Trip 6: Weston Farm. Weston on Avon.
We arrived at the site, luckily I had looked on Google Earth to see the layout. We drove onto the meadow, there was only one other van so we chose an area alongside a stream which was slightly hidden from the other motorhome.
Our pitch is in sun from at least midday so we are in heaven as long as the sun shines
After lunch we went for a walk along the river and then into the village. The style of the houses is fantastic, lots of thatched cottages, large modern houses. A very affluent village.
We passed the Shakespeare Inn that was closed. We continued to the high street and turned towards the next pub, the Bell which we knew would be closed.
At the Bell we turned towards the river, passing the church and apparently a row of old cottages that are photographed and then used for jigsaws and promotion shots.
On reaching the river we followed the footpath which eventually took us up to the main road and back into the village. We headed back to the Shakespeare Inn where we sat outside in the sun and enjoyed a beer and cider.
We left the pub and I took the wrong footpath so we had to retrace our steps until we found the correct path which took us back to Welford and the campsite.
We decided to have the first bbq of the year, it was also the first chance to use the new campingaz bbq. It was brilliant and we had sausages to start and then a waggu burger that was one of the best burgers we have ever had.
So for the first day we traveled 109 miles to the site, walked for 6 miles and finished the day with a great bbq.
The owner, farmer Richard drove up and we paid him for three nights. We had a great chat with him, you could not want to meet a nicer man. This site is turning out to be far better than we imagined when we booked it. It is basic with only water and waste points but it is what camping is all about.
Day 2:
The day started cloudy but it was warm. We decided to walk towards Stratford following the river. We had only gone about half a mile and we came across a sign saying that the Stratford Greenway was closed due to resurfacing. The greenway is route of the old railway line which stretches from Stratford towards Meon a distance of 8 miles.
We followed the path along the river and we passed a weir that was pretty spectacular.
The footpath took us to the Greenway, and it had already been surfaced so we followed it to Stratford. We then crossed the river Avon and followed the path around a mariner where there was a Swan sitting on a nest next to the boat pontoons.
The path lead us to a lock , here we climbed steps upto the top of the cliff then back down to the flood plain. We followed the river until it went under the rather rusty Greenway bridge. Another half mile and we followed a path up onto the greenway and we followed it until we came to a barrier across the path where the workmen were surfacing that section.
We followed a farm track until it was joined by a footpath which took us back to the first Notice about the closure. We were then back in familiar territory and we were soon back home. The route was 8 miles.
Day 3:
Another sunny day and so we stayed around Iona in the morning but we walked to have a look at the Caravan & Motorhome site next door. This is all part of Weston farm. The site borders the river Avon and in some respects the better site. We watched the cows on the other bank come down for a drink.
We then walked to the church which dates back to Norman times. It is very basic compared to some of the churches we have seen but it had a community feel about it. We walked to the farm yard that has been converted to holiday lets. Richard, the owner was walking towards us so I stopped him and asked several questions.
The farm was purchased by his grandfather from the local estate. The estate had to sell land to cover death duties. Richard was born on the farm and he gave us a brief history of the buildings and how they have had to diversify with the B&B, Holiday lets and the camp sites.
After lunch we went for a walk to the river and followed the paths in a circle before finding another path into the village. We got to the pub early but it was already open so we called in for a beer. We had walked another 7 miles today.
Tonight Sue cooked Spaghetti Bolognese, pasta in the van and meat on the bbq.
It is still warm outside at 20.00 so Sue gave EastEnders a miss and we sat outside in the sun until it got a bit cool.
That finished off the trip to Weston on Avon but it is such an ideal site we will return in the future.
Iona’s Travels 