Return to England and Icy Weather

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Geo: 50.2662, -3.6542

England 23rd March - 28th April
This is just a short update for anyone wondering where we are and what we are up to.
We returned to the UK at least a month too early - it has been very cold and wet since we arrived! There has been frost on numerous nights and the first couple of weeks were uncomfortable to say the least. I had decided not to blog during the summer but as we are both finding our memories weakening I decided it might be a good idea to make a few notes so we know where we have been.
Astrid was in very good condition when we collected her but when we started her up, although the vehicle battery was fine and started first time, the auxiliary or leisure battery did not come on, so we assumed it had died in storage. We went on to site and tried to identify the problem. The site had electricity so we plugged in to operate the microwave and the single electric hob. We were without our gas cylinder which was still at Anna's as it can't go into store. So that meant that unfortunately we had no lighting, no running water and no flushing WC (these require the pump to operate which depends on the leisure battery) and, perhaps worst of all, no heating. We coped for the night as we were able to prepare some food and luckily we always have our torches at the ready.
The next day we checked the leisure battery and found it was fully charged. So what was the problem? Jim checked everything and found that a lead had come loose so he reconnected that and all was fine apart from the heater which came on but made a horrifying noise so we switched it off quickly. As we had our habitation check (like an MOT but for the 'residential' part of Astrid, not the engine) arranged for the following week we hung on. They quickly identified that the heater needed a new part which took another week to obtain. A number of these heaters have had the same problem and it seemed unconnected to being in store. Luckily a friend loaned us a heater for the interim and eventually we were sorted and on the road.
Partly because of this delay, but also as a result of a growing list of jobs we needed to do, as well as our planned trip to Japan at the beginning of July, we decided it was not worth going south to Spain as we had planned. With hindsight this was probably a mistake! We did not expect a month of very cold and wet weather. Even last night (27th April) there was a heavy frost. We are fine if we are on a site and have the heating on but on a basic site without electricity it is cold until we climb under the duvet at night. We could switch the heating to the gas system but I don't like the idea of having the gas on all night, and once in bed it is always cosy and warm. The problem is when we have to venture outside Astrid.
We have moved around, visiting Eastbourne a couple of times to catch up with friends and visiting the dentist, spending a few days with Pauline and Colin in Rochford and then driving up to the Cotswolds, visiting Anna and James in Abingdon a few times en route. We have not managed to meet up with Gilli yet but we have been able to have lots of chats by phone, more than when we are overseas.
In the Cotswolds Jim had a cold so I took the bus and visited Stow on the Wold, Bourton on the Water and Moreton in Marsh. They are all lovely places to walk around, really only the size of large villages, but with plenty of coffee shops and tea rooms and all the buildings built of matching Cotswold stone, a pale yellow-cream colour that glows with warmth in the sunshine. Bourton on the Water has a clear stream running down the centre of the village with flowers growing all around it. The wild flowers in the fields and woods are beautiful especially the daffodils, primroses and more lately the bluebells. However, as the ground was sodden by the rain we had to make sure we parked on hard standing pitches. The day we left the Cotswolds to return to Eastbourne they had snow.
When we arrived at the campsite in Westham, near Eastbourne, we had to set up on the little road through the field as the ground was too soft and waterlogged, but as there were only 3 vehicles it was not a problem. That is very unusual near Eastbourne this late in the year.
After a couple more nights near Abingdon (on a site in Henley which we have not visited before) we are going to head to the south west, spending 3 weeks at Start Bay in Devon between Dartmouth and Salcombe and then a week at Charmouth in Dorset on the 'fossil coast'. Hopefully the temperature will rise a little down there as we go into May.
28th April - 14th May 2016
We reached Start Bay without incident ten days ago but the cool weather followed us. Then when the south east and even Scotland had a mini heatwave we achieved 12 degrees in Devon. But now at last it has warmed up sufficiently to be comfortable but not yet enough to part us from our winter lined trousers and thick socks.
This is the same site we visited last year, between the villages of Stokenham and Torcross, and ten minutes walk from a bird hide on Slapton Ley and a couple of minutes further to the sea. It is perfectly placed here, lovely walks, the sea, the freshwater Ley and a local bus stop from which we can take the bus to Dartmouth, Plymouth, Salcombe and Kingsbridge.
Yesterday we went into Dartmouth for the second time and took the boat up to Greenway, Agatha Christie's 'holiday home' in Devon. It is a National Trust property but kept in an informal family style as if it is still occupied, so for example, there are deck chairs set on the lawn for the use of visitors. Despite being just a holiday home (she never lived there permanently) it is a huge estate set on the hill overlooking the Dart Estuary. It has tennis courts, large stables, spacious gardens with walled gardens providing perfect aspects for a variety of fruits and flowers, greenhouses, and vegetable and herb areas sufficient to feed a large village throughout the year. Agatha bought the property in 1938 and she used it until her death in 1976. Her daughter owned it until 2004. Agatha's family must have been wealthy before Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot brought her fame as there is a portrait of her painted when she was four, she was educated for a while in Paris and she trained as a concert pianist but was too shy to perform in public or even for her family. Her father was an American stockbroker.
The house was used as the setting in a number of her novels so it felt strangely familiar as we walked around. The family were great collectors so there is something of interest for everyone from Tunbridge Ware to notes of her husband's digs in the Middle East. Again this became a setting for her stories so fact and fiction become intertwined as you stroll around. There is even the boathouse where a body was found in another of her novels. I really enjoyed the visit and stepping back in time to the early Twentieth Century. I don't think she moved on from that period which she so beautifully described in her books.
This morning we went on a guided walk from the Slapton Ley Field Centre with the manager of the site. The purpose was to look for and listen to birds but the most interesting part was hearing about the complexity of managing the site in order to encourage diversity, protect the environment and certain species whilst at the same time allowing access for research, educational purposes and the public. They have accommodation for 180 people and some 20,000 students pass through the centre in a year.
After another week here we are moving up to Charmouth, in Dorset, and then up to Stratford on Avon to see a performance of Hamlet. More of that in the next blog hopefully.

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Photos

Built in 1635
Lovely bakery here

Non breeding swans are kept away from pairs
They are not allowed near the nests of breeding pairs, if they venture too close they are chased back by the mature cobs

Church window renovations
Very important building - the WI provide tea and cakes on Sundays - one of Jim's favourite places

View from old Hallsands hotel
Many happy memories of dives here when it was a hotel - now converted to holiday cottages

Bed made up
Looks small but is 2 metres long so deceptive

More wild flowers
Downloaded an App to identify wildflowers but we are struggling as there are more than 300+

Comments

[Pauline]

What a lovely location, think I will try and find and find those cottages for next time we go to Devon.

[Pauline]

Lovely.