I’m stopping at the CAMC site on the edge of Cheddar (hence the title) and as usual I looked for somewhere to break the journey, on this occasion it was the REME museum near Lyneham. I’d loaded most of the ‘van yesterday so just needed to put the coolbox and a couple of other things in. First problem, the coolbox wouldn’t run on the 12v leisure battery. All the signs are that battery was flat which is a bit odd as there’s a 110w solar panel on the roof to keep it charged. I later checked the charge controller and it isn’t showing any problem but I’m wondering if there’s an iffy connection. It’s not a problem for this trip as it’ll be on mains electric on site and the battery certainly seemed fully charged after the run down.
The museum is fairly typical of such places with interesting stories and displays about a part of the army that doesn’t really get the headlines but which is crucial in supporting the fighting units. It’s worth noting that the first REME units went ashore on D Day just 20 minutes after the initial landings, and possibly before that, with the crucial role of keeping the routes off the beaches clear of any damaged vehicles - their main role is the repair and recovery of vehicles, electronics, etc.
When is a tank not a tank? When it’s been converted for recovery with a dummy turret and gun to make it look like a fighting vehicle.
I found the range of vehicles they’ve used over the years to be quite fascinating, from early Morris commercials through converted tanks and some specialist vehicles.
The 6x4 Scammel Pioneer had other roles but it’s ability to cross difficult terrain was invaluable during WW II.
How do you know it’s a a Scammel? It’s got two humps!
There’s a huge difference between peacetime civilian engineering and the wartime military - the latter can’t just order a special tool from the vehicle manufacturer and wait for it to arrive! This make do attitude also extended to other areas, they had two of these recovery wagons custom built for the exercise ranges in Canada.
Big Red - Painted that colour in the hope that gunners on live firing exercises wouldn’t use it as a target!
I ended my visit, inevitably, with coffee and cake in the Museum cafe, very good they were too, before heading off towards Somerset. I don’t know what was going on but over the course of the drive down I had two near misses where vehicles pulled out in front of me, one necessitating me standing on the brakes very hard, and saw a third when an ambulance had to go the wrong side of the road at a junction and a Discovery pulled straight across in front of it then panicked and stopped in the middle of the road! Fortunately the ambulance had enough room to get round. The SatNav was also in a funny mood, I’d got it set on Eco Route as usual but that seemed to involve skirting the edge of Swindon instead of using the M4 then taking me through the middle of Bristol instead of the M5 (I did catch a glimpse of the SS Great Britain). It didn’t matter, except my left leg objects to too much clutch usage these days, and at least my ‘van is clean air zone friendly.
Checking in at the site was, as usual, easy enough as I’d paid in advance (late last night as it happens) and there wasn’t not much to choose between the available pitches. They do ask campervans and motorhomes to mark their pitches if they go out so nobody else tries to use the same pitch, I’ve got a very nice pitch marker that slips over the number peg with bungee cord, it’s currently sitting on the kitchen table at home! So I bought yet another sign (I think this is the fourth one) and used a a guy rope from the sun shade to secure it in place.
After lunch I settled down to watch the Premiership Rugby final - Saints’ first one since they won it ten years ago. One slight annoyance, I’d brought the small iPad planning to hot spot it off the mobile but the ITV X app refused to believe I was in England and wouldn’t play so I had to watch the match on the phone. I won’t go into details but I did get excited a few times - although I had to calm down due to the limited headroom in the ‘van as I managed to hit the roof, literally!
We haven’t made things easy for ourselves at times this season and it happened again, despite playing against 14 for much of the game after Bath had a red card after 20 minutes or so but Saints found that extra something when it counted to win so I’m a happy bunny tonight. I celebrated by wandering into Cheddar itself and having a couple of pints of Gorge Best from Cheddar Brewery - nice to see a craft brewer producing a genuine, and very nice, Best Bitter. I did consider having dinner there but there wasn’t really much on the menu that I fancied so in strolled back to the site for the evening.
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