Gower and Gloucestershire prove a perfect Wales-England combo for Susan and Paul Green on a summer break
OUR HOLIDAY THIS year was tinged with sadness as we were having to leave our dog, Jess, at home – at 15½, travelling and hiking had become too much for her. She would be well looked after by our sons, though.
Our home for the next three nights was Golden Valley House, in Gloucestershire, a Caravan and Motorhome Club CL.
The site has only been open for a year, and is flat and extremely well kept, with pitches sectioned off with shrubs.
We were greeted by the site owner, Vic, along with a box of six eggs from his own chickens – what a lovely welcome!
Our dinner on the first night was at The Anchor Inn, in Oldbury-on-Severn, a handsome and atmospheric hostelry. We ended the evening with a walk along the Oldbury Pill (pill is the local name for a creek) down to the River Severn, with views of the great bridges.
Riverside walking
In the morning, a cooked breakfast was followed by a walk along country lanes and back to the Severn. We had to amend our proposed route when faced with around 30 bullocks blocking the gate into the field where the public footpath went!
Oldbury Power Station lies by the river and is a blot on this otherwise beautiful landscape. It was decommissioned in 2013, but it will take an estimated 90 years to make this Magnox nuclear power station safe and to remove its remains.
Next day, we drove to nearby Thornbury, where parking was free for two hours.
We walked through the high street to Thornbury Castle, once owned by Henry VIII. He visited here with his wife, Anne Boleyn. More like a large manor house, the castle is now a hotel and wedding venue.
We strolled around the walled garden and saw some of the sumptuous rooms. At around £400 per night, they were well out of our price range!
The fourth day of our holiday saw us moving to Wales, to the Gower Peninsula. Sadly, 40mph gusts and torrential rain were forecast and by the time we got to our site in Llangennith, that proved correct.
We missed the turning to the site in the village, but managed to turn around a little further on. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get down the road from that direction as a car was parked on the turning. After blocking the whole village for 10 minutes, we ended up retracing our steps out of the village and found a turning three miles away – we didn’t miss it this time!
Home for the next seven nights was Barraston Hall Farm Caravan and Motorhome Club CL. Each pitch had its own electricity an
