Devizes

By eight-thirty this morning half of the other vans had left, including our neighbour who had a fixation with opening and shutting his van doors even during the night. Thank god he's gone Marge. Some of the remaining van owners set up chairs and basked in the early morning sun, already warm. And why not? The imposing ruins of the abbey cast a shadow over us. It knew our secret, that we'd all been there overnight. 

Needing to move closer to home we decided to take the M4 motorway, a fast, wide road with no 'tricky bits' for Marge to negotiate. The historic market town of Devizes in Wiltshire our destination.

We have stayed overnight here by the canal a few times before, so we knew the set up, and the people. Some of the boat owners were in full merriment when we arrived at lunchtime. Barbecues lit, and a flagon of cider doing the rounds.

We parked Marge discreetly, lunched and walked along the towpath to the Caen Lock cafe for ice creams.

Upon our return to Marge, all was quiet until the hum of aeroplane engines approached. A formation of ten tiger moths passed over. Quite a sight.

Early evening the rich sweet languid smell of the barbecues filled our nostrils once again. No doubt there will be more cider doing the rounds and a little loud music to finish the evening. As long as there's no slamming of vehicle doors, we'll tolerate it!

Devizes

It's three weeks since we returned from France. After spending last week decorating our bedroom, we decided it was time for a night away in Marge. We've had some bad news to cope with over the last couple of weeks and decided Marge was just the tonic we needed to perk us up, so we headed back to Devizes, a couple of hours drive from us. A Chinese takeaway and some cycling were our treat.

This morning the weather dry and bright, we saddled up and cycled out on our Brompton bicycles alongside the kennet and avon canal. A sharp, clear blue autumnal sky lit the carpet of gold under our wheels. Canal boats basked in the morning light and a family of swans glided by. It was a perfect autumn day. We have not cycled since returning from our cycling trip to Switzerland, so today we would find out if we had retained the fitness level we achieved whilst cycling the euro velo 6. Our ride took us downhill past the Caen locks flight, 29 locks which rise over 237 feet with a 1 in 44 gradient. A gentle yawning wind blew leaves from the trees as we passed under them. The fine weather had brought people out, boaters and walkers alike.

After an hour and a half cycling over a rough path on a small wheeled bicycle we sat by a lock to eat lunch. We felt we could cycle further, but that would have to wait until another day. There was the small matter of cycling up the 1 in 44 gradient alongside the locks. See you at the top! First one there buys the ice creams at the cafe. We're pleased to say we are still fit. We both made it and yes, the ice-cream was delish. Back at Marge the car park suddenly became a hive of activity as two canal boats arrived on low loaders. We watched as they were craned into the water, swiftly and efficiently.

O.K. Marge. Home now. Hopefully if the weather holds, we'll manage another night out in you soon. 

For our grandson Elliot coming this weekend for a Halloween party!

Devizes

 

As the light faded last night, we watched the sky turn pink. We walked across into the grounds of the Yeo Valley H.Q. where we could see the sun setting over Cardiff bay.

The patchwork of fields that lay behind Blagdon lake merged in to one as darkness fell and up in the sky behind Marge a half moon sat in a milky white light. We have overnighted in Marge in many places, both in England and Europe and this spot was right up there.

The view this morning still stunning. A metallic blue sky over a landscape of dappled light. Shadows casting over land and water. Our fellow vanlifers began to surface, one giving John cause to complain. Multiple car door slamming by a young lady sleeping in a car, unacceptable. Tai Chi, look at me. Leave that woman alone. Each to their own. We wanted to leave early keen to drive through Cheddar Gorge before the throngs of visitors arrived. As we left, we could see the three young German men from the van next to us sat silently on a bench taking in the view. There were no words.

We drove through Cheddar Gorge slowly, taking care as around every bend there were cyclists, walkers, sheep and even a pair of men's underpants in the road.  Where the owner was, who knows. Parking Marge up by some rock climbers we decided to walk a little way through the gorge as it would be easier to take photographs and for Angela to take in the view which is difficult when she has to concentrate on the road ahead, looking out for men's underwear etc! 

The gorge was impressive, and a doddle for Marge to drive through. After all she'd negotiated the overhangs of the Verdon Gorge in south eastern France. 

Next stop Wells. England's smallest city. Busy, busy Marge, where will we park you? Quick, nip into that Tesco car park. We walked to the Anglican cathedral, described as England's most poetic cathedral. It was beautiful, showcased in the lunchtime sunshine. We bought pasties for lunch from the nearby market and sat in the shade of the trees in front of the bishop's palace to eat them. Before returning to Marge, we returned to the market to buy a piece of vintage cheddar from The Apple Tree farm shop stall.

Our time in Welles had been short, but long enough, there were just too many visitors. We bought ice creams from Tesco before setting off, now a little drowsy from too much saturated fat and sugar. Our destination South Cadbury, a stop by a farm just near to the A303. We parked Marge in the shade of trees that moved silently in the breeze. It was hot, very hot. After an hour and a half rest we decided the stop was too boring and decided to move. Four years ago next week Angela's mother passed away, and she wanted to visit her parents grave to lay flowers, so rather than drive up to Andover from Poole we decided to divert across country to Devizes where we knew there was a nice overnight stop by the canal, and from where we could drive to the cemetery on our return journey home tomorrow. We know Marge, we're impulsive. We drove pass fields of golden wheat waiting not waning in the heat of the afternoon. In fields where the wheat had already been cut bales balanced on each other precariously. The scene, that of summer in the British countryside. Idyllic. 

Devizes welcomed us with noise and music. A wedding reception was taking place at the nearby wharf theatre. having not consumed enough of the wrong calories today we walked into town to buy yet another Chinese take away. Well, it is the last night of our trip.

Devizes

The parking area at Penn Woods was busy this morning with dog walkers and walkers. Stretching exercises using your Nordic walking poles, a new one for to us. But the group we watched seemed to enjoy it before click clacking across the loose gravel to return to their vehicles.

John was up early, venturing into the woods returning with his bounty. A large bag of oyster mushrooms. The park up in the woods seemed a good spot to take a shower in Marge. Why does someone always park next to me when you do this? Perverts! Enough of that Marge. But we agree. Look at all the space available they could have chosen. 

Today we needed to travel to Chippenham in Wiltshire.

Before leaving we both walked a little way through the woods so it was twelve noon before we eventually left. Vanhaus Customs was our destination where we discussed a new paint job for Marge. Just need to set a date for the work to be carried out now Marge.

We needed an overnight stop. Devizes was not too far away and after some testing hills we found a nice spot behind the police station alongside the Kennet and Avon canal. 

Despite a little rain along the way the evening was beautiful. We walked into town for a drink, too tired to explore too far. But before we leave tomorrow we will take more of a look around the area. 

Where we will stay tomorrow, who knows? We must make our way home in the next couple of days though, jobs to do, relatives to host. Life is an adventure, and as soon as we can we'll be off somewhere again.