Today saw a change of caravan site as I make my way vaguely in the direction of Essex for the weekend. One of the major reasons for changing to campervans was the fact I can easily move on and visit attractions on the way, in this case that was Amberley Working Museum.
By comparison to Beamish, etc. it's quite a small place (still 36 acres) with a bit of a mixture of exhibits. Being mid-week, and with a heavy reliance on volunteers, not everything was open of course. It would have been great to see the bodger and other greenwood crafts at work.
The people who were about were pleasant and chatty though, and I enjoyed the visit. The site is an old chalk pit, mainly used for lime production, so the first activity of the day was to take a ride up the quarry line behind a small Hunslet narrow gauge diesel. The "toast rack" coaches (so called because that's what they resemble) came from a closed railway on the Isle of Man. One of the unlabeled exhibits at the top is a semi-derelict standard gauge tank engine. I did look to see if it was a Peckett, it could be but no maker's plates were in evidence.
After lunch, the Ham, Chicken and Leek pie was delicious but it was all cold, I decided I'd seen everything. I then made the mistake of going in to Horsham as I needed a few supplies. Having just about negotiated my way in to the car park (and had a panic when around three floors up there was a sign saying the height restriction above level 3 was even lower, it turned out that three floors up is level 1, go figure) I wandered round what is supposed to be a nice market town. I could literally have been anywhere in the country.
Without the aid of the SatNav though I found Sainsbugs and got the necessaries, mainly bread rolls or no breakfast butties. It was only a few miles further to the caravan site at Slinfold. I did wonder if I'd gone wrong as the site is a fair way up a narrow lane. It's one of the smaller sites in the Club network, and is run by volunteer wardens. Due to size and spacing issues I was allocated a pitch, that's fine with me, on this site it makes little difference. A while later while sitting in the 'van reading and relaxing one of the wardens did come up and asked if I wanted to borrow a chair to sit out! I thanked her but said I do actually have one. I was actually quite happy in the shade with a breeze cooking through the open doors, still it was really thoughtful.
The pub is only about a half mile walk away, I was in two minds about eating there (although I'd also got a salad in the fridge), however the chef didn't turn up. They're supposed to serve food from six, it was nearer seven thirty when they started taking orders. I decided not to bother but might come back tomorrow.
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