According to Wikipedia, the average age of a Tavistock resident is 44 years old. That’s the same age as myself, so in theory the town should have appealed. I’m sure it’s a lovely place to live in but as holidaymakers we were in need of a little more excitement. It was time to head out of Tavistock and find out what else the area had to offer.
Bristol balloon fiesta
If you look up and see a Smurf or a huge daisy floating through the sky it’s a pretty good bet that you’re in Bristol for the annual balloon fiesta. Held over 4 days each August it attracts half a million visitors who flock to see the morning and evening balloon ascents.
Our family microadventure: pin the spot on the map
A few weeks ago I published a post suggesting some family microadventure ideas. One of the ideas was to randomly pin a spot on a map and then visit the location without using a car. Last week we attempted this, read on to find out how we got on.
Continue reading Our family microadventure: pin the spot on the map
Our day trip to Weston-super-Mare, Somerset
A sunny day in the summer holidays; perfect weather for our annual day trip to Weston-super-Mare. Weston is a traditional bucket and spade resort, with donkeys and a pier, and we always have a fun day out.
Continue reading Our day trip to Weston-super-Mare, Somerset
Campsite review: Henry’s campsite, Lizard, Cornwall
A few weeks ago we stayed at Henry’s campsite on the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall. It’s taken me a while to write up the review, but I think that just reflects the laid back and relaxed vibe of the site (for holidaymakers at least, the owners work hard).
I’m a Trip Advisor junkie and like to check out places before we visit so as usual I read up in advance of our trip. The word most often used to describe Henry’s campsite in the reviews was ‘quirky’. Now that we’ve visited I agree it is definitely the best description of the site.
The campsite is located on the edge of Lizard village in Cornwall. The village isn’t much to write home about but it was handy to have the local amenities, including an excellent fish and chip shop just a short walk away. However the Lizard peninsula is a fantastic part of the country to visit and there’s lots to do in the area, including some great coastal walks straight from the campsite.
Our pitch was great. Located on a small flat terrace it was surrounded by shrubs which offered some privacy. The campsite is full of these type of pitches; hidden amongst sub-tropical plants with flowers spouting out of walls. We had a view of the sea from our pitch and were treated to a couple of great sunsets.
There’s lots of artistic touches around the site. I particularly liked the wooden seagulls and the bench and seats. There are sculptures hidden in little nooks and crannies and murals on the toilet buildings. There’s lots of recycling in evidence, many items appear to be made from something else.
Free wi-fi is available near the reception and shop area but I felt a little guilty using it; it’s definitely the kind of site where you should abandon all technology.
The campsite shop was legendary. Whilst it was only small it was one of the best stocked camp shops I’ve ever come across and it always seemed to be open. Even better, you could buy items individually. One marshmallow toasting stick for 4p, a peg for 10p, a slice of bacon for 40p or a single egg for 25p. Jugs of Rosie’s cider appeared to be rather popular in the evenings!
The campsite has plenty of animals. Newly hatched ducklings and chicks were in kept in cages up by the shop area, whilst the older ones just wandered around the site. There was a lovely affectionate dog too.
The football field is shared with the alpacas which is a little unfortunate as it meant you couldn’t just send the kids off for a football game; they had to be supervised by adults whilst in the field. It was also home to a couple of Houdini goats who managed to unhook the latch on the gate several times during our stay.
There is a relaxed festival feel to the campsite. During the season they have live music at the fire pit a couple of times a week. It’s undercover which is great if the weather is dodgy. Alternatively you can hire a brazier and light your own camp fire.
The toilets and showers are split across 3 buildings; a couple of them were shack like but they were always clean. The only negative was that they were unisex toilets and showers. Call me a prude but I don’t want to share bathrooms with the opposite sex. If a lady is hogging a washbasin you can jump in to wash your hands quickly, but when it’s a man having a very long wet shave it’s a bit more tricky!
Despite the toilets it’s a great campsite and, whilst it’s not for everyone, I’d happily recommend it to friends who would appreciate its quirky side.
More info:
- We paid £31 per night for our tent, 2 adults and 2 children. One minor gripe was having to pay an additional 20p for a 2 minute shower. I’d prefer the cost of showers to be included, so much easier than scrabbling around for 20p pieces.
- Further details available on Henry’s campsite website.
Moths of Neptune Wood, Oxfordshire
How many species of moth can you name? More than 2400 different species have been recorded in the UK but I could only identify a few without resorting to an ID book. Or at least, that was the case before we visited a Bug Blitz event at Neptune Wood, part of the Earth Trust estate, near Little Wittenham.
Bug Blitz was a 10 hour biological survey, open to everyone, which aimed to record as many invertebrate species as possible. We visited to take part in a ‘Morning of moths’ session.
The moths were captured in traps set the previous night in Neptune Wood, an area of mixed woodland planted to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar. The moths are attracted to the bright light of the trap, and are caught safely and humanely inside it. They are released again after studying.
We were there bright and early, in fact so early that the stands were still being set up when we arrived at 8am. Strangely enough there weren’t too many other visitors at that time on a Sunday morning!
Our reason for arriving so early was to view the catch before the day heated up as this would unsettle the moths. We’d timed it well as the moth experts were just taking out the trays from the first trap. It was rather strange to see cardboard egg trays being used but their rough surface evidently gives moths a good grip to latch on to.
The experts estimated there were around 150 different moths in the first trap. I would not have had a clue about most of these so it was fantastic having such knowledgable people on hand to identify and tell us about the moths. It was amazing to see so many different species which are usually only active at night.
Although a few of the moths flew away when the trays were taken out most stayed in situ. Thus allowed us to see them up close and study for as long as we wished.
Being an amateur it was the large and colourful moths that excited me, particularly the hawk moths. These are relatively common locally so most of the experts were more interested in checking out the smaller species.
Whilst I could have stayed for hours the kids had wandered off by this point. Fortunately they found a stand where they could make clay animals so we now have a large variety drying out on our parcel shelf. We decided to head for home shortly afterwards; probably a good decision otherwise there wouldn’t have been much clay left for the other visitors to use!
It was well worth the early morning start; we all learnt something new. If you ever get the opportunity to see the opening of a moth trap I can highly recommend it.
More info:
- Most people know Earth Trust as the home of Wittenham Clumps, a hill in a rather flat part of Oxfordshire. However it also incorporates several areas of woodland, farmland (open for lambing days) and an arboretum. The nature reserve and Wittenham Clumps are open every day and are free to visit. Find out more here.
- If you’d like to find out more about moths, check out this website. If you’re looking for a book we use the ‘Field Guide to the moths of Great Britain and Ireland’. It’s expensive but well worth the money (the illustrator was at the moth event; surprised my other half didn’t ask him to autograph his book).