Whitemead Forest Park, Lydney, Forest of Dean way. Lovely site, virtually empty, good facilities. We tried booking a local pub 'The Fountain' because it's steak night, but fully booked! Bugger. Off to the on-site restaurant.
Where Have You Been In Your Van Today?
- Thread starter mhill
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Dogs welcome in restaurant, and a special doggy sundae. Food was really good! Smuggled in our own drinks!
Versary to remember fondly.
Now for the rain!
Versary to remember fondly.
Now for the rain!
She looks like shes broken in her new pet humans very nicely!
Toolstation Amesbury?
Indeed it was. You local then?
Haha
Yeah I’m working on the RAF Camp in Boscombe Down. The company i sub contract for are based jus across the road from Solstice Park
I did my work experience at Boscombe Down in the Telemetry section about 500 moons ago. Must admit I like that look on that old thing.
That’s the one!!!!!
The name escaped me. I did it to a Mitsubishi shogun sport that I converted to a camper for the daughter for her festival job.
We’re staying at Wychnor Park, so we went to Derby for a mooch around, lots of tattoo parlours, lots of vape shops, one enterprising venue offered both and most of the rest of the town was Turkish barbers.
Left there and went to National Trust Calke Abbey to see the Christmas market and lights. Took this picture in the car park there.
Left there and went to National Trust Calke Abbey to see the Christmas market and lights. Took this picture in the car park there.
Made a start on sound deadening yesterday. Picked up a load of insulation from dodo so hopefully will get that all in this weekend!
2 nights away parked up at The Millstone pub in Hathersage with @Bigsidavies for a walk in the hills on the Saturday.
Start of the walk
Burbage Vans by Nigel G, on Flickr
And the view from the back of the van this morning a sunrise and a rainbow.
Sunrise Millstone by Nigel G, on Flickr
Millstone Rainbow by Nigel G, on Flickr
Start of the walk
Burbage Vans by Nigel G, on FlickrAnd the view from the back of the van this morning a sunrise and a rainbow.
Sunrise Millstone by Nigel G, on FlickrMillstone Rainbow by Nigel G, on Flickr
Finished off the sound deadening and got a layer of 10mm thermo liner down with fleece over the top. Made a huge difference to the sound already and i'm sure it will be much better once i get the floor covered and pop top in.
Few holes in the floor from previous ply lining. Debating getting them welded or just sticking some silicone in them and painting. Open to opinions/options!
Got back this afternoon from a Saturday 3.5hr drive from London over to Horsey Gap pk the Norfolk coast to see the baby seals (shhhh, it’s a secret apparently lol). Amazing blue skies and soooo many pups!!
The first bad thing was that our SmartBed Evo2 rib rail bed locking mechanism unlocked itself when we were driving. Need to try and fix that this week, fine for sleeping on but not safe for seating 3 people! Think the nuts need adjusting or something which will require patience but a bit annoying it happened so randomly. Shit ourselves.
The second bad thing: we Had used PitchUp to book Wheatacre White Lion overflow car park/campsite for £25 (toilets only in pub, no other facilities but figured great food from the reviews makes it ok, we have Whizzers for on the night haha)… but got there at 5pm, an hours’ drive away from Horsey Gap, to discover they weren’t really taking bookings and weren’t doing food as there was a private event and Christmas ball!! We didn’t have out ball gowns lol. We were in a hangry brain fog so paid… but then after about 5 mins realised it would be so noisy because of the ball. So decided to go try park/camp somewhere else. I think the landlady was a bit bamboozled because PitchUp didn’t notify her there was even a booking. She gave me my money back, to her credit (minus the PitchUp deposit). Lesson learned - if using PitchUp must call the place directly to check.
Ended up driving another 30mins to Suffolk instead, used Britstops and found the BEST pub in The White Hart in Blythburgh. My goodness the food was EPIC, I had 3 courses, dog-friendly and the staff were so friendly and the gravel car park was quiet, dark, secure enough (no height restrictions) level-ish and overlooked an Area of Natural Beauty so saw a few gorgeous birds This morning. Best outcome we could have hoped for, highly recommended. Only loos in the pub still but again, if you have your own facilities that’s totally fine.
Stopped for breakfast at Fauna Cafe Darsham on the way home. What a fabulous weekend.
The first bad thing was that our SmartBed Evo2 rib rail bed locking mechanism unlocked itself when we were driving. Need to try and fix that this week, fine for sleeping on but not safe for seating 3 people! Think the nuts need adjusting or something which will require patience but a bit annoying it happened so randomly. Shit ourselves.
The second bad thing: we Had used PitchUp to book Wheatacre White Lion overflow car park/campsite for £25 (toilets only in pub, no other facilities but figured great food from the reviews makes it ok, we have Whizzers for on the night haha)… but got there at 5pm, an hours’ drive away from Horsey Gap, to discover they weren’t really taking bookings and weren’t doing food as there was a private event and Christmas ball!! We didn’t have out ball gowns lol. We were in a hangry brain fog so paid… but then after about 5 mins realised it would be so noisy because of the ball. So decided to go try park/camp somewhere else. I think the landlady was a bit bamboozled because PitchUp didn’t notify her there was even a booking. She gave me my money back, to her credit (minus the PitchUp deposit). Lesson learned - if using PitchUp must call the place directly to check.
Ended up driving another 30mins to Suffolk instead, used Britstops and found the BEST pub in The White Hart in Blythburgh. My goodness the food was EPIC, I had 3 courses, dog-friendly and the staff were so friendly and the gravel car park was quiet, dark, secure enough (no height restrictions) level-ish and overlooked an Area of Natural Beauty so saw a few gorgeous birds This morning. Best outcome we could have hoped for, highly recommended. Only loos in the pub still but again, if you have your own facilities that’s totally fine.
Stopped for breakfast at Fauna Cafe Darsham on the way home. What a fabulous weekend.
Cyclocross in Staffordshire, just south of the rain. Van doing its job with no fuss on steep grass.
Visiting York for a couple of days (Xmas market, museums etc.) Parked up (for free) on Knavesmire Road for the day, thanks to an earlier post from @Sackmycook - great tip 
We were lucky mind; it was rammed, but we got a space right at the end nearest town.
Decided it was a bit cold to sleep in the van, so have a private ensuite room at the YHA instead, which frankly is rather excellent. A little over a mile from the city centre, free parking, free wifi, licensed bar, all you can eat breakfast for less than a tenner (hot drinks included), excellent kitchen facilities where we've just prepared our dinner - and at just over 40 quid a night, actually cheaper than if we'd stayed at any of the campsites I checked out near the city. In fact, maybe I should delete this post and keep it to myself.....
We were lucky mind; it was rammed, but we got a space right at the end nearest town.Decided it was a bit cold to sleep in the van, so have a private ensuite room at the YHA instead, which frankly is rather excellent. A little over a mile from the city centre, free parking, free wifi, licensed bar, all you can eat breakfast for less than a tenner (hot drinks included), excellent kitchen facilities where we've just prepared our dinner - and at just over 40 quid a night, actually cheaper than if we'd stayed at any of the campsites I checked out near the city. In fact, maybe I should delete this post and keep it to myself.....
