Our First Post-Lockdown Adventure
With the country slowly opening itself up again after grinding to a halt since March, we thought we’d make the most of our newfound (old) freedom.
Setting Off
Since we’re both considered “vulnerable”, we’ve been shielding since the very beginning of the Covid situation, and are still being extremely cautious- so a caravan trip to a quiet little CL site in North Somerset sounded like the perfect plan for easing ourselves back into things!
Having had the caravan in storage for 6 months now, it was the longest by far that we hadn’t used it for since getting it in 2017. Even having it off the road for 6 weeks would’ve felt like a long time before! Because of this, it almost felt like our first trip all over again. We had to relearn our setting-off routine that we had once got down to a tee, which made me even more thankful for the packing list we’ve created over the years! Even so, I couldn’t help getting the feeling that we’d forgotten something!
Still, once we’d arrived on site it all came back to us, we settled in in no time at all and it felt like we’d never stopped caravanning in the first place.
Our home for the weekend was Willis’s Batch CL campsite in North Somerset. Situated within the grounds of an old farm, the field made an idyllic spot for a socially distanced getaway- the beauty of a CL being that they can only hold a maximum of 5 caravans at any one time, and for the majority of our trip it was only us, one other caravan, and our good friends Ann and Gary (affectionately known as our caravanning grandparents). They had arrived before us, so once we got set up it was time to do something we haven’t done much of in recent months - socialise!
I can’t tell you how good it felt, particularly on that first night, to be outdoors again after shielding inside for so long. We all sat around, watching the mature trees blowing in the gusts of wind, the clouds sailing by overhead, and chatting the night away. Despite the weather turning stormy, it was bliss.
The following morning we woke up comfy and cosy in our caravan bed, and I was quickly reminded how much I love our over-bed skylight. Being able to look up to the sky first thing in the morning and see the birds soaring overhead is something I had missed more than I realised! The rest of the morning was spent relaxing on site, before heading out in search for an accessible beach to take a stroll on.
Accessible Beach
We’d seen pictures of a car park on Uphill Beach, and we thought “If it’s firm enough to drive a car on, it must be firm enough to drive a wheelchair on!”, so that’s where we headed.
Arriving at the beach it felt so wrong for Stephen to continue driving as the road turned into sand, but with a clearly marked out parking area we were definitely in the right place! Getting out of the car the wind was brisk for an August day, but the sand was perfectly smooth so we all went for a wander, enjoying the views across to Brean Down. Considering it was a Saturday afternoon in the summer holidays, we couldn’t believe how empty the beach was. Our local beach in Bournemouth gets swarmed with people around this time, but here there was mostly just dog-walkers and a group of people Land Sailing (which was fascinating to watch!).
My wheelchair managed perfectly fine on the sand, and we made it back to the car right before the storm rolled in off the sea and brought sideways wind and rain with it. The thick sheet of sand that blew horizontally about a foot off the ground was extraordinary to see, but we were pleased to be able to shield from it!
Simply ‘Gorge‘ous!
On our way back to the campsite, Stephen and I took a scenic detour through somewhere I’ve wanted to visit since I was a child- Cheddar Gorge! I missed out on a school trip there because no provisions had been made by the school for wheelchair accessibility, but it was somewhere that always looked exciting.
My stubborn nature and wanting to prove a point wasn’t the only reason I had wanted to visit though, it’s an incredible piece of landscape and it felt amazing to finally see it for myself!
Driving through the village of Cheddar we could see it was a bit too busy to stop, so we kept driving along the steep road, full of twists and turns that resembled those you’d find on a rollercoaster. (Those of you who remember “ferry-gate”- Don’t worry, Stephen was fine.)
After an amazing afternoon we gradually made our way back to base, where the wind was still strong, but not enough to spoil the fun, so we lit the bbq and had another wonderful evening al fresco.
Chew Valley Lake
The next morning the wind was still blowing a gale and the skies were low and heavy, but as the day went on the clouds began to lift to reveal little patches of blue. Wanting to make the most of our last full day in Somerset we drove in convoy to Chew Valley Lake, where we got out for a lovely stroll around the nature trail. Parking up on the edge of the water at Chew Valley Lake picnic area, we started out on the Grebe circular trail.
The path was narrow in places, but we were pleased to see that a one-way system had been put in place so we all felt we could safely social-distance with other walkers. Ann and Gary have a huge amount of knowledge about the area, so as we strolled along it was really interesting to hear that the lake was, in fact, once a village! It was (intentionally) flooded back in the 50’s and now provides most of Bristol with drinking water, sourced from the Mendip Hills.
Speaking of water- Typically, once we were at the furthest point away from the car, the clouds closed in again and brought with them a heavy shower. Thankfully though, there were plenty of trees around to shelter under while we waited for it to pass- and the sound of rain on the treetops is something I’ll never get bored of!
One good thing about strong winds is that it blows the clouds away as quickly as it blows them in, so after a little while we were able to continue back to the car park, then take the scenic drive back to the campsite where we had our last bbq of the trip.
The weekend had flown by, but it felt incredible to get back out in the caravan again, and we were lucky to have spent it on such a lovely campsite and with fantastic company!
Roll on the next adventure!
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