Christopher Denovan-Smith Christening in Dunster

After a good breakfast we headed off to the church to find an early parking space which are always at a premium here. Dunster is considered by many as a great place to visit but we have seen much nicer places in Somerset. Mind you we think Salcombe is worse.

We were able to find a good parking spot and then waited for the rest of the family to arrive but Noel was not going to be happy sitting on a wooden pew for about one hour and so waited outside in the car until the time for the Christening was near. The female vicar, or vicar'ess, whatever was clearly struggling with the robes of office and very nearly dropped Christopher on to the stone floor, not brilliant really ?
Christopher was able to sleep though most, if not all of the service, and even when they poured the 'River of Jordan ' water, no doubt direct from the church kitchen, must be a long pipe? he did not wake up.

Following the service we adjourned to the 'Foresters Arms pub for a light lunch attended by family and friends before we headed back to Weybridge leaving at about 1400 shortly after Christophers cake was cut.
We decided to try coming back on the M5 and then the M4 which can be rather risky on a Sunday afternoon and particularly on Sunday evenings  but apart from a few occasions of slowing down for bunching traffic and /or road works we generally made good time and got home in about 3.5 hours.
We both had a rest and discussed the events of the last few days and also the christening before having a light dinner and a couple of easy TV programmes before a quick shower and bed.
We plan to have an easy day tomorrow as on Tuesday we leave for Stratford-Upon-Avon for the night before visiting the Caravan and Motorhome show in the NEC at Birmingham.

ON ON they cried, now on to Dunster

Well after a good nights sleep and after breakfast we headed down to Salcombe for a brief shopping trip and a cup of coffee or tea. The little town is still quite busy with tourists which we understand is a problem during the summer holidays with the place overflowing with cars and people. Housing is being purchased and knocked down and rebuilt largely with second homes and this has caused a problem with the locals and then they cannot afford to by a house at a reasonable price.
Anyway we found a very nice cafe overlooking the harbour and enjoyed a cup of tea and two Hot chocolates before a little shopping and then heading back to the house.
A light lunch of sandwiches was the order of the day and then we left just after 2pm to drive the 2.5 hours to Minehead where we would stay in the Alcombe House Hotel where we have stayed before.
We arrived around 4.45 pm and was able to rest up, take a shower and enjoy the very nice room which had really comfortable chairs, yes we like this place.
In the evening we went to join the family in the cottage in Dunster which inside looks a little bit a second hand furniture shop, not to our taste but obviously somebody likes it.

There was about nine people for fish and chips although Noel needed to leave the batter, oh well one day, before leaving back to the  Hotel at around 9.30 pm as we were both a little tired.
We spent a short while reading and discussing the days event which leads up to Christopher's Christening scheduled for the following day.

Oh dear its Friday the13th??? but on to Salcombe

Following rather an early breakfast we left Looe in the mist and rain and headed off to Salcombe where Noel's sister and brother-in-law live n the top the the hill overlooking Salcombe Harbour entrance.
The journey from Looe took about 90 minutes and was a bit of A 38 fast road but will lots of slow and very unpleasant narrow country lanes with high trees and or fencing and the driving is atrocious with people driving much to fast in the center of the road and very reminiscent of India, No perhaps not.
We arrived at about 11 ish in team for a morning cuppa before heading off for a light sandwich lunch at the 'Winking Prawn' cafe in North sands bay

. The atmosphere in this place is realy quite nice and we have been there before on previous visits to this area.
The afternoon was spent catching up with all things family before we had a light rest and then a few glasses of wine and a delicious fish pie followed by apple crumble and both were really excellent.

Its perhaps a couple of years since we visited Salcombe but it is very cut off from mainstream life and not where we would choose to live, but they love it  which is great.

A few days in the West Country

After a busy few days around the house which included painting the outside decking twice with anti-slip paint, required as it was slippery in the wet, the complete paint took about 6.5 hours.
The results are very good and we are most pleased with the result even though neither Jennifer or myself could walk thro' tired and aching muscles from sitting on the decking painting.
Anyway, we had planned to leave for Looe yesterday but unfortunately noel experienced a health issue which meant leaving the decision to travel for the next day, ie today.

So all being well we left about mid-morning and followed the A 303 via Exeter and the A 38 on to Looe where we arrived at about 16.00. Before going out for dinner with friends that evening and before Jennifer went for a swim in the Hotel pool and Noel took a rest we sat on the balcony of the hotel bar and enjoyed a shared Cornish tea in the sunshine overlooking the entrance to Looe Harbour. The weather was really quite nice and a bit out of keeping for October but nice all the same.
In the evening we took a taxi to the restaurant called the Hayloft , about 10 minutes from our Hotel and met up with Tom and Liz where we enjoyed an excellent in a really nice restaurant called the 'Hayloft'

A very pleasant day and evening although subsequently suffered as a result of probably Garlic in the food which is a NO NO for him at this time.

Time to leave this pleasant site

Well and bit of an early morning so that we don't want to be late. So after our usual breakfast we finished packing up the caravan and loaded the car with our clothes and other stuff we wanted to take home and then departed the site at about 10.45.

The journey along the A2 to A3(M) and finally M25 to Chertsey and we were in the storage site by 12.30 and shortly afterwards ready to leave and we were home just after one pm.
Then an afternoon of sorting and some rest before heading back down the A3 for Noel to have his meeting with the oncologist to find out the result of his CT Scan and Blood test and thank heavens all was OK and so next blood test in three and six months and CT Scan in March next year not forgetting a lovely colonoscopy in November.

So a good day really and quite relieved with the Oncologist result and so we opened a bottle of wine to celebrate our good holiday with the family and the also the health report.
So the stay in the Safari Lodges was a things and the family really liked it

See the the video on youtube showing what the lodges and site are like.
Off to the West Country soon for a few days and hope the weather holds

Friends for lunch

Wow, the sun is shining quite a bit this morning and so we spent some time preparing the van for its return to Chertsey tomorrow. The usual things of sorting and checking wheel nuts etc all completed before our friends Roger and Sue arrived for a lunch appointment.
As I don't know Chichester very well with regard to parking in relation to the Cote Brasserie restaurant so I decided that a Taxi would be the best solution and it it certainly was. So we had a door to door and walked directly in to the restaurant for our lunch. Great and saves the knees.

Cant understand why John wont pay for lunch

It was also our mutual friend John's Birthday which he was celebrating in Spain and so we proposed a toast and a request for him to pay the lunch bill which he overlooked to answer, I wonder why?
After lunch we returned to the Concierge Camping site and a a cup of tea in the caravan and Jennifer and Sue had a look at the Safari Tents.
Following their departure we continued to start packing the car for an early start tomorrow and took off the security locks etc.
A very nice day and the weather was good which made it all the nicer following all the wet weather over the past few days.

The rest of the family leave Bosham and terrible Las Vegas shooting

It was rainy and windy overnight yet again but we all seemed to sleep OK. We wandered over to the tent around 0930 to lend a hand holding kids whist Joanne and Tim packed up all their bits and pieces ready for the golf caddy cart to come and pick up there cases etc. Checking out time is 10.00 the lady on the desk said although according to Tim that even she had worked here for more than one year she had not even visited the tents, wow what a lack of interest in her job!
Anyway they cleared out the tent and they came back to the caravan for a final chat before heading home whilst leaving there parents a little tired. They departed around 11.30 and then Noel cleaned three sides of the caravan as we had noticed how dirty it had got with mostly dark rain streaks before the expected rain, rain you say!!!!.
We finished off the rest of the BBQ food leftover of a couple of small rack of ribs, two sausages and one small steak but with a large baked potatoes and peas it was an excellent lunch.
It is such a shame that Monarch Airlines has folded as they were one of the best Charter Carriers in the UK and to fold after 50 years is most sad, we have flown them several times to Spain and were always impressed. Two of our good friends are currently in Spain waiting to find out if they can get home this Wednesday.
Have just seen the news about the mass killing in Las Vegas where a gunman(men)? opened fire from the Mandalay Hotel 32nd Floor and at the moment there are a minimum of 58 dead and 500 wounded. Somehow American has to stop the selling of machine gun types to the general public.


The above graph show just how bad the problem is.

Weather is slightly better today.

Once everybody had got themselves sorted for the day, the family headed off to visit Pagham Bay whilst Jennifer and Noel went to the Wittering's and Bracklesham Bay.
We were due to meet up at a pub in Bosham called the Berkeley Arms Hotel which had excellent recommendations on Trip Advisor but unfortunately our experience was not so good. We arrived and found that if you had not booked a babies high chair there were non available and the web site said they are dog friendly inside and out but when Michael and Becky arrived with Pickles there was a sign saying dogs only allowed in the bar and garden but not the restaurant.

So we moved table to a corner where we had more space and there was room for Pickles to lie under the table and we ordered the Sunday Roasts for all of us, some had the Lamb, others the pork and  one the beef and all said it was very good. Unfortunately the service was very very slow and we had to chase them a couple of times and what was most irritating the staff were taking breaks outside we were waiting for our dinner. Have filed a long Trip Advisor report which will link to this blog when published. Another thing that annoyed us was the lack of changing facilities for babies whilst the Loos looked well worn. So although the food was good, it took two hours from arriving to leaving and when you have young kids they soon get bored and also hungry. Wont go again.
In the afternoon Michael and Becky went over the Chichester Quay whilst the rest of us returned for a cup of tea in the caravan and then they went back to the tent and we had a little zizz before we all met up again for an evening snack of gravlax and cheese and there was also some desert. Yet again the wind was quite noisy but not enough to drown out the noise of the traffic on the A 27. At 2030 Michael and Becky left to go home as they have to work on Monday and so the rest of the family just sat around chatting until about 2130 and we came back to the caravan for the rest of the evening.
So a very nice day was had by all . 

Time to relax and do your own thing

We were all up a bit late and the family took off and visited some of the coastal areas and also spent some time shopping in Chichester town. They seemed to enjoy there day messing around and returned to the site about 1700 and ready for a cup of tea and looking forward to evenings BBQ.
By contrast, unfortunately, Noel was still suffering badly form the previous Sundays evening meal of SpagBol which in the past had not caused a problem but for some reason it did, perhaps they have changed the recipe. So as a result we spent pretty much all of the day on site so Noel could be near the facilities. It is very annoying as it seems to be one step forward followed by two steps back but hopefully by the end of this year it should be better still, we hope.
A few glasses of wine and we sat outside as the BBQ was cooked, its always a little bit of a challenge when using an unknown


BBQ however the result was very good with pork ribs, Cumberland sausages and of course some really good rib eye steaks and supported by a mixture of salads. The children were still up and enjoying the event although they were both extremely tired but you know how kids can be?
It then started to rain, wow what a surprise, and so we moved indoors and completed our dinner with apple crumble and of course another glass of wine.
A really nice evening and once the kids had gone to sleep we sat around for a while just chatting which was a nice thing to do.
So we rushed back to the safety of the caravan whilst the rain came down, ah lovely weather.

The family arrive today for their surprise holiday

So following a good nights sleep with the rain pouring down and with strong gusty winds blowing most of the night we headed off the the Crown and Anchor Pub in Del Quay to meet up with Joanne and Tim and kids for a lunch overlooking the harbour. Although we had planned for a casserole dinner tonight they all seemed hungry and enjoyed the food .

We left the restaurant and headed back to the caravan hoping that the rain would stop before we got there and thankfully it did and we showed them around the caravan site and had a cup of tea in our van and then back to the car park for them to unload their car and put the contents on the electric golf buggy for a trip across the grass and then thro’ a stream to reach the Safari tent. Needless to say they liked the location and tent very much and we left them to settle in before heading back there about 1700 to join them for tea and get the casserole going. The tent is fitted with an Aga type range cooker which will take a bit of getting used to but somehow we managed to heat up the casserole and baked potatoes before Michael and Becky arrived with Pickles.
The rest of the evening was spent talking and enjoying a few glasses of wine with our dinner and whilst the wind was whistling around outside and making quite a noise. Lets hope the weather is better tomorrow when we want to have a BBQ

Lets check out the site and local pubs.

The overnight heavy rain had stopped and the sun was shining but we had a late breakfast and started planning our day. But first things first, we visited the site reception office to check whether the Safari tent had a casserole dish as we are planning for the first night a chicken casserole and a suitable dish would be very useful. The receptionist said they do not have a casserole dish but why don't you take a look and see what there is there so you can have an idea of what you might need. So off we went across the little stream to the group of four safari tents and looked in the one we have rented for the family. It has two bedrooms upstairs, both with singles and a landing space that would have room for a cot and downstairs there is a double bed and room in the lounge for ‘Pickles’ the dog bed.

The BBQ is a charcoal one and not a gas and so we need to buy some charcoal and fire lighter’s before Saturday. So after looking around the tent and the rest of the site and looking at their Thetford Loo cleaner, we jumped in the car to look for a suitable pub to meet Joanne and Tim and family for Friday. Noel’s geography was a little out and so off went in the completely wrong direction until we reached Emsworth with Noel swearing that del Quay has to be here somewhere until we resorted to the map and discovered we should have gone east instead pf West, well you cant be right all of the timer.
We came across the pub we have booked for Sunday lunch which looks Ok and with Good Trip Adviser reports but decided that for the first arrivals and pub by the sea would be better and so we arrived at the Crown and Anchor Pub at Del Quay where we had a light sandwich lunch which was excellent and subsequently booked for tomorrow lunch.  From there we went to Tesco to purchase charcoal briquettes and fire lighters and then on to Waitrose for some food for tonight and vegetables to make the casserole for tomorrow night.

We returned to the site and had a nice cup of tea and a cake and in the evening we had some filet of cod with mashed potatoes and tined peas, although the cod was fresh it did not have the taste that we expected and it was rather bland unfortunately. Clearly the frozen cod we get from Costco is much better as is the fish we get from the Fish Shop in Courmeilles , France and so we felt a little let down.
So a good day all in all and now for an evening of reading and music and perhaps a little TV, lets see.

A busy day for us both

The rain had stopped and there was quite a bit of sun about and after breakfast we headed of to Rowlands Castle Railway Station where Noel could board the 10.46 to London. The journey up was interesting and can you can see some lovely houses, one was a great looking modernised farmhouse with Llamas in the garden. The only problem about these houses is that as you can see them from the train they can also have trains running by every few minutes on the busy Waterloo to Portsmouth Line.
The train arrived on time and any by 12.30 I was at the restaurant and during the next three hours we had some good food and excellent chats about the past. Most of the attendees were ex company directors including myself and we could reminisce about the various bits that were challenging or made us laugh in the Company. There was also planned a function the evening but it would make it too late for me being located on the South Coast and also by late afternoon I start to get a little tired.
Jennifer on the other hand after dropping me off at the Station headed towards Chichester and whilst on the way spotted a sign for a Roman Ruin called ‘Fishbourne Palace’ where she spent a good couple of our exploring the ruins and learning a lot about its history. A good walk then a light lunch followed by a trip to the Chichester Waitrose Supermarket which was a great place to shop she discovered and much better than the Waitrose in Weybridge.
Fishbourne Roman Palace

Anyway Jennifer enjoyed her visit there and then came to meet me at the Station in the very heavy rain that had started.
We returned to the caravan and enjoyed a nice Chicken salad sandwich and yes, of course, a glass of wine. The evening was spent reading and listening to music.
Ah tomorrow we can have a lay in.

A caravan holiday in Bosham

Well we agreed to move the caravan from its storage near Gatwick Airport, about one hour away from Weybridge and with lots of bad traffic risks, to a place nearer home so that we could use it more frequently. Having to go an hour to collect and then get organised as against 10 minutes is great for us and based upon this change of location we decided that we would have a holiday on the South Coast near Chichester in a place called Bosham.
So at about 10.30 we left home and ten minutes later we were with the caravan and getting it unlocked , changing  a fuse which had blown and after checking the tyre pressures, and the wheel nuts and battery we were on our way by 11.15 en-route to the South Coast. Our route took us on the A3 via Guildford etc. and down to near Portsmouth where we joined the A 27 East. We had one stop en-route and also a truck had broken down on the entrance to the Hind head Tunnel which slowed us down for about 15 minutes but finally we reached our destination caravan site just outside of Bosham.  We are staying at a site called Concierge Camping which we had visited about a month ago when we did a tour of sites in the area and liked this one very much indeed although its quite expensive as caravan sites go.

We arrived at about 13.00 and spent a little while chatting to Guy the owner and then the gave us the info on our location and by 14.30 the caravan was set up although we still needed to transfer the food shopping and bedding to the van but this did jot take to long. Clearly a cup of tea was called for by this time and we had a little rest and a shower in the very nice facilities that they have here, background music in the shower no the less.
Dinner was a nicely roasted  pork chop with veggies, as they say, and a bottle of plonk to wash it down. It started to rain a bit and in fact it rained pretty much all the night but had stopped when we awoke in the morning. The caravan is very warm and the central heating is excellent and so we lack for nothing.
Tomorrow Noel has to go to a colleagues retirement party in London and Jennifer will get a free day to herself.
Later in the week the rest of the family will arrive to stay in a Safari Tent, sounds like a fun weekend