First trip away in the van this year.

I decided as the weather had been so lovely and with the prospect of a Bank Holiday to have an impromptu first trip away in my van.

My Son loves Cider so on route to the campsite I stopped off at Sheppey’s Cider.  

If you’re in the area just 18 miles from Bridgewater then I highly recommend it.

Not only do they sell their own cider, they do tours, have cider tasting.  A shop selling delicious food and a cafe.  But the highlight for me is the orchard you can walk around. 

It is 90 acres and they have all the trees set out and labelled with the different varieties.  

As I visited in May the trees were in full blossom and it was just glorious.

I found a perfect spot to sit and work on my current crotchet project and as it turned out it matched the blossom perfectly.

The location is also a working farm, wow the cows were impressive close up!

After a lovely couple of hours I headed a few miles across to the campsite I stayed at for two nights.

Obviously I purchased a treat from the cafe which took two days to eat!

The view from the van, I do so love my little home away from home.

I always bring Harold the frog, a childhood toy my Son had.

 

I hope you enjoyed this and I shall share more of my next adventure soon.

Nature and walking

So the end of last week I seem to out of no where get completely bunged up with a cold.  Luckily I sleep alone as I’m sure the snoring must have been horrendous!!

Not to be deterred and in a huge bid to get way fitter on Saturday I walked from home to town and back and was happy with the 10k I achieved.

Then today woke to a lovely 18 degree forecast.  I’m not a sun worshiper at all so this is about as warm as I enjoy.  Unsure of any plans I decided to tick off a walk I’ve been wanting to do for a long time from WWT Slimbridge along the canal to Purton.

The canal is a lovely place to walk and as you can see a hive of activity with boats, canoes and paddle boards.

It is also a lovely quiet place where you can just enjoy the sound of bird song and enjoy your surroundings.

For me being outside in an area not overcrowded with people is one of my favourite places to be.  I struggle to be around a lot of people with the noise and intensity of it, (unless it’s watching Women’s Rugby, which I love) .  So when I can get out it is a joy.  

Having parked at WWT Slimbridge (for those who follow this blog over the year’s) will know I visit here several times a year!

So it was a necessity to pop in even though it was only open for two hours.  To my surprise considering the sunshine it was quiet, in terms of people but definitely not birds.  So even more special.

I took my current crotchet project and had a walk and sit and listen to nature.

To my surprise I walked a total of 24km or 15 miles in the last two day’s and had a lovely weekend.

Easter Weekend

This weekend I had a lovely trip back to my childhood, into early adulthood home.  

I took a walk around the area I used to frequently visit.

I love this house it looks so pretty.
 

This is looking towards Backwell Hill which is a place I often visited.

The hedgerows were full of such a lovely selection of spring flowers.

In the distance about what seemed like every five minutes you heard an airoplane taking off from Bristol Airport and occassionally saw it through the clouds.

I loved this garden at the top of the hill with the beautifully maintaned garden.

Mum had told me about hundreds of houses that had been and are still being built at an area that used to be open fields, I was shocked to see what a huge area it covered.

But I was happy to see that my old infant school was still there.

The next day I did a walk I have been wanting to do for a long time, again one that was done often in my childhood.  

Walking through lovely King's wood, which has a good size car park which was free.

I liked the touch of the self service Coffee Hut.

It was quite a nice climb up to the trigg point at the top of the hill with amazing views over towards Cheddar resevouir.

The view down to Crooks Peak and the three sixty degree view, down to Exmoor is so good.

I love this stone carved with the saying "Only a hill but all of life to me".

As regualar followers of my page will know I take my current knitting project everywhere with me.  I am currently working on a crotchet project, which is so easy and portable, so this was worked on when I stopped to have a break with an amazing view.

 The Gorse looked and smelt so good.

I loved how you could see the M5 snaking it's way through the countryside, heading down South or back up Northbound.

When I reached the top of the Peak which you can see from the motorway I just sat for about half an hour as incredibly I had the place all to myself and just watched the little vehicles and nature going by.

I spotted this big stone in the lovely wall that is all the way along the Peak which must have weighed so much and amazing that it took from 1988 to 2002 to build the wall all with the help of volunteers.

This tiny hamlet of Compton Bishop is a very special place as my Dad's ashes are scattered in the churchyard, well 10 years ago! So now he will be flying around somewhere enjoying the area far and wide.

After I finished my walk and had a lovely packed lunch Mum had so kindly made me.  I headed to my favourite place for a short walk at Clevedon.

Again the spring flowers where everywhere. 

I had a delicious treat of a cappachino in the Pier cafe.

I never tire of seeing the view over to Wales.

Mum's plaque is looking good still.

I was happy with the few miles I clocked up and had a great day.