Moorhampton

Yesterday we returned from three nights at Moorhampton CC site which is ten miles or so NW of Hereford.

It is a delightful little spot which is on the site of an old railway track and station,we were pitched on the ancient track bed.

 A toilet block that is a little larger would be of benefit as there are only two showers for the whole site,but apart from that a very pleasant place to stay.

The Orion was once again faultless I just wish I could remember to shut the water heater valve before switching on the water and dumping a full Aquaroll all over the pitch.

The site is surrounded by country lanes,quant villages and very desirable properties.

Things to be aware of if they are important to you are that there is no Wi-Fi or mobile phone signal apart from Vodaphone and there is no public phone on site.

There is an area I discovered about a meter square on the adjacent bridge which will just about receive 3G.






Before setting off I had purchased a couple of Duvalay sleeping bags as SWMBO doesn't really like making up the bed so I thought this may help,plus of course it would earn a few Brownie points to store against future misdemeanours.

Now I am not the best sleeper in the world,even at home,but I have to say I had three of the best nights sleep I have ever had in the van.

The bags are separate so there is no chance of stealing one anothers quilt and the memory foam mattress is very comfortable.

I bought two of the winter/summer combination packs which come with a winter ( 10.5 Tog I think ) and a 4.5 Tog summer quilt plus a free storage bags.

SWMBO of course had the winter quilt and I had the summer under which I was plenty warm enough.

The only drawback with them is they are quite bulky to store when not on use,we put them in the shower as we were using the site facilities.

It has to be said they aren't cheap,£288 or so inc. delivery for the two,but they do work.

Before anyone thinks it,I have no association whatsoever with Duvalay apart from being a satisfied customer.

There was another Orion on site for the first night,and one thing I did notice,and I have observed this on two Orions on our storage,is that they appear to fade a bit over time unless they are are cleaned and polished on a regular basis.

As I do a bit of TLC on ours it seems OK but others sometimes seem a little dull,so get that polish out.

Ian

Ants & Mice

I have had some correspondence from Paul Medcalf,one of my followers,about how to avoid infestations of ants and mice :-

"I was chatting to a work colleague who has a Swift double axle he was telling me that one year he came back to his van after a day out to find ants everywhere in the van kitchen work tops etc  he followed the trail and discovered where he had pitched was  close to an ants nest and someone told him to spread vaseline on the caravan stabilisers this would stop any thing creeping into the van ie the ants or possibly a mouse !!."

During the summer we have problems with ants at home.

They devoured a piece out of the bottom of our conservatory door so they can be quite destructive apart from anything else.

Ian

End Of The Road Or A New Dawn ??

I was talking to a saleswoman at the dealers yesterday who informed me that the Bailey Olympus is/going to be no more,it is a dead parrot,deleted,discontinued.

More interestingly from our point of view was that she was determindely non-commital regarding the future of the Orion,whether it was going to be discontinued or revamped.

Certainly the Orions they had on sale they seemed determined to shift as the prices were discounted,plus a free motor mover,plus a free awning,plus free storage until the end of the year,so one way or another something seems to be afoot in Orion World.

The Baileys that they had on prominent "full price" display only consisted of Unicorns and Pegasus GT 65's.

So,is it an upgrade ( perhaps with the large panoramic window ) or is it the end ???

Ian