Nearer to Home

In our caravanning days we tended not to stray from home during the winter months but motorcaravanning has extended the season appreciably. This might also have something to do with retirement!
Mid October, we headed for the north Norfolk coast at Cromer. We have longstanding friends in Norfolk and the trip provided an opportunity to meet up whilst also re-aquainting ourselves with an attactive part of the country. We love travelling abroad but it can be easy to forget just how attractive is our own country, particularly when the weather is kind. This, indeed, proved to be the case for our three days away. We stayed at the Caravan Club site at Seacroft which is within easy walking distance of Cromer.

With the tide in, there were some excellent opportunities to take seascapes using the pier as a backdrop.

At the beginning of November, we travelled down to the New Forest for a couple of nights prior to moving on to the Caravan Club site at Baltic Wharf in Bristol. The site at Black Knowl in the New Forset is superb both with regard to the high quality and also the position. The walk into nearby Brockenhurst proved a delight. Again, the weather was excellent and you could not have a more attractive time of the year to walk through the forest particularly since we enjoyed the company of so many New Forest ponies.

It was, though, Baltic Wharf that we had wanted to visit for sometime. Because of its easy access to Bristol, this is always a popular site, invariably fully booked. We were lucky. Not only did they have two clear nights but, on arrival, they were able to confirm a further night. The site is a must. Positioned on the banks of the river, it is a tenty minute walk along the newly developed port area into the old town passing the superb SS Great Britain exhibition on the way.

We couldn't resist a morning exploring the exhibition and admiring the skill of Brunel who was so far ahead of his time. The Great Britain ended its sailing days in the Falkland Isles and it was from here that they refloated onto a pontoon and successfully sailed all the way back to the berth where it was originally built in Bristol. A wonderful achievement.

Now safely esconced in the dry dock, you are able to walk under the boat to admire the sheer scale whilst also visiting the adjacent museum prior to touring the fully restored ship itself. Nineteenth century sea travel could not have been as easy option but you can appreciate the relative luxury for the first class passengers travelling to New York in the early days of the ship's life whilst also sympathising with the far more cramped steerage living accommodation for those many emigrants to Australia later in the century.

We enjoyed looking around the old city and the third day allowed us to dust off the bus passes and take a trip to Bath. There can be few more attractive cities and we delighted in touring the Roman Baths many years after our first visit.

It never fails to impress us how much the quality of exhibitions has improved over the years. There is real attention to detail and the evocative displays and reconstructions cannot fail to provide a real insight into the lived of past generations.

Our short holidys to Norfolk and Bristol have been well worthwhile leaving us with keen anticipation for our final brealk of the year to Chatsworth in Derbyshie at the beginning of December.