After a quiet couple of weeks catching up with friends and family we hit the road again, heading West for a couple of weeks to explore. First stop was Cirencester, where Keith had fancied visiting for a little while, but we just hadn’t got round to it.

As it wasn’t too far – and we always like catching up with them if we have the chance – we asked Pete and Liz (and Monty of course) if they fancied joining us, so an added bonus.

The Caravan Club Site is just a mile outside Cirencester on the edge of Bathhurst Estate, which is a beautiful park to walk through, in addition to offering a selection of fantastic wooden sculptures which were dotted around it. One being a rather emaciated camel and one of the most detailed totempoles with every possible animal carved into it.

The town itself was also beautiful, with lots of wonderful boutiques, deli’s, cafes and interesting looking restaurants. We had also heard of a recent opening of a ‘Pig’ just outside the town, which having wanted to try the one in the New Forest for a while, we tried on the Wednesday night. The hotel and restaurant were in what appeared to be a beautiful old Cotswold stone Manor house – from what we could see anyway as it was dark – and appeared to have been renovated impeccably. The restaurant was welcoming, and the menu, although small was ample, with the food being sourced from with 25 miles.

Three nights fly by when you are with good company and in a beautiful place, and it was unfortunately far too quickly time to say goodbye to Pete and Liz, with them heading back home and us on to Clevedon…. our next little stop.

Clevedon is a bit of a random place that most people probably would never have heard of, or come to. I was looking for somewhere not too far from Bath/Cirencester and not being particularly keen on my memories of Weston-Super-mere, found that Clevedon has the only Grade 1 listed pier in the UK which sounded interesting….and we both have a bit of a soft spot for a ‘ferociously moody’ sea….a bonus considering the Storm Eowyn was hitting hard…. and thats without mentioning the arrival of Herminia, which was biting at its heels just after it left.

We had found a CL at the golf course, which despite selecting the pitch right by the first Tee, was pretty quiet..and I was met by smiles from the handful of hardy golfers on Sunday morning at 7:30am as I headed out for a walk and they headed onto the course – both of us trying to beat the 50mph winds and torrential rain due by 9am!

The architecture is beautiful, and the ‘Village’ has a quirky – in a lovely way – little selection of shops, restaurants, deli’s and cafes. Although we only explored part of the area, what we saw of the walking and cycling was lovely… and if you are up for it, there were a few people having a swim in the open air pool on the front each morning at around 8am.

Once again, three days flew by…. literally with the wind! And it was soon time to move on to another new campsite for us – although a very well known location – Bristol.

We know Bristol pretty well, and have friends here so have visited recently but it wasn’t the same as staying in the campsite which is right in the center of the town on the south bank of the river.

The views out over to the multi coloured houses perched up on the hill as you came out the campsite were beautiful, especially at sun rise when the pink rays lit everything up to its best.

Having a little more time to explore the area, we spent it wandering around the docks which was all new to us, with a huge aray of containers that have been transformed into a variety of incredible eateries, specialist boutiques and artisan shops including bakeries, butchers, fishmongers and clothes shops…somewhere you could spend a lot of time eating!!

We have friends up in Clifton Village, who because of our proximity, we were able to spend a good amount of time catching up with rather than just a couple of hours over a coffee – all in all, a lovely few days, just a shame that they are most probably shutting the site in the next couple of months as we would have come back to explore more.

Our last stop of this little trip was Bath, where we had once again booked back into the Marina Campsite which enabled us to catch up with old friends before coming back ‘home’ again. A lovely trip away, taking in some fantastic new places with a variety of different scenery… and it was nice to see the sea again, even though it was a little grey!

There has been a fair bit of cooking going on and several new recipes, so here are the ones that are our ‘keepers’
– No Flour – Seed and Cottage Cheese Bread – Thank you Nicky and Rich for a deliciously ‘nutty’ flavoured Gluten free bread… a great Gluten Free option…or just tasty!
– Shredded Greens Coconut Curry – A riverford recipe full of warmth and flavour
– Red Thai Curry and Sweet Potato Soup – A big bowl of flavour and love for a cold, windy day
– Mushroom Wellington – easy veggie/vegan wellington full of flavour
– Herby Greens and Lentil Pasta – very quick and easy pasta dish full of goodness
– Pea and Courgette Tart – an interesting and tasty alternative to a shortcrust pastry tart case
– Catalan Cod – quick and easy, flavoursom dish
– Mixed Bean Chilli Potato Pie – great alternative for someone who doesn’t like too much heat, but enjoy the roundness of flavour

and finally, the map…. just in time before we head off again!!