Winter is a coming

We are well into our mini tour of the west and it was good to back on the
open road after a few static weeks in Sussex. It has been quite a whistle
stop trip so far with our first stop at Woodstock, a few miles west of
Oxford. It was a very nice site on the edge of the Blenheim Estate, and in
easy reach of Oxford by bus. I won't dwell on the price of buses too long,
but it cost £4.20 each for a return to cover the 7-mile trip. If we had
however used the park and ride it would have been considerably cheaper. The
only problem being that out of about 7 park and ride sites around the city,
only one has spaces for motorhomes and then only a measly 5 spaces. However,
Oxford was delightful, and very busy. Woodstock is a very pretty village,
but we chose against a visit into Blenheim as they charge the princely sum
of £14 each, not on our budget they don't!
After Woodstock it was only a few miles down the road to our next stop,
Burford. The site was situated a few miles out of town next to the Cotswold
Wildlife Park. In the evenings if we stood outside Noddy and closed our eyes
we almost imagined that we were back in the Kruger Park thanks to the
occasional roar of the lions. Feeling energetic we ventured out on the
bicycles, ashamedly the first time since being back in the UK, and had a
very pleasant ride via the country lanes into Burford. Burford is, like
Woodstock, a very pretty small town and was incredibly busy that afternoon.
The next small hop we took was to Cheltenham, and a site in the grounds of
the racecourse. Sadly there was no racing that weekend, but Elaine Page was
playing on the Sunday night, fitting location, no comment. Thankfully the
town centre is only 20 minutes walk from the racecourse so we were able to
stroll in and take in the sights. We spent the daily mainly touring the
shops on the high street as we had been there previously.
Noddy dictated our next point of call, Broadway, as he had an appointment at
the manufacturers in Willersey just down the road. We had a short list of
things that needed attention before the warranty ran out. Some were done but
we have got a return trip booked for later in the month to have the work in
the bathroom to be carried out. We were hoping to get it all done at once,
but as we had discovered additional problems we had to book in again.
Turning south we aimed for Cirencester and a site in walking distance of the
town in Cirencester Park. Since we have been here winter has started
knocking on the door. It was down to 1C outside, only 5C in Noddy, last
night and is only getting up to about 7C or 8C in the day. We have wandered
into town the last two mornings through the park. The park and the town are
very picturesque especially with the clear, sunny if cold days. We have been
at Cirencester now for a couple of days and head off tomorrow to Exmoor.
Should be nice and warm there!
Our main highlight coming up is on the 9th, a half day Land Rover Experience
at Honiton. We get our hands on a Defender for the afternoon for some off
road fun, can't wait.

Cheers for now
M&S