It was Ian's birthday on 29th August so I booked to take him to The Wellington Arms in Baughurst.  We had heard about it from the owners of the Purefoy Arms that we discovered recently - they say it is their favourite place to eat so that was a good enough recommendation for us!

It is a small gastro pub that is very dog friendly - it's great to have such lovely places to go that we are able to take Ruby and Pepper.  They also have a couple of rooms and I booked to stay the night so that we could make the most of our time there.

The staff are all brilliant, the food was excellent, the room was luxurious - I haven't got a bad thing to say about it!  The attention to detail in every way is exceptional!  If you want somewhere special to go I would highly recommend The Wellington Arms!

http://www.thewellingtonarms.com/

We recently responded to a post on the VW California Club forum asking for volunteers to act as marshals at the Relay for Life event in Bury St. Edmunds. We had never heard of Relay for Life but liked the sound of it and with the offer of free camping at a National Trust venue, decided to offer our services.

We headed off on Friday - I had an appointment with one of my customers in Bury St. Edmunds so Ian and the girls came with me!


Ruby took the opportunity to oversee proceedings from the MD's chair:

Meeting done, we went on to Ickworth House not really knowing what to expect but were astonished at how beautiful the venue was.  We were shown to the area to set up camp, right on the lawn outside the West Wing of the building with a view of the rotunda!  We met up with Graham and Alison who had also responded to the call for help and after setting up camp, James (the organiser) & Mandy came and joined us for a VW California mini-meet!

Relay for Life raises money for Cancer Research UK and is effectively a 21 hour sponsored relay race.  The teams started arriving on Saturday morning and sporting a rather fetching hi vis vest our marshalling duties commenced.  Things got underway at 12.00 and there was a full schedule of fun to keep everyone's spirits up including a warm up, disco, several fantastic live bands and themed laps.  We found ourselves with some spare time during the afternoon so we were able to take a good look around the main event and sit down with a glass of Pimms to listen to the music and also visit the gorgeous gardens.

Sadly the weather turned around 9pm which affected the Candle of Hope ceremony but the brave teams battled on and got through the night, finishing the final lap at 9am!

We were extremely lucky to have spent the weekend with such lovely people - I can't remember laughing that much for some time!  The event itself was inspiring and at times humbling.  If you would like to find out more about Relay for Life and maybe find a relay taking place in your local area, please visit their website:

http://relay.cancerresearchuk.org/site/PageNavigator/Home

And if you would like to find out more about Ickworth House, here is a link:

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ickworth/

And finally, here are some pictures of our weekend:

We didn't have any plans this weekend so decided to take a trip away in Tubby!  We booked a pitch at Lincoln Farm Park in Standlake nr Witney - it's a really nice site that is dog friendly with 2 small areas to walk dogs off lead.

The site has some nice facilities including 2 pools - we didn't get a chance to try the pool out but I'm sure we will come back again!

The village is small but there are two pubs in walking distance of the site - the one that we favour is The Bell Inn - it has great food and is dog friendly. 

We had a really relaxing weekend with some nice walks, a few drinks and met some lovely people!

Just what we got Tubby for!

Linkcoln Farm Park - http://www.lincolnfarmpark.co.uk/

The Bell Inn - http://www.thebellstandlake.co.uk/

We have been away in Tubby for a few nights, staying at The Masons Arms near Yeovil.  We met up with my sister Sarah and her husband Andy - they were camping in their tent!

We headed down to Yeovil straight after work on Tuesday and were set up and in the pub by 8.30pm.  The food was just as good as the last time we stayed and it was nice to be back there for another visit!

We didn't have much planned, but managed to fit some shopping and dog walks in between the eating and the drinking!  The weather wasn't great - we even had snow which looked very pretty on the top of Sarah and Andy's tent!!

The worst thing that happened was that we got locked out of Tubby!  Ian had gone to get his shower, I fed the girls and let them out for a run around!  I stepped outside the van to get something from the boot and couldn't open the door, went to get back in the side door and that was locked too!  My heart sank!

Luckily, we were able to sit in Sarah and Andy's tent and use their phones and iPads to call the RAC who subsequently came and rescued us!  Thankfully they managed to get us back into the van without causing any damage - a very valuable lesson learnt - always keep a key about your person!!

I felt a bit strange wandering round in my PJs until after lunch but at least we had company!

All in all, a great few days away and I look forward to camping with Sarah and Andy again soon!

We've just had our second adventure in Tubby at Langstone Manor Holiday Park near Tavistock, Devon.

We left home mid morning and decided to stop off for lunch on the way! We checked the faithful 'Doggie Pubs' website for a dog friendly venue near where we were and decided to go for the Prince of Wales am Ham Hill which said it was situated in a country park and had great reviews.

We followed the sat nav which took us up a very narrow lane and a fairly steep hill! It was a little scary with parked cars on the side but Ian did a marvellous job as always! It was very busy - I had forgotten that it was Sunday and was wondering why there were so many people about!

There is a large car park and several other parking areas for the country park. The pub is great - it is quite rustic but has a restaurant where no dogs are allowed and a busy bar where they are. Luckily the weather was quite nice so we were able to sit outside. It is a really popular spot for families and dog walkers! If we are in the area again we will definitely go back and hopefully have time for a nice walk as well! It's worth knowing that you can book tables in the bar as well as the restaurant!

We carried on down to Tavistock and arrived just as the sun was going downk. We checked in and found our pitch - it was really quiet! We plugged in, put the roof up and that was us set up. We stepped outside to take the dogs for a short walk and wow, what a view! A beautiful sunset over Dartmoor!

There were only another 3 caravans on the site and we subsequently found out that the whole site was due to close the following Thursday! Because of this none of their facilities were open and there are no pubs in easy walking distance! Thank goodness we were stocked with plenty of wine and beer, and food for our entire stay! The other drawback was that there was very little coverage for the MiFi so internet access was limited. It was going to be a good test of our ability to enjoy a self-sufficient trip in Tubby!

The following day we woke up to torrential rain - thankfully Tubby proved to be completely watertight! We went into Tavistock for a wonder round the shops and a coffee, and eventually the rain stopped! Late lunch at another dog friendly pub and then back to the campsite to get settled for the night!

We had a lovely time for our entire trip! It was great cooking in Tubby and watching programmes on the iPad and DVD's on the laptop! It's good to know that we can enjoy trips like this in the winter!

Here are links to the campsite we stayed at and the pub at Ham Hill:

http://www.princeofwaleshamhill.co.uk/

http://www.langstonemanor.co.uk/

We have just got back from our first adventure in Tubby and what a great time we have had!

We have found that there are several pubs around the UK that have campsites attached to them. This appeals to us greatly and we decided to book into one of these for our first trip - The Masons Arms, Lower Odcombe nr Yeovil.

We were so lucky to have chosen this place, it was just perfect for us! In 2005 the village of Lower Odcombe was going to lose its pub, but a lovely couple, Paula and Drew stepped in and took it over, transforming it into the friendly village hub that it is today! It has clearly become and well used venue for the locals and a destination for people from further afield. It was busy the whole time we were there!

The pub has rooms as well as the campsite. We were pitched on the hard standing as the field is understandably kept for the Spring/Summer and were the only ones camping at this time! The facilities for the campsite are communal but are newly renovated and very nice.

We did a mixture of eating in the pup and cooking in Tubby - it was great to have the option! The food in the pub was great - really good selection of different dishes and great portions! Not cheap but very good value! They grow their own vegetables and keep chickens, sourcing all of the other produce from local
suppliers. The also have their own micro brewery!

Naturally we got chatting about the dogs - Paula and Drew have their own dogs that live with them at the pub. We discovered that they were experienced agility competitors and actually had a field beside the campsite that is full of agility equipment where Paula still teaches the odd lesson! How did I miss that! I was given permission to use it and it was great to spend a bit of time with each of the girls there!

We will definitely go back to The Masons Arms and highly recommend it. Here is the link to their website:

http://www.masonsarmsodcombe.co.uk/

...and here is a selection of photos of our first trip away:

We have been on holiday on the Norfolk Broads, in a boat, with Sarah & Andy (my sister & brother-in-law).

Ruby was fantastic! She was a little concerned about the engine noise when we first set off but very soon settled down and began to enjoy her time on the water! She soon found 'her spot' in the cabin where she could sit with her head out of the window watching all of the other boats and wildlife.

We found lots of really nice dog-friendly pubs to visit and Ruby was a hit everywhere we went! While at one of the pubs we met a guy filming some shots for Escape to the Country. We got chatting and persuaded him to film some shots of Ruby! Don't know if they'll make it onto the show but it was great that he took the time to film her!*

We can highly recommend a Norfolk Broads holiday with your dog! It's great fun, regardless of what the weather is!

*Update* - We spotted the episode of Escape to the Country and managed to record it.  Ruby appeared twice - there was a great shot of her sitting on a pub table with the Broads in the background, and at the end of the show there was another shot of Ruby with her head out of the window while we were travelling along!  It was such a thrill to see her on TV! 

Here is a a screenshot of her from the show: