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Tuesday 8th April 2025.

Today we drove a relatively short distance to Miranda Do Douro which is a town perched high above the Douro river it is one of the most easterly towns in Portugal, on the opposite bank of the river is Spain.

We are parked on a quiet road (apart from the cobbled surface) against the walls of the town a few metres away from one of the entrance archways.

From the top of the walls I was able to take further photos of our stopover and its magnificent views.

Miranda Do Douro was founded around 1286 and in 1545 it was elevated to city status. In 1762 during the 7 year war with Spain the army of Charles III invaded and a barn with about 500 barrels of gunpowder was hit by cannon fire blowing up the 4 towers of the castle and the surrounding neighbourhoods. Approximately one third of the cities population died approx 400 people. Thankfully now the city is a prosperous place to live.

The Cathedral is an imposing 16th century building , work is currently taking place to restore stonework.

We had a walk around the quiet streets of the town enjoying some of its other buildings and sights.

Of course the afternoon wouldn’t have been complete without a small drink.

Monday 7th/Tuesday 8th April 2025.

It was a relatively easy drive from Leon to Braganca, once on the main dual carriageway I was able to put Homer in cruise control and didn’t need to touch a pedal for 70 miles.

We are parked up below the Citadel of Braganca where there are a series of Free to stay car parks dedicated to motorhomes with free services.

Monday afternoon Michelle and I walked into the town to explore the old quarter, there were a variety of interesting buildings but it was hot work in full sunshine and a refreshing drink was required.

The evening weather was wonderful and we ate outside.

Tuesday morning.

Early morning we walked up to the Citadel, which was the site of a succession of forts before Fernando Mendes, brother in law to King Alfonso Henriques, built a walled citadel here in 1130, like its predecessors it was named Brigantia.

Within the walls still stands Sancho 1 castle built in 1187 with its watchtower and dungeons.

Across the square from the castle is the church of Santa Maria.

It was enjoyable to walk around whilst not full of tourists, and I enjoyed the fact it was still a part of modern life with people living inside the walls of the citadel.

Sunday 6th April 2025.

We travelled approx 160 miles from Santander to Leon to a free motorhome aire provided by. the city with facilities.

Leon is a city on the Bernesga River in north west Spain,it is the capital of the Province of Leon, it’s home to many churches and cathedrals noted for their architecture and art. Among them is the Gothic 13th century Cathedral de Leon, with its towers and flying buttresses. The Romanesque 10th century Basilica de San Isidoro is known for its frescoes and royal tombs.

These buildings along with other old architecture are concentrated in one area of Leon and the streets are thronged with street cafes. Being a Sunday thankfully there were very few shops open. It was hot work sight seeing so we had to indulge in a little light refreshment .

We walked into the old quarter via the old town gate in the castle walls, I believe you can walk on part of the walls, there is a strange piece of sculpture inside the gate.

A few extra photos taken on our walk around.

After a quite tiring few days we were quite happy to put our feet up for the evening.

Friday/Saturday/Sunday 4th-6th April 2025.

We headed down to Portsmouth on Friday afternoon meeting up with travel buddies Alison and Peter at Port Solent.

Port Solent is a marina and leisure area with a cinema, shops, restaurants and bars it is only a few miles from the ferry port at Portsmouth so it was a good stopping off place. We had a meal at Wetherspoons before moving on to the port.

We were travelling on the Santona from Portsmouth to Santander in northern Spain, sadly people travelling with dogs were the last to board which was annoying. We had a dog friendly cabin which was adequate for our needs.

We met up in the bar for a nightcap and left when the entertainer began singing, didn’t sleep brilliantly well but there was no rush to get up. Midday on Saturday Michelle and I went to the bar lounge area and consumed a picnic we had taken with us.

After lunch we went up onto the top deck, weather was glorious and much to our surprise we could see the coast of Brittany.

We spent a little time in the sunshine marvelling at how calm the sea was.

We opted for an evening meal together in the restaurant where the menu had a French bias, the starter buffet was admired by all and enjoyed by Alison and Peter.

After the meal we went to the bar for another drink only to be driven out by another entertainer who equated loud singing as good singing.

We were up early Sunday morning and were just in time to take a few photos as we entered Santander, it was still dawn and the lighthouses were flashing.

It took an age to get off the ferry and out of the port but eventually we were out on the open road which for the whole of the journey was relatively traffic free, we arrived at tonight’s stop in Leon northern Spain around midday.

March 21st-24th 2025.

We had chosen to visit this site to meet up with motorhome buddies Alison and Peter who were attending a Caravan and Camping Photographic Group meet, something they join in on several times a year. We were grateful that the Photographic Group allowed us to join them and even though we didn’t involve ourselves in the activities it was good to meet new people.

We were last at this site two years ago and didn’t leave with the best of impressions so I’m pleased to say this time we found the site to be well maintained and organised.

For those with dogs or who just enjoy a ramble there is direct access to Delamere Forest with its abundance of nature and there are also activity areas such as Go Ape.

A few hundred metres from the site is Delamere Railway Station and on Saturday morning we caught the train from there to Chester.

It is only a short journey, two stops to Chester, there is no ticket office at Delamere and it’s best to book on line before you travel. The train there was full and it was standing room only, outside Chester Station was a shuttle bus to the city shopping area which we took advantage of.

Chester is of course a City with a long history, Saturdays are not the best day to explore that aspect walking the City Walls etc and we limited ourselves to the main shopping areas and the Cathedral. The weather was warm and pleasant and we were able to have lunch outside a street cafe.

Of course it wouldn’t be a trip away with out the obligatory photo of Layla and I sitting outside whilst Michelle explored the cathedral.

Sadly I spent the weekend suffering from a heavy cough and cold and didn’t have the energy to explore the area as it deserves.

Sunday wasn’t such a pleasant day but we did enjoy a visit from our daughter Steph and her husband Will with their dog Pippin.

We managed to spend some time with Alison and Peter catching up on news etc and also exchanging some information and plans for our forthcoming trip ( watch this space.)

Sunday 2nd February 2025.

We are staying tonight in the grounds of The Beckford Inn a 18th century Cotswold coaching inn in the village of Beckford near Tewksbury.

It is owned and run by Butcombe Brewery and sells their own beer at the bar as well as serving good food in its restaurant and bar. You can if you wish stay in in one of it’s 12 en-suite bedrooms.

We woke up today to a much sunnier day, still cold enough to need a warm coat but pleasant to walk around in. As our journey today was only 22 miles we stopped off at Broadway which was en route, and spent an hour wandering around popping into Edinburgh Nylon Mill for a few items.

We had booked in at The Beckford for Sunday lunch, we have several times before enjoyed a Sunday roast at other Butcombe pubs and today we weren’t disappointed again, they do a marvellous large Yorkshire pud. We are members of their loyalty club and if you pay for a meal around your birthday they allow you £20 worth of drinks so that was very acceptable.

If you have a meal in the Inn and you inform them in advance they allow you to stay overnight in their extension car park, which we took advantage of.

Jan 31st – Feb 1st 2025.

We are spending a few nights at this site on the outskirts of Moreton in Marsh a pleasant town in the Cotswolds, this is our third visit so we must like it 😊

Pitches are large and come with electric hook up , we are about 10m away from a pitch we stayed on 7 years ago. Layla was a tiny puppy and couldn’t get down the step, so early in the morning I picked her up to take her out, it was a frosty morning, the step was covered in ice and my feet went out from under me and I ended up on the floor with a broken wrist. Our 2 night stay extended to 6 nights and our son in law Will had to come and drive us home. I might just about have forgiven Layla 🤣

Today Feb 1st is my 77th birthday and we are celebrating with a visit to the Cotswolds. My sister and brother in law, Joan and Brian have driven over from their home near Banbury to join us in a birthday meal.

We had a table booked at The Black Bear and seated by a roaring log fire we had a pleasant meal chatting and putting the world to rights.

After lunch we had a walk up and down the High Street which has a variety of individual shops and lots of eateries many of which are dog friendly. One of the shops is very large and sells very different furniture and other items not often seen elsewhere.

On the way back to the van we stopped off at a wonderful cheeses shop where I bought a local goat cheese flavoured with garlic and herbs and a sourdough baguette. We put these along with some very flavoursome dipping oils that my sister bought me for my birthday and a Saint Agur we had in the fridge, to create a very pleasant evening meal.

We also bought from the cheese shop two empty wooden cheese containers to use as display items, donating £1 each to the RNLI.

Dec 31st 2024 to Jan 2nd 2025.

Market Drayton, Shropshire.

We are staying at Orchard CL Camp site within walking distance of Market Drayton, we were last here in July 2023.

For Dec 31st , Peter had booked a table for lunch in The Red Lion in Market Drayton at the Joules Brewery so we walked from the site along a farm track ( for want of a better description) this brings you to the edge of town.

We had some time to spend before lunch so the inevitable visit to charity shops ensued, seemed to be about the only shops open, where both Alison and Michelle found items to purchase.

Again we had a very pleasant lunch, accompanied by their beer, at the Red Lion in the Mouseman Room, there’s plenty of info on the website plus our blog from last July showing the carvings in more detail.

Feeling replete we had a slow walk back to the site , we had been accompanied by blustery wind all day and as we arrived back it began to rain. The rain lashed down from then until about 7 am this morning.

Thankfully although the road had deep puddles the grass area is very firm.

After lunch today, New Year’s day we went for a 4 mile walk, initially along a country lane, growing in the fields around the area was a grass like crop, which I discovered later was reed grass.

This grass is grown on wet areas of farmland, it can be used as animal feed, animal bedding, as biomass fuel and even in fibre board for construction, very versatile.

The lane led to the Shropshire Union Canal at Tyrley lock.

We continued our walk by following the tow path which was extremely muddy and after a short while at a bridge the towpath and the canal were blocked off. We managed to scramble up a bank and onto a footpath which we followed across fields keeping the canal nearby until eventually the road was blocked by a farm gate. We climbed over and followed a farm road past a large poultry farm until we reached the main road back, sadly that was blocked by a large tall gate but thankfully a kind local resident let us through.

It was a wet and muddy walk and it rained quite heavily for a while but we survived. Our first adventure of 2025.

December 28th-30th.

We have met up with our travelling buddies Alison and Peter for our annual New Year’s eve get together, if Covid hadn’t intervened this would have been our 8th such meeting. It was very damp and drizzly on our arrival so we didn’t do anything on Saturday just caught up on news as we hadn’t been together since October.

Sunday morning it was dry and sunny and we walked into Shrewsbury, it wasn’t too busy with pedestrians and so it was pleasant to walk around and view the old buildings.

I’ve never heard of Shrewsbury Cakes before, further research obviously required, and maybe tasting.

The previous afternoon on a walk around the site both Peter and I found what we had thought of as waterproof walking shoes wasn’t the case, we both ended up with wet feet. As a result a trip to Go Outdoors in Shrewsbury became a must and new walking shoes were purchased. The ladies visited other shops but no purchases were made.

We walked down to the River Severn and found a restaurant to have a light lunch, very tasty too broccoli and stilton soup with fresh rolls.

Very close to the restaurant is the beautiful parkland known as The Quarry, part of it was very busy with families having a great time on the playground.

Another pleasant area of The Quarry is an enclosed garden area known as The Dingle.

After leaving The Quarry we took a leisurely walk back through the town centre and back to the campsite which is situated alongside the river.

Today after a few domestic duties we drove to a nearby Aldi to stock up on a few essentials an then we drove to Dagfields Antiques centre. Here we spent about three hours wandering around its many buildings sometimes you find treasure, sometimes not, Michelle added to her collection of Poole pottery. as did Alison.

Sunday 10th November 2024.

Yesterday Michelle received a message from our youngest daughter Steph inviting us to join in on a family walk around Apley Woods near Telford. Sounded a great idea, we’d never been there before so today we all met up at 10.30am on a pleasant sunny autumn day.

It would have been interesting to have seen the original building or it’s footings after it had been demolished but sadly there wasn’t anything to see.

The area of the woods isn’t huge but the paths wound round through woodland, around the lake and across a grassy meadow along with a picnic stop for the boys we were there for a few hours.

We finished the day with a visit to a local Costa where cake and hot drinks were consumed, a great day out.