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By keef and annie hellinger, May 10 2018 12:40PM Motorhome trip No33 : May 7th- 9th 2018 A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog NOTTS->Waterclose Meadows Campsite,Houghton Mill, Cambridgeshire ->NOTTS 198 miles 254 years and 30+ camping years under our belts collectively 😉 This was our second visit to Houghton Mill with our dear pals Pete and Joy. See Blog 119 for our 1st excursion. This time all around the mill was visible, the scaffolding having been removed and Britain’s best early May day bank holiday weather for 80 years (allegedly)- Sun, Sun, Sun! It is a very nice site in a gorgeous location next to an old working mill (owned by the National Trust) with its own pond on the banks of the river Great Ouse in Cambridgeshire. Pete & Joy arrived at the site first in their still lovely new Baileys autograph motor home. We had attempted to arrive at 12 noon but Mill Road leading to the site was crammed with both folks leaving the site late and day trippers approaching the attached public car park. So we decided to head back out towards Huntingdon, parking in a car park besides the Boat house on the banks of the Great River Ouse. We then had a good ½ hour stroll along the tow path enjoying the river activities in the sun, sheer bliss! We were on grass pitches 28 & 29. The site is only grass but has pods at £50 per night and a new one with en-suite at £75 per night, minimum stay 2 nights. We had a look inside and very nice this one was too, but not as nice as motorhoming! The grass pitches are £23 per night. We had a lovely BBQ on the Monday eve and cooked brekkie on Tuesday before strolling into town for a mooch around and the odd bevy at the 3 horseshoes. We strolled back past the sleeping swan, artist and hordes of bathers to get ready for our evening meal partaken at the 3 horseshoes and very good it was too. We said our fond goodbyes on Wednesday morning and hope to meet up again soon. Lovely few sunny days in Cambridgeshire. On the way back we visited Grafham water and the lovely village of Ellingham. Have looked up the Grafham water site since returning and will definitely stay there on a future trip, it is only 400m from the waters edge. The only drawback to the site was the lawn mower man who basically destroyed the peace and tranquility on 2 days endlessly driving his mover around. We did ask him to desist on May day but to no avail. Annie and I left early on Wednesday morning to escape his noise! Shame it is such a nice site. #motorhome #motorhometravels #travelsin2018 #campsites #friends

By keef and annie hellinger, Dec 1 2017 04:29PM Not the Motorhome trip No 8 : November 23rd – 28th 2017 A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog NOTTS->Kent (Chestfield, Whitstable, Folkestone, Canterbury & Faversham) via Ewell West ->NOTTS 510 miles A very nice 10 day break firstly 4 days at Mums then Kent with our lovely rellies Brian & Gina who made us feel fabulously welcome. More larfing than you could shake a stick at! We had nice walk along Whitstable front followed by a nice tea in a beach front hotel then it was Folkestone and the arm, which is all undergoing an expensive make over and will be fab when it is finished. Then a trip into the centre of Canterbury for the Xmas market after a walk along the Roman walls alongside the fab Dane John Gardens (is there a Viking influence here I wonder as well as Roman?) then followed by a look around the museum / art gallery and a high tea, it was lovely! Then it was off to medieval Faversham and a lovely Xmas market followed by an Italian meal at the end of Courts lane. This was our second visit, we previously visited in March 2016 and you can see that slideshow HERE or via the FAMILY page by year, thanks for looking #yummy March 2016 visit #family

By keef and annie hellinger, Nov 5 2017 04:08PM Motorhome trip No31 : November 1st-3rd 2017 A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog NOTTS->Greetham , Rutland ->NOTTS 107 miles Used the truck nav which took us via a slightly longer route via A52 and A1 to come into Rutland from the Stamford end to avoid the Belvoir valley hill, we came back however through Rutland water which is about 10 miles shorter in distance. A very nice Camping and Caravan site at Greetham with reductions for Caravan Club members but no reduction for ACSI members as only ACSI approved not registered. Your Caravan club card is kept during your stay as the deposit for the site security card which you need for all barriers and gates during your stay. Rutland Caravan & Camping has a good family feel. The site has a mixture of both hard standing and grass pitches and there are 2 areas one for adults only and one for families. There are two toilet blocks, the one on the adults only area is much more modern with great under floor heating and wet room showers. There are dog walks at both ends of the site, an indoor swimming pool , hot tub and limited games room plus a kids play park in the middle of the family area. It is a very large site with about 130 pitches and tenting areas in the middle of the family area. Fees apply for the pool and hot tub; see their website for more details HERE. We were on pitch 21 in the adult only area. In 2019 we were nearby on pitch 25. All pitches have all 3 services i.e electrics, drinking water and drain for your grey waste assuming you have the right length of pipe work. Right next to our pitch was the walkway thru the woods to the perimeter gate which led 2 ways into the village either via church lane or the community centre. Its only about 15 mins leisurely stroll into the village and the autumn colours were beautiful. St Mary’s church is a delight and it is such a lovely village with supposedly 3 pubs, we only found one, the Plough, which has great real ales, friendly staff and a gut busting dinner for a reasonable price which we had a lunch time on our second day. The chef even gave me a few tips on veggie cooking We had a bit of a mosey around after lunch before returning for an afternoon of luxury reading, such a treat! On leaving we went via the south side of Rutland water and visited the village of Manton with its wonderful priory and St Mary’s church. We had not been there before and down a public bridleway there were great view of Rutland water. We liked Greetham a lot and will hopefully return again, it’s a great starting point for discovering Rutland. We returned again see Blog 139 it is one of the 3 associated blogs suggested for this Blog, thanks for looking PS I collected the old comments for prosperity 😉 #timeline

By keef and annie hellinger, Oct 9 2017 03:21PM Motorhome trip No30 : October 6th- 8th 2017 A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog NOTTS->Houghton Mill National Trust Site, Cambridgeshire ->NOTTS 187 miles 252 years and 30+ camping years under our belts collectively ;) A very nice site in a gorgeous location next to a old working mill on the banks of the river great ouse in Cambridgeshire with our dear pals Pete & Joy, who arrived in their lovely new Baileys autograph motorhome. A lovely grassed site with very modern heated facilities. We would highly recommend this site but remember to take your ramps, many of the pitches require them. You can get food in the local NT café at the front of the site if you don’t want to venture further into either the village of Houghton or Hemingford Abbot (about a mile away over the river) We of course did both! We travelled via M1, A14, A151 to Houghton. Took about 1 hour 30. Lovely sunny Friday afternoon with sun so we checked in , filled up with water and set up on pitch 10 and put up our sign and water hose on pitch 53 next to us to reserve it for P&J. Weird pitch numbering system that we didn’t try and explore. After waving furiously at the wrong people (blush) who arrived in a Bessacar we net up with P&J. Its been a while. We had tea and some of Annie’s lovely homemade cake. We them walked to the 3 Horseshoes (own barrel room) for some pre dinner drinks then a simple evening meal of lasagne, salad and garlic bread. Lovely evening chatting and catching up. Saturday after a nice scrambled egg and smoked salmon brekkie we walked into Hemingford Abbot cross country and through the lovely village with many thatched cottages and 3 (yes 3) rectories. Had a lovely lunch and drinks in the Axe and Compass – a very nice old style pub. We then walked back past the cows and visited the Mill shop where we bought some Potto Brown flour. He is the local Quaker hero and miller born in Houghton. To find out more click here . Luckily back before the rain so we played who wants to be a millionaire, guess the wine and chatted followed by some nice cheese and bikkies . We said our goodbyes on Sunday morning and hope to meet up again soon. Lovely weekend, nice site and area, we will be back. As we were both not so well we cancelled our additional 2 days in Rutland and returned home early. Lunch at the Axe & Compass, Hemingford Abbot #motorhome #motorhometravels #travelsin2017 #campsites #vanswelove

By keef and annie hellinger, Aug 30 2016 07:09AM Motorhome trip No28 : Aug 27-29th 2016 A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog NOTTS->New Lodge Farm,Bulwick, Northamptonshire ->NOTTS 178 miles 250 years plus and 30+ camping years under our belts collectively ;) A lovely (mixed weather) August bank holiday weekend away with our dear pals Pete & Joy. Our usual yearly camping jaunt this year was made a little more tricky to find a adults only camp site by virtue of leaving it a bit late and it being a very popular weekend for folk to go away. However we were all pleasantly surprised by what a nice site and welcoming set of people there are at New Lodge farm. Called in on C&L on route to drop off Bondi Banana bread and a few pressies plus got a quick cuddle with baby Edie to set us up for the weekend #fab Then it was off via M1, A14 but found the A43 was closed near Bulwick so we made a detour via some lovely Northants villages, namely Weldon, Upper Benfield,Glapthorn & Southwick. Lovely sunny Friday afternoon so we checked in and set up including the awning on pitch 21 with nice views of the 200 acre farm and put up our table and chairs on pitch 23 to reserve it for P&J. After a bit of sunning ourselves we soon took the awning down when the wind got up! Nice evening meal of lamb burgers, bratwurst and salad with copious amounts of ale, wine , port & madeira to wash it down. Lovely evening chatting and catching up. Saturday we walked into Bulwick , alas Annie had a nasty tumble on route and grazed her arm, bruised her foot leg and shoulder and damaged her pride. We relaxed in the Queens Head garden until the rain started and made a dash inside to the snug. As it stopped-ish we went to the horticultural show in the church opposite to see the oversized vegetables. None of those but lots of other interesting stuff, including the under 4 who won 1st,2nd and 3rd place in the “my mum judged this” section! After that it was tea, coffee, cake and sarnies at the village hall, amazingly good value and then with minor drizzle back to the camp site. We had a drink in the café/ restaurant there when the heavens opened , just so dark at about 4-ish and what a hum dinger that was, thunder and lightening and it lasted for ages. On the positive side it reduced the humidity a bit however. We got changed and headed back for our lovely evening meal at the site restaurant. It is a farm shop as well with great produce. Nice friendly people Simon, Sarah, Mark and Caroline (I think). Overnight we had the gentle soothing thump of the illegal rave to “rock” us to sleep….. NOT! Sunday as Annie was feeling a little sore we had a cooked brekkie on the hot plate and sat in the sun reading and chillin and chatting. Lunch was a homemade Victoria sponge from the shop tea and coffee then we had a lovely greek-style Barbie that P&J did for tea, yummy Much Trivial Pursuit Globetrotter edition was played under the influence of alcohol, well that’s the excuse the boys are using for being so roundly thrashed. We said our goodbyes on Monday morning and hope to meet up again soon. Lovely weekend, nice site and area, we will be back as don’t really know Northamptonshire at all. See Blog 156 for our return trip to Bulwick with friends, interestingly on both occasions there was an old car rally, maybe because it was a bank holiday weekend or maybe because that is just where the classic car club meets normally, who knows, I didn't ask them although I did praise them on their jalopies 😉 PS tagged as "scary" because of Annie's horror trip on the road #friends #motorhome #motorhometravels #travelsin2016 #campsites

By keef and annie hellinger, Nov 17 2015 12:40PM Motorhome trip No25 : November 13th – 16th 2015 A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog NOTTS->Bletchingdon, Cherwell Oxfordshire, 2 sites Diamond Farm Park and Greenhill Farm plus village visits to Stanton St John, Weston on Green, Kirtlington, Islip, Kidlington (Hmm!) and other Cotswold stone villages ->NOTTS 232 miles Lovely time initially for the 1st 2 days with our dear friends Pete & Joy at Diamond Farm Caravan park in Bletchington, a private campsite with pool (outdoors and closed) snack bar, pub and good amenities block. This is quite a small site on the back of a farm with a mixture of grass and hard standing pitches. Only problem really at this time of year is that the road way around to the pitches is very muddy and boggy with all the rain, probably needs that roadway tarmaccing (if that is a word ;) ) Friday after setup we walked along the very dangerous B4027, no footpath and cars going 70 mph along a narrow-ish country lane, not advised. We walked towards Heathfield and to a nice comfortable pub , nice log burner fire, but no real ale so a few pints of cider, hic! Then back for a lovely casserole meal prepared by joy, pud, cheese and bikkies, wine, chat and music version of Trivial Pursuits. Saturday rained all day and storm Abigail took off in the late evening, rocking the van most of the night. Full English first then we decided to catch the taxi into Bicester, a place none of us had ever been to before. Nutty traffic near Bicester village shopping centre. Bicester itself is a lovely old town , super bookshop, and nice pedestrianised sheep street. Ended up in King’s Arms for a few bevies overlooking a baby shower (what!) then back to site, Keefs turkey and bacon casserole , cheese and bikkies, port and more fun with the music questions. After a rough stormy night Joy did scrambled eggs and smoked salmon, yummy, then we all packed up (break camp!) and said good bye to P&J and we went exploring nice Oxfordshire villages although it was mega windy. Arrived at Greenhill Farm site in the afternoon, this is a ACSI site so only cost £13. Wonderful working farm, highly recommended, with Sheep, Pygmy Goats, Canada Geese, Chickens and ducks, loved it and great views from our end of site pitch over the rolling Oxfordshire countryside. Had some left overs for food and read Bill Bryson’s Road to Little dribbling, very relaxing, wind died down overnight. Left about 10-ish Monday morning for drive home, van clean, and put it to bed with cover for winter! All in all a nice time, very relaxing we will be back hopefully to Greenhill Farm site maybe next year! 49 pictures in slideshow #motorhome #motorhometravels #travelsin2016 #campsites #timeline use ramps to level up the van for all manner of reasons, water / waste drainage, sleeping etc etc maybe get a mini spirit level or use a phone app to check both left to right and front to back #hintsandtips

By keef and annie hellinger, Sep 17 2015 06:49PM Motorhome trip No23 : September 9th – 16th 2015 A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog NOTTS->YORKSHIRE including York, Boroughbridge, Yorkshire Dales NP (Nidderdale, Swaledale, Wensleydale , Doncaster->NOTTS 434 miles All Yark-Shur ‘Eee by gum Aye up Put wood inth ‘ole Lovely time with our dear friends Chris & Allyson in their Autosleeper Ravenna and us in our Autosleeper Clubman Anniversary then onto the Yorkshire Dales for 3 days on our own before my birfday treat on the way back home visiting the English Heritage Brodsworth Hall and Gardens near Doncaster . Mostly sunny for the whole 7 days…. About 1 day in total of rain so good return for UK! 3 centre stays: 1 tranquil site, 1 camping and caravanning site and 1 caravan club site-York Caravan Park YO329UB Good site, close by bus to city centre 2 miles £3 return , C&CC site Boroughbridge YO519LS nice grassy pitches, close to river Ure- nice views fishing and boating now stopped, bit of a hike up over flood barrier to amenities block but otherwise very nice, Caravan Club Richmond Hargill House site DL105LJ, lovely view great amenities very close to Yorkshire Dales NP but far too noisy 24*7 (A66 & A1) and unlevel pitches, so would not stay there again DAY1: Arrival , drinks and catch up DAY2:Visited York city centre by bus – tried to fix bus drivers busted printer, no joy – free trip in then fab sunny day, beers & rosies cider at lunchtime by the river ouse, then onto Yorkshire Terrier in Stonegate for more beers and pie,peas & gravy to soak it up (hik!) nice curry in the evening then some fun board games back at the vans. DAY3:Drove via Pateley bridge to Nidderdale, Grouthwaite reservoir near How Stern Gorge, then lunch at Mr Aussie’s pub then onto site at Boroughbridge DAY4: A rather wet tramp around Boroughbridge before ending up in town pub for some fab Tim Taylors Boltmaster, Blues Brothers convention and chatting to lovely 93 year old who downed 4 double brandies before driving back to Ripon (help!) then back to vans for fab thai cooked by C&A xxx then played Guesstures, haha DAY5: Said our goodbyes (until next time pals) then onto Richmond a very interesting town with the one of the largest market squares in the country… lost count of the number of pubs. Then onto CC site for reading and Pimms & lemon with a dash of lime , this boozing will not help my diet ;) DAY6: Much drizzle early on but brightened as we visited Swaledale, Reeth is lovely, got as far as Gunnerside before turning back, road getting a little narrow, but we will be back to go all the way to Cumbria sometime. DAY7: Rain all night and very heavy, pitch part flooded. Then sunshine and visited Wensleydale,Leyburn,Bolton Castle,wild boars & more,Aysgarth falls and National Park centre, then onto Hawes and Wallace and Gromits creamery, tasted much and bought about 8 different varieties, lovely little village DAY8: Packed up and drove back home via Brodsworth Hall and gardens where we probably spent about 4 hours, very interesting and recommended, just right for my birthday treat All in all a nice time, very relaxing we will be back to that area again ‘Ear all, see all, say nowt. Eat all, sup all, pay nowt. And if ever thou does owt fer nowt – allus do it fer thissen - This is the Yorkshireman’s motto and translates as follows: “Hear all, see all, say nothing. Eat all, drink all, pay nothing. And if you ever do anything for nothing—always do it for yourself. Lol they are lovely people FACT!

By keef and annie hellinger, Jun 21 2015 10:08PM Mixed weather, great market town, fab company, food & wine Two Mills touring park, North Walsham, Norfolk A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog Motorhome trip No21 : June 19th – 21st 2015 NOTTS->NORTH WALSHAM, NORFOLK ->NOTTS 350 miles Arrived about 1.45 pm after a rather long and tedious journey where our wonderful satnav took us on a rather roundabout journey, hey ho, maybe its back to the map next time *smile* Nice campsite, best of british, 81 standing pitches some with water. Very peaceful and quiet and an adult only site. We were on the lower level next to Pete & Joy in pitches 12 & 11 respectively. The 2 higher levels were called Panorama & Top acre, O2 phone service only at Top Acre. Had some probs with van i.e service had left ALL water and gap taps on…. Plus smell of surplur caused by new relay over charging habitation battery – not good news , going back into Don Amotts on Tuesday, hence need for phoe service! Pete & Joy arrived about 6pm-ish. We had some nice ale and wine to get the weekend started. Had a lovely lasagne and salad that joy cooked , then pud and cheese, bikkies and wine. Lots of happy talking and then to bed. Saturday was a bit mixed weather wise. We walked into town via the fields and past many lovely bungalows with great gardens and explored this quaint market town. We had lunch in a town hostelry (Kings Arms – would recommend), saw 1st half of the 5th ODI cricket between NZ & us. Exciting, nice lunch and Kings Arms ale. Walked back and just got back in time before downpour. Reading , chillin in P&J’s van then BBQ for tea – chicken, burgers and large jumbo hot dog sausages and salad followed by English strawberries, raspberries and greek yoghurt. Wine, madiera and port HIC! Sunday cooked breakfast , P&J had to leave cos daughter was coming around for dinner, said our goodbyes just as the weather really picked up (typical) glorious sunshine. The site is nice with friendly wardens and excellent facilities , we would definitely return Then after our goodbyes it was off about 11.30 am for us and onto East Runton and a nice walk to the beach and views of Cromer pier, then onto Wells-next-sea with a lot going on as it was father’s day here in the UK. Walked to beach and wind surfing areas and the little train, then back in the van and off home thru Lincolnshire and Grantham to Sandiacre. All in all a fab relaxing weekend again! Looking forward to the next time we are there. 140 pictures in the SLIDESHOW

By keef and annie hellinger, Oct 18 2014 05:58PM It Pidley-ed down again – Deja Vu Stroud Hill Park,Pidley, Cambs A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog Motorhome trip No20 : October 11th – 12th 2014 NOTTS->PIDLEY, CAMBRIDGESHIRE ->NOTTS 196 miles Definitely Déjà vu, same weekend as last year, same torrential downpour only this time we were out for a walk in it, no coats only small brollies. We ended up like wicks, the water slowly rising up thru our clothing to our necks. Tried drying stuff out in the van with the fire on. Didn’t really work sadly We have now been here 3 times with our dear friends Pete & Joy, once in tents once in the motor homes see BLOG 66 for details of our 1st visit here. We travelled early on Saturday morning and arrived at the site as Keef was back at work again and P&J couldn’t travel until Saturday. We more or less arrived at the same time. The site was packed as a caravan rally was on for the weekend. Had a lovely cheese, bikkies and wine lunch then headed out for a walk to Somersham, didn’t get very far because of the downpour. Had our evening meal in the restaurant downstairs pea and mint soup, rack of lamb and salted caramel torte all washed down with a nice prosecco. Annie had the wild mushroom tagliatelle, Pete game pie and Joy plaice. It was indeed a bit of a foodies weekend interspersed with lovely conversation a bit of reading TV fixing (failed) and calor gas bottle checking. Breakfast was croissant with fresh coffee and blueberry preserve. Lunch mostly trad roast beefs with the biggest Yorkshires I have seen for quite a while. The site is nice and quiet good facilities and the restaurant and bar on site make it a must hence we have been back 3 times now! Our pals Pete & Joy have been way more times than us so its obviously a hit of a site. Then after our goodbyes it was off about 2.30 pm and back home, not too bad at just over 1 ½ hours. All in all a fab relaxing weekend again! Looking forward to the next time we are there. #restaurant #campsites #motorhometravelsblog #motorhome 20 pictures in the SLIDESHOW

By keef and annie hellinger, Sep 14 2014 12:03AM Not The Motorhome trip No3 : September 5th – September 12th 2014 A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog NOTTS->HESLEYSIDE HALL, BELLINGHAM, NORTHUMBERLAND->NOTTS 750 miles Didn’t take the motor home this time as stayed at wonderful Hesleyside Hall cottages on the extensive grounds of the Charlton family whose main hall approach and gardens were designed by Lancelot “Capability” Brown who was born at Kirkharle nearby. Went with Craig, Leanne, Bill & Lady dog and had the most wonderful time, weather so much better than we hoped for, sunny and warm often! Visited Hadrians Wall, Kielder Water, Alnwick (+ the fabulous Barter Books – even got an old Wham & John Lennon Vinyl LP),Low Newton by Sea, Bamburgh Castle, Hareshaw Linn waterfall walk at Bellingham, Carriages restaurant, Corbridge,Hexham,Kirkhale courtyard , church and lake and can 5* recommend the Cheviot Hotel in Bellingham for food and ales. Craig & Leanne cycled all 27 miles around Kielder, a fabulous achievement, well proud of them both!. Will definitely bring the campervan back to this area, a Camping & Caravan site is just outside Bellingham and each year at this time the BaaFest is on for a whole weekend, live music, food and ales. Its just so beautiful , we know the coastal areas well but not really the Northumbrian forest area. Anyone else have any Motorhome / RV experiences Bellingham and / or Northumberland they want to share? If so leave a comment on this blog and we will get back to you, regards Keef & Annie Note: If you want to see our previous family holidays in Glenholm cottage KESWICK Cumbria look at blog 46 for the 1st and, Seaview cottage in Llangrannog CERIDIGION Wales Blog 64 for the 2nd and the 1st future one at Rose Cottage FROSTENDEN Suffolk Blog 89, they are associated. The INDEX page will allow you to search for similar blogs via keywords or TAGs as they are known. Or you can use the SEARCH facilities to look for anything you want, thanks for looking, motorhome-travels blog uk. 153 Photos available in the SLIDESHOW

By keef and annie hellinger, Aug 31 2014 10:22AM Daily Fail / Male - 28/8/14 Motorhome trip No18 : August 27th - August 29th 2014 A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog NOTTS->WHITLEY BAY->MATFEN ->NOTTS 404 miles Trip to our beautiful friends Chris and Allyson’s wedding at Matfen High House Farm & Brewery. An absolutely fab time, sadly as Annie had caught a bad sore throat and early cold we came back a day or two earlier so as not to pass it onto the bride & groom before their honeymoon to France. Weather mixed but considering how poor August has been it was good. Initially we stayed at the caravan club site at Old Hartley farm listed as being in Whitley bay but it is more Seaton Sluice. Fab views of St Mary’s island lighthouse from our pitch. Nice meal in the eve, bit of reading, prepping speech and up early the next morning to travel across to the wedding venue near Matfen which is I guess between Newcastle and Hexham. The whole day was fabulous, see the slideshow for a pictorial reminder. So happy for my bestest mate and Allyson. The wedding breakfast (wonder why they call it that?) food was fab and the hog roast in the evening excellent and the band , the shake down band where brill. They even played our requests of Summer of 69 and Sex on fire, what a nice bunch of lads *smile* I’ve included a copy of the spoof newspaper I did for them and a repeat of my best man speech. We got up about 10-ish on the Friday, had brekkie, sadly said our goodbyes and made the long journey back with the usual motorway hold ups to vex us. We had lunch with the brides mum and partner, Eve & Norman at the Weatherby service station. Quite a coincidence as we were all travelling back down south. If you would like to see the text of the best man speech click HERE 71 photos in the SLIDESHOW Best Man Speech Intro self – Keef, for those of you who don’t know me and Happy for those that do. I’ve known Chris since v v young. My mum met dee at FPC back in the early 50s I believe (it clearly didn’t work, we are both here) Definition of Best Man: - googled a few of these and picked out my favourite 3 1) Noun: an acquaintance with whom you trust a five minute speech that could, potentially, ruin the rest of your life. 5 mins - no chance, far too short! You can’t reveal much in 5 mins. 2) Antiquated expression used to delineate the "best swordsman" by your side as you kidnapped your "betrothed". Remember Vikings & Northumbrians stole their brides. 3) At one stage the best man would stand guard as a sentry to protect the bride and groom from anyone who wished to stop the wedding. He would sometimes continue this vigil outside the newlywed’s home after the ceremony- In today’s parlance that is a Stalker or Perv Ice breaker: Want to play a quick game? 3 quick facts about Chris. 2 are true 1 isn’t. I’ll take a show of hands once I’ve been thru them 1. We almost missed a once a week bus across the top of Scotland when the warden at the Tongue youth hostel made us complete our chore having spent the night there. The chore may have been toothbrush on urinal porcelain, but I can’t remember. I do remember travelling on the post van with livestock, fruits, vegetables and newspapers however. 2. In our yoof we had very powerful (not) Honda 50 motorbikes tearing up the strip and terrorising the neighbourhood. We eventually progressed to more powerful bikes. Please feel free to visit Chris’ in their garage sometime. We had leather jackets with Harley Davidson written in studs across the back. 3.At many a party armed with Party 4’s and 7’s (basically a bigger baked bean can filled with Watney’s Red Barrel ale or better stuff – Abbot ale/ Bishops Tipple (maybe)) we would prance around energetically to the Motors Airport, nowadays it is called “dancing like your dad” but we thought we were the bee’s knees Time for some facts-ish: Daily mail handout (35 copies – take one and pass them on please) after I’ve done the paperboy bit….. At 12 I was a Paper boy, delivering in Clapham (or Clame as we prefer to call it now) to Rodenhurst rd , the posh bit HAND OUTS (lovely assistant) this is where Chris’s family lived Chris & I were almost foetuses together, 60 years we have known each other, Chris is my longest & best friend, in class we sat next to each other before and after I went to oz as a child, travelled Scotland together when we finished 6th form as well as attempting an early commune in the lake district with a group of friends where we survived almost entirely on custard and oat cakes , we visited Taize (a religious community) vaguely near Cluny in France in our early hippy days. Speaking of Australia Chris & Allyson went in the “modern day” at the start of this year to see Laura & Steve, there they got engaged, what I suppose you could call a bit of a whirlwind romance (larf) they are both v happy and that makes us all here the same, they have now started travelling in their motorhome, my ambition is convince them to travel with Annie & I thru central outback oz or the forgotten world highway in nz by motorhome, perhaps one for the future maybe. We can then all be gray revellers sponsored by Saga, Must mention Chris other passions besides Allyson i.e music, blues, his various bands with Cordell and others, before the Sage it was early day concerts @ the Finsbury Park rainbow, we saw amongst others Pink Floyd, ELP and yes (Chris made a clock from side 2 of TFTOs - pure sacrilege), Chris was also into John martyn ,pete adkin, clive james, strawbs, jonathan kelly, FYC,tom petty, jimi Hendrix, roxy etc etc, and now he and Allyson are groupies or troublemakers for those in the know! Many a beer festival from the 1st great British to the latest, I have so many tribute glasses from these that I needed an extension on the kitchen , only sorry I couldn’t make the latest recent London one with you mate Mustn’t forget family & friends – this really makes Chris tick and I get that too….. ENOUGH – your real ale will get cold One Final category What about this day in history? 28th August I may add a few quiz questions Birthdays - born on this day 1749 - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, wrote the play Faust (d. 1832) 1828 – Leo Tolstoy, Russian Author 1906 - John Betjeman, poet laureate of England 1917 - Jack Kirby, cartoonist (X-Men, Spiderman, Hulk, Capt America) 1943 - David Soul, [Mr Solberg?] Chicago, actor (Starsky & Hutch) 1949 – Hugh Cornwall of the Stranglers 1965 - Shania Twain, Windsor Ontario, Canadian singer (You're Still the One) 1968 – Billy Boyd, Pippin from Lord of The Rings 1969 - Jack Black, American actor 1986 - Florence Welch Flo & The machine Marriages/Anniversaries 1811 – Poet Percy Bysshe Shelly eloped with Harriet Westbrook to Scotland to get married 1924 - British children's writer Enid Blyton (27) marries editor Major Hugh Alexander Pollock, DSO (36) 1997 - British-Indian novelist and essayist Salman Rushdie (50) weds Elizabeth West Events 1640 - King Charles I's English army loses to a Scottish Army at the Battle of Newburn 1850 - Richard Wagner's opera "Lohengrin" premieres in Germany 1921 - Babe Ruth starts best streak ever of an “extra-base hits” whatever that means 1955 – Rock around the clock by Bill Hayley hit no 1 1963 - Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his "I have a dream speech" adressing civil rights march at Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC 1964 - The Beatles appeared on the cover of LIFE magazine 1965 - Bob Dylan booed for playing electric guiter at a concert in New York's Forest Hills 1967 – For the cricket fans amongst us (Allyson) Asif Iqbal & Intikhab Alam make 190 stand for 9th wkt v Eng 1973 - "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple goes gold A personal one for me 1982 - "Sugar Babies" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC after 1208 perfs 1986 - Tina Turner's star unveiled in Hollywood 1987 – Luka by Suzanne Vega no1 And one final one…. 2014 Chris marries Allyson, He is my best mate and always will be, it is a real privilege and honour to be asked to be his best man, please join me in a cheer and toast to the happy couple, health and a long fun life together …. “Chris & Allyson, the new Mr & Mrs Langthorne” A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog

By keef and annie hellinger, Apr 6 2014 05:28PM 462 Abingdon Rd, Camping & Caravan Club site, Oxford, Oxfordshire Motorhome trip No16 : April 5th – 6th 2014 A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog NOTTS->OXFORD ->NOTTS 216 miles Spent the weekend with our wonderful friends Pete & Joy. Keef working late Friday eve so we travelled early Saturday morning. Site is a little rundown and they fully accept that but it is right next to the Park & Ride to get the bus into Oxford, less than 10 mins and £4.50 return for 2, superb for entry into what is one of England’s premier tourist cities and a world famous seat of learning. Pete once went here to Keble college so we relied on his local knowledge, well pubs really (joke!) The site is all grass with a perfectly adequate but slightly dated amenities block. After setting up we walked into town via the river tow path, lots of college 8’s,4’s,2’s, single and skullers / kayakers practising on the water, bikers on the towpath and pedestrians, not a bad day with smatterings of sunshine if a little cold and windy. Ended up at the wonderful Head of the River pub (Fullers) where the boys had 2 pints of Seafarer, a nice light ale and the ladies Peroni & Cinzano & lemonade. We sat right on the water’s edge outside. Had smoked salmon fish cakes, Cajun chicken burger and double cooked chips between us, yummy! A very busy pub with a mixture of foreign tourists, students and gracefully aging motorhomers like us. 240 years around the table, almost *smile* Caught the bus back to the site where we had some more drinks and a lot of nice chat. Lasagne , salad and cheese & bikkies all washed down with Italian red, NZ Sav Blanc and a lovely Taylors port. Early to bed , its all that fresh air and in Keef’s case waking up at 4.10 am, saddy… It rained quite a lot and heavily overnight. Sunday morning spent relaxing treading and having a brekkie of croissants. Then we negotiated leaving the vans on the site whilst we took the bus back into Oxford for a mooch around the town, fab architecture and interesting colleges before having roast dinner in the Mitre hotel. Nice times before heading back by bus to the site and saying our fond farewells to Pete & Joy. All in all a nice relaxing weekend! Great times, we love our little motorhome. Note: The Index shows ALL blogs already published or you can find Blogs about a specific subject by clicking on a word in the TAG CLOUD or under these new blogs, thanks, motorhome-travels. 64 pictures in the SLIDESHOW Comments left on the old website (prior to Nov 21) Poster Time