A field near Crackington Haven
At the beginning of May our peaceful farmer’s field was invaded by the people who were turning up for the Land Rover event. It was a large group with two clubs coming together for the weekend and the camping field soon looked busy.
We had a number of disciplines over the weekend, from trialling to racing. It was an excellent social weekend but a few heavy downpours made things interestingly squidgy at times.
-
- A campfire, back when the ground was wet enough to allow it.
-
- Rainbow over the Land Rovers
-
- The sunsets over this site were spectacular
Exmoor Weekend
The Caravan and Motorhome club have been very generous with their free nights this year and we had our second free night’s stay to use. We looked around for a site that wasn’t too far from home and decided to try the Exmoor House site in Dulverton. It’s one which my parents had enjoyed when they had their caravan as it’s right in the village with all amenities easy to walk to. The village of Dulverton is known as the gateway to Exmoor so it’s also a great location for getting out on the moors whether directly from the site or by bus.
We had one long hiking day when we got the 198 bus to Winsford and walked back via the Punchbowl and Winsford Hill. At 21k it was the longest walk we’d done for a while but the biggest hill was at the beginning and the general trend was downhill so as the distance increased the walking got easier. The rain had bucketed down while we were on the bus and we carried full waterproofs with us, but we were lucky and didn’t need them for the rest of the day.
-
- On top of Winsford Hill
-
- Above the Punchbowl
-
- The river Barle runs close to the campsite
-
- Barle Bridge is of medieval origin and a Grade II listed monument.
-
- We strolled along the river each evening
The following day we went out onto Anstey common on our mountain bikes. It was a steep and breath stealing pedal up from the village onto the common. Then it was typical moorland cycling along grassy tracks, over lumpy tussocks and through boggy ditches. It was lovely to get out on the bikes again. Much as we love cycling we never seem to make quite as much use of the bikes as we would like.
Even better, that afternoon we managed to catch up with friends who live on Exmoor. We haven’t seen them in the flesh since before Covid. Chatting over a couple of glasses of wine in a bar in Dulverton was a great way to get up to date on our lives.
Land Rover National Rally
The last May bank holiday weekend is always the Land Rover National Rally. This year it was held in north Wales just over the border outside Llanfyllin. This was a lovely spot using the hilly, rocky land at a local farm. This weekend was also our first really warm weekend. Not a heatwave, but certainly very warm and dry for Wales in May.
-
- Hills all around us, it was great ground for a Land Rover weekend
-
- Looking down on our end of the camping field
-
- Some of the winners from our club
Selling Our Flat
Our flat sale progressed slowly this month. The searches had been concluded and most of the standard information about the lease and the management company had been gathered, but we hadn’t had any queries from the buyer’s solicitor which is where the time would usually be consumed. Gradually the flat contents were being moved into the storage unit and the flat was starting to feel less and less like a permanent home.
Motorhome Warranty Work
We didn’t have any new issues this month, but we did have a bit of a frustrating discussion with our dealership. Without any notice, our local branch handed our file back to the main branch, which is a longer drive for us to get to. After some discussion we decided this might be better for us anyway. The main branch has access to a bigger pool of technicians and senior team members.
The handover wasn’t entirely smooth as the new team wanted to be shown our issues yet again. We argued that we shouldn’t have to bear the costs of driving up to demonstrate the issues when we’d already spent a long time doing so at our local branch. We also found out that some of the parts we’d been told would be ordered hadn’t yet been requested from Chausson. Altogether a very frustrating experience.
In the end we agreed we would pop in on our journey home from the National Rally to see the after sales department and give them the demonstrations they had asked for. Fortunately, once we’d been through our list, there were no quibbles from the team and we’ve had confirmation that the parts are on order. They also agreed that they could re-seal the door surround rather than request a whole new door unit from Chausson, which is what we’d asked for from the beginning.
Annoyingly, when we returned home and I gave the van a good clean, I found a small split in the shower tray which is yet another issue to add to the list. It’s only a tiny split and difficult to tell how significant it is, but replacing the bathroom floor doesn’t sound like an easy job and using the shower while we have a potential leak feels like a problem waiting to happen. We were advised we could make a temporary repair which is hopefully going to stop any water getting underneath the shower.
May Summary
11 nights in the motorhome. 8 nights off grid at Land Rover events, 3 in a campsite with EHU (which included one free night).
Average cost per night £14.76