Sat: A 7.00am depart to pick up the ‘van. All went well, our neighbour seems to have gone, so we have an easy drive in and out without the motor mover, great! We made our way along the A1 and A19 as usual, although I took the more direct route through to the M6 by continuing on the A19 rather than diverting to the A689. I think this works well and seems a little quicker despite the traffic lights and speed restrictions. Something I will use for future trips I think. Our usual stop at Southwaite was fine, filled with fuel and then the journey South began. Time to chew some M6 🙂 All went fine, some usual road works and minor delays but we made good progress. Cath wanted to stop a little earlier than the planned Keele stop, so we pulled in to Charnock services, only to fine there wasn’t really any space to park, even the HGV’s only had a few spots to reverse into to, so we gave this a miss and headed for our original plan of Keele. Having done this, the h=journey to the site wasn’t far away, so following a few potholed roads we arrived at Stanmore Hall Touring Park. Check in was good and informative. We were shown to our pitch by a warden on his bike which is always nice, aka C&CC style! I had opted for a grass pitch, which I’m pleased I did as the pitch we got, 98 – was a gem! Set-up was gentle, as we were both suffering with health. I’d torn my back lifting slabs from the water mains works to get the new K51 on the drive and Cath was suffering from spinal nerve compression, so we were both a bit of a mess! Anyhow, we got sorted as usual and enjoyed what was a good pitch and site. A fish and chip van parked next to us for the Saturday night food van, Cath enjoyed a sample of this for tea, whilst I enjoyed my normal chips & nuggets!
Sun: Weather still good, a trip to the Telford Steam Railway was on the cards. This was a 20 minute drive away, so a relaxed start to the day, as trains were provided from 11am onward, We arrived and parked up in what was a rather empty car park. We then bought our tickets and explored the site. It’s all very nice, but the information was a little hard to grasp with what happens and where. A little more information on the leaflet in terms of diagrams and maps would be helpful. There was no steam running today, so we made do with a pacer. There was supposed to be a steam tram running, but this never came to fruition. Following this, we had a brake van trip, which was short to say the least. We made time for a drink and saw the model railway as well, so a good trip all in all.
Mon: A relax day. Nothing to report other than enjoyed playing cards in the evening, despite losing! Good to report that the new fridge & freezer were working well. They have provided a good amount of storage at reliable temperatures, something we haven’t always had with Frodo and the front locker! Although this 2 week trip pushed them to the max, they still managed (just) and will be fine for all of our other trips throughout the year.
Tue: Another relax day. Lovely to sit outside and enjoy the wildlife. Watched Les Mis in the evening, always nice to have time for that. Rained throughout the night, but who cares!
Wed: I thought we’d go into Bridgnorth itself today after a relaxing start to the day, with both of us sampling the showers. Not bad, not enough hooks or storage space, but a nice shower base, good water pressure and no 5 second button 🙂 Cath didn’t do well in Bridgnorth, so this was cut a little short with me briefly exploring the area on my own and then returning to pick Cath back up. We’ve been here before, again briefly, following a trip on the Severn Valley Railway. I was going to do the funicular railway, but didn’t bother in the end. Nice to see it however, although my vertigo was kicking in 🙁
Thu: Relax on site day. I’ve identified the giant trees here by our pitch as ‘Giant Sequoia’ – the world’s largest trees. Native to the Nevada region of California, introduced to the UK back in 1853. The other massive tree directly in front of us is an Oak tree.
Fri: Following breakfast I headed out for Wolverhampton to pick up the shopping from Tesco’s. This was our closest one, some 30min drive away. Still it’s better than the next stop, where the nearest Click & Collect is a 1hr drive away in Bangor! Hance the reason for picking up supplies today for next week. Picked fuel up on the way back, although the little Texaco station was rammed with a motorhome towing car, which had to reverse out a little to get by two other vehicles. I then ended up on the wrong side of the pumps but the hose managed to reach around thankfully. Although my boot kept trying to open, but luckily the pressure from the hose stopped it in its tracks. All quite amusing! Lovely weather again. Enjoyed playing 3D connect 4 outside on the evening and then retired for the final night. Peacocks back in full chorus.
Sat: A relaxed pack-up. Weather still lovely, no complaints there. We left pretty much bang on time at 11am and were on our way to our next stop, Coed-Y-Llwyn in Wales. It has been a lovely week here, the site is lovely, well kept and the focus of the lake and light lit promenade really makes it feel special. The wash block is well maintained, as is the little complex of shop, reception, seats, conservatory etc. It makes a nice focal point, along with the Mini Bar and seating area, which contains a dart board and table football. Two food vans visit here, on a Friday and Saturday, when the bar is open – so a good focal point for campers to visit and socialise, big thumbs up for this – lacking at many sites. The elsan point is also the best, utilising a mid-centre drop pipe for flushing and cleaning, why don’t all sites employ this? Far better than your leaky tap and pipe. The bins are still in the old CAMC position of being located at the service points. This is fine – but they weren’t emptied enough. Our recycle bin wasn’t emptied for at least 3 days and was overflowing when we left – not good. The waste water point was also raised by surrounding bricks, no good for a wastemaster – you have to lift it to get to the drain, a pain with a bad back 🙁 Still, a great site – glad we went.
- Date: 13th June 2026
- Nights: 7
- Pitch #: 98
- GPS: 52.527339, -2.378899
Approach: A442 > A458