Run Cottage is located in the village of Hollesley and is only a few miles away from the National Trust site at Sutton Hoo, Woodbridge and the bird reserves at Dunwich and Minsmere.

It’s a very well laid out campsite with around 20 pitches, an excellent toilet block, an information and wash up area and is a very relaxing place.  This feeling of calmness stems from the very friendly owners and seems to permeate throughout the campers and the whole place has a wonderful feel about it, so much so that you never want to leave.  I know from talking to other campers that they return again and again – as we will.

From Run Cottage you can very easily bike down to the beach which is covered in shingle and great for plodding around on.  We spent an afternoon there wandering and eating lunch which was great because there wasn’t a grain of sand to be tasted – I hate that about the beach – crunchy sandwiches!

We took the Suffolk Link bus to Sutton Hoo which is the ancient burial ground of Raedwald,  Anglo Saxon King of East Anglia.  He was buried in a ship in AD625 together with a vast hoard of treasure and this was painstakingly excavated in 1939. There is an exhibition area and you can go on a fascinating guided tour of the burial grounds which is an absolute must do.  It’s on this tour that you find out all the minute details about the burials that took place there and the grave robberies that have taken place since.  It’s a fascinating story and well worth a day out.

Woodbridge is a lovely little town to stroll around and there’s lots to see and admire.  We drove into Woodbridge in the Motorhome and got parked easily enough near to the railway station which is centrally placed between the estuary and the town centre, a five minute stroll in either direction.

If you want to visit a lovely tranquil campsite in Suffolk then you can’t go wrong with Run Cottage so give it a go, it won’t disappoint.

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1. When you visit Suffolk in your Motorhome use the Suffolk Link bus service

It’s a great idea and all you do is to give them a ring and book a seat on the bus on a particular day to go from the campsite to wherever you want to get to.  They will drop you off and pick you up later in the day to get you back to the site.  This service is available in many parts of Suffolk as outlined below and on the website you can get more information.

We used the service to get from our campsite, Run Cottage Touring Park, to Sutton Hoo and it was great.  The other benefit was that it meandered through the country lanes picking up other people so we got to see lot’s of the Suffolk countryside.

The booking number to ring is 0845 604 1802 and you can book a week in advance.

SUFFOLK LINKS – DEMAND RESPONSIVE TRANSPORT

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Come December the whatever when the booking lines are opened for the next year the Caravan Club website has more traffic than the M25 on a Friday evening.  Some people block book for months in advance which I simply don’t understand.  How on earth do you know if you want to go to Broadway in 5 months time for a weekend in May; the Motorhome may be broken, you may have sold it, you may be ill, it may be raining, there may be a tornado looming, you might have visitors, maybe you can’t be bothered.  Ok, let’s cancel then, the Caravan Club won’t mind, there’s no fee for cancellation at late notice, won’t we be spoiling things for someone else, yes maybe but so what.

Come on, you all know what I’m talking about here don’t you.  Some of you may even have been affected because you really wanted to go away on that particular weekend but the site you wanted was full.

I wonder if the Caravan Club keep statistics of the bookings.  It would be interesting to know how many sites that are booked up weeks in advance suddenly have availability on a late Friday afternoon and how many no shows there are.

If only the Caravan Club would ask for a deposit on bookings this would all stop I’m sure, it’s only because you can book for free and there are no penalties for cancellation that this practise exists.

I for one refuse to join the pre booking on mass clan and I’ll take my chances with spontaneity even tough it means that I am using the Caravan Club less and less because of it which is a great shame.

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A couple of weeks ago I had to go to the hospital for an operation to remove some skin cancer from my forehead.  I ended up with a three inch cut and fifteen stitches and although it’s now healing it’s still a little sore. I’m afraid that I’m a victim of those long sunny days and weekends away in the Motorhome.

My cancer started with an insect bite on my forehead, followed by another insect bite on the same place about three months later after which it never really healed up completely.  It left a mark on my forehead that was a slight protrusion but otherwise no problem.  Unfortunately it grew slowly, but not enough that you really notice it yourself, except that the skin is weak and is easily damaged if you catch your head on something.  It was never painful.

My doctor referred me to the hospital and they were great, looked after me very well and in no time I had the operation.

With hindsight I should have gone to see my doctor about it much sooner because it would have been easier to get rid of it whilst it was smaller and there is less risk of it spreading.

The skin cancer I’ve had is not, thankfully, the worst kind but even so it’s still very scary and there is an increased chance that I may get it again.

Just to put this risk into perspective by the way, I’ve always used a cap to protect my head and although I did use suncream I now realise that it wasn’t strong enough.  You can probably get away with that under normal circumstances but because we all like to spend as much time away in the Motorhome and get as much fresh air as possible the risk to us increases.  The other increase in my risk specifically was the insect bites because these caused a change in my skin and it became even more susceptible to the ravages of the sun.

My last word on this subject is that you need a good hat, some strong SPF 50 suncream and if you do spot any changes to your skin, even if it’s just a mark that won’t go away, please see your Doctor sooner rather than later.

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55% claimed holidays in the UK were not as good value as overseas breaks and 31% blamed it on bad weather. OK, so our weather can be diabolical when the rest of Europe basks in sunshine and yes, things can be expensive, but these people are probably not comparing like for like.

For example a week lying on the beach in Spain compared to one in Essex is not going to be that different, the thing is, when most people go on holiday in the UK, they go to big cities, eat out at touristy restaurants every night and go to theatres, bars, shops and expensive attractions. However, there is another way to have a fun-filled action packed holiday in England without spending a fortune and without the weather calling time on play.

The Lake District is one of the best and biggest outdoor playgrounds for both kids and adults in England. It has mountains, lakes, forests and rivers and you can get your hands dirty doing all manner of activities. Don’t just go hiking or cruising around the lakes; instead try rock climbing, downhill biking, windsurfing and wakeboarding. The Lake District can be a relaxing break for some, but for others it can be a healthy dose of addictive adrenaline.

If you want a slice of beach life, you don’t need to head to the Mediterranean to have a good time. Although sunbathing is weather dependent, surfing, sea kayaking and cannoning are not so fussy. The Pembrokeshire coast in south Wales is absolutely stunning. The beaches are long and sandy and are abutted by steep dramatic cliffs, rolling hills, forests and farmland as well as a sprinkling of cute, slate-coloured villages. It is a great place to get to grips with a new spot and when the sun does come out the beaches are more than up to scratch.

On your English exploration break, make sure you get in touch with the great outdoors through camping, caravanning or the Motorhome. Park Resorts have static caravan sales in the UK, making your holiday a lot easier and more comfortable if camping in a tent is a stretch too far.

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For those of you who haven’t come across Vicarious Books before it is a fantastic bookshop that sells all of the books you will ever need for your Motorhome.  They are responsible for the production and publication of the ” All The Aires ” guides that are invaluable when you travel around Europe.

The new ASCI Card gives you a discounted price of either 11, 13 or 15 euros depending on the campsite and this includes 2 people plus electricity.  They also have deals like pay for 6 nights and get 7 or pay for 11 and get 14.

I haven’t used the ASCI card yet, this year we tried the Camping Cheque Card and that worked very well but for next year I’m going to give the ASCI Card a go.  The ASCI card has around 2000 participating campsites throughout Europe which is much more that any other operator and there is no up front payment except for the initial purchase of the book.  ASCI also produce a DVD that lists 8700 inspected sites throughout Europe so you may consider this as well.

PS.  I’ve just logged onto Vicarious and ordered my copy – can’t wait.

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We stayed at Seacroft Caravan Club site which is a short walk from Cromer if you turn right at the entrance and a shorter walk to East Runton if you turn left at the entrance.

Cromer lifeboat station has it’s own website that’s full of great information, albeit about lifeboats, but should interest most people anyway.

Cromer itself is on the North Norfolk Coast and is very near to Sheringham where you can take a ride on a steam train, Holcombe Hall is a short drive away as is Felbrigg Hall.  In fact there’s a ton of stuff you can do around that whole area so it’s a great place for a week or so rather than an overnight stopover.

If you are interested in visiting Cromer or the North Norfolk Coast in general then here is a great website that you should have a look at.  Its called Tour Norfolk – A Guided Tour of Norfolk in Pictures and it’s fantastic with some great photos.

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Basically what they are doing is to create five new seafront Motorhome parks within existing car parks that will allow stays of up to 3 nights for £5 a night.  The proposal is discussed on their web site and even says that if this initial scheme is successful then they will expand it to Blackpool and Wyre.

There is a brilliant quote on there that I love;

“Without a doubt, motorhomers are the sort of prosperous and well-behaved visitors that we want in Fylde. This is a new and growing market in which we can be ahead of our competitor resorts.”

Let’s hope the proposal gets approved and many more Councils follow suit, now that will be something to brag about.

Please let me know if you come across any more innovative Motorhome parking plans by any other councils and I’ll publish them.

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Seacroft Caravan Club Site

We arrived at Seacroft last Tuesday late afternoon and although it had been a pretty good day for travelling the sun had gone and it was feeling a little chilly.  The weather forecast for the rest of the week was pretty good, sunny but cold, but hey what do you expect near the sea.

Wednesday morning we woke to the sound of hailstone bouncing on the top of the Motorhome and opening a roof blind saw a layer of ice.  Freaky shower I said, but what did I know, it got much worse.  The sky went very black and it rained and hailed most of the day.  We managed to get out at around 4.30pm, dressed for winter and walked the 15 minute trek into Cromer.  The wind was blowing off the sea and it was freezing.  I asked a BT workman if it was always like this and he said ” what do you expect, the other side of that water lies the Arctic”.  I’d never thought of it like that, what a perspective he had, I should have known better.   We reached Cromer, went to Morrisons and came back.

Thursday was much better, lots of sun and no precipitation of any kind.  We decided to go back to Cromer to explore and have a walk along the beach.  Again we dressed for winter and set off just before lunch for a fish and chips treat, it was freezing although the wind was not coming off the ocean but from the opposite direction.  The BT guy was wrong after all, the Arctic was somewhere near to Kings Lynn.

I guess we were unlucky with the weather or maybe I was stupid coming in October, who knows.  The site is well recommended though so please don’t let me put you off.

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The site is actually adjacent to Chatsworth Park and there is a locked door ( key supplied ) that you use to enter the park from the site.

From here you can turn left to walk into Baslow village where you will find at least four pubs and hotels and a couple of restaurants where you can eat and drink to your hearts content.  We did see a sign for the local village shop but didn’t need anything so can’t say what it’s like.

If you turn right through the door you will walk directly to Chatsworth House after about 15 minutes and it’s a very easy walk on tarmac and runs parallel to the river. You can’t use a cycle on these paths incidentally.

Chatsworth in all it’s glory is truly magnificent and it has got so much to offer the visitor that you could spend every day there that you are on site.  There’s the house itself, the gardens, shops and restaurants, guided tours and a great number of walks around Chatsworth in the parkland.

Walking around Chatsworth parkland alone can take a full day as can the gardens when you take into account lunch and a bit of shopping and the House itself is around 2 hours or so.

The key thing is to try not to do too much in one day simply because you’ll be too tired to enjoy it all, so split the touring up over the days you are on site.

There are also various exhibitions in the gardens regularly and when we were there it was a series of excellent sculptures by various artists.

One of the most fascinating things for me is the use of water throughout and the effort and trouble that has gone into the original designs so that what we now experience is quite magical.

This gravity fed fountain was engineered by Joseph Paxton and completed in 1844.  It is supplied with water by the 8 acre Emperor Lake, 400 feet above the house, the construction of which took 6 months, and the lake in turn is fed by streams dug across the moor.

An 18 inch diameter pipe carries the water 0.5 miles down to the double acting valve, which takes 5 minutes to open.  This is the tallest gravity fed fountain in the world and it is recorded to have reached the height of 298 feet. It is still exactly as Paxton designed it but is now limited to a height of 90 feet.

I have no hesitation at all in recommending Chatsworth House and Gardens but because of it’s popularity the club site does get fully booked regularly so you do need to think ahead so as not to be disappointed.

I would also recommend lunch in the self service restaurant, we had roast pork, apple sauce and all the trimmings and it was gorgeous.  Go on; spoil yourself.

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