I have done a little bit of work on the ‘van. I improved and tidied the water systems earlier in the year to reduce spillage when travelling. I sorted a couple of inside issues including putting more substantial screws in the locker top, and the spare wheel is now accessible without having to resort to an angle grinder to cut the bracket off. The only thing I’d planned to do this year and haven’t is fit a solar panel; with the limited time away there didn’t seem much point so I’ll save that for next year.
Once it became clear Scotland wouldn’t be happening, and as campsites were given the go ahead to reopen, I decided to go to Derbyshire instead, just managing to get the site booking sorted before they were full. I stuck with that, my only concern being just how busy it would get, until an alternative suggestion came from my social bubble of visiting Laurel Park Campsite in Lincolnshire for a few days. I cancelled Derbyshire (fortunately provided you give 3 days notice the Caravan Club allows this) and booked the Club site at Grafham Water to follow on from Lincolnshire.
In the way of things this year of course the plans still didn’t quite come to fruition. Illness has meant that the other two thirds of the bubble are stuck at home and I’m here on my own. It’s a shame but I’ll cope of course, nice though it would have been to have company. The overriding plan for being away this year was to use the bike more and the ‘van less, and I saw no reason to not stick with that, so the intention is to not drive once pitched on site. I’ll report how I get on over the next few days.
I was looking for somewhere to go on my way to the site and picked on Castle Acre Priory as being worth a visit (a couple of other options were either not open or, in the case of the Nene Valley Railway, operating a limited service). It’s an interesting enough spot, sadly the Prior’s House, the only extant building, is undergoing repair to the flint walls and is barriered off. It wasn’t a huge Priory compared to many, 39 monks at its largest, which does mean you get a good overall view of the layout without walking miles. Being a Cluniac house the buildings were highly decorated to the glory of God but the life was austere.
The first photo was actually taken from outside the fence around the site. You have to prebook at the moment and I’d opted for 11 but was somewhat early so went for a wander, not that it really mattered.
This picture is the biggest Netty (as they’re known in the North East) I’ve ever seen! It was two storeys of long drop toilets with the waste carried away by a stream diverted from the nearby river. The upper storey was connected by a bridge to the Dorter, or dormitory, whilst the ground floor was used during the day. There were individual cubicles but there’s no evidence they had doors.
From there I headed to the campsite but being a bit early stopped off in Long Sutton for a pint and a sandwich. It looks like it will repay a longer wander round so I’ll cycle over in the next couple of days. I did note there’s a nice solid bike park in the centre, an essential feature.
The campsite is fantastic, it’s fairly small but friendly. They do rent out fire baskets (and the slab to stand them on) but as it’s just me I shan’t bother. If the rest of the bubble had come though we’d definitely be BBQing. They’ve closed a couple of facilities due to C-19 and decided that rather than having M, F and Family toilets all are available to everyone but only 1 group can use each at a time so in practice you may have to wait for someone to exit before going in. It’s workable on a site this size and I’ve always got my own.
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