Pickering Arms, Thelwall, Warrington

Pack your kilt Muddy Marge. No not the one that's like a pelmet, something more respectable please. We don't want to be shocking the Scots.

The past nine months have been so busy for us. Three rental houses to make good, and a house move from Poole to Oxfordshire. We are whacked, both physically & mentally, but the thought of this Scottish road trip has powered us through. 

A later start than expected, we decided to head to Thelwall, just off the M6 to The Pickering Arms, a charming pub where we overnighted enroute to Scotland in Marge II three years ago. As always when heading north, a stop at Stafford services to break the journey where we were surprised to see a RAF helicopter in mid transportation. Since our last visit to The Pickering Arms, ownership has changed.

We enjoyed a delicious meal whilst being entertained by two women dining opposite. 'Those, black bins. What are they all about?' Then straight into a conversation about truffles. Angela loves these characters.

A few more characters in the form of comic tiles from the 1970's in the gents loo!

Tomorrow we will cross into Scotland. And we can't wait!

The Cottage Loaf, Thurstaston, Wirral

Today is December 27th. Although the Christmas holiday runs into the weekend this year many people like ourselves were back on the road. Mindful of the possibility of heavy slow moving traffic ahead we left Thame by mid morning. Not far into our journey traffic slowed as we approached the exit for Bicester village outlet shopping area. From then on the traffic moved, albeit steadily. Mindful of possible traffic delays on the M6 we decided to cut across country at Birmingham.

Our destination The Cottage Loaf public house at Thurstaston on the Wirral. Near to the Wirral country park this characterful pub is popular, especially with camper vans and motorhomes as overnight stay is allowed in the large flat car park for ten pounds a night, or free if eating in the pub. John's daughter lives around twenty minutes away so we arranged to meet her and her husband for a meal and a catch up. A Saturday on Christmas weekend, we expected the pub to be busy, but it was not. So our family time was relaxed and unhurried as well as enjoyable. Four other vans kept Margery company. As followers of our blog may remember, we always like to take a little holiday over the new year. This year we have booked an Airbnb on Anglesey, North Wales. We are around two hours drive away so no need to rush off early on the morning.

Setthorns Campsite, New Forest

Well here we are again Margery. Setthorns is the only new forest campsite open now. It's back to basics here though. No toilets or showers, so you can't book on to the site unless you have your own loo. Our reason for being here is not that we're some sort of crazy people who would rather sleep in a van in the woods as temperatures plummet, but because today is the day a kilo, or thereabouts, of new forest venison is purchased from a local butcher. Christmas may have begun in retail, but to us it doesn't begin until the venison is bought. Last night was very cold. Tonight slightly warmer. But we should be all cosy in Margery. Chilli con carne for dinner. Ginger wine, another Christmas tradition for Angela, and new teddy bear bedding should keep us well snuggly. This afternoon John discovered some large hedgehog mushrooms.

The carpeting of the surrounding ground by the large brown fallen leaves of the sweet chestnut trees makes it difficult to spot the mushrooms. We know they are out there somewhere. A week ago we were in Turkey wearing shorts and t-shirts. Today warm coats and hats. That aside, for us being away somewhere makes us happy. 

Footnote: The teddy bear bedding was a success, we were well warm.

Poole, Dorset

We couldn't go home without stopping for another walk out and more coffee and cake. So we took the short drive from our campsite down the coast to Hengisbury Head.

Autumn has well and truly established itself now, and as we walked among the trees the leaves of fiery orange, reds and purple looked beautiful. Sadly though our walk over, it was time to return home. Time to plan another holiday we think!

Setthorns Campsite New Forest. (Day 4)

Our few days staying in the new forest are flying by. Today we once again walked to Brockenhurst. We love the village, and never tire of it.  We also love the scones baked fresh every morning in one of the tea rooms.

(Last time stayed at Holland's Wood was in our Landy Muddy Marge)

(The same spot today with the campsite shut)

And another pastime we love, is walking around the closed Holland's Wood campsite. It's very tranquil, and with many grey squirrels for company, we gathered mushrooms, whilst they gathered acorns. Everyone was happy.

(Orange Oak Boletes, slightly toxic so cook well!)

Especially John who left with quite a haul. As we made our way out of the village we stopped at the wilting brambles to pick the very last of the blackberries before walking back along the disused railway line back to Margery, stopping once for Angela to dive into the bushes, scrutinised by a judgemental cow who paused from eating fallen acorns to check she abided by the countryside code with regard to relieving oneself in the wild.

This evening as the sun sat on the horizon the sky was ablaze with colours of red, orange and purple. What a stunning sunset. If the weather holds, and it doesn't become too cold, we hope to return to the Setthorns campsite for a few days in November. Walking is beneficial to your mental health, it allows you to process the junk in your head. With so much going on in our lives at the moment we think some processing will probably be in order again soon.

Steps: 27,500

Setthorns Campsite New Forest. (Day 3)

Oh dear, Angela's Hen of the Woods find didn't make it to the frying pan this morning, the maggots had got to it first. But no matter, by the end of today John would forage a good crop of edible fungi (Beech Boletes and Cauliflower Fungi).

Burley was our destination today, a round walk of twelve miles, of which a short distance involved walking alongside the edge of a busy road which was a little unerving.

But as they say ' no pain no gain'. The gain most definitely delicious dorset apple cake and a cream tree upon our arrival at the popular little New Forest village of Burley.

Popular because most of the shops appeal to lovers of witchcraft, sorcery, crystals and of course tea rooms.

Not wanting to have to walk too much alongside the busy road on the return leg, John consulted O.S. maps and we found a route that ran alongside the road, albeit over some boggy ground at times. Tired from a second day of walking twelve miles we were glad to set up our outside gas grill, cook our venison burgers purchased yesterday, and sit out.

As darkness fell, not a sound could be heard. We could get used to this, where we live in Poole it is so noisy. Some good news there though. Our house went up for sale today. Now another adventure begins for us.

Steps 29,500