Iona goes to Cambridgeshire

C&CC Site, St Neots, Cambs

Trip 18: Sept 18th-21st

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The drive down to the St Neots site was very easy with most of the route on the A1, the final half mile was winding our way through a housing estate to find the narrow road to the site. Our Nozatec sat nav knew exactly where to go. When I checked in I was told that I could not have a grass pitch because of the recent rain so they had allocated us a hard standing pitch at the same price. We happen to be next to the only other Auto-Trail on the site, a Tracker FB. The same as our friend Carol has just bought. The pitch was right next to the river Great Ouse, hopefully it will not rain too much because we are on a flood plain.

We started to set up and I tested the cooker hob that I had mended, well I got working at the weekend after leaving it for months before I could get it fixed. It worked on cue.  Sue turned the water pump on that gave a few bursts and stopped working. Great, day one and no water. I checked the fuse,OK. I read the manual and it said to bypass the micro switch to see if the pump worked. I managed to unplug the wires and joined them with a paper clip, the pump worked. I cleaned the contacts as best I could without removing the pump and thank goodness the problem was fixed. 

We walked along the river to a weir and locks  and from there past a pub/restaurant into Eaton Socon. 

We had a walk around the church yard and the village green. Walking back we found an old lockup, that was used to hold villains in the distant past.

Back at the campsite we had a drink and Sue made a Chinese style curry which was better than a real Chinese curry.

Day 2:

Awoke at 9.00am, I just love the bed in Iona. Jobs done by 11.am so with the weather looking good we walked into St Neots. The walk took us over the river and through the riverside park. Then back over the river via the road bridge and into town. 

 
Sue needed to get the lottery tickets and some cash from the bank, then it was to M&S to find a special pie, unfortunately we could not find the exact pie Sue was looking for so we settled for Steak and Ale pie.

The next stop was B&M for some dehumidifier refills, the only problem was the shop was over a mile away. Off we set, we stopped to ask a lady where it was and she gave us some great directions which took us through the park and across a field to a long footpath.

We eventually ended at St Mary's church in Easton Socon , where we were yesterday, another 1/4 mile and we found the shop plus others on an out of town retail park. B&M did not have any of the refills we were after so about turn and head back to the campsite via the same path we took yesterday.
 

We saw a heron on the path in front of us just as it caught a frog, it swallowed it in one, looked at us and walked a bit further on and took to the air as we approached.

Sue made some sandwiches for lunch and we spent the afternoon reading and progressed to sitting outside when the sun came out. There were five men fishing along the riverbank but I didn't see them catch anything although this morning there were lots of roach near the bank. The river is quite quiet and only three boats went by this afternoon.

Day 3:

Sculptures near the Park entrance

Sculptures near the Park entrance

Today started as overcast and dull, and this was when we were all ready to go by 9.30am. When we did leave we walked along the river to the park, taking a different route we found another park the other side of the main road. Walking along the river we found a large number of Swans that were convinced I had some food. 

Over head we had a display by a Hawker Hunter classic fighter. We walked around the meadows park and back to the van where Sue cooked some crusty bread to go with Smoked Salmon and Mussel Chowder for lunch.

I had an interesting conversation with a fisherman who explained the ins and outs of fishing with a roach pole while still catching fish. We have some new neighbours arrive in a converted Mk1 Renault Traffic van, which was completely covered in some great artwork.

Day 4:

We stayed around the van this morning and after lunch we went for a walk towards the weir and locks, but we took a different route that turned out to be less hazardous than following the path next to the river. We saw a kestrel hunting in the grass and another green woodpecker. 

We passed our neighbours as they were walking their dogs so when we got back to Iona I made a point of taking a picture of the other side of their camper van.

Trip 18: 1131 miles, 29.6 mpg, 40mph av, 3.25 hrs travel.