Bristol - Day 5

We packed up and went home today. We were in no hurry so didn't leave till about 10.

The journey was pretty uneventful - we stopped once at Knutsford services, and made it home by about 5pm.

Bristol - Day 4

All six of us went for a walk today. We drove in 2 cars to Wedmore in Somerset and parked near the village centre.

Our walk took us down onto the Somerset Levels, a big area of managed wetland. On the way down we passed a farm with goats.

Down on the levels we went for a large circular walk. There are lots of waterways dividing the various fields, some of which are cultivated and others are grass and scrub.

After a bit of road walking we came across a kind of rally for classic Messerschmitt cars, where we stopped for lunch.

As we approached Wedmore again we went uphill, past a vineyard and a highpoint with a view over to Cheddar.

Once we got back to the cars, we drove to the Crown Inn near Winscombe for a drink.

Once back home in Totterdown we decided to get an Indian takeaway delivered for dinner. Onion bhaji to start, then Scott had buttered lamb, and Shirley had Chicken Saag. The lamb dish was a bit strange, with a thin, sweet sauce, but both were tasty.

Bristol - Day 3

Five of us went for a walk today - us and Barry, Pete and Jenny. After a lazy morning we went in our car to pick Jenny up from her work in Clifton at 12.30.

We drove to Wotton-under-Edge, and first went for a coffee in The Edge coffee shop.

We then went for a walk partly on the Cotswold way, first up Wotton Hill.

We then went round to the Tyndale Monument, a tower which you can climb to the top of.

We went back down by a circular route mainly through woodland. We finally approached Wotton-under-Edge along a river bank.

We drove to the Salutation Inn in Ham for a drink, then back to Totterdown.

Later Barry and Tamsin made us all dinner - vegetarian spaghetti Bolognese, followed by blackberries with crushed ginger biscuits and cream.

Bristol - Day 2

We went into Bristol with Barry in the morning. First we caught the bus across town to Whiteladies Road. We had a coffee in the Boston Tea Party coffee shop.

Then Scott went into the Ellis Brigham shop to have a look at some walking boots.

We went for a walk across the Downs, to the viewpoint overlooking the Avon Gorge and the Clifton suspension bridge.

We carried on walking over to the north side of the Downs, into the Sneyd Park district. We had a look at the ruin of what looked like an old church, which was basically in the garden of a block of flats.

A bit further on was the Bishop's Knowle "secret garden", an overgrown ornamental garden of a manor house/hospital which is now demolished.

The garden led down to Bennett's Patch, an area of grassland which has some artworks which are starting to get reclaimed by nature.

We made our way back to Whiteladies Road and bought ourselves a sandwich from Sainsburys, and sat on a bench to eat it.

After this we caught a bus back to Totterdown.

Later the six of us went out to dinner. We walked down to the Kings Head pub and had a drink first, then went to Marco's Olive Branch restaurant.

Shirley had a Smoke Mob pizza (mushrooms, smoked cheese, blue cheese and pancetta) and Scott had a Calzone with smoked salmon, mascarpone and avocado.

Bristol - Day 1

We left the house just after 8 in the morning to drive south in the car to Bristol. Oscar was a very good traveller and gave us no problems on the way. We only stopped once, at Keele services on the M6.

We arrived at Barry's house in Totterdown in Bristol just after 3pm. We unpacked from the car into the bedroom we were staying in.

Oscar needed a walk so we went down to Victoria Park, the weather was quite sunny and warm.

We bought some supplies from Tesco, then got ready for dinner.

We had been invited next door to Pete and Jenny's house where, along with Barry and Tamsin, we had buckwheat pie, couscous tabbouleh and salad, followed by fruit crumble.

After the meal we all went to the Constitution Club on Wells Road for a drink. Oscar came with us, as he'd been left on his own in the house while we had dinner.

Cumbria Trip - Day 5

On our last day the weather forecast wasn't great, so we drove straight home, arriving in early afternoon.

Cumbria Trip - Day 4

We walked from the site in the morning. Unfortunately the river path into Kirkby Lonsdale is closed because of erosion, so we had to go via the streets. On the other side of town we crossed the River Lune at Devil's Bridge.

We then walked along lanes, paths and fields, some containing very interested cows.

Our destination was the top of Brownthwaite Pike, which had a convenient stone shelter as it was pretty windy up there.

After eating some lunch there we went on to a slightly higher, unnamed peak which had a trig point.

We descended in a big loop, via the village of Brabon, where we had another sandwich stop on a bench outside the church.

Our route back followed the course of the River Lune, through fields, round a golf course, and through a game bird farm.

Back in Kirkby Lonsdale we bought some shopping in Booths, then went for a drink at the Kirkby Lonsdale Brewery taproom, which was very good.

Later back at the van we had beef chilli and rice for dinner.

Cumbria Trip - Day 3

We packed up and left the site. We were heading for Kirkby Lonsdale, but decided to visit Barrow-in-Furness first, mainly because neither of us had been there before.

Once we got to the end of the peninsula we drove around a bit and discovered there wasn't much to see or do in the docks area. After looking at the map we decided to drive across the bridge onto Walney Island, and then on to the coast on the far side.

This turned out to be a great idea, as the was a huge grass area and beach where Oscar could get a good off-lead run around.

We then headed for the centre of town and parked in Market Street car park. Leaving Oscar in the van we went to the shops and ended up at Greggs for our lunch.

Some of the buildings were quite impressive.

We drove on to Kirkby Lonsdale and checked in to our site. It was another C&CC Temporary Site, this time at the Rugby Club. It is £30 for 2 nights, with an extra £10 for electric hookup. Toilets and showers are available in the club changing rooms.

For dinner we had ratatouille and couscous.

Cumbria Trip - Day 2

We caught the bus from Coniston to Ambleside in the morning, planning to walk back. The bus had some difficulty getting past lorries on the single-track road near Hawkshead, but we got there eventually only a bit late.

Ambleside was very busy with tourists. We had a short browse round the shops then set off walking towards Coniston.

On the way there were loads of gates, stiles and steps of every different type.

It wasn't a flat walk, it went steeply up at the start, back down again, then up to Tarn Hows at the other end.

Eventually we descended to Coniston Water and made our way back to the site.

The walk was about 16km, with 450 metres of ascent.

Later for dinner we made pasta with cherry tomatoes, bacon and spinach.