Interlude in Totnes

16/01/2026

Well finally I have finished blogging Norway. That’s a relief to get out of the way although it is also 12 days after my self-imposed deadline so I am only allowing myself to be 99% chuffed that it’s done.

After we came back from Norway we settled back down into life in our flat near the Devon coast. It was lovely to be back, getting into a routine and seeing friends and family. Personally I don’t think I could travel non stop, I enjoy the reset of routine and familiarity.

My work contract with Virgin Money ended when I returned home. They had sold the investment arm of the business to Octopus Money and I was superfluous to requirements. I decided that I wouldn’t be looking for work in the foreseeable future. This may be retirement, or it may not. but it was good to get some time at home to get into a new routine for a life without work.

One Year Habitation Check

And the end of the year means a few things, obviously Christmas has to be planned, gifts bought and food options considered. On the motorhome front it also means we’re approaching the one year anniversary of owning The Van with No Name. A habitation check had been booked with our dealer (Highbridge) in summer for mid December, we’d also notified them of a leak around the habitation door seal. With the aid of a hose we’d managed to work out that water was getting in from outside, somewhere in the bottom quarter of the door surround and we sent in a video of the leak ‘in action’. The good news from the hab check was that no damp was found and the van got a clean bill of health. The bad news was that the technician took three hours and still didn’t find the leak. No one called us, no one showed the technician the video. So the van will have to go back in again. We have drilled a couple of extra holes in our step to allow the water to drain out.

In all honesty we wouldn’t bother with a hab check except that it preserves the seven year damp warranty. Paul has many years of motorhome maintenance under his belt as well as just being a general all round practical person.

One Year Service

We also decided to get a one year service. We had done a lot of miles in Norway and one of our mechanic friends advised that we should really get an annual service for Fords because of the ‘wet belt’. Anyway that was done and dusted, oil and filters changed plus a number of other things that Ford require if you have a one year service. Although a one year service is not mandatory it does preserve our Ford Assist membership which we only found out recently.

Insurance

With time on my hands I decided to do a good ring around insurers to see if we could get a better price for our renewal. It was Comfort who ended up being the best option this year and the time spent ringing a lot of insurers was very much worth the £300 reduction in premium.

A short break in Totnes

I got an email in late December reminding me that I, along with all Caravan and Motorhome Club members, had a potential two free nights at a CAMC site to be used in 2026. The first night needed to be booked up before the end of December and taken before the end of March.

We didn’t have a lot of time to fit in a couple of nights away, but we hadn’t been away for so long it felt like an ideal opportunity for a shakedown trip. Perusing the list of CAMC sites that are actually open in January AND were close enough to avoid a long drive didn’t give us a long list. We decided on easily accessed Totnes which is only 45 minutes away on a good day.

We’d had to empty the van for the habitation check so we got everything together and packed it back up again. We’d find out if we’d forgotten anything and that could be added to the list for our forthcoming snow and ski trip.

It turned out we’d forgotten how to do quite a lot. The first issue was that the EHU didn’t appear to be charging the batteries. Turns out that Highbridge had turned all the breakers off when doing the habitation check and hadn’t turned them back on. That was a good 15 minutes of peering at fuses to see if one of them had failed. Then we filled with water only to realise that the frost protection valve was open and the water was just going straight through the van onto the ground.

The CAMC campsite in Totnes is in a lovely location, close to the river and town, you couldn’t get much more central. At the same time its not noisy, the most distracting sounds at night were the hooting of tawny owls in the surrounding woodlands. We also spotted that motorhomes can park overnight in the overflow parking down the road from the CAMC campsite so we’ve logged that in our memory banks.

We managed to get a lovely sunset shot between the rain

When we’d arrived and finally sorted ourselves out we had a bracing 10k afternoon walk around the outskirts of Totnes, spotting several alternative living encampments in the surrounding countryside. The weather was grey but not raining which was a minor miracle for January 2026 in Devon. We finished the walk along the river in the twilight and popped into the Seven Stars for a couple of drinks in this historic hotel.

Totnes has always had a bit of a bohemian vibe. It’s not Glastonbury, slightly less patchouli and crystals and slightly more vegan leather sandals. There are plenty of unique clothing, art and gift shops lining the steep high street. And more greengrocers than a town this size would normally be able to support. It’s a lovely place to just browse and wander and there are a plethora of cafes, bakeries, pubs and restaurants for a pause. On our second day it was raining so we had a lazy start before going out for a bit of a potter around the streets and along the river by the campsite.

Harbour view

Totnes has a long history, mainly because of the river Dart. It’s still tidal at Totnes and in the past, when the surrounding lowlands were mostly marshy estuary, Totnes was an important port. Sadly the museum and Totnes Castle were both closed but you can see a wide range of buildings from different eras just by walking random streets, including the striking Elizabethan gate that arches over the high street.

Going to Totnes turned out to be a great use of our free night voucher. We’ll definitely make it back there again. I wonder where we’ll go with our free autumn/winter night?