Wheels Around Europe . . . . . . . : Croft Castle and Eastnor Castle, Deer Park Campsite

Friday 16 July 2021 to Monday 19 July 2021

The Craven Arms Discovery Center turned out to be a great Park up.

It was quiet and peaceful, no owls and no other nightlife to speak of.

And the best bit, a lovely walk in the morning sunshine through the adjoining meadows, that can't be bettered, anywhere.

And all for a donation in the honesty box.

After breakfast we set off for Croft Castle about 15 miles away. This is another National Trust house, and another one I've not been to before.

It was a scorchio day, much too hot for walking far, but we did do a woodland walk called the fish pools. Trouble was, Louis found a smelly swamp to cool off in.

So a deep clean to the dog was called for later.

The castle was interesting without being spectacular. It had a nice walled garden and lots of mature fir trees in the grounds.

So overall it was a worthwhile visit.

After the doggie cleanup we set off for Eastnor Castle estate near Ledbury, where they have a campsite on the deer park.

It's a very relaxed campsite, keypad access then you just drive on and find a space you like in the huge grounds, set on the rolling Malvern Hills.

No rules or regulations.

There is masses of space, my nearest neighbour is about 100 yards away and there are a real cross section of humanity here. Very well to do people in £150k+ mobile gin palaces and hippie types in ancient battered VW campers.

But everyone is very friendly and eager to have a goodtime and chat - from a distance.

There are limited services, but fresh water is available.

It's a fabulous setting in beautiful countryside.

It was far too hot to do much, so Louis and I just chilled.

Tomorrow I hope to see a bit of the surrounding countryside.

The weekend weather was fabulous, warm sunny and clear blue skies from dawn until dusk. But peaking around 30c each day it was much too hot to do much walking.

We did manage to climb the hill up to the oberlisk though and whilst it was a bit of a slog, as always the spectacular views make it well worthwhile.

So the weekend was mostly spent reading, chilling, watching the wildlife and chatting with the other campers.

A friendly couple not far away asked me if I'd like to go over and join them and have a chat in the evening, which I did and we had a very enjoyable evening watching the sun set over the valley.

They have only just bought their motorhome but are already loving the lifestyle.

We shared some experiences and tips on different places to visit ( they have already been to lots of places that I'd like to go to )

Sunday saw me thinking abour returning home, then I remembered I'm retired now so don't need to rush home for work on Monday, so another night here will do nicely.

On Mondey morning I plotted a route on sat nav and it wanted to take me on the M5 / M6. A quick look at the traffic had me re-routing to the scenic route through Leominster, Ludlow, Shrewsbury.

A much more relaxing drive.