Setthorns Campsite, New Forest. (Day 2)

Yesterday evening as we cooked fish fingers an unexpected guest flew inside Margery. A large beetle almost fried itself alive by landing on our gas hob.

Fish will do us just fine thanks. As darkness fell, the owls began calling, and continued to do so all through the night. But Angela was awake anyway. Our new thermal pop top wrap around cover is very efficient. She felt as if she was trapped in a sauna, with none of the other pampering included. Tonight, less clothing in bed. This morning we decided we would spend all of our four nights away at the Setthorns campsite. Why move?

It's beautiful here amongst the fungi, amongst the trees, some gnarled by the wind. Beneath our feet a carpet of brown and gold. The leaves falling slow and steady like a light snowfall. The autumn light played tricks on our eyes in the early evening when we went in search of ceps. No luck there, but Angela did find a huge Hen of the Woods fungi at the base of a tree.

Beat that John! Today has been a lovely day. We took a walk along the old disused railway bed to Brockenhurst.

7

Treated ourselves to coffee and scones, before stocking up on supplies, including venison burgers from the butcher for tomorrow evenings dinner.

Outside Tesco the donkeys gathered by the door, their expressions serious. Who was supposed to bring the Tesco clubcard? Twelve miles later we were reunited with Margery. Next spring we plan to walk the West Highland Way in Scotland. It is just under one hundred miles. Training and planning has begun, so another long walk tomorrow.

One of the Pannage pigs clearing up the acorns in Brockenhurst.

Setthorns Campsite, New Forest, Hants.

The last three weeks have been manic. Angela had the remains of her broken tooth extracted, then she contracted COVID and was very unwell for over a week, which meant she couldn't help John clean and decorate our bungalow in readiness for new tenants. But as always, everything just happens and as a reward we are taking Margery away for four nights.

So here we are, in the stunningly beautiful New Forest. Autumn is one of our favourite seasons to walk in the forest. The crowds of summer long gone, quieter more genteel folk are here, and us! Only one forest campsite is open all year, it has no facilities, which doesn't bother us, we have our sink and trusty boxio loo.

John as you know is keen on foraging mushrooms, and within five minutes of siting Margery he discovered a large Cep or Penny Bun plus a Hedgehog mushroom. They'll be in tomorrow's omelette!

What's great about the new forest is you can just park up and walk out, which is just what we did this afternoon. There's something peaceful about wandering amongst the trees.

Our life is busy at the moment, but we always find time to get away, and are already planning next year's trips. We are very conscious that you must 'go for it' in life and not leave plans until later. Later is not guaranteed!

Poole, Dorset

Our last night away, and it was the coldest. The night sky lit by diamonds. Fortunately we'd purchased the thermal wrap around cover for our pop top.

This morning as the first light of daybreak spread across the grass we were not surprised to see the first frost of autumn. Today was a big day for Angela. She was having her broken front tooth extracted. Which despite her nerves went well. Now she's going to really look the part for Halloween. The day we return home from our holiday is always a sad one. But today's our spirits were lifted as we stopped off at Thame to view a house. It's time for us to make plans, life won't wait.

First though, we have another rental house to prepare for a new tenant, luckily the outlay required won't be as expensive as the last time we did this. As for our holiday, our overnight costs for the last twenty three nights were £251.90. And we stayed at some wonderful spots didn't we Margery.

The Old Fisherman, Shabbington, Buckinghamshire

And breath! After yesterday's manic drive we spent today winding down. A walk and lunch out, a drive by of a house in Princes Risborough and a Chinese takeaway.

Our overnight stop, The Old Fisherman Pub alongside the River Thame at Shabbington, a village on the border with Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. Looking back on our Yorkshire trip we compare life down south to that in the north. Everything suddenly now seems frantic and hectic. Gone is the laid back, friendly quiet life. And as for 'cash only', it's now, 'card only'. The pub stop at The Old Fisherman is very convenient for us, and tonight Margery is the only van here tucked in a nice little spot away from the noise of the pub.

And unusually, we do not need to buy a drink, or eat a meal in the pub to stay here. Just put ten pounds in the donation box for Macmillan Cancer Support. We're happy with that, it's nice to know our money is going to a good cause. We are also pleased to have discovered this pub stop, as it's only three miles away from Angela's son in Thame, and as we don't stay with him on school nights, usually booking into the Travelodge, we have no need now. Margery tonight is all cosy with the thermal cover on we bought off Facebook, it's made a big difference now the nights are a little cooler, a real game changer.

Thame, Oxfordshire

Our last morning in Yorkshire, and it rained, a lot. It makes packing up a little more difficult, but not as difficult as it will be for the people with tents. Especially very large tents which will need erecting back at home to ensure they are totally dry before storing away. For them, camping may have just lost the fun factor. The weather conditions made for a miserable slow drive across country to Bradford. Now there's a depressing place. Blackened limestone damp looking Victorian houses, dual carriageways and lots of sets of traffic lights, and some of the worst driving ever. As soon as we reached the M1 we couldn't wait to stop at a service area and take a break. The unrelenting rain made for a slow onward drive, but eventually as we crossed the border into Buckinghamshire the sky brightened. Our time in Yorkshire had been spent at a leisurely pace, but today we needed to arrive at Tingewick by five o' clock to pick up our Facebook purchase, so the pressure had been on to keep driving without too many breaks. Our overnight arrangements also needed to be hastily changed as we were planning to return to Fir Tree camping at Warmington, where we stayed on the way up. So, after some rearranging of vehicles we spent the night on Angela's son's drive at Thame.

The fair was in town and we took a walk up, stopping to chat with old acquaintances and buy a chippy tea.

Although we were glad to be back in this area, The Yorkshire dales suddenly seemed a very long way away. Angela thinks it's time to plan another trip, so the research has begun!

Orcaber Farm Camping,Austwick,North Yorks

We had to make today count, it would be our last in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales this trip. With waterfalls to see, and the weather forecast this afternoon, showers we were away this morning in good time. The parking cost at the falls was a little steep, so we paid for two hours in the hope we'd be able to walk to both falls in that time. Catrigg force was at the top of a steep climb. Thankful we were only carrying day packs.

We slowly ascended the rutted path, stopping to look back on the stunning views across the dales. The green rolling hills peppered with grey granite stone walls and villages ran away from us. It was like looking at a vast model village.

 After negotiating the rugged path down to Catrigg Force we had to then retrace our steps back to Stainworth village where another path took us to Stainworth Foss.

Crossing a very narrow stone bridge barely wide enough for a very small car we happened upon the falls. The noise from the powerful fast moving water as it danced over the rocks was deafening.

Angela saw a salmon leap. Yes she did! Her first time ever. Like a small child she couldn't contain her delight. Then, John saw a salmon leap. This was turning out to be quite a morning. The rest of the afternoon was taken up with sorting out our onward journey. We are buying a thermal wrap around cover for Margery's pop top from Facebook market place, and we all know how complicated that is!

The cover will mean we'll be able to go away during the winter months for a night or two, probably to the New Forest which is less than an hour away from our house. This evening we're back at Orcaber Farm Camping just outside Settle. We've stayed here twice before, but never on a weekend. It is quite busy, and we're surprised at just how many families are here. Opposite us a family provided entertainment erecting their brand new, very large tent. They've never been camping before. Mum and the children are well into it not sure about dad and the dog.