A night away across the border. Feb 2017

Ruby the Campervan is parked up back at home after a quick night away, across the border to Suffolk. We had a crazy week of work, so decided a BritStop night away would be the perfect thing to look forward to, to celebrate our new 2017 edition of the BritStop Bible arriving.

We had a lavishly long lie in on Saturday, not getting up until 11:30, but the ease of having our camper van back out on the drive made for a really speedy getaway- we were on the road for 12:30, stopping briefly to return a couple of bike racks to Halfords, before arriving at Clare Country Park in time for a Campervan Cookbook lunch of Campfire Quesadillas. 

We substituted the campfire for Ruby’s hob, and washed lunch down with a refreshing beer and a wander along the old Railway Path, around the old Railway buildings and ruins of Clare Castle and Priory. The weather was dull and dismal, but we enjoyed the leg stretch and the fresh air nonetheless, although it was sad to see so many trees blown over due to the recent Storm Doris. The winds were hanging on a bit actually so it was a bit drafty to send  Donny my Parrott Drone up- a shame as I bet it would be a good arial shot – never mind though, always next time!

We had a little wander around the picturesque village of Clare and I stuck my head into a couple of the shops – as much as I could get away with anyway, Keith’s not the biggest shopper in the world, before having a cuppa and a jam doughnut back in Ruby!

We made our way ten mins or so to our BritStop location for the night, no. 232 in the 2017 book, a charming 16th Century pub near to Sudbury. The draw of the pub was that the landlord/chef doesn’t have a menu as such, he just cooks you what you fancy, depending on what local ingredients he has in. He also has a microbrewery onsite, we finished off his latest batch of bitter- it was yum!

We parked up, introduced ourselves and arranged to go back in 6ish to decide upon what to eat and have a beer. We used the time to play with our new gadget- a portable TV which, one you plug a memory card in has the function to record Live TV. We had zero phone signal at the pub, so my hopes of recording Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway were rather slim, so I enjoyed half an hour of knitting whist Keith played around with the TV. I was therefore mighty surprised when the next thing I hear is the roar of the rugby coming from this iPad sized screen- Keith had attached the magnetic ariel to the side of the van and it had somehow found a full digital signal! We were stunned. It has a 12v plug so can run off the leisure battery, or run without being plugged in for 2 hours.

We set it to record and went inside, ready for a beer. The welcome was warm, and not just because of the roaring log fire. The landlord was a right character, but his enthusiasm and passion for cooking impossible not to latch on to. He discussed menu options with us and disappeared into the kitchen, leaving us in the company of a friendly local, and before we knew it the most delicious garlic mushrooms were delivered to our table, which we absolutely wolfed down! Main course arrived next and we enjoyed a fabulous patter of curries and accompaniments, all lovingly homemade.

We had a fabulous night, and were shocked when the bill came to less than £50. A perfect evening.  The recording on the TV had worked perfectly so we watched bit of Ant and Dec before having an early night- we must have needed it as we slept for almost 12 hours straight! We are finding the bed in Ruby extremely comfortable, even Keith, who has rigged up the portapotty at the end of his side of the bed so he has extended the bed by an extra foot- enabling us to both be able to stretch out fully.

Sunday dawned a little brighter so after a fairly lazy morning we set off home via Ickworth National Trust. It’s a favourite of ours, and this time we parked up in the overflow carpark which gave us panoramic views of the farm land, which Keith enjoyed whilst I cooked my very first Fry up in Ruby. It was a bit of a juggle on only 2 hobs but I managed it with no stress- I’m definitely enjoying the sitting down cooking approach!

We had a big walk around the grounds before heading Ruby’s wheels in the direction of home, vowing to return to our new favourite BritStop  very soon, and feeling fully refreshed, recharged and ready to face the week ahead. When we were faced with having to get rid of Bluebell, it was exactly these weekends that I was most devasted at the prospect of not being able to do anymore. I’m so glad we found our gal Ruby quickly, and so far, she’s ticking all our boxes. 
Until Next Time

Lx