the advantages of the campervan is the ability to change sites easily, which I've found means I'm tending to only travel short distances each day, often 10-15 miles. The downside of course is that it does take a few minutes to pack away completely each time. As a result I've bought an electric bike. It folds small enough (just) to fit inside the camper, although a bike rack may well be added anyway, and should give me a comfortable 40-60 mile range with a reasonable amount of pedalling whilst not going too slowly up hills.

I've also decided it's time to add an awning. It's something I've been debating for the last 3 years but managed without. I'm away for a weekend at a rally in September and it would be useful to accommodate a couple of guests, so that's the primary excuse. It would also give me a bit more flexibility on sites, currently I really need facilities as the toilet provision is only adequate for a couple of nights - with an awning I can take the large Porta Potti. Then I can also consider sorting out the Cadac barbecue and various other things that can be carried then stowed under cover. So now it's a case of finding the right one. The Vango Airbeam that I'd really like is too big and too expensive so it's back to searching and hoping I get a bargain.

Go West - The End

As I'm now ensconced in a hotel for a few days this will be the last Dai post of the trip. The day didn't start very well. A bad night's sleep meant I was a bit later than planned, I snapped a shoelace and the water ran out. Nothing major!

As a result I decided to spend a couple of hours in Totnes instead of going for a walk on Dartmoor (which wouldn't have happened anyway due to thick mist). It's a nice, if somewhat hilly, town. Having procured a couple of pairs of laces I visited the town museum. As usual with such places the people were very friendly and enthusiastic.

A bonus for me was a room dedicated to Charles Babbage who came from the town. The display is probably overdue for an update but no less informative for that.

After that I still headed up onto the Moor but couldn't see much! I will admit that the Devon lanes have become a bit wearing after a few days, especially when you're stuck behind a tractor for several miles.

Overall it's been a good few days away. There's only been one, very minor, fault with the campervan (the waste pipe fitting has broken but the pipe stays on on). Slightly better planning would have seen me stop at Steamer Quay in Totnes, it would have saved me two day's driving and some parking fees.

There was a car/campervan dealer up the road from the site who had a couple of Mercedes Vito conversions in stock. They were R reg and showing their age a bit but if I'd seen them a could of years ago before I bought Dai I might have been tempted.

Anybody remember which day this is?

Here goes an attempt at text and photos on one go!

Today was all about trains, no boats, buses or much walking involved. I've visited the South Devon Railway before, but I wanted to spend a bit more time there. I was, as usual, reasonably early (frequently a good way of being to talk to the people involved). There's a small museum at Buckfastleigh, which includes gems such as the only original broad gauge loco still in existence (the others are replicas).



The running engine was one of the ubiquitous GWR Pannier Tanks, albeit in BR black livery.



One of the major reasons for the visit was to stop at Staverton station which is the prototype for the model on my coffee table layout. I was able to get a good few pictures which will help with the scenery setting. I also had a chat with some of the "staff". It's their model and miniatures show in a few weeks, having discussed what I'm doing it was suggested I may like to take the model when it's finished. I did point out that may be in several years' time! They had a small bookstall which has to be raided. I picked up a couple of books and didn't even accept the change from the fiver.



I caught the next train to Totnes (again) and back to the start so I did most of the line twice in each direction. Back at Buckfastleigh I had lunch and visited their model shop before getting a few more pics around the site, mainly for reference in the future. They've got two static Pecketts which I photographed as it may help with the model I'm working on.



From the station I drove up into the town to visit the Ratio Models factory shop. They're part of Peco these days and have quite a good range. I bought some coal! It's been on my shopping list for a while as nothing else looks quite right. The one thing I can't get is a Tin Tabernacle, you can get them in OO Gauge but not N.

I was tiring by this stage (the bottle of beer I had on the train probably wasn't helping) so I headed back to site calling in at the Riverford farm shop for tea - scotch egg and salad leaves washed down with local beer.

Test Post

This is just a test of some other software to see if it can get images onto the blog.

Go West - Day 5

If yesterday was trains and boats and buses (or would have been if I'd remembered to tell anyone I'd blogged) today was walking and trains. I really couldn't come to this part of Devon and not have a look at the infamous Dawlish Sea Wall. I was ready for a bit of a walk anyway so I parked at Teignmouth (pronounced Tinmuth or they think you mean somewhere near Newcastle). I then took the South West Coast Path along the sea wall. Unfortunately with the state of the tide I had to take Smugglers Lane up to Holcombe as there was no way of continuing round the coast. I followed the road but then missed a turn back onto the path. I did finally descend back through a park at Dawlish.

It's a mix of local stopping trains and HSTs along this line so there's a little bit of variety. I did stop at Dawlish itself for a coffee and carrot cake before continuing the walk. It was getting fairly warm so by the time I got round to Dawlish Warren I settled for an ice cream and wait for a train back to the start. I was considering walking on to Starcross, another couple of miles, but the next stretch of path is away from the coast itself.

I had a particular reason to go to Starcross so drove there anyway. One of the last remaining bits of Brunel's Atmospheric Railway is there, the original vacuum pumping station. The style has been described as somewhat Italianate, which I suppose it is.

You can get the ferry from there to Exmouth and back which I'd have considered doing, but one again the tide was an issue. Low water levels had forced the cancellation of a couple of trips. There was little left to do but return to site, which I did by hugging the coast through Torquay back to Paignton, rather than just blasting along the new stretch of A380 (so new the sat nav doesn't know about it).

It's Fish & Chip van night so dinner is sorted, there's a couple of beers in the coolbox chilling away and all is well. Tomorrow it's more trains, a return visit to the South Devon railway. 

Go West - Day 4

There should have been photos for this, but the site WiFi isn't being very cooperative on uploading from the tablet so I've reverted to text only from the phone.

Today was Trains and Boats and Buses, and not necessarily in that order! I'd pre-booked a Round Robin ticket with the Dartmouth Steam Railway. The first leg was by boat from Totnes to Dartmouth. I had a bit of shopping to do so had a wander round the town first. It's a nice place, if a little hilly, I'd have liked a bit more time, somewhere for another day.

After a quick coffee back at the Steamer Quay (just getting my order in ahead of a coach party) it was time to board the boat. Unfortunately the paddle steamer doesn't do the routine river trips so it was the usual diesel job. The chap going the commentary was very good, giving enough information, with a dry touch of humour, without being boring.

At Dartmouth I had time for another wander and lunch in what was Dartmouth Station. Unusually this never actually has trains, or even track, running to it! The story is that Brunel built the station but then didn't get permission (or it was too difficult and expensive depending who you believe) to build a bridge over the river so they brought the line down the opposite bank to Kingswear and added a ferry. I'm not convinced myself, and in fact the "station" did a lot of business due to the naval presence in the town.

One sign of that presence, and appropriate given the date, is the D Day memorial in the town. It's only a short ferry ride over the river, on the other side is a very different war memorial, a blue plaque commemorating Lt Col H Jones VC OBE who was a resident of Kingswear and served in the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment before the paras.

For the train ride to Paignton I paid the extra £2 to travel in the Pullman Observation Car, one of only 2 still in existence. It's an interesting line, climbing from the Dart Valley with the river views and then the sea views on the other side. You can leave the train and either walk or get a bus ride to Greenaway, Agatha Christie's last country retreat. We'd seen some of the estate on the way down river.

I just managed to catch the first bus back to Totnes but slightly regretted it - the driver was taking no prisoners on some fairly narrow roads! Other passengers mentioned much the same thing. Having got back fairly early early I contemplated a walk down to the pub but couldn't be bothered.

Go West - Day 3

Well I've finally arrived in Devon via Somerset, or to be more accurate the East Somerset Railway. It made an interesting diversion on the drive. No photos I'm afraid as they're on the camera (see below). 

It was a smooth enough drive and I was on site shortly after 3, did the water and waste and got pitched with the aid of an I've cream! It's certainly warm.

Rather than sit around I decided a walk down to Stoke Gabriel was in order. It's about a mile downhill, the difficulty week be walking back up! In writing this sat in The Castle Inn, making use of their WiFi as mobile reception in the area is poor. The photo is looking back up towards the village from the River Dart.

I'm not sure how visible this is but it's the plaque on the war memorial. Interestingly the WW2 plaque shows a slight majority of RAF to RN with just one other who was with the Durham Light Infantry. It would be interesting to know how someone from a south coast village ended up in the DLI.

Go West - Day 2

There's not really a lot to report today. I finally got up later than normal so only had a short walk along the Gloucester and Sharpness canal. You do see quite a variety of boats on there.

After that it was drinkies and lunch in the pub with friends, a half doze and a read back at the camper then back to the pub for dinner. It's been a good day though largely just chatting with friends, most of whom I've known for years but one new friend as well.

Tomorrow I head off further south and west to Devon.

Go West - Day 1

Not really a day even. I left work at lunchtime and had a surprisingly good run down to Slimbridge. I did stop briefly in Chipping Norton for lunch but otherwise let the sat nav (set to Avoid Motorways) get on with it.

Once I'd booked in and found my pitch I got set up and headed to the pub for a quick drink or two. It was a bit warm! Quite literally I'd left Northampton with the heater on and arrived with the air con running

Friends arrived later than anticipated but kindly invited me to join them for BBQ. The evening was spent eating, drinking and chatting. All in all a decent day. Tomorrow we carry on, hopefully with some more friends.

Fire, fire!

Or rather, what to do if one occurs.

Dai came with the usual small dry powder extinguisher, fair enough but the thought of actually using the thing in such a confined space is fairly horrifying, assuming it actually went off at all. There's a good chance it would be impossible to clean up the residue anyway.

At Crick boatshow was a stall selling a relatively new gas generator (do no stored pressure) extinguisher. Effectively a replacement for the old halon ones, but the gas isn't poisonous or damaging to the environment. Physically is almost the same size so I decided to buy one and fitted it this afternoon. I'll keep the old extinguisher to go back in if I sell in the next couple of years.

Speak to Me

Just a very quick note to keep things complete on here as I did a couple of jobs over the weekend.

The plastic wheel trims were very brittle and fairly grotty and the radio speakers were useless so replacements for both have been on the shopping list for a little while. As I was out and about anyway I resolved to finally get them sorted.

I'd have liked to dispense with the trims and go back to having the wheels visible but realistically to do that they'd have needed full refurbishment and that's not viable. Wheel trims are easy enough to get, but I have a dislike of ones with dummy wheel nuts. I did track some down in an independent shop in Wellingborough though. Unfortunately he had 4" speakers and 6" speakers but not the 5.25" ones that would be a direct fit. A quick check and I decided the larger ones would be OK.

The wheel trims took a few minutes to fit but I managed to crack two of them so not sure how long they'll last. It was entirely my own fault, at least they're so tight there's little chance of them falling off! Cutting the door cards for the larger speakers took a while but they're on and working - I'll find out today just how much of an improvement they are but a quick loud volume test suggested they're very good.

New Valves

Just a quick note to keep things complete. After a brief phone call to ETyres the fitter arrived within the hour and 20 minutes later I had 3 new valves with never a suggestion of a charge. He confirmed anther valve was showing signs of cracking so it's a good job I did ask for all to be replaced.

It's clear that when I had the new tyres fitted the valves weren't replaced. It wasn't the usual fitter on that occasion. I could push for a refund on the earlier repair but to be honest it wasn't very much and I accept these things happen.

Wythall Away

The end of the weekend was reasonably swift, after a not too early start, bacon and egg rolls were soon eaten and I packed up. As I anticipated the new fan heater takes up more room in the seat locker than the old one so I can't get the mains cable in there. It's not a problem, it can live in the other locker and if necessary travel on the floor between sites.

I set the sat nav on "Avoid Motorways" for the journey home partly because of having the spare wheel on and because I felt like it. It was still a reasonably quick and smooth journey back.

Not many conclusions really from the weekend. Having a thermostatic heater is a big gain, even though it was warmer last night it still fired up occasionally. Dropping the roof overnight also helped with the temperature (and the light coming in from an adjacent street light) so I'll look to continue that. Next trip is to Slimbridge and Devon in a month or so - hopefully it'll be warmer by then!

Nice and toastie, but...

The new fan heater made a huge difference overnight. I left it on with the thermostat down lowish, it cut in a couple of times that I noticed (and probably a few that I didn't). Having showered and breakfasted I was contemplating another coffee when one of the "neighbours" came to tell me I'd got a flat tyre. He kindly brought his electric compressor over but it was immediately clear that another valve has failed. The spare is now on and I'll be contacting ETyres on Tuesday - 2 failures in a matter of weeks when they were new tyres less than 2 years ago is unacceptable. 

Having sorted that and cleaned up I walked round to the Transport Museum, expecting Steve to join me. Instead he phoned, the engine warning had come on in his car and it was making horrible noises so he was awaiting the breakdown service. Unfortunately the technical term for the fault was k*******d so all he could do was wait to be recovered. The signs are it might well be terminal as the car may not be with the repair cost. It definitely put a damper on the day and I'd have appreciated the company.

There are a lot of busses, plus some other stuff in the collection. It's mainly Midland Red and its predecessors and successors with a few others.  Overheard early on from a Clippie, "I've lost a bus!" I felt like replying, "Well there are plenty to choose from!"

They also have a small electric vehicle collection, mainly milk floats and vans. We tend to forget that battery propulsion is nothing new, although the technology has improved considerably. I do have a problem these days with commercial vehicles, I automatically eye up the campervan conversion potential! Trouble is I need something that can do more than 30 miles on a charge.

The local engineering society runs a miniature railway around part of the site, as I can't resist a train ride I paid my 60p to be hauled round by a model Black 5. With the weather deteriorating I went and had a pork pie and sandwich, looked round the shop and felt I'd done enough. There wasn't a lot else to do except have a lazy afternoon reading in the campervan.

I was in two minds about just sitting tight for the evening but, with the weather largely holding off, I decided to get a bit more exercise and walk the couple of miles to the pub. I'd left it open as to whether I'd just have a couple of pints or eat dinner as well. It's a Chef and Brewer pub but the menu, including a new British menu for this month is fantastic. It took me two pints to decide what to have! The Hog Roast Burger was badly presented (I.e. it came on a board with the chips in a flower pot) but by Jove it tasted good.

Incidentally, I apologise for the lack of pictures, the software I use doesn't seem to like posting them. They'll go up on the website after I get home.

Blooming Weather

The day started very early and badly. I generally only use a thin sleeping bag in the campervan, it's all I need, but this time I'm regretting not bringing the thicker one. I woke in the early hours feeling chilly so reached over and put the fan heater on for a bit. I may have dozed off, but some time after there was a clunk and the heater went off. I survived the rest of the night and getting up in the cold (it wasn't that bad really) but only really for warmed up when I walked down to Wythall Station. It subsequently transpired that the trips in the 'van and on the supply post had tripped but even if the heater did come back to life I wouldn't trust it.

The locals seem friendly - good mornings and chats seem to be the norm, or at least that's what I found on the walk and at the station  It's a quick run up to Moor Street and I then wandered through the Bull Ring and round the markets. I'd got a couple of destinations programmed in to the sat nav, the Ian Allen book and model shop and a couple of walking shops do I use those as the basis for my meandering. I did get accosted by a local "character" walking through one of the squares, I don't know why I attract them but we had a bit chat.

After a mid morning coffee and cake, and a visit to the Cathedral, I headed down to the canal and Gas Street Basin. It's changed a bit in the years since I was last there, and not entirely in a good way. The James Brindley, which was a newly opened fancy bar, is now derelict and boarded up but the Tap and Spile has been tarted up and is now a gastro-pub. I had a couple of pints anyway, timing it nicely to avoid the first rain of the day.

That generally turned out to be the story of the weather, I always seemed to be under cover when it rained and outdoors when it was sunny. I'd located an Argos near the station so called there for a new fan heater before returning to the station. I had time for a coffee and sandwich before my train, once again it started tipping it down and I stayed dry, although it was chilly and I put my sweater back on! The light drizzle when I got off the train only lasted a couple of minutes, it wasn't heavy enough for me to get the umbrella out, and by the time I'd walked up I was getting warm.

There's a farm shop just up from the site so I called in and got a pie for tea and, after a couple of pics of Carillon House I got an ice cream from the site office as I was definitely too hot. 20 minutes or so after I got back to Dai it was hailing and I was unpacking the new heater (that's when I found out about the trips as it wouldn't work at first).

Short Day

Well it's short from the point of view of the blog as I didn't leave work until 14:30! I'm spending the weekend at Wythall, south of Birmingham. I've been to the site before and fancied a return trip as there's a transport museum right next door.

As I'd anticipated the M40 and M42 were busy, that's why I'd arranged an early finish from work, but I was on site and sorted before 5. Not too bad a drive up if a bit breezy. The non-awning pitches here aren't great, it's just tarmac with no delineation between pitches, just the peg to park on. I'd reckon the site must be about full and there's been a lot of traffic.

As there's no pub handy (it's about a mile and not that easy to get to) I had a chips of beers and indulged in some people watching. There's one fancy caravan where one of the two male occupants actual changed the water and emptied the waste wearing a designer suit! They went out later slightly more casually dressed. Next door to them is a tatty Transit campervan, one of the occupants came racing back in on his bike - I'm guessing he'd been working somewhere local.

I did consider parking next to one huge motorhome - one of those ones where the side slides out to give more space. It would have made a good picture!

Tomorrow I'm off to Birmingham by train so want a reasonably early start. It's only about a mile to the station so I'll walk up. It's not exactly a warm evening, the fan heater has been on and off, but it'll be fine once I settle down in the sleeping bag.

MOT Time

That time of year has come around again, which means it's about 2 years since I bought Dai. It's always a bit of a worry that they'll find something major wrong but in the end there weren't even any advisories this year so I'm very happy about that. Although not advised on the MOT they did pick up that the front brake pads are about 75% worn. They should be fine for another year but I might get them changed at the end of the summer anyway just in case as the disks themselves are OK so I'd prefer not to damage them.

The MOT and service came to just over £170 which I reckon isn't too bad. The garage were canny this year, like most they generally order parts on the day but she ordered the service kit in advance this time, common parts for the Daihatsu are easy enough to get but sometimes need a bit more hunting out than they would for a UK model.

Tyred this Time!

After the saga of the exhaust I had hoped everything would run smoothly. Unfortunately when I got back to work yesterday afternoon I realised, as I was turning and reversing, that I'd got a deflating tyre. A quick check and yes, one of the fronts was about half way down. I had hoped that it might hold enough for me to pop round to Tesco, pump it up and it would get me home but decided as I left work it wouldn't be with the risk.

Changing to the spare was easy, is only a scissor jack but there are nice substantial chassis beams in just the right place! The hard part was getting the spare out from under the back. One of those jobs you never remember until it's too late, cleaning and greasing the screw for the wheel carrier. Eventually got it unwound enough to release it, however I chucked the dust in the back rather than try and screw it up again, just put a tie-wrap on to make sure it didn't bounce off while driving.

A quick call to Etyres had elicited a promise of someone coming out today and either fixing or replacing. In the end it turned out to just be the valve which had spilt, annoying but one of those things. He did put the spare back on the carrier but hasn't fully tightened it, sensibly he preferred not to risk it. I'll have to get under there at the weekend with the WD-40, wire brush and grease.

Exhausted but not Tyred

One of the downsides of any imported vehicle is the availability of spares. When the exhaust splits in two you can't just nip in to the nearest Kwik Fit (not that I would go there anyway).

Two weeks ago the slight blow that "needs fixing sometime" became a major issue. Fortunately I was able to borrow dad's car for a weekend away before taking Dai in to a local exhaust centre. I chose that particular one as they do fabrication. After examining it they confirmed that the cat had fractured at the back and they'd see what they could source.

I felt it worth doing some searching myself as well and found a company in Japan who could supply parts. A new cat would be about £600 + taxes, not too bad really, a full system though would cost more than that in air freight alone due to the length. However they did also confirm that the local model name is an Atrai 7.

Armed with that additional information I tracked down a cat off the shelf in the UK  for under £300. A quick internet order and then, after a day's delay (the technician wasn't available yesterday) I took 'van and cat back in this morning. The good news was that the rest of the exhaust is still well serviceable, with just surface rust. The bad news was that the new cat didn't fit properly, the front flange was incorrect and it's too short for the rest of the system. It may well be that the whole system had been replaced at some point.

I can't fault the can-do attitude of In Town Automotive though. It cost another hour and a half of labour charges but they cut off the front flange and welded the old one on then sleeved the back joint.  They'll get the job if and when I do need the rest fabricating.

The Tyred  part? They routinely check the tyres (trying for sales of course) but after 18 months or so they're only 15% worn so no chance there.