NISSAN BLOGGER

Tuesday February 5th 2013.

Great excitement today my Nissan Pathfinder is arriving as a result of winning the Nissan Blog "The Joys of Winter Caravanning".

At 9.00 am on the dot Mr Drew arrived with the said vehicle pristine in a lovely slate grey colour gleaming in the sunshine, two hours later it was covered in snow. It did look large compared to my X-Trail.  After completion of vehicle check and the paperwork I was able to take it for a spin. A little later that day Andy arrived to instruct me into the features of the vehicle and once assured I was happy he left. I found that very useful despite having an X-Trail there were quite a few differences, that I couldn't wait to try out.

Thursday February 7th

The snow of the previous day has melted away and we are loaded and ready for off. The connection to the new 13 pin socket was a little problematic as I had managed to remove the two 7 pin adaptor from the caravan leaving it in a locked position. I later found out that this is quite often an issue. However after help from my local garage man and Mark from CLS services sanity reigned and we were off to Broadway Caravan club site in Worcestershire. This is only a journey of 68 miles and we selected motorway and A roads for the journey. The weather was bright and sunny and we arrived at the site with no issues along the way. We were welcomed by the site manager and his wife, who were very friendly people. On telling him my demise with the new 13 pin connector he had on reception a little gadget to unlock these as he has had many people having the same problem. So he had another customer for a sale. We pitched up on pitch 87 and had the compulsory beverage and then fitted the awning. It all was going well then it started to rain.

The whole journey was a joy. The pathfinder had ample pulling power and I found it quite hard to keep the speed down to 60 mph on the motorway. Andy told me this vehicle will pull 3 tons so my Conqueror laden is 28cwt  ie approx 1.5 ton so plenty to spare.

On the journey I noticed the fuel consumption was heavy and being a 2.5 litre engine expected it to be so. I have listed average towing data at the end of the report, but roughly calculated 16.8 miles /gallon towing.

Friday February 8th

We woken up having the heaviest rainfall through the night I have ever heard while inside a caravan. The sky was cloudy and grey and looked set in for the day. We decided to go to Worcester and then to Tewkesbury. We had a delightful lunch at  The Anchor Inn at Wyre Piddle. This is a superb village pub with steep banks down to the River Avon. We learned while there that the meaning of the word AVON is river, so you could say the Inn is situated on the river River. In summer the gardens are a mass of colour down to the river's edge, today it sadly looked wet but there were Canada Geese and mallards waiting to be fed.

Worcester with its beautiful Cathedral was  busy and there were some  restrictions en route due to the flooding but it looked majestic. We then motored down to Tewkesbury and I was able to open the engine up a bit and see what the Pathfinder was really made of. For a big heavy vehicle she was very responsive and quickly reached 60 mph from a stationery start. She cornered well but I was aware of the weight of the vehicle on sharp bends. It was fun and I enjoyed the power and size of the car and yet all the time I felt safe.

Tewkesbury Caravan site was closed for winter and security sealed off. The access to Gander Lane is easy to find off the main street and the access to the site is clearly signed. It is in easy walking distance to the town centre. There is next to the site a lovely museum of natural history called The John Moore Museum and has a splendid collection of wild animals. Every year Tewkesbury celebrates the Battle of Tewkesbury 4/5/1471 by having an enactment of the battle, this year it takes place on July 13-14th with live canons and a medieval market.

On the return journey we called at Beckford Silk Factory. This is a fascinating place to visit. Here you can see silk being screen printed in the village factory and how the patterns are built up on rolls of pure silk. The factory does have a shop for selling items ready made and also sells material by the metre. There is a small cafe offering country style meals and snacks. This is worth a visit. Ladies take your man there and let him treat you to a lovely silk scarf...

Saturday February 9th

We awoke to another wet and cloudy day. However we decided to walk the short distance into Broadway and look at the interesting cottages and shops many of which are antique shops with some lovely items. There are several pubs/inns in the village as well as coffee and teahouses all designed for the visitor. Broadway attracts a large amount of Japanese and Chinese visitors all with their Nikon/ Cannon cameras. I must admit that the design of the village is a photographer's delight. We sampled the fayre at two of the village hosteleries, The Swan and the Crown and Trumpet. They are both lovely Olde Worlde Pubs with stone floors and walls and old wood effect. The atmosphere in both was warm and comforting mainly due to the huge log fires. The Crown and Trumpet was voted the CAMRA pub of the year sampling was treated in a serious manner and no faults could be found.....Delightful.!!!                                                                                               

Monday February 11th

This was the day we elected to go to Stratford upon Avon. We passed through delightful villages of Willersley, Weston sub Edge, Mickleton, Long Marston, Clifford Chambers. These were typical Cotswold villages built from the golden coloured stone centred around the church and the local pub. This is an area with very fertile ground and supports vegetable produce and fruit growing, with wayside  stalls selling produce. At this time of the year it was selling mainly bedding plants and vegetables.

Stratford itself as always has many visitors whatever the weather or season. The river was in full flood but the new Shakespearean Theatre looked good standing on the riverside. The main shopping street was busy and all shops open as well as Costa Coffee and all the local hosteleries. Shottery is where you find Anne Hathaway's cottage and a lovely little village green with a pub that serves good food.

Tuesday February 12th.

We decided on another visit to Worcester and to do the shops. Looking for a specific item is not easy and can be quite fractious, however we found the right type of corduroy in the correct colour and the world was a happy place !!!!

We then decided as by now it was snowing quite heavily and we had a very hard frost that we would head back towards camp and find a little Inn that we had used on  a previous visit to the Broadway site.

We both knew it was a right turn off Broadway's main street and there are only two to choose from and we drove up both and still could not find it . By now the snow was settling and the roads were very slippy but my 4 x 4  Pathfinder handled it with precision , no problems and we proceeded up Snowshill  Lane up into the village and found  our  Inn The Snowshill Arms. What a gem of a place it is. Elaine the barmaid is so charming and helpful and after a light lunch we booked our table for Valentine's night. The  bar had a huge log fire which on leaving you could smell on your clothes reminding one of Bon Fire Night. The locals even leave their  dirty snowy boots in  the door entrance to prevent dirtying the floor. This is very much a local's pub, a long way off the road and  set in a tiny village at the top of the hill. I have included a photograph of the grotto like appearance of the lane when we drove up it.

Wednesday  February 13th.

We awoke to a heavy frost but with most of the snow on the site having thawed. The awning was frozen solid and very stiff when opening caravan door as the weight  of the ice had dropped the roof an inch or so. We have lagging on our water bottle and pipes so no frozen issues there.

We have opted to drive to Moreton in the Marsh today. As we drove up the infamous Fish Hill out of Broadway we saw right on the side of the main road the A44 a collection of Romany caravans with smoke bellowing out of the chimneys. Several ponies were tethered on the grass verge where the owners had cleared the snow away to leave a grass covering. Their manes were frozen and I felt very guilty knowing the comfort we had left behind and were going back to .They had a scrap metal wanted sign up but were only 2 feet off the kerb of the main road which is notoriously dangerous at the best of times, let alone in snow.

We  went to the Caravan Site in Moreton and had a look around but only relief manager was on site but again access was easy from the Bourton Road and again easy walking into Moreton.

The village is at the centre of 4 counties and a stone called "the four shires stone" is in the village denoting the 4 shires of Gloucestershire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Oxfordshire. The town has very strong links with the author JRR Tolkien and was granted market status in 1227.Market day is Tuesday and is an experience not to be missed.

Thursday  February 14th.

No valentine card delivered or sent but am going out for a meal tonight, so not all bad.....

We  decided as the sun was shining today was the day to see The Malvern Hills and all their glory.

The Pathfinder delivered us to the Malverns in style and even on the scenic route over the top performed well. She is so easy to  drive and the seating is so comfortable. Both myself and the OH have bad backs and yet  were able to get out of the car without a twinge. It is easy to get into and out of and does not strain the hips or backs. The view from the top of the hills was beautiful and all counties could be seen.

We went by the Morgan car works and marvelled at how small the works are  and envied all the back packers setting off for the walk over the tops.

We visited the Malvern caravan site at Blackmore and although they are closed until March we spoke with the  "site minders"and it looked lovely can't wait to get there in March. The site is adjacent to the  other main Caravan camping group and lies in the foothills of the Malverns very close to The Three Counties Show ground. The access is easy with  good width roads from the M5 motorway. We could not access Upton on Severn as flood warnings closed the roads, but from my past working of the area it is very pretty and lovely to sit and have lunch by the river, sadly not today.

Friday February  15th.

Home today !  how sad, we have to break camp and pack up this lovely vehicle with great regret. It was so easy to connect up and journey home which was tinged with sadness. We had a  good relaxing break in a beautiful part of the country that you can never get bored with. We arrived home unhooked the caravan from the  Pathfinder and secured the van on its security post. All that's left now is wash the car ready for its return. I will be sorry to see it go as I felt I could tow anywhere with it, it felt like it would handle anything thrown at it with ease. If you can run a car and not worry about the finance then this is it.

ADVANTAGES OF THE PATHFINDER,

Tows up to 3 ton.

Rear Camera excellent range of view.

Boot space with seats down fantastic.

Load space and backs of seat covered with fabric reduces noise when seats are in a down position.

Lights are good.

The ability to record favourite music to inbuilt hard drive. Speakers excellent.

Sat Nav clear and precise.

DISADVANTAGES.

Fuel Consumption,,,,   16.8 miles/gallon towing 24.9 miles/gallon not towing

Large doors need to allow a large parking space to prevent damage to doors.

Rear loading step prevented view of hitch so had to mark the step with tape to guide myself onto hitch.

I would like to extend my thanks to all concerned in the organising of this opportunity, The Caravan Club, Nissan and Fuse. Thank you all very much.

Yvonne Harvey