Post It from ‘Lady’s Mile’ camp site, Dawlish, Devon, England. 25th June to 10th July, 2016.

Sorry for the delay in writing this story but I was in two minds whether to keep posting the stories I write on the Club web site especially now that my new small camera has difficulty in taking photos of a small enough size to easily upload to the website, and the same goes for my iPhone to, which makes it all so much more time consuming. I have managed however to find some that were small enough but not the best of the collection I am afraid.

That said I am sat at home today with a head cold, having missed the gym too, so I decided to write the story for my friends and at the end I shall include a fair bit about this delightful bargain of a camp site for those who may be interested in such matters.

We have not holidayed much in the UK at all, least of all in the motorhome, so when our plans to visit the Italian lakes were postponed we decided to visit Devon. We have only ever been there once before in 1987 when we had a week at Brixham when our son was not even walking and my only memories were of the steep walk up the hill to our holiday letting and enjoying the cream teas in Dartmouth.

I researched the area that would likely give us the most opportunities of getting about on bus, train and our bikes and came up with Dawlish. The big storm of 2014 may have had something to do with it as I also wanted to see the Dawlish rail and sea wall built by the famous Victorian engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel which collapsed in the storm. Having seen the images on the television news I thought I would like to visit one day and travel along the Riviera Line to Paignton.

There was lots of walking on offer and a Sus Trans 21 mile Exe cycle way on the doorstep and a choice of two railway stations at Dawlish warren and Dawlish within easy reach. What I had not allowed for was Devon’s rather hilly terrain which is not evident on Google Earth when planning.

I found the camp site from the ACSI app, which I like to use because all their sites have lots of information in their guide so you can get a good idea of what is available. They also advertised in the Club magazine and when I booked with them we were very surprised to get a discount for being over 50 and also 25% off as well for a stay of more than 5 days. That brought the price down to just £10 a night, plus electricity via a meter which added only £1.50 a day. What a fantastic bargain and half the cost of our overnight stops getting there and back.

The weekend we left home was in fact the Glastonbury Festival and we knew there would be congestion on the roads as we passed fairly close on the M5. To do the 325 mile journey in the one day was decided to be too much if we encountered problems so stopped off at the Clubs Chapel Lane site just outside Birmingham. Unfortunately our friends who lived not too far away had to cancel an evening out due to wedding suit fittings for one of their son’s weddings. The site was more than adequate for our purposes and enabled us to have an easy drive on each of the two days. There were no hold ups for Glastonbury on the Sunday as everyone was inside the festival so we arrived in Dawlish early afternoon on the Sunday.

The weather was not too good throughout the whole holiday with a lot more rain than we would have liked. We even had two full days of rain stuck in the van which was definitely not good and on the other days we had many showers. In all I think we only had about 3 days when there was no rain at all and the sun was very much hidden by the clouds. That said the forecast could not be relied upon and on our first full day it was forecast for overcast cloud and showers so we walked along the Dawlish sea wall and burned in the park watching the Black Swans because we had not applied sufficient protection. We felt a little embarrassed by this at our age and the last time we had burnt skin from the sun was too long ago to remember. Many people we came across during the holiday had burned too, with bright red skin being the new fashion, much worse than us so we didn’t feel too out of place or guilty.

Dawlish Warren was a very pleasant 30 minute  walk up and down the hill direct from a camp site gate. From here we were almost at the start of the coastal path all around the Devon and Cornish coasts, over 600 miles I believe. There were views over the river Exe to Exmouth and a small area of sandy beach which was accessible for dogs in places too after a certain numbered groin and a nature reserve meant there were plenty of visiting birds. A small number of shops and eateries were available and we had a delightful meal in the Mount Pleasant Inn, half way up the hill, which had spectacular views over the bay to Exmouth. I learned that the pub had been there since 1760 and in the menu there was an advert taken from the Trewman’s Exeter Flying Post of the 18^th July 1805 celebrating a new owner who had a large stock of fine ales and wines on offer. Our meal was very good too.

Dawlish was also an easy 30 minute walk, mainly downhill, along the main road from Exeter. It was easy to take a short cut from the very end of the camp site and through a small copse. We were able to stick to the footpath into the town or veer off and over the railway lines and joining the sea wall half way between Dawlish and Dawlish Warren. It was a very pleasant town with a high street of shops, plenty of cafes to eat at and a large garden area abutting the river where the Black Swans live. I understand they were brought here many years ago from Asia and have become a focal point for visitors to see.

The Dawlish museum, run by volunteers, was a very good place to visit to see many local items that had been donated over the years. There was also a display of events around the great storm of 2014 with a fascinating video which included a time lapse taken over many days of how the damage was caused and repaired. The orange army, as they became known, worked tirelessly around the clock for 2 months to repair the line and get the peninsular back in contact with the rest of England again.

I remember that my good Spanish friend, Fulgencio, used to visit Exeter as a young boy for the summer holidays where he stayed with a couple to improve his English. I don’t know whether Spaniards are particularly welcomed at Exeter but we certainly heard lots of Spanish being spoken in the city centre, from the students I think.

We had a day out to Exeter on the bus which stopped outside the camp site. The 40 minute journey took us through some villages with very narrow roads before depositing us in the centre of town. The city was quite vibrant with many young people from the University around the streets in between the showers. There were lots of shops too and the delightfully placed Cathedral with an open aspect across a green area. Sharon did plenty of shopping and surprisingly I bought something for myself too. A nice pair of deck shoes for our visit to see our son in the Caribbean later in the year, I will look very dapper when I am there in these fine things!

We had a second day to Exeter on the bikes which ended in disaster. The Sus Trans route was perfect and there were even small ferry boats which take you across the river Exe should you would wish to short cut the whole 23 mile route to Exmouth.  After a very enjoyable ride of 11 miles to Exeter, almost totally on cycle path and very quiet roads giving exceptional views and tranquillity, Sharon’s bike developed a fault which I could not locate. There was a ticking noise coming from the rear wheel which was getting louder each mile we rode so I thought it best to head back because if the worst happened we would be a long way from vehicular assistance and a long walk pushing a bike, even if it is light weight. We arrived back at the camp site and it was only then that I located the problem, two loose spokes in the rear wheel and then I heard the hiss of escaping air as the tyre deflated. I had not brought a spoke spanner with me and the nearest cycle shop was a good distance away so that was our only cycle ride of the holiday, which was a big disappointment. Lessons to be learned once again but all fixed now ready for the off again.

Having such good public transport access we were able to still get about quite a lot. There were busses from the camp site main entrance to Exeter and Newton Abbott. Another from Dawlish Warren at the rear of the camp site that went all the way to Paignton and then the train. We caught the bus to Newton Abbott where Sharon did more shopping and got the Riviera Line train to Paignton, a typical seaside resort where we enjoyed battered chips with a fresh large haddock in what was described as a Yorkshire Fish Shop. A fellow camper we had met on the site had recommended them to us so we could not miss them really. They were pretty good but the fish was not as nice as those back home in the real Yorkshire, in my opinion!

Paignton was well worth the visit but once again we were dodging in and out of the heavy showers. After lunch we caught the train back to Torquay but discovered the station was miles from anything and the heavy rain at the time meant we got to walk to the promenade to see the town in the distance before getting on the next train out again. Next stop was Teignmouth where fortunately the rain had stopped. This was a quaint seaside resort but a bit more upmarket and still had a pier, a bit smaller than Paignton’s.

We had another day by train direct to Plymouth, to see where Sir Francis Drake set sail from to sack the Spanish Armada in 1588, after allegedly playing a game of bowls on the Hoe as the Spanish Fleet sailed towards England. Also where the Pilgrim Fathers set sail from for the Americas in 1620 aboard the Mayflower. What a lovely city it was too. A large pedestrian walk way went down from the train station into the centre of the city from where we explored the old town Barbican area, Marina and walked the famous Hoe. Cornwall was just across the Sound and we therefore had to have one of the famous Cornish Pasties to share with our picnic lunch on the Hoe in the knowledge it was a true Cornish Steak Pasty. I must say it was very good, so much so I returned to the pie shop in the Barbican area to tell the lady who served us. I commented that it had not had the usual effect of repeating on us and she said it was because it was not made with lard but I think she said palm oil. The shop was on Southside Street close to the Plymouth Gin distillery and I would recommend it to anyone lucky enough to be visiting this area.

Overall an enjoyable holiday only marred by the rain and getting burned on our first full day there. What we did find throughout or holiday was the friendly and welcoming nature of the local people. It was so evident to make it noticeable compared to many places we visit.

Our return journey was once again broken by an overnight stay at Birmingham because we had been told the M5 heading out of Devon on a weekend was very busy and often at a standstill around the Bristol area, we were not disappointed to find this correct so our decision to break the journey was a good one. Arriving at Chapel Lane camp site late afternoon allowed us to also visit the small shopping outlet nearby where I could park our large motorhome on their car park with ease. We did even more shopping on the Sunday stopping off at IKEA, Nottingham at Sharon’s insistence to buy certain products. Luckily we were there fairly early and parked with ease on the large surface car park. When we come to leave it was almost full so I was glad I had given some consideration as to where I parked for getting away again or else we would have had some difficulty getting out of the car park due to our size and overhang.

Now for the bits about the camp site which some more than others will be interested in. Lady’s Mile is a very large open all year camp site set in undulating landscape on the edge of Dawlish and Dawlish Warren. It is a family site with almost every facility under the sun: Club house, entertainment for adults and children, café/restaurant, indoor swimming pools with extras, gym, outdoor pool with slides etc. Take away food, hairdresser, small supermarket, play parks etc. etc. There are many static caravans and cabins, some with outdoor hot tub and roof terrace sun deck! Many seasonal pitches too but don’t let this put you off. There are lots and lots of grass pitches spread throughout the camp site so if you want to get away from it all and have peace and tranquillity that is possible even when we were there. The pitches are generally large and some up by the gate to Dawlish Warren were enormous.

All the staff without exception were very friendly, helpful and engaging. The six toilet blocks were continually being cleaned throughout the day on a cycle system by the Slovakian staff and were large, heated, clean with plenty of hot water. Gardeners were also out every day tending to the landscaping. Electricity is paid via a meter with a card purchased from reception. You have free Wi-Fi of 30 minutes per day on the pitch, and it works too, or you can buy longer use. We found that the excellent totally free Wi-Fi at the club house was more than enough for our needs. The site was well used by tourers but due to its geographical size there were plenty of empty pitches throughout the time we were there. At a weekend there were lots more people visiting but still again plenty of open space for those who wanted to be away from others. The best bit was you could just move pitch to anywhere else on the grass pitches if you wished to do so as often as you liked as nowhere was allocated. All for £10 a night for us was fantastic. A large Sainsbury’s supermarket was just 5 minutes’ walk away along Exeter Road for all your shopping too.

The only negative bits were no motorhome service point should you need one, a relatively small car park outside the barrier gate which meant parking to book in was difficult and the owners encouraged people from outside the camp to visit for the pool & meals with some very attractive daily deals. So at peak holiday times I suspect the site is very full of people if not campers. The latter no doubt enabled such good discounts to campers like us.

Well I am closing now, fed up of constantly having to blow my nose and sneezing whilst typing, but glad I have finally written this story. It may be the last I do given the problems with the photos so I may move over and start posting photos only on Instagram instead. Sorry about the photo selection I have posted, perhaps soon the Club will improve the web site in this regard along with other planned improvements.

One final question for someone at the Club who I am pretty certain will read this and will know what I mean. Is your username derived from a small river I will have crossed over on the M5 near the Wicker man? I had planned to get a photo of it on our return journey but forgot all about it until it was there in view. What an impressive bit of sculpture. I saw the name of the river as we crossed it and thought of you since you are from Somerset, wondering if you lived close by.

Regards, Roy