The first five days - the long haul - Cumbria to the Pas de Calais
Monday 29 June 2009
We left home at 11am and started the long haul towards Dover. Our first port of call on the way was CMR at Yately to have a gas barbecue point fitted. We had booked a campsite just South of Newbury. This was just the right distance - any further would have been too tiring but our chosen site, Oakley Hill Farm, placed us only 45 minutes drive from CMR the following morning. The site was pleasant and we were given an entire field to ourselves - the small area with hardstanding pitches looked quite crowded. The weather was very hot, our outside temperature gauge on the MH registering 30C by the time we passed Birmingham. The humidity was also high and we were pleased to have the cab aircon. Our route used the M6 (of course), M5, M42, M40 and A34, the site being just off the southern end of the Newbury bypass. The journey was remarkably free of hold-ups in spite of the inevitable heavy and slow-moving traffic at the predictable places; with a few short "comfort" stops and a brief rest to eat our sandwiches it took us 7 hours for exactly 300 miles. The campsite recommended the local pub, the Woodpecker, for food, about half a mile from the site and an easy, pleasant walk on a nice evening. The food and drink were fine; the pub rural and friendly. Back at camp our roof-vent fan kept us cool and we had a good night's sleep on a quiet site.
Tuesday 30 June 2009
A fairly early start, leaving Oakley Farm at 7.45am and making our way to Yately via Bullington Cross, then eastbound on the A303 and M3 to Junction 4a, turning off there for Yateley. The journey was prolonged slightly as we had to be "talked in" to CMR by Pete on the phone. Their place is basically on a farm in converted buildings accessed via a private lane - unsurfaced in places but not presenting any problems. However we panicked a little when the tarmac road before that had a 6'6" maximum width notice, but Pete reassured us that the restriction was beyond the turning into their lane. Just as well as we're 7'8" wide! Pete had broken his leg in an accident a few weeks back (it's on the mend we're pleased to say) and the job was done by John with CMR's usual efficiency and competence - this is such a good company and they are also such pleasant people. They fitted our Gaslow system last year from their mobile van at the Pickering Show and did an excellent job; we would highly recommend CMR.
We made our way to Folkestone via the M3, M25 and M20 and were lucky to have another good run with only occasional and minor slow-downs on the M25. With some difficulty we found and then negotiated the fairly narrow and steep lane leading down to the delightful Camping and Caravanning Club site buried in the wilderness of the "Undercliff" just East of the town.
The advice we had about this approach was contradictory - we read in MMM Magazine that it was difficult and not advised for large or long outfits and we also knew that towed caravans are not accepted. When we called the site and pointed out that with our towed trailer / smart car we were 11 metres (36 feet) long they were quite encouraging, saying they had accomodated quite big RVs without problems. In the event it was a nail biting experience, partly because the road was quite uneven and potholed in places but mainly because visitors to the beach ignore the "no parking" signs and leave their cars on the track, further reducing the width. At one point we squeezed past with about 2cm to spare. Meeting anything (which we didn't) would have presented an impossible situation, especially for us - with a Smart-laden 4 metre trailer, reversing is out of the question and even without the trailer reversing on a hill that steep would surely create a massive attack of the famed Fiat judder. But the Gods were with us and we were soon enjoying a barbecue in the sun on a beautifuly positioned campsite.
Wednesday 1 July 2009
Today we had arranged to meet an old friend we hadn't seen for several years for a walk across the famous "Seven Sisters" cliffs just West of Beachy Head.
The weather was by now even hotter (32C by midday) and also even "stickier" so the slight breeze on the coast was most welcome. The Smart's roof was lowered for today's driving and we were so pleased we'd bought a cabrio! The drive from Folkestone to Cuckmere via the coast was a nightmare of traffic and road works - between the Eastern outskirts of Hastings and the next glimpse of countryside near Eastbourne we averaged somewhere between 15 and 20 mph. We will never, ever use that route again! The walk on a gorgeous day made up for that and so did a fine pub lunch at the Tiger Inn, East Dean, a fabulous spot. The food and the beer were as good as the surroundings and we ate outside the pub with that amazing view of the village green and picture-postcard cottages. For our return journey to Folkestone we used a nice, scenic inland route via Sissinghurst and Ashford, saving 45 minutes in time and a ton of frustration, the Smart enjoying itself by pretending to be a sports car!
Thursday 2 July 2009
After our second night at Folkestone, made blissfully cool by the sea mist that descended on the site in late evening (the site seems prone to this, but while we were there the mist cleared quickly in the morning so it was a definite asset in cooling things down at night), we made sure we were ready to leave when the site gates opened at 7am. We decided to tow the trailer up unladen and drive the Smart up separately, putting the Smart on the trailer at the top; also to do all this as early as possible before beach visitors arrived with their cars. It worked well and we were at the Dover ferry terminal by 8am.
At 9.45 we boarded the Norfolk Line ferry to Dunkirk (£100 return for a 36' long outfit and 2 people booked through the Caravan Club). We were impressed by Norfolk Line - the boat was newly refurbished, smart, modern and clean. We also took advantage of a half-price offer to buy access to the VIP lounge for just £8 - a bargain.
Watches adjusted forward one hour we were on French soil by 1.30pm and with the help of our faithful TomTom soon found the Chateau de Gandspette campsite near Eperlecques, just North of St Omer.
We had a friendly welcome in Franglais and were soon established on a large, grass pitch with electric hookup. It was steamingly hot (32C again) and each day seems stickier than the last. Gandspette seems a very nice site and was made even nicer when in late afternoon a cooling breeze sprang up, strong enough to blow the unsecured awning of our neighbour's caravan over its roof - we helped him rescue it with no harm done. In the evening we ate well at the campsite restaurant (excellent value, booking recommended) - 3 courses + bottle of drinkable wine - 45 euros for 2.
Treating ourselves to an early night we were woken soon after midnight by a huge thunderstorm with sheet and fork lightning, hail, strong gusts of wind, torrential rain - the lot! The drumming of the hailstones on the roof was loud enough to drown out normal conversation. The storm rumbled around for a couple of hours returning several times to be directly overhead. Our awning survived unscathed but we had to close all windows and roof vents raising the inside temperature from 26 to 28C; with the humidity it was a bit like sleeping in a sauna.
Friday 3 July 2009
After a night disturbed by the storm, we woke late to a cloudy, damp and still muggy day. Mist clung to the trees on distant low hills to the North. Outside it was fresher and there were occasional glimpses of the sun. We booked two nights here so we could simply relax and have a leisurely start to our travels in France. By late morning the sun had reappeared and its warmth was nicely balanced by a cooling breeze - a perfect summer day. In the afternoon we walked to the Carrefour supermarket just over a mile away and bought far more food and wine than we had intended; had we thought we'd buy so much we would have taken the Smart - it seemed a long trudge back with heavy bags full of shopping. Later in the afternoon we drove to St Omer in the Smart (with the roof down!) and had a stroll around - it's well worth a visit - good shops, nice pavement cafes, some interesting architecture and history. Back at the campsite we enjoyed the second barbecue supper of the holiday in warm sunshine under a blue sky dotted with fair weather cumulus. Roger plucked up courage to phone the France Passion site we favour for our stop tomorrow night - you can phone them because they have a restaurant and they like you to book your meal - so in effect you can book your stay as well. This all went without a hitch even though entirely in French - we mentioned that we are towing a Smart car on a trailer and they said "no problem" and seem very friendly and welcoming; so please see our next update for how we got on.
Cheers: All 3 campsites we have used so far, each good in its own way; CMR for a job well-done as usual; Norfolkline for an excellent ferry crossing on a clean, modern boat. The only qualification on the Ganspette campsite is the cost of wi-fi access - 5 euros for 1 hour - pretty steep!
Boos: none really - unless you count the appalling coastal route between Hastings and Eastbourne; and perhaps a hiss to the "24 hour" service area on the M20 near the Channel Tunnel exit that has no parking space whatsoever for motorhomes or caravans (height barriers on all car parks) and at 8pm was entirely devoid of services of any sort.
Monday 29 June 2009
We left home at 11am and started the long haul towards Dover. Our first port of call on the way was CMR at Yately to have a gas barbecue point fitted. We had booked a campsite just South of Newbury. This was just the right distance - any further would have been too tiring but our chosen site, Oakley Hill Farm, placed us only 45 minutes drive from CMR the following morning. The site was pleasant and we were given an entire field to ourselves - the small area with hardstanding pitches looked quite crowded. The weather was very hot, our outside temperature gauge on the MH registering 30C by the time we passed Birmingham. The humidity was also high and we were pleased to have the cab aircon. Our route used the M6 (of course), M5, M42, M40 and A34, the site being just off the southern end of the Newbury bypass. The journey was remarkably free of hold-ups in spite of the inevitable heavy and slow-moving traffic at the predictable places; with a few short "comfort" stops and a brief rest to eat our sandwiches it took us 7 hours for exactly 300 miles. The campsite recommended the local pub, the Woodpecker, for food, about half a mile from the site and an easy, pleasant walk on a nice evening. The food and drink were fine; the pub rural and friendly. Back at camp our roof-vent fan kept us cool and we had a good night's sleep on a quiet site.
Tuesday 30 June 2009
A fairly early start, leaving Oakley Farm at 7.45am and making our way to Yately via Bullington Cross, then eastbound on the A303 and M3 to Junction 4a, turning off there for Yateley. The journey was prolonged slightly as we had to be "talked in" to CMR by Pete on the phone. Their place is basically on a farm in converted buildings accessed via a private lane - unsurfaced in places but not presenting any problems. However we panicked a little when the tarmac road before that had a 6'6" maximum width notice, but Pete reassured us that the restriction was beyond the turning into their lane. Just as well as we're 7'8" wide! Pete had broken his leg in an accident a few weeks back (it's on the mend we're pleased to say) and the job was done by John with CMR's usual efficiency and competence - this is such a good company and they are also such pleasant people. They fitted our Gaslow system last year from their mobile van at the Pickering Show and did an excellent job; we would highly recommend CMR.
We made our way to Folkestone via the M3, M25 and M20 and were lucky to have another good run with only occasional and minor slow-downs on the M25. With some difficulty we found and then negotiated the fairly narrow and steep lane leading down to the delightful Camping and Caravanning Club site buried in the wilderness of the "Undercliff" just East of the town.
The advice we had about this approach was contradictory - we read in MMM Magazine that it was difficult and not advised for large or long outfits and we also knew that towed caravans are not accepted. When we called the site and pointed out that with our towed trailer / smart car we were 11 metres (36 feet) long they were quite encouraging, saying they had accomodated quite big RVs without problems. In the event it was a nail biting experience, partly because the road was quite uneven and potholed in places but mainly because visitors to the beach ignore the "no parking" signs and leave their cars on the track, further reducing the width. At one point we squeezed past with about 2cm to spare. Meeting anything (which we didn't) would have presented an impossible situation, especially for us - with a Smart-laden 4 metre trailer, reversing is out of the question and even without the trailer reversing on a hill that steep would surely create a massive attack of the famed Fiat judder. But the Gods were with us and we were soon enjoying a barbecue in the sun on a beautifuly positioned campsite.
Wednesday 1 July 2009
Today we had arranged to meet an old friend we hadn't seen for several years for a walk across the famous "Seven Sisters" cliffs just West of Beachy Head.
The weather was by now even hotter (32C by midday) and also even "stickier" so the slight breeze on the coast was most welcome. The Smart's roof was lowered for today's driving and we were so pleased we'd bought a cabrio! The drive from Folkestone to Cuckmere via the coast was a nightmare of traffic and road works - between the Eastern outskirts of Hastings and the next glimpse of countryside near Eastbourne we averaged somewhere between 15 and 20 mph. We will never, ever use that route again! The walk on a gorgeous day made up for that and so did a fine pub lunch at the Tiger Inn, East Dean, a fabulous spot. The food and the beer were as good as the surroundings and we ate outside the pub with that amazing view of the village green and picture-postcard cottages. For our return journey to Folkestone we used a nice, scenic inland route via Sissinghurst and Ashford, saving 45 minutes in time and a ton of frustration, the Smart enjoying itself by pretending to be a sports car!
Thursday 2 July 2009
After our second night at Folkestone, made blissfully cool by the sea mist that descended on the site in late evening (the site seems prone to this, but while we were there the mist cleared quickly in the morning so it was a definite asset in cooling things down at night), we made sure we were ready to leave when the site gates opened at 7am. We decided to tow the trailer up unladen and drive the Smart up separately, putting the Smart on the trailer at the top; also to do all this as early as possible before beach visitors arrived with their cars. It worked well and we were at the Dover ferry terminal by 8am.
At 9.45 we boarded the Norfolk Line ferry to Dunkirk (£100 return for a 36' long outfit and 2 people booked through the Caravan Club). We were impressed by Norfolk Line - the boat was newly refurbished, smart, modern and clean. We also took advantage of a half-price offer to buy access to the VIP lounge for just £8 - a bargain.
Watches adjusted forward one hour we were on French soil by 1.30pm and with the help of our faithful TomTom soon found the Chateau de Gandspette campsite near Eperlecques, just North of St Omer.
We had a friendly welcome in Franglais and were soon established on a large, grass pitch with electric hookup. It was steamingly hot (32C again) and each day seems stickier than the last. Gandspette seems a very nice site and was made even nicer when in late afternoon a cooling breeze sprang up, strong enough to blow the unsecured awning of our neighbour's caravan over its roof - we helped him rescue it with no harm done. In the evening we ate well at the campsite restaurant (excellent value, booking recommended) - 3 courses + bottle of drinkable wine - 45 euros for 2.
Treating ourselves to an early night we were woken soon after midnight by a huge thunderstorm with sheet and fork lightning, hail, strong gusts of wind, torrential rain - the lot! The drumming of the hailstones on the roof was loud enough to drown out normal conversation. The storm rumbled around for a couple of hours returning several times to be directly overhead. Our awning survived unscathed but we had to close all windows and roof vents raising the inside temperature from 26 to 28C; with the humidity it was a bit like sleeping in a sauna.
Friday 3 July 2009
After a night disturbed by the storm, we woke late to a cloudy, damp and still muggy day. Mist clung to the trees on distant low hills to the North. Outside it was fresher and there were occasional glimpses of the sun. We booked two nights here so we could simply relax and have a leisurely start to our travels in France. By late morning the sun had reappeared and its warmth was nicely balanced by a cooling breeze - a perfect summer day. In the afternoon we walked to the Carrefour supermarket just over a mile away and bought far more food and wine than we had intended; had we thought we'd buy so much we would have taken the Smart - it seemed a long trudge back with heavy bags full of shopping. Later in the afternoon we drove to St Omer in the Smart (with the roof down!) and had a stroll around - it's well worth a visit - good shops, nice pavement cafes, some interesting architecture and history. Back at the campsite we enjoyed the second barbecue supper of the holiday in warm sunshine under a blue sky dotted with fair weather cumulus. Roger plucked up courage to phone the France Passion site we favour for our stop tomorrow night - you can phone them because they have a restaurant and they like you to book your meal - so in effect you can book your stay as well. This all went without a hitch even though entirely in French - we mentioned that we are towing a Smart car on a trailer and they said "no problem" and seem very friendly and welcoming; so please see our next update for how we got on.
Cheers: All 3 campsites we have used so far, each good in its own way; CMR for a job well-done as usual; Norfolkline for an excellent ferry crossing on a clean, modern boat. The only qualification on the Ganspette campsite is the cost of wi-fi access - 5 euros for 1 hour - pretty steep!
Boos: none really - unless you count the appalling coastal route between Hastings and Eastbourne; and perhaps a hiss to the "24 hour" service area on the M20 near the Channel Tunnel exit that has no parking space whatsoever for motorhomes or caravans (height barriers on all car parks) and at 8pm was entirely devoid of services of any sort.
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