Another Road Trip .A Tale of Three Campsites.

 A short road trip up to see family in Tarporley Cheshire. We usually travel up to Cheshire once a year, generally combined with a family visit to Tarporley. Generally we do the trip in one hit, but in the spirit of taking things a bit slower and not driving for so long, we decided to break the journey up. Moving to Somerset has added and extra 1.5 hours to the journey, so a stop somewhere around Birmingham, would be perfect. Our first two choices Kingsbury Water Park and Somers Wood were both full. Of course, we had forgotten about the motorhome show at the NEC Birmingham being on this week, so  "No room at the inn", any camp sites local to Birmingham were full.

We turned to our new BF, ChatGP, to see what, he/she/they, ( I wonder what sex AI is?) could turn up? Near to main roads, restaurant or pub nearby, good toilet facilities, hard standing if possible (in case of inclement weather). The first stop she ( it's got to be a girl) came up with was...

Midway Holiday Park, Aymestery, Nr Leominster.

Heading in this direction meant we would be off the motorway and travelling up through Wales, which we thought could be a nice drive. Around three hours later we arrived. Slightly under whelming, as a first impression but prepared to give it a go. We got a friendly welcome and it appeared, we were the only campers that night. £25 cash including electric, so not too expensive. The campsite grounds were beautifully kept, mainly grass with a kind of carpark bit at the top which was also the car park for the coffee shop. We tried the ground before driving Pebble down, fortunately all the dry weather meant it was very hard.

The coffee shop had been a cafe but now served home made cakes, pastries and teas & coffee instead. Luckily we had brought provisions so we managed our own meal that evening. There was a pub a walk away, the Riverside Inn but we looked it up to find it was "fine dining" and super expensive. To be fair, it was damp and getting dark, we didn't really fancy the walk. On the plus side, Pebble's heating system kept us lovely and toasty and we managed to get the TV to work, so all was well.

I think a sunny afternoon would have made all the difference. The toilet facilities were, shall we say basic. A bit chilly too, with no heating, although the water was hot. Also, no sinks for washing dishes. Sadly, the cafe was closed in the morning, so no cooked breakfast either, C'est la vie. As a one night stop, it was fine and relatively quiet.

We left relatively early for us and three hours later, we were in Cheshire, arriving at Shays Farm.

Shays Farm is a well run very clean and tidy site on the outskirts of Tarporley in Cheshire. It can be busy in the summer, especially if there are events on at Oulton Park Racing Track, which is just up the road. Fortunately on a Tuesday in October the site was relatively empty. We had booked and paid on the very efficient website and knew which pitch we were on. The campsite is in a valley with beautiful facilities, there is also a special field with shepherds huts, complete with hot tubs.

Our pitch was huge with it's own table and bench set, with electric , water and a TV point on our pitch. There is a lovely pub The Shrewsbury Arms, which does food, just a short trudge across the field. In fact, The Shrewsbury Arms also has a small campsite attached with more basic facilities. Just up the road is a small shopping complex called The Hollies, all done up as a "Christmas Shopping Event", for well heeled customers. There is a deli and other shops including an up market coffee shop. We browsed !!

A relaxing two days spent here. We had actually come to see family who live in Tarporley, so we find Shays Farm, a really convenient stop over and will be back.

We had a meal at the Shrewsbury Arms one night and went to Northwich for a very nice curry the second night at Bombay Quay . Northwich definitely worth a visit, a small harbour by the canal in town and some nice shops to browse.

 
After a very relaxing two nights and time spent with the family, we were off again. 

The next destination LLanidloes in mid Wales, Red Kite Touring Park. We had stayed there before and enjoyed it. Red Kite  is an adults only site on the edge of the small Welsh market town of LLanidloes . The site is at the top of the valley 3 miles from the Clywedog Dam, it is the first town on the River Severn and very popular with walkers. From the camp site it is a short walk into the town where their are plenty of pubs and shops.

The scenery in the area is stunning.

We had booked Red Kite but there were plenty of spaces. Some of the pitches had their own raised terrace at the back which would be lovely on a sunny day.

Toilet facilities were warm and super clean. We walked into town, down hill on the way there, a climb on the way back! We ate in a great little restaurant Hiraeth recommended by the locals, there were a number of eateries that looked good, catering for all tastes. Pubs are in abundance, we tried The Red Lion and The Angel Inn, both friendly and comfortable. 

If the sun had been shining we may have ventured up the hill to the Clywedog Dam but it was a bit damp and gloomy, so we will save that for the next visit.

Our final stop on this road trip was Luckshall Camping at Fiddlers Green near Hereford. Another favourite. This site has a restaurant and again very high standard facilities. We actually booked the restaurant before we went as it was Sunday and we knew the roast was popular. We arrived on a Sunday just in time to grab our table booked for 1.30pm. We had a great meal and spent the afternoon snoozing in the van, the sun had definitely decided  not to shine.

The site was relatively quiet although a bit busier towards evening. I guess it is a good stop over place.

Amazing that six nights could fly by so fast. Luckshall is another site we shall return to, perhaps in the summer when the canal is more welcoming. A little bit of sun makes all the difference.