Brighton

This weekend we went to Brighton. Staying at the Caravan Club's site at East Brighton.  The weather wasn't that good as we drove over from home on Sunday morning. This time we did the more roundabout route on the motorways. The coast route along the A259 from the back of our house takes way too long as we discovered the last time! In the end with a stop at Clacket Lane services on the M25 we arrived on site about 2.30pm.

We chose pitch 117 as it seemed to have the least slope. Although we have the Milenco Triple ramps I was hoping not to use them. In the end we did! 

Lunch was the Sheldon's Oven Bottom Muffins followed a little later by a Cornish Cream Tea.

The rest of the day was spent reading as it rained as well as a few walks for Reggie. We had intended to get a meal from Cafe Phillipe who has a bar by the entrance.  it was open when  we went down but no sign of life. There were some  lovely cakes in the chiller. Claire checked in the reception and they said he was usually there around 5.30pm until 8pm. We had food with us but as a treat thought beef bourguignon ight be nice as the day after was Claire's birthday.  When we walked, in the rain, down to the site at around 7pm, it was all closed up. Very disappointing indeed. Next time, if we go again, we won't bother!

Instead we had a Slimming World approved fry-up... 

Monday. After Claire had opened her cards and presents we set off for Sheffield Park Gardens. It's a National Trust property. It was supposed to be 18 miles away. It seemed to take longer than that! Plus "Lewes Road" seems to have more potholes of wheel busting potential per mile than any other road we have driven! 

On arrival the driveway leads up towards the parking. There's  a tiny sign saying campervan parking on the left. We took this to mean that it was down the lane. Except this is even more bone jarring than the road from Lewes  simply takes you to a muddy dump of a farm.  Also a sign saying no National Trust parking. They should be so lucky for anyone to park in that dump. A ten-point turn saw us park in the main parking. A few mis-ties first. Then I had a "bugrit" moment and I reversed into one of the car spaces. They are marked out with wooden battens in the ground.  There is plenty of room for them to make proper parking available for larger vehicles.

Dogs are able to go almost everywhere in the gardens but must be on a short and fixed lead.  I had the retractable lead and his very short red lead bought in Potes last year. So we took their offer of a loan of a lead.  It can with a free poo bag....  which came in handy very early on! Before we set off on the walks we went and had a coffee and cake in the cafe. It's actually outside the reception, so in effect you could park for nothing and walk over the extensive parkland outside the gardens and visit the cafe for free.

Dogs are allowed in the Garden Room which is around the back of the cafe which appears to have been the old stable block in the past. There is also plenty of outdoor seating in the better weather. February 24th wasn't sitting outside weather though!

We spent a few hours wandering around the gardens and the lakes.  There's not much signposting so you do tend to have to use the sun, or at least the house to navigate around! We met quite a few others with their dogs and everything passed of peaceably.

The Giant Redwood hit by lightning in 2022

Back at the van I set the TomTom for East Brighton. The van had been unmolested in the car park whilst we were away! We retraced our steps back towards Lewes on the same potholed road from hell, and then took a different route cross country ending up on the A23 at Pyecombe. From then it was a nightmare scenario. It took us into Brighton itself.  Traffic. No wonder the burghers of Brighton hate cars and have some of the highest parking charges in England.  They don't spend it on traffic management though. Badly phased lights that saw all traffic constantly stopping and starting every few yards at traffic lights, polluting the air!!!  Eventually we arrived back at the site.  

We had already planned to have Ridge Monkey Pie for dinner. This time mince and onion with potatoes. So Cafe Phillipe could be closed for all we cared. And of course. He was,  Dinner was lovely. Puff pastry and a can of mince and onion and a can of potatoes (sliced) and in the 'Monkey.  The result is really good.

Although the site's wifi was pretty poor, we did have a 5G signal, although only about a third of the "cheese" indicator on the phones. We watched some YouTubes and then when the ones we like to watch ran out, we watched the first episode of the new "Reacher" on Prime Video. Then bed.  It was lashing down really hard at one point. It may be me but I think it is louder in the van that the coachbuilt motorhomes. It's much warmer and cosier in the van as the Truma heating seems better and more efficient than the Whale heaters we had in the Elddis'.

So onto Tuesday. We had a lie in, or rather slept in a bit longer as Reggie was up early for his ablutions. Starting firstly as late as 5.15am. Then again at 6.40am, then again at 7.25am. The latter was to have his breakfast.  I set the alarm on my phone. Not having my reading glasses on I didn't see I had set it for 9.30am on Monday.

After breakfast all the blue jobs (silver screen off, electricity cable packed away, toilet closure across, toilet cassette emptied) and pink jobs (washing up done and general tidying) were done. Blue = Paul. Pink = Claire.

We did stop at the motorhome service area to dump our grey water in the drive over drain and I took the opportunity and £3 from Claire to use the cassette cleaning machine. You can out a full cassette in and it empties and cleans it and adds a little "green" bio liquid into is for future use and to keep it clean and smelling nice....

With all that done we set off. Basically the TomTom was going to retrace the entire journey from Brighton to home.  Four motorways (M23, M25, M26, M20) and plenty of dual carriageway roads. Reggie jumped out of his new bed before we had gone 100 yards. He was left hanging like a parachutist in a tree in his harness! So we let him go back to the old style under the table.

All went well until we got to Clacket Lane Services on the M25 in Surrey.  One the front doors of the Roadchef they have a notice to say that "well behaved dogs on leads" are allowed in the building. Claire went to the loo and I went in and sat in Costa as we were going to buy a coffee each, and you never know that might have escalated to a cake too... 

But. I was asked to vacate the empty Costa as dogs are allowed but it seems only on the pathway between the door and the loos. A kind of yellow tiled road between the various food outlets.  Not anywhere else. Sitting in the corner of the Costa nowhere near the food preparation area at McDonalds or indeed Costa itself was hardly a health and safety hazard!  

The fact that where I was sitting could seat around thirty people and there was just me and Reg makes it even more ludicrous. I did feel a little sorry for the young women they sent to tell me to move.  None of the men or older women seemed to have the cohones. Their loss. 

We spent no money and used their loos. I won't be stopping there again unless I need the loo, not on the bike when I end the Ride of Respect Ring of Red there, not in the car or van. Certainly won't be spending any money.

We arrived home and it started to rain. Had lunch and emptied the van. Now where to next?