Two autumn breaks

Couple of short trips away back in October, neither of which I have yet recorded for interested future generations who may stumble across and dust off this blog.

Love owls

Ruth and I had a 3-night mini break at Forest Holidays' Forest of Dean site – can’t remember how I came across them but I am a bit of a sucker for a) undemanding holidays; b) log cabins, however faux; c) woods. We didn’t manage to find one of their breaks that wasn’t pretty stonkingly expensive, but in fairness I did choose to book one of their Golden Oak Hideaway cabins, delightful little for-two love nests that have a hot tub, an oversized sunken bath and various twee touches including this heart-shaped trivet (left, with espresso cups) and this owl couple in the dining area. Our decked patio area did have a rather damp autumnal quality, so we didn’t spend a lot of time on it though we did use the hot tub once so as to get the most out of the facilities. The cabin itself was, in fairness, absolutely lovely, and even hard-to-please Ruth said she’d happily go again. Except we’d need to take an HDMI cable next time – it’s so high-tech that there are no DVD players as you’re expected to connect to your own technology and stream things. Luckily there’s also Sky, so we weren’t too disadvantaged by not being able to watch the DVDs we’d taken.

We didn't bother taking the cover off the hammock, mainly as it wasn't warm enough for lying around outside but also because I doubt my ability to get into a hammock successfully while holding a glass of bubbly, as per the lovely couple in the publicity photos.

Forest Holidays aren't quite such a family fun centre as Center Parcs, but they do offer various extras, for a charge. We sniggered over the 'Romantic Evening In' package, which includes rose petals. Considered requesting a bottle of wine in place of these, but it does say no substitutions.

On the Saturday we walked from the Forest Holidays site to Symonds Yat Rock, a couple of miles away, where we admired the views, which were pretty good even in the intermittent lashing rain. Didn’t see any of the advertised peregrine falcons, but in fairness they were probably huddled indoors. We walked down the side of a steepish gorge to Symonds Yat East, where we had lunch in the packed-out Saracens Head, before slogging back up the slope. We did see the hand-pulled ferry in operation, though didn’t try it.

The Wye from Symonds Yat Rock

On the Sunday we drove further into the Forest of Dean, though not having made a proper plan of where to go (nor downloaded the Forest Xplorer app, which I’ve just noticed) we ended up at the large car park at Beechenhurst which was pretty thronged with visitors. We had quite a pleasant walk on marked trails for a couple of miles, looking at the sculptures dotted around, though spent much of the time dodging families on bicycles. Ruth then pleaded to visit a town, and as Monmouth looked to be the nearest town likely to be halfway decent, we drove there, parked up and had lunch. Did the obligatory walk over the old bridge. The town itself was a bit short on shops that weren’t closed on a Sunday.

On the Monnow Bridge

Monmouth was the location of my inspiration for the red walls at the dining room at the house – Mum and I had lunch there once in a café with gorgeous chilli-red walls and I was very taken with the idea. The actual colour we ended up with is less chilli and more brick than I hoped for, but here’s hoping for next time. Ruth and I walked past what I’m pretty sure was the same café, but the walls had been painted a much less interesting creamy colour.

Forest Holidays has a site at Keldy in North Yorkshire, but I can’t tell whether this is the same site that Mum and I, Hannah and Hannah’s friend Lyn stayed at in 1989, as there’s also a Hoseasons holiday lodge site at Keldy apparently.

Had another few days away a week or so later, this time in Dorset to join Mum and Dad at a self-catering cottage they’d booked for a few days’ short break. To lengthen the trip slightly as I could only take the Monday to Wednesday off work, I booked Ruth and me into a Premier Inn just outside Bournemouth for the Sunday night. On the Monday morning we drove into Poole and parked up, and walked down to the harbour, where we spontaneously booked onto a harbour cruise via City Cruises Poole. As it was an amazingly nice day for the beginning of October, the cruise was lovely - the trip of an hour or so took us quite close to Brownsea Island, then over to the Sandbanks peninsula to ogle the luxury residences, then back around the other smaller islands in the harbour, including Furzey Island, owned by BP and apparently the site of a number of oil wells, though that’s not apparent from the views of the shoreline. Fascinating article here by a chap who lived on Furzey Island with his wife in the 1960s. We also passed Green Island and got a view of Edward Iliffe’s new luxury residence. According to this, the first eco-house Iliffe built on the island burned down in 2012, but there was certainly a house there when we went past so I guess it’s risen from the ashes.

Looking towards Sandbanks

Boats in the harbour

After the boat trip we had lunch at Banana Wharf, where it was actually warm enough to sit outside.

After lunch we drove, with only a couple of hitches, westwards via Bridport to Chapel Barn at Salwayash, the holiday let that Mum had booked. Small place but cosy and well-equipped. That evening, Dad drove us to the neighbouring village of Waytown for dinner in The Hare & Hounds, via some extremely narrow country lanes. Here's a screenshot of Google Maps tracking our route.

The next day - which was a beautiful day for October - we parked at West Bay and walked along the beach past the peculiar cliffs as far as the village of Burton Bradstock. Walked down to the beach and stopped for tea and cake at the Hive Beach Café which was absolutely rammed - the only table free was a large one outside, which we nabbed and Mum and I braved the long queue to place our order. After tea, we made our way back westwards towards West Bay - Dad and I hived off to walk up onto the coastal path for the final stretch while Mum and Ruth continued along the beach.

We returned to the cottage via Bridport's branch of Morrisons, where Dad and I raced around the shop grabbing foody bits while Mum and Ruth reclined in the car. Back at the cottage I cooked a coq au vin, having taken care to take some leftover vin with me. Ruth and I had to leave at crack of dawn the next morning as she had an afternoon meeting in London and I needed to get back to Milton Keynes for work the following day.

Chapel Barn, Salwayash

Cliffs at West Bay