The Autumn of 2014 was a time when we also went on a couple of trips out in the van.  Barbara’s sister Anne came over from Brisbane, Australia so we packed up and went on a trip around central England.  To enable us to get around a bit more we also took the car with us.

 We spent a night at The Royal Hill pub and campsite about 5 mile NW of Shrewsbury. From here we went down to the Malvern Hills staying at the Camping and Caravan site at Blackmore. The weather was really kind to us and although it was mid September we spent most of the time in shorts and T shirts.  We walked in the Malvern Hills but it became a bit misty on the top of the hills.

From Blackmore we headed to the Cotswolds and had two nights at the Lemington Lakes site just outside Moreton in Marsh.  This was a really nice site although a little more expensive than some other sites in the area. From here we were able to go on some lovely walks around Bourton on the Water and Broadway.  All in all 4 lovely nights away.

In late October Barbara and I went on a bit of a walking tour around the peak district for 3 days.  Our first stop was the Camping and Caravan club site at Hayfield where we walked for 4 hours across Kinder Scout.  After that we went to the Caravan Club site at Castleton where we had two nights walking over Mam Tor.  On our way home we stopped at the Ladybower reservoir district and went on a 20 mile bike ride.

In late November early December we were invited to stay at our friends Sandra and Dennis in Jersey. They were going to Goa for 2 weeks so we stayed and looked after their two dogs.  We went in the car via the ferry so Pickles came with us.  We had no concerns about how he would get on with the two dogs but  late in the day we remembered that they had a cat.  Pickles has never liked cats and has always looked like he would attack them if given the chance.  However on our arrival he soon became very attached to Kato so much so that by the end of the holiday he would curl up alongside him.  This was a really enjoyable and relaxing break for us and we spent most of our time on cliff top walks with the dogs or just the two of us.  Whilst we were there we were asked by some other people we know if we would return in March to  look after their dogs so that looks highly likely.