Season of Mists and Mellow Fruitfulness

With apologies to John Keats but that is what touring at this time of year feels like. Perhaps our last trip of the year unless we can find time for just one more trip before Christmas. Finding time and being retired seem to be strange bedfellows but as many retirees find how did we ever find time to go to work!!!

Your scribe digresses. Friday 14^th November and we are heading to Chapel Lane at Wythall for a couple of days before moving onto Chester Fairoaks for the rest of our week away. Chapel Lane is handy as stopover as it’s so convenient to the motorway system. Just a pity the Transport Museum next door to the site is not open in November. We did have a walk round to Becketts Farm Shop on the Saturday. It seems a popular destination with the locals and should you wish it has a good value restaurant. On the way back we had a look at, the now redundant, St Mary’s Church which is also next door to the campsite. An interesting feature is the very tall open bell tower which had a peal of 8 tubular bells. Was this where Mike Oldfield got the idea for his now famous music?

Sunday saw us making our way round the south and west of Birmingham to the Chester Fairoaks site. Everything went well until we tried to exit junction 10 of the M53. We soon discovered that the holdup was as a result of traffic trying to get into the Cheshire Oaks shopping centre! Fairoaks is a really good site from which to visit many of the local attractions. This is equally true with your own car or, as in our case, local transport.  Our first outing was to Cheshire Oaks which is about half a mile walk from the site and is massive. It was very busy with people seemingly doing their Christmas Shopping and looking for a bargain at the same time.

The following day we went to the Ellesmere Port National Waterways Museum which is about three miles from the site. We treated ourselves to a taxi there and back. The carpark has height barriers making it difficult for motorhomers but if you contact them in advance they might allow you to use the coach parking area. For anyone the least bit interested in canals this is a must and the entrance fee is pretty reasonable. They have a nice café there so easy to make a day of it. You can take a short canal trip on a narrowboat although this is not the most scenic part of the Shropshire Union Canal! Before you leave walk over to the viewing point near the carpark which gives a view of the Manchester Ship Canal and the River Mersey beyond.

On Wednesday we had a trip into Chester by bus. This involved a walk almost to the shopping centre which could be a bit far for someone with mobility issues. Interesting the number 1 bust also has a stop right outside of Chester Zoo which is another option for a day out. The City Centre in Chester is reasonably compact and you can walk round the old City Walls. Chester is famous for ‘The Rows’ which is a double decker shopping arcade. As with all old cities the Cathedral takes centre stage. You are free to look round but they suggest a level of donation which is up to you whether you give. Back on the canal theme, the Shropshire Union skirts round the old walls and in the summer I am sure many holiday boaters visit the City.

Thursday and our final day on site. As the forecast was not good for today we decided to make it a lazy day. As it turned out we had quite a lot of sunshine!!! I am sure the location helps but the site is quite busy with members taking advantage of its location. Tomorrow we go home but we have enjoyed our seven day break. We have been perfectly warm and comfortable in the motorhome so no excuses for not coming away at this time of year!!!