Broadway CAMC

Fri: The road(s) to hell. That’s the best way to describe our journey. To date, this has been the worst journey in all of our caravanning expeditions. A1 / M62 – delays all the way. M6 – closure due to accident, 3 hour detour. Arrival at campsite, not looking good.

A pitstop was scheduled on the M62 at Hartheads, but due to the delays already endured, it was more of a case of – run to the toilet, scoff a sandwich and then get back driving, not relaxing to say the least. Hitting the M6 we were sent on a diversion which wasn’t clearly marked. Indeed it seemed other diversions were in place as we encountered numerous diversion sings which didn’t seem to tally with our route. I carefully navigated through the diversion, although this was a bit stressful, thank goodness for GPS maps in the car! The queues were immense in all places and trying to change lanes was a challenge, as no one wants to let a caravan in 😐

We eventually made it back on to the M6 and ploughed onwards to the site – we were in contact with the site wardens who were brilliant. We were resigned to the fact that we wouldn’t hit the 8.00pm deadline for arrival and were prepared to stop over-night with the trucks, but the wardens kindly said to keep coming – they had a pitch reserved for us that they would let us have when we arrived – which we duly did at 9.15pm, not before getting stuck behind a combine harvester on the A44 just before arriving at the site however, you couldn’t write it any better honestly! They even made us hot drinks upon our arrival, warned our neighbours that we were arriving late – I can’t say how amazing Steve and xxx were – it goes beyond the call of duty. Needless to say we pitched up with the basics and then slept. This has been an 8 hour intense drive, with just one brief stop.

Saturday: After a good nights sleep we enjoyed a bacon sandwich on the cadac. as is now becoming the norm. We then erected the awning and took a trip into Broadway village, where a show was taking place for the weekend – a car show, with apparently a flyover from a Hurricane place, but this didn’t transpire! The village was packed and was quite a spectacle – although we found it a little too much and didn’t stay for too long, crowds are still a little uncomfortable at the moment it seems during these covid days. We returned back to the site and enjoyed some fish & chips for tea from the onsite visiting van.

Sunday: Another relaxed start with a bacon butty and then a trip to Evesham. What a lovely place this is, very picturesque. Set by the river Avon, there are plenty of grassy spaces, playgrounds, abbey grounds, canal boats, shops, cafes – everything for a relaxing visit. We enjoyed a couple of hours here and then returned to the site. A bit of cleaning of the ‘van followed by a BBQ tea and we were set for the night.

Monday: Following breakfast we headed for Broadway Tower, a short drive from the site. There’s a good amount of parking here, but the overall pricing was a bit pricy we thought. £12 to access the tower, £4 for a picnic, £3 parking – that could add up to quite an amount for the day. We paid the parking and kept to public walking after that. There’s a few cafes here which is nice and some stunning views across the Cotswolds. From there we drove to Chipping Campden to see one of the stunning villages which this area is renown for. The buildings are stunning, beautiful, thatch roofs, Cotswold stone, quaint shops, narrow streets – all lost in time. After stopping here for a while we returned back to the site. A couple of DIY jobs were in order, fixing the door blind and putting on the new table. The door blind didn’t take too long, however the table needed drilling – so that’s a job for another day!

Tuesday: A trip on the GWSR railway was in order today. The station is literally just across the road from the entrance to the site. They are running steam all of this week, so a trip on 7903 Hall Class was just the ticket. Talking of tickets, adults are £25 for a return journey to Cheltenham Racecourse. Broadway station was reopened just 3 years ago back in 2018, platform 1 is operational, but platform 2 and the bridge are still undergoing construction. The line is about 14 miles in length and takes you through the gorgeous countryside, along a viaduct and through a tunnel – not bad for a heritage line! The ticket price is a ‘roamer’, so you can hop on and off as you like all day.

Wednesday: Following yesterday’s railway trip, we passed a station called Toddington, which looked rather interesting. So we decided to head there by car today, it’s only a 10 minute drive from the site. There’s quite a lot to see and do at this station: narrow gauge railway, book stalls, cafes, shop, information boards scattered around the site. The GWSR also store their locos at the depot located at this station. It’s well worth a visit if you like trains! Following our visit, we headed for the local Coop in Broadway, to pick up some supplies for another BBQ tea! There must have been a power cut at home, as the alarm went nuts and rang me 15 times whilst we were watching ‘Braveheart’. The phone was on silent, so I didn’t hear it. Hope the neighbours didn’t mind 20 mins of the alarm blaring at 10pm at night!

Thursday: A walk into Broadway again and a visit to the quaint essential church that is St. Eadburgha’s Church. They were setting up for a wedding, so we didn’t get inside, but the grounds are beautiful. Broadway itself was a lot quieter than the weekend thankfully, but still quite active, which is good to see. I picked up a new train caravan mug, as my old one was deteriorating fast. We enjoyed more good weather back on-site and relaxed as we watched people come and go!

Friday: Final day of the holiday, so time to relax all day on site.

Saturday: Rain! Yes the pack-up in the rain routine. The journey back was slow as well, no accidents this time, but still a lot of congestion.