My Little Bit of Heaven in Devon!

We are on holiday in our caravan in deepest darkest Devon and it's glorious! We are back at Wrenwell Meadows in Denbury, this time for a fortnight. We also managed to get the awning up we bought with the caravan (which we bought on eBay!) OK so we had to have help from a neighbour, who was very sweet and really mucked in with getting it up for us, but it is the first time we've used it and we're delighted with it. It's in great condition and came with not only a skirt for the caravan, but a ground sheet and a support bar so we can let one of the front panels down during the day. It's an NR Pullman model and has 4 zip out panels which is really useful, as we don't have to get the roof up with the full weight of the canvas.

Having the awning up also means we can leave the beds made up all the time in the caravan and not have the hassle of making them up at night (whch tends to be a real pain!).

Wrenwell Meadows is very peaceful as it's right out in the country and being a CL only has 5 vans max on it, and it's such a large area we're not too close to the neighbours, which is nice. Although there is only one toilet and shower, plus 2 sinks for washing we've never had a problem and Mr Partridge, the owner, keeps it all scrupulously clean. And the great thing is dogs are allowed, and our 2 are having a great time, they love being on holiday in the caravan. We like our creature comforts and have a microwave in the 'van, a flat screen TV and our laptops in the awning, in which we have a couple of tables, 2 loungers and a couple of folding bucket chairs for the boys or visitors. We also have a standard lamp. a desk type fan for when it gets too hot and a little fan heater for when it gets a bit chilly in the evening. So we are quite comfy cosy!
The view from our awning, peaceful isn't it?

Our Easter Holiday in Devon

I've just got back from a great week in the caravan in Devon. We stayed in a CL (Certified Location, these are small sites certified by the Caravan Club and take a maximum of 5 vans only) called Wrenwell Meadows, in the pretty little village of Denbury, just outside Newton Abbot. This was our first CL, as we normally stay on the larger more commercial sites. There is a 5 star site called Dornafield about a mile away from our little CL, which is where we normally stay, and although a fabulous site it has just got too expensive. Our CL cost a quarter of what we would usually pay, and we were pleasantly surprised at how nice it was.

We had a field with horses on the front side and the adjoining field had sheep in. We saw foxes, pheasants, owls, buzzards, greenfinch, blue tits, robins and other birds just while we sat in the 'van. The weather was lovely virtually all week, and when it did rain it tended to be late evening or at night when it didn't bother us. We got the dog drying routine down to a fine art and just protected the seat cushions with towels for any remaining dampness.

On our first night we decided to eat out as it was quite late by the time we had set up the 'van and Ian was just too tired to cook dinner. So we went over to Broadhempston to our favourite eating place called the Coppa Dolla, a lovely olde worlde restaurant in a pretty Devon village. We had a super 3 course meal, finishing off with a crunchy brandy basket with hot cherries in kirsch sauce and the nicest cornish cream ice cream I've ever had.

The next day we went down through Torquay and Paignton to Dartmouth and crossed the river on the car ferry. Dartmouth is a very pretty town at the mouth of the River Dart and incredibly picturesque. We wandered around looking at all the lovely old buildings and browsing the shops and then bought lunch to eat in the car before returning home via Totnes.

Another of our trips was onto Dartmoor which is only a few miles away from Denbury and drove over to Widecombe (home of Uncle Tom Cobley and all), passing the beautiful scenery of the moors and the great rugged granite peaks of the Tors.

Thursday we went out again for a meal at the local pub, the Union Inn which was having a Folk Night, and I had crab cakes, followed by duck with cherry sauce - lovely! Afterwards we went through to where the folk singing was going on and had fun joining in with all the songs with great merriment.

On our last day, Friday, the weather was glorious, so we drove down to the South Hams and Salcombe, one of our favourite places, but a nightmare trying to find anywhere to park! We returned via Kingsbridge, Slapton and Blackpool Sands, back to Dartmouth and crossed the river on the ferry again before driving up through Paignton and Torquay. It's lovely to see the sea and coast again, as we are about as far from it as you can get where we live now.

On Saturday we drove home back up the M5, which took us about three and a half hours with no delays or hold ups and the weather was again kind to us. Unpacked the 'van and left it on the drive, rather than take it back into storage. We'd like to go away somewhere more local for the later May bank holiday and have already booked a couple of weeks back on our pretty CL in Devon for August - and I can't wait!

What a wash out!

At this point I'd like to tell you all about the great holiday we just had in beautiful, sunny Devon - but I can't - because we didn't!

We were all booked up to go down for a week in the caravan, we had found this great site overlooking the river Dart, just down from the picturesque town of Dartmouth and with great views across the river. I was really looking forward to lovely evenings with great views & sunsets and days spent exploring the Torbay area, Dartmoor and the South Hams. One of the most beautiful areas in the UK.

Sadly it was not to be. The British Weather decided to do it's damndest and it became obvious by lunchtime on Saturday that it would be a complete waste of time to go. There was even a Severe Weather Warning put out for Devon with torrential rain and gale force winds forecast for pretty much the entire week.

So after some discussion and with the thought of trying to cope with 2 soaking wet dogs in a fairly small caravan every time they had to be taken for walks, and no chance of glorious views or sunsets etc., we sadly came to the conclusion there was nothing for it but to cancel the holiday and stay at home!

The only consolation has been the conviction we did the right thing as we stare out of the window at the lashing rain and the wind bending the trees. At least we are warm and dry and comfy cosy even if the British Summer has forsaken us. We just have to hope the week we have booked in September in the Lake District will prove better (she says optimistically - but don't hold your breath!).