Here we are at Tredegar house site. A smaller site than what we are used to but so much nicer for work. We will be here now until 10th October, then we will go back to Cirencester to finish off the season. The site being in the grounds of the national trust property is very green and today we had a day off so we went for a walk around the park grounds which are next to the main house. There was a craft and food market on which was a good reason to go and we needed to top up on our shopping which meant walking to Asda a bit further on. Here we are on site.

The weather has been very wet while we have been here so dodging the showers we headed out for the craft and food market while it had stopped raining. We chose to go around the park grounds instead of walking down the roads, much nicer. The house looks fantastic and the stable block was just as big. Years ago it must have been bustling with activity, now it’s just bustling with peaple looking around. This is the rear of the house, the servants entrance.

After looking around the stalls we came across a pasty store with a difference. All the pasty’s were Jamaican beef, or vegan, or some other combo. Loverly lady selling them and all handmade by herself. And yes they were delicious. I found a beer stall and the lady there insisted I try some. Who am I to argue. And yes that was very nice also, so that was lunch taken care off, a pasty and some beer. Nikki found a gin stall but never got to taste any, only sniff the bottle. What a let down, bit like me opening my wallet and saying to the stall holder sniff that cash mate. Thats what you could have had.

After going to Asda and getting some shopping I went for a walk around the lake in the park. Really weird being near a lake and trees yet so close to the M4 motorway which you can only just here. After the walk back to the camper for lunch. The pastie and beer was elevensies.

Sat just looking at my iPad one morning a couple of weeks ago before going to work. I heard a distinctive noise of a gas burner going off on a hot air balloon. Grabbed my camera and went outside to the sight of beautiful hot air balloon floating over the campsite, drifting along wherever the wind would take it. It’s something I have always wanted to do, along with a lot of other things, more of that later.

We are still very busy at work and the end is in sight for this year now. Tomorrow we are off to Tredegar house in South Wales to work for a week. The site is in the grounds of, yes you guessed it Tredegar house, a national trust property between Cardiff and Newport. It’s not far from where my gran and grandad, my dads parents used to live and I visited as a kid many moons ago. Will not have time to go and find their old house this visit but we are going back to the site on our winter trip so will make an effort to find it then.

We have had some more end of season assessments at work to do with the machinery. All to do with the two year training program and pleased to say we both passed. Good job really otherwise we would not be able to work.

We have had three stealth B2 bombers flying around a lot also. They have been based at RAF Fairford and are doing some training, but a bit different to our training. Fantastic planes they look like batman when in the air and I was so pleased to see all three as they flew over leaving Fairford.

It was Nikki’s birthday yesterday and we had some friends come up to see us so we all went into Cirencester for a drink and a bite to eat like you do. Had a really nice evening. Today is just a chill out day.

The trees in the Bathurst estate and around the campsite are all changing colour now and starting to drop their leaves. The Bathurst estate are doing a lot of tree work at the moment because a lot have disease or have come to the end of their life. Some really big trees like chestnuts have been coming down. Hundreds of years old. They are going to replant a lot of new trees to take the place of the old ones. The colours are fantastic and should get better in the next few weeks.

Now for some fantastic news. We have been told where we are going next year. We are going to a site called Coed Y Llwyn, don’t ask me to pronounce it because I can only just spell it but I will learn. It’s in the heart of Snowdonia in North Wales. About 8 miles from Porthmadog which is on the coast. The site is in a small village called Gellilydan. There will only be one other couple with us and it’s a much smaller site.

Going back to what I said earlier about things I always wanted to do, next year I will tick one off the list. Less than hour away is a old slate quarry which they have put a zip wire in, its one of the longest in the world and you reach speeds up 100 mph. It’s called velocity 2 if you want to check it out on You Tube. There is also a place called surf Snowdonia which is a lagoon with a wave machine in it for surfing. They can alter the size of the wave depending who is using it. I’m sure if I give the bloke an extra fiver he would crank it up a bit.

About twenty minutes away is a forest called Coed Y Brenin where there are lots of different mountain bike trails. From the site you can walk around a big lake called lake Trawsfynydd. And of course there is Snowdon itself to walk up, another thing I plan to do. Nikki is going to catch the train up and wave as she goes past sipping her G&T. And to top it all off there is a pub at the end of the road from the campsite. So looks like it’s going to be another busy year next year.

The work season has flown away, now six months into it which means we only have two months left. Yipppeee. We love the job, don’t get me wrong but we also like our free time. The site has been very busy, especially weekends where we are fully booked nearly every weekend. The Cotswold show was on one weekend which was in the grounds right next to the site and then the following weekend was the fairford air tattoo so a few planes were flying around overhead which was nice. We have had several friends visit us while we have been here which has been really nice. A good excuse to go out for a beer and a bite to eat, not that we need an excuse.

We have decided not to go to Europe this winter for a couple of reasons. First we need to spend some money on the camper, new mattress, heating service, jacks repair, etc. Secondly we thought it would be nice to tour the Uk for a change. I know it will be cooler but we can catch up with peaple we have not seen etc and see different parts of our own country we have not seen.

We went to cheddar to meet some friends three weeks ago which was nice. Another excuse to go out for a beer or two. Although I almost fainted at the price of a round, in one of the hotel/pubs, four drinks £24. We never ate in there. This weekend we are in Tweksbury on a site right on the edge of the town. You can see the Abbey from the site poking out between the treetops.

A very impressive building. The build started in 1102 that’s a long time ago. It was built to house the Benedictine monks. It’s famous for its medieval stained glass windows. It also has the largest Norman church tower in existence, its fourteen metres square and forty five metres high. Very impressive.

This morning I got up early to go and take these photos. As the sun came up it shone on the abbey making it look spectacular. Walking around in the grounds with no other person in site was so nice and worth getting up for. As I walked around to the huge big door I noticed it was open, so me being me went on in because I wanted to see inside. WOW…The outside is impressive but the inside is even more impressive. As I started to take some photos, a person appeared, the local vicar. I said the door was open so I had come in to take some photos, I hope that’s ok. Of course it is he said, are you here for the early morning service. No I said I was here to take advantage of the early morning, no crowds and the sunlight. It’s a very impressive building I said, yes it’s magnificent he said as he strolled off to get ready for his early morning service.

After taking my photos inside I wandered around the old part of the town taking a few more photos of the loverly old buildings which we had spotted yesterday while walking to the pub for a beer and a bite to eat. On our own this time, see I told you we don’t need an excuse. Some of the buildings look like they could fall down anytime but are so nice and being used.