At last, we’ve been able to hit the road again….still within the UK, but the road is the road and this blog may be a little longer than usual as we were SO excited to be travelling again!! A motorhome service at Camper UK in Lincoln was our first priority with a few lovely days relaxing at Camper UK Leisure Park, followed by a few nights in Buxton in the Peak District, the highest market town in England and full of beautiful Georgian and Victorian architecture.
We then crossed the border into North Wales which proved to be as majestic, stunning and historic as we had been led to believe. We stayed in Llanberis in Snowdonia National Park where we joined up with our mountaineer friend Pierre, he promised us some flat walks… never believe a mountaineer who promises flat walks!!! Not complaining though, the climbs were worth it for the spectacular views, the encounters with wild horses and wild goats, and otherwise, importantly, we would not have bumped into "Jits into the Sunset" on a remote mountainside, they are excellent YouTube vloggers who we have followed for the last couple of years, so we were beyond thrilled to get the chance to talk to them.
We also watched in awe as mountaineers climbed the vertical face of Idwal Slabs and other scary looking sheer drops, nothing but admiration for them but definitely not something for us!! Had we not been caught up in a vicious storm in our last few days there, we would have gone to the slate museum and to the top of Snowdonia on the train, but that just means we will have to go back, woohoo!
I love medieval Welsh history and the stories from centuries ago of the valiant efforts of the Welsh to retain their own sovereignty, so was intrigued by the blade of giants on the edge of Llyn (lake) Padarn, which commemorates the contribution of the medieval Princes of Gwynedd to Welsh history. The design of the sword is based on those that would have been used in the thirteenth century by the Welsh Princes and further around the llyn are the ruins of Dolbadarn castle built by one of those princes, Llewelyn the Great which just oozed history even in the pouring rain!
Back on the opposing side (England), Ludlow was our next stop, the sun returned and we lazed outside several different cafes enjoying the bustle of this pretty market town and its castle. This was one of the first stone castles to be built in England not long after the Norman Conquest. If you’re camping in the area, we can highly recommend Ludlow Touring Park, its a fab site and just a walk or short bike ride from the centre of the town.
After a short spell at home we were off again, this time to the Peterborough motorhome show via Grafham Water. This has a great 10 mile cycle circuit around the outside, oh and there’s a fab Great Horned Owl that lives in the area around the Grafham Water Caravan and Motorhome Club site… not sure who spends more time watching whom, the owl or the campers!
At the motorhome show we were in the Carthago Owner section, big thanks to Colin & Sara Moy, Simon and team for all the organisation of our area and making us feel so welcome. We had a ball meeting new fellow Carthago owners and catching up with some old friends.
Onwards to beautiful Lincoln after the show to have a couple of things sorted on our van, with thanks again to Camper UK for their excellent service. We love it that Camper UK are based in Lincoln as it gives us a good excuse to visit and Camper UK’s site nearby in the beautiful Lincolnshire countryside is a peaceful retreat from the world with no shortage of friendly ducks!
We are currently making a short video covering what we love about our liner-for-two which will be on our website soon, and we are now back in planning mode…. Scottish Highlands and Islands in the next couple of months we think, keep in touch 😊