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Library Cuisine The Berchtesgaden Connection

Monday July 30 – overcast

It didn’t look like beach weather so we decided to head back to Cardiff and take in the St. Fagan’s Museum (history of Welsh life) and then see how far north we could get. The Museum was huge. It was set up as in the grounds of a castle with buildings set in a loose village and representative of different periods of history. The museum was free. We spent about 5 hours in the museum and failed to get through all of it before it closed. We really enjoyed it and would highly recommend it.

Back at the van and following a quick inventory we realized we were hungry, low on food, low on cash and in need of a campground. Too late to go to a bank, we got directions to a superstore, but couldn’t find it. We ended up driving through Cardiff in rush hour traffic. Spotting a Kwikimart, we pulled in out of the traffic, stocked up and ate supper in the parking lot. We phoned a campsite out of our new book and booked a site.

The site turned out to be very nice. It was located on a 17^th century manor grounds, (Tredeger House). We spent the evening walking around the grounds which include a large public park and a small lake with swans. It was very grand. The girls also found two ponies they could feed and pet.

Tuesday July 31 – another beautiful day

The end of July and we have been in GB a whole week. We have really enjoyed Wales but we need to head north. We have friends in Scotland expecting a visit.

At Shrewsbury we took a little detour to the east to Telford and into Ironbridge in Shropshire. We walked across the 1^st iron bridge ever built in the world. Many people believe it was built by Thomas Telford, but was built by Thomas Pritchard. There is an extensive network of museums in the vicinity to show all aspects of the bridge’s creation including the mining of the ore and the local foundries used to build the components locally.

After banking and shopping in Telford (named after Thomas Telford) we located one of the smaller farm sites in the area. After supper we walked to one of Thomas Telford’s canals. The sun was setting and it was really pretty with many narrow boats parked along the bank for the night. The little pub was very busy. We really think narrow boating does look like a unique way to travel through England.

Wednesday, August 1 – Nice weather

Drove to Kendal in the Lake District on the M6. We made very good time. We found another Caravan Club farm site with a shower for £5.50, including electricity. There was some concern about foot and mouth in this area and we were not allowed to wonder around the farm at all. The van had to drive through disinfectant.

We spent some time shopping in Kendal and bought a few things for camping. The town was very touristy and catered to a backcountry-hiking crowd. After shopping we found our way to Windermere Lake and had a picnic. The area is very pretty and has many hiking trails, not to mention a few castles as everywhere in GB. Many of the trails had only recently been reopened following the problems with foot and mouth. The area had been heavily hit and there did seem to be an absence of sheep.

Thursday August 2 – Another beautiful day

We drove through the Lake District National Park and stopped for lunch at the top of a beautiful pass near Glen Riding. From the top of the pass several trails led further up small mountains. They looked like they would be really nice to climb, so we picked one that looked like a comfortable walk. The climb got a bit steep near the top and Karen’s knees were a bit weak, but we persevered and the view was incredible.

We met back up with the M6 and crossed into Scotland. The weather had become a bit misty, but not too bad. We had heard that the coast near Ayr was very pretty, so we left the M6 and took a side trip. It turned out to be a bank holiday in Scotland and we were turned out from two of our club campgrounds and took a miss on a private campground that was a mud hole. Getting a little concerned we followed the directions to a fourth campsite belonging to the Camping and Caravan Club at Culzean Castle. This campground turned out to be an absolute gem with a lovely view of the sea and well kept facilities. We ended up joining this club as well with a 3-month temporary membership for £10. Just before bedtime we thought we could hear bloody bagpipes! After getting out of the van and walking around we realized it was coming from the castle next door. We have since come to realize that this is not the case everywhere in Scotland and should not be expected, but it was pretty neat.

Friday August 3 – Overcast but warm

Following the advice a really nice English couple from the night before, we took some time to tour the grounds of the castle next to the campground. The grounds are free to campers on that site. Anxious to be off to Gargunnock and visit good friends we planned only to spend an hour or so. The grounds turned out to be absolutely beautiful and very large with battlements, gardens, swan pools, aviaries, playgrounds, museums and greenhouses within. We were beginning to discover the extent of the historical restoration in Great Britain. Since there was an extra charge for the castle we left it, but our brief visit took four hours and we only scraped the surface. The castle is supposed to be well preserved as we can well imagine after seeing the grounds. We have come to realize that many of these castles are free to members of the National Trust, which entitles you to entrance to many such sites. We would recommend membership to anyone spending time touring GB as entrance fees really add up after a while.

After driving through Glasgow at rush hour, as usual, we arrived at our friends’ home in Gargunnock around 6:00 pm. We were very glad to be there and we enjoyed our first real bed since July 13^th.

Camping Notes

[1] Tredegar House Country Park – Caravan Club Site – Very nice, £15 and the best facilities so far. We did not tour the houses located on the property but they came highly recommended. The grounds are worth the visit though.

[2] Streetway House – Caravan Club Site – very nice site, no showers, £5.50 and includes electicity. Must be a member to use these secondary sites.

[3] Camping and Caravan Club – Of the two clubs, we usually preferred these sites over the Caravan Club sites. They were not as fancy as the other club, but they were more relaxed and had full, well-kept facilities. They call themselves the friendly club and we found them to be so. They often had family prices for around £14 and as low as £11. With the temporary membership you receive only a listing of the main sites; with a full membership you receive a complete listing including their secondary/farm sites, though they have fewer sites in total. If we were to pick one club, we both agree that we would have chosen the Camping and Caravan Club.

More coming soon, maybe . . .

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