This was our first trip of 2025, in “Foggy” our motorhome and over several weeks have been trying to decide where to go.
Shall we go north-east? It’s a long time since we have been to Northumberland.
Shall we go west? Can’t remember the last time we went to Wales.
Shall we go to Norfolk? Again somewhere we have not been for many years.
Each destination required research which all took time but none resulted in any sort of a decision.
While doing research the evening before we left I commented “ . . . it’s a long time since we have proper Cornish Pasty why not Cornwall? . . .” Decision made.
We have recently come across a web site called Wilder Trips where you can plan road trip adventures in as much or as little detail as you wish, however because we had no time to research and plan a trip we are, on this occasion using Wilder Trips to document the trip as it happens, you can view it by CLICKING HERE.
We needed to stay on a proper camp site for our first night away as we had to fill our fresh water tank, so booked a pitch on Myrtle Farm, just off the M5 around 3 hours drive from home. That was the extent of our research/decision making – from that first campsite the only thing decided was the general direction of travel, south west.
The journey was pleasant although through some very wet weather, with a quick pause at Roadchef Strensham M5 Southbound Services, what seemed, from a road surface perspective, the UK’s worst maintained services
Myrtle Farm was advertised as being close to the M5 and had good reviews although one reviewer said ” . . . Access a bit tricky but fine for our 6.6 metre motorhome . . .” we looked on Google Maps and could not understand that comment as there was absolutely no restrictions at the farm.
We found out!
The last five miles or so were on very narrow single track roads with a high traffic flow including some big vehicles. It presented no problem as there were plenty of passing places. Commenting on the narrow roads to the site owner she exclaimed ” . . . oh! why did you come that way? Turn left out of the gate and it will take you straight to the M5 and Cleavdon . . . “. On the way in our sat-nav, imputed with our length width height and weight, selected our route and was happy with it, on the way out I ignored the sat-nav and drove back to the M5 in around a 1/3rd of the distance with only one very short narrow section, but with the sat-nav bleating that the route was unknown and should not be followed. What on earth are we to do when HMG requires us to switch off our brains and do whatever AI requires of us?.
After one and a half relaxing days and two quiet and peaceful nights we set off towards out next site but first we drove into Cleavdon to have a “nosey” around. We particularly wanted to see the pier, this structure, opened in 1869, is the only grade 1 listed pier still open to the public. It is run by a group of dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers and boasts a small but very interesting museum, a gift shop, and at the end of the pier a unique Victorian Pagoda that houses a cafe. The pier is a licensed wedding venue.
Just a short walk from the pier is the Marine Lake this sea water swimming pool was built in 1929 and refurbished in 2015. It is the world’s largest sea water infinity pool – a true piece of aquatic history. Overlooking the pool is the Salthouse Bar and Restaurant, the car park is open to the public and chargeable day and night. The cost to overnight in a motorhome is £10.00
After our visit to Cleavdon we made our way to our next night stop Phippins Farm, this was a mainly seasonal pitch site costing just £20 per night with metered electricity and showers charged at 20p per 2 minute shower which would have been perfectly acceptable were the showers hot and not just vaguely warm. We spent two nights at Phippins Farm with a view to cycling to the local micro brewery Bason Bridge Brewing Company Ltd which boasts a very popular real ale bar and Rich’s Cider Farm which not only run cider tours and tastings but has a well respected restaurant. In the end we wandered around the grounds and along the River Brue whose southern bank forms the northern site border without leaving the site at all.
On leaving Phippins Farm the cost of our metered electricity was just £2 and some pennies the site warden insisted “ . . . just give the the two quid, we don’t need to muck about with change . . . “
We stopped at the nearest seaside town – Burnham on Sea – where the local municipal car park had a complete row of large spaces marked for motorhomes only. Sadly they were also marked with a large no sleeping overnight sign.
Burnham on Sea may have a number of motorhome daytime parking spaces but other than a large sandy beach not much else, we moved on with well over an hour left on our parking ticket.
Our aim after leaving Burnham on Sea was to fill the gas cylinders at Minehead Morrisons before moving on to Bideford where we planned to stay in the Riverside Long Stay Carpark.There are several specific motorhome bays in the carpark at a charge £11 for an overnight stay, the bay we chose was overlooking the river and we had a quiet and peaceful night.
Today, Saturday 1st March we plan to achieve our objective, to this end we left Bideford and traveled to Padstow or Stientown/Padstien as it is known in some quarters. Here we visited the Rick Stein’s Delicatessen and bought two “Cornish Pasties”.
As pasties went they were very good and at £4.50 each for a largish pasty, good value, but were they genuine Cornish Pasties of the old school? Our memory of pasties bought in Cornwall over the years was a little meat, with lots potato, swede and onion seasoned with salt and lashings of pepper. These were jam packed with meat, a little potato, onion, salt and lots of pepper. Absolutely delicious. We went back and asked the guy behind the counter why there was no swede in the pasty, he was perplexed “ . . . you don’t put swede in a Cornish pasty . . . “ he declared.
The Cornish Pasty Association would disagree listing a total ingredient requirement of around 12.5% meat (Beef) and around 25% vegetables, including swede (neeps).
After a long wander around Padstow we returned to Rick Stien’s deli for another round, but sadly they were sold out so back to the van that had been parked in one of two dedicated motorhome bays in the towns main car park and headed for our next overnight stop in Tintagel.
Right on the high street opposite the famous Tintagel Post Office is the King Arthur’s Arms Hotel. Like many pub/hotels with large car parks, in tourist hotspots, they charge non-clients to park, this particular establishment allows motorhomes to stay overnight for the sum of just £5.00 plus normal daytime car charges. On the night we stayed, there was around 30 motorhomes parked, the pub also has a grass surfaced aire open in the summer where there are toilets, showers and other facilities. These facilities were open and available to parked motorhomes but because the ground was very wet the grassed area was closed.
After a good nights sleep we popped to the local pasty shop and bought pasties fresh out of the oven for lunch which we wrapped in towels to keep them hot and started our journey home. Three hours later we stopped for lunch. The pasties were still piping hot and absolutely delicious. They still had more meat than one’s we had eaten in years gone but had all the usual vegetables including swede and plenty of pepper. The Rick Stein ones were good, very good, but these were superb and well worth the miles driven to get them.
The following day was Sue’s Aunt Edna’s 89th birthday so we decided to make a short detour (around 100 miles) to sing her happy birthday. We camped on the driveway for two nights and had a great time celebrating.
We were homeward bound but still not heading for the marina, instead we headed for Little Henham, Essex where we had an appointment with Jamie of SG Servicing who was to change the drain tap on the hot water system, remove the TV antenna and complete a full habitation check which we are pleased to report motorhome “Foggy” passed with flying colours as she did with the MOT two weeks earlier.