Trip report: South Wales, UK
A couple of years ago we tried a campground on the coast in south Wales. With a long weekend to spare in October we decided to return for a few days this year.
We left home late Friday afternoon aiming to camp close to the Welsh border. Friday evening traffic was pretty nasty, not helped by road construction along the route.
Sally mentioned she had seen on the internet a pub near Ross-on-Wye that had an attached campground, so we located their details on the GPS and phoned them while on route.
We ate in the pub that evening. Food was OK, though atmosphere was lacking.
Ross-on-Wye is a small market town near the Welsh border. We'd never visited it before, so we drove in to have a look. There was a big visitors car park at the edge of town, but it had a height barrier :(. Next to the entrance was another track - it had a height barrier, but it was open. We drove in and found it was the car park to a small sports ground; canoes were being loaded on a van, which is probably why the height barrier was open. We decided to risk it and park there, but walking around town a little voice in my head kept saying "they'll have left and locked the barrier while you were away from the camper".
Looks like the latter was quite an old building - look at the year it was renovated (not built):
Down by the river people were getting canoes ready for a day on the River Wye.
Returning to the sports ground the barrier was thankfully still open. I noticed this sign on it:
We carried on across the border and into the Welsh hills and valleys, finding a spot to stop for lunch. I love the way we can stop somewhere like this and Sally will ask "Would you like me to heat up some soup?". Much nicer eating a hot meal sat at a table looking at the view, rather than sat in the front of your car eating as the windows steam up, dropping sandwich crumbs on your clothes and upholstery.
We arrived at the campground mid afternoon. They had some new additions. I guess these are rented as day huts as they look a bit small to sleep in:
You can't reserve sites here, so we were lucky enough to arrive early enough to get one at the edge of the cliff:
Not a bad view from the camper:
We went for a walk down to the beach, then a scramble over the rocks and up to the headland beyond:
Back in time for a beer:
Had a lazy morning the following day - nice and cozy in the bed:
Still a good view:
Sally booked a surfing lesson for us. Not quite Maui unfortunately, but there was just enough surf to learn in. Surprisingly the sea was quite warm. It was raining heavily, and was cold standing on the beach, but when you dipped your hand into the water it was actually warm. That is the Gulf Stream for you.
Next morning it was still raining, but the weather soon improved, so we decided to do a longer walk:
The campground is on approach to the local airfield - luckily there isn't much traffic:
Along the coast is a golf coarse and homes facing out to see; on the strip of land between those and the cliffs cattle are left to graze. Cows get their adrenaline kicks close to the edge:
Notice the folds in the rock of the cliffs:
Don't know what this is, but I'm not touching it:
Looking back along the coast:
Turning inland the scenery changed:
As the walk went on the weather got better and better. On returning to the campground it looked like this:
The view from the camper roof:
Not many campers left since this is Monday:
The following morning was a bit colder (after the clear night) with a slight mist:
We had a good journey home - roughly the same route we took on the way. Traffic was a lot quieter this time and we got home mid afternoon.
Steve.
We left home late Friday afternoon aiming to camp close to the Welsh border. Friday evening traffic was pretty nasty, not helped by road construction along the route.
Sally mentioned she had seen on the internet a pub near Ross-on-Wye that had an attached campground, so we located their details on the GPS and phoned them while on route.
We ate in the pub that evening. Food was OK, though atmosphere was lacking.
Ross-on-Wye is a small market town near the Welsh border. We'd never visited it before, so we drove in to have a look. There was a big visitors car park at the edge of town, but it had a height barrier :(. Next to the entrance was another track - it had a height barrier, but it was open. We drove in and found it was the car park to a small sports ground; canoes were being loaded on a van, which is probably why the height barrier was open. We decided to risk it and park there, but walking around town a little voice in my head kept saying "they'll have left and locked the barrier while you were away from the camper".
Looks like the latter was quite an old building - look at the year it was renovated (not built):
Down by the river people were getting canoes ready for a day on the River Wye.
Returning to the sports ground the barrier was thankfully still open. I noticed this sign on it:
We carried on across the border and into the Welsh hills and valleys, finding a spot to stop for lunch. I love the way we can stop somewhere like this and Sally will ask "Would you like me to heat up some soup?". Much nicer eating a hot meal sat at a table looking at the view, rather than sat in the front of your car eating as the windows steam up, dropping sandwich crumbs on your clothes and upholstery.
We arrived at the campground mid afternoon. They had some new additions. I guess these are rented as day huts as they look a bit small to sleep in:
You can't reserve sites here, so we were lucky enough to arrive early enough to get one at the edge of the cliff:
Not a bad view from the camper:
We went for a walk down to the beach, then a scramble over the rocks and up to the headland beyond:
Back in time for a beer:
Had a lazy morning the following day - nice and cozy in the bed:
Still a good view:
Sally booked a surfing lesson for us. Not quite Maui unfortunately, but there was just enough surf to learn in. Surprisingly the sea was quite warm. It was raining heavily, and was cold standing on the beach, but when you dipped your hand into the water it was actually warm. That is the Gulf Stream for you.
Next morning it was still raining, but the weather soon improved, so we decided to do a longer walk:
The campground is on approach to the local airfield - luckily there isn't much traffic:
Along the coast is a golf coarse and homes facing out to see; on the strip of land between those and the cliffs cattle are left to graze. Cows get their adrenaline kicks close to the edge:
Notice the folds in the rock of the cliffs:
Don't know what this is, but I'm not touching it:
Looking back along the coast:
Turning inland the scenery changed:
As the walk went on the weather got better and better. On returning to the campground it looked like this:
The view from the camper roof:
Not many campers left since this is Monday:
The following morning was a bit colder (after the clear night) with a slight mist:
We had a good journey home - roughly the same route we took on the way. Traffic was a lot quieter this time and we got home mid afternoon.
Steve.
