Devon and Cornwall via Bath with Golden Retriever 2020

[gvick]

On these dark nights post Christmas- I thought I would share our next touring holiday and invite any suggestions or comments as something to help look forward to summer 2020.

So for our second touring holiday in our Cali with dog we are going to go around Devon and Cornwall via Bath.

After our first Cali tour of Scotland where we did a different camp site every other day and some times dail ,we have decided to use fewer sites but stay longer and use them as abase to tour the surrounding areas.

So planned itinerary starting before summer school holidays
Start in Bath 2 days
Wadebridge 3 dats
Polpero/st Ives 3 days
Megavisssy 3 days
Budleigh salterton 3 days
Returning to Essex via Bournemouth.

If anyone knows of some great places to visit (with dog) or some good sites- all suggestions happily received

 

[westfalia]

Are you a bit flexible with those towns, if so i can start you off
with a couple.

Dennis Cove, Padstow.

Ayr Touring Park, St Ives.

Best to book as soon as you can or you won't get in.

 

[SailSki]

Daymer Bay near Wadebridge is lovely and Rock is very nice (although can get full with the Range Rover set in the summer)

 

[Louis II]

If spending time in the centre of Bath parking in Alexander Park is a great way to get fantastic views of the city if you are prepared for a some very steep steps. Also a short walk out of the center of Bath along the Kennet & Avon canal (Bath locks) to Sydney Gardens is beautiful.

Lost gardens of heligan in mevagissey is a fantastic day out but not sure about dogs.
The coast path from mevagissey towards Gorran Haven and beyond is beautiful and caerhays beach is great with a Cali as you can park right next to the beach, again not sure about dogs.

Caerhays Beach.

 

[gvick]

@Louis II @SailSki @westfalia thank you for suggestions

 

[Azteccamper]

On these dark nights post Christmas- I thought I would share our next touring holiday and invite any suggestions or comments as something to help look forward to summer 2020.

So for our second touring holiday in our Cali with dog we are going to go around Devon and Cornwall via Bath.

After our first Cali tour of Scotland where we did a different camp site every other day and some times dail ,we have decided to use fewer sites but stay longer and use them as abase to tour the surrounding areas.

So planned itinerary starting before summer school holidays
Start in Bath 2 days
Wadebridge 3 dats
Polpero/st Ives 3 days
Megavisssy 3 days
Budleigh salterton 3 days
Returning to Essex via Bournemouth.

If anyone knows of some great places to visit (with dog) or some good sites- all suggestions happily received

A handy place for 2 x nights - https://bathcaravanpark.com/
45 minutes walk into Bath along the river path, plenty of walks for the dog around the site, couple of dog friendly pubs locally. Pretty basic but good for a ‘city break’

 

[Bellcrew]

A handy place for 2 x nights - https://bathcaravanpark.com/
45 minutes walk into Bath along the river path, plenty of walks for the dog around the site, couple of dog friendly pubs locally. Pretty basic but good for a ‘city break’

Buses every ten minutes into the city if not willing to walk.

 

[gvick]

Thanks @Bellcrew and @Azteccamper

 

[Bathchap]

Heligan allows dogs on leads and is worth a visit.
Bath Caravan Park has the advantage of a great location but the facilities are woeful, there is nothing around Bath that I would happily recommend as a camping stay (as a native of the city) but I suppose the position makes it the best bet of a poor bunch. The first section of the tow path into Bath can be muddy after rain. Bath itself is reasonably dog friendly, search on Dog friendly Pubs and restaurants. Boston Tea Party and Rosarios (either outside or ground floor only) in the centre of town are both worth visiting with your dog for reasonably priced food.

 

[CaliforniaBen]

Totally agree about the towpath into Bath from the marina, it gets extremely muddy and I would also only use it in daylight hours

 

[Beano]

On these dark nights post Christmas- I thought I would share our next touring holiday and invite any suggestions or comments as something to help look forward to summer 2020.

So for our second touring holiday in our Cali with dog we are going to go around Devon and Cornwall via Bath.

After our first Cali tour of Scotland where we did a different camp site every other day and some times dail ,we have decided to use fewer sites but stay longer and use them as abase to tour the surrounding areas.

So planned itinerary starting before summer school holidays
Start in Bath 2 days
Wadebridge 3 dats
Polpero/st Ives 3 days
Megavisssy 3 days
Budleigh salterton 3 days
Returning to Essex via Bournemouth.

If anyone knows of some great places to visit (with dog) or some good sites- all suggestions happily received

There is a lovely walk from Budleigh up the river Otter to Otterton where there is a great cafe .......if you are there in the first week in Aug the Sidmouth folk festival is great.

a good site near St Ives is at Kelynack which is pretty sheltered and close to St Just with a regular bus to St Ives if you don’t want to drive..... also takes you to the mining museum at Geevor....... lots of walks along the cliff paths and good swimming for a retreiver.... you can’t take a dog on Sennen beach but you can on the next beach at Gwynver

 

[Azteccamper]

Totally agree about the towpath into Bath from the marina, it gets extremely muddy and I would also only use it in daylight hours

The whole towpath has been newly laid with fresh smooth surface. There over new year. Facilities at site are pretty poor though and it can resemble a car park.

 

[gvick]

Hi @Bathchap @CaliforniaBen @LynneDean @Azteccamper thank you for all your helpful suggestions.

I’m also definitely thinking Bath marina for a few nights to see Bath and hopefully will be able to put up wit the poor site vs it’s location/proximity to Bath.
Boston tea pub sounds worth a visit.

LynneDean will also the walk to Otterley via Budleigh (unfortunately we won’t be there for festival) and will look at the st ives recommendation

Overall really looking forward to our second extended trip away and changing the way we tour from lots of one nighters to five or so extended stays and using these locations as bases to explore

 

[gvick]

As we are just over a week away from our visit to Devon and Cornwall I thought I would provide some updates. It will also be our first experience of staying away in the Cali during social distancing and may provide info for other members considering a trip themselves

After visiting 12 stop overs in Scotland last year we have decided on a more laid back approach and will base ourselves at 5 locations for 3 days each.

We will then go to beach or visit local attractions if they are open.

Given the issues with Covid our second week starting the 4th July became our first week so this explains the strange order of locations.

We are starting at Pengrual before going to Budleigh Salterton.
Week two sees a shift to St Ives then Wadebridge and finally Bath as our final stop over.

 

[gvick]

Of the five sites we have booked - four of them have confirmed that we will need our own shower with grey water and our own toilet.

The toilet was no problem and via eBay we now own a Thetford 365.

We have an external shower for the dog but it doesn’t feed into a holding tank / the solution to this was to purchase a shower and adapter kit from the club shop for £35 which screws on to the kitchen tap and hey presto empties into the holding tank ( I-know a bucket could have sufficed but I didn’t want any nit picking on checking in as we are travelling a long way).

Most of the sites we have chosen are closing to tents and all are allowing openly Motorhome a or caravans or camper vans with their own facilities so this is something to bear in mind.

I’m guessing as these are small family run sites they don’t want to risk their staff or customers and are being cautious in keeping facilities closed.

 

[gvick]

A big decision will be whether to pack the Cadac safari chef version one or not.
When we went to Scotland and Anglesey last year we were moving around so much we used a gas cartridge stove as it was just easier- but now we have more time and probably won’t be eating out as much or at all I’m tempted to pack the cadac and expand my cooking skills?
What do you think?

 

[Georgiegirl]

A big decision will be whether to pack the Cadac safari chef version one or not.
When we went to Scotland and Anglesey last year we were moving around so much we used a gas cartridge stove as it was just easier- but now we have more time and probably won’t be eating out as much or at all I’m tempted to pack the cadac and expand my cooking skills?
What do you think?

If it fits easily I’d say take it. 2 weeks is a long time to be away wishing you had something bigger to cook on when restaurants and takeaways are harder to come by

 

[gvick]

So Five sleeps before departure thought I would do a quick update.

Few days ago had a bit of self doubt whether going was the right thing with no facilities at most sites. Would it be really busy on the roads and when we get there will anything be open.

Since then I’ve reflected and decided to set off very early Saturday and concluded that if we keep social distancing we should be no more at risk than at home.

My 20 year daughter has asked to come with us plus 6.3 Cambridge uni rugby playing boyfriend. My wife says we are lucky she still wants to holiday with us

I’ve had a few queries from campsites about shower and having grey water in a holding tank so as mentioned I’ve got the club shop shower adapter so grey water could drain down sink into holding tank - I’ve attached a picture- in practice I think we will shower in beach car park with bathing suit on of course.

 

[andyinluton]

So Five sleeps before departure thought I would do a quick update.

Few days ago had a bit of self doubt whether going was the right thing with no facilities at most sites. Would it be really busy on the roads and when we get there will anything be open.

Since then I’ve reflected and decided to set off very early Saturday and concluded that if we keep social distancing we should be no more at risk than at home.

My 20 year daughter has asked to come with us plus 6.3 Cambridge uni rugby playing boyfriend. My wife says we are lucky she still wants to holiday with us

I’ve had a few queries from campsites about shower and having grey water in a holding tank so as mentioned I’ve got the club shop shower adapter so grey water could drain down sink into holding tank - I’ve attached a picture- in practice I think we will shower in beach car park with bathing suit on of course.View attachment 61858

I think you have misunderstood the shower waste .
Campsite is asking where the waste water from your shower is going, unless you are standing in the sink for a shower I very much doubt its going into the grey water tank.

What you need is one of these as big as you can get. :

 

[gvick]

I think you have misunderstood the shower waste .
Campsite is asking where the waste water from your shower is going, unless you are standing in the sink for a shower I very much doubt its going into the grey water tank.

What you need is one of these as big as you can get. :

View attachment 61868

Lol - you may well be right
The shower attachment that connects to the sink would enable us to theoretically use the shower over the sink and contain the great water in the holding tank.

In practice (other than ticking a box) we won’t use it - we will shower at the beach or use wet wipes.

 

[gvick]

Packed the rear parcel shelf of van tonight.
I’m normally quite strict with what goes on the shelf - but mainly there is duvet, mattress topper, two extra chairs and the Thetford.

 

[gvick]

2 sleeps before traveling to Cornwall and Devon for two weeks - latest update
So I have changed our first site to Trevealge Farm as this has open washroom and Heligan campsite doesn’t.
We have booked a total of five sites and now all bar Gwithian farm will have showers and toilets- phew some what relieved (excuse pun).
We have also booked pub meals and excursions in advance as per the advice on websites so for example we have booked a visit to Baths Bathhouses and the Eden project, Michaels mount ect.

Lots of places appear to be opening which is a bonus as we are mostly interested in the beaches and walks with the dog. Daughter is taking a pup tent do further bonus as we won’t have four adults sleeping in the Cali.

I’ll post a picture when we are fully packed

 

[Louis II]

Treveague farm is a lovely spot. The walk round the dodman point to hemmick beach is beautiful and right on the doorstep - best to arrive at the beach at low tide.
Be aware that if you venture to far along vault beach (which featured in the film "about time") the far end is often occupied by naturists.
I'm planning to back to that area in August - can't wait!

 

[gvick]

Treveague farm is a lovely spot. The walk round the dodman point to hemmick beach is beautiful and right on the doorstep - best to arrive at the beach at low tide.
Be aware that if you venture to far along vault beach (which featured in the film "about time") the far end is often occupied by naturists.
I'm planning to back to that area in August - can't wait!

About time is one of our favourite family films so thank you for recommending Dodman point will definitely be on our list

 

[Perfectos]

Hi gvick

It’s been a long time coming, and didn’t look likely to happen until recently

Early morning travel is a good idea.

One more sleep

we want to see lots of photos and a write up.

Have a great time