Touring Norfolk in a motorhome

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 Day 4: 7^th June 

Cirencester Tesco’s - Chedworth Roman Villa – Blenheim Palace

Route: A419 – A429 to Fosse bridge – A40 – B4047 – A4095

Campsite: Bladon Chains CAMC club site

Mileage: 45 miles

Travelling time: 1 hr 20 mins excluding stopping time at Chedworth

Expenditure:

·        Tesco’s breakfast £5 (this is a habit we have to break!)

·        Chedworth Roman Villa – free – National Trust membership

·        Fuel: £30

 

Steve’s parents surprise us early in the morning and join us for breakfast coffee before departure. We were in the middle of taking off wheel locks and draining waste water tanks. It was a pleasant delay as they came once more to admire Bryony, our Autosleepers Broadway EB.

The run to Cirencester Tesco’s is easy. We know the route well although going right around that roundabout to the hidden entrance is always slightly alarming as the lanes around the roundabout don’t quite match up with each other.

A quick food and bottled water stock up and once more we succumb to coffees, pastries and the newspaper. This is definitely one of those habits we must break, rapidly (although the coffees and pecan slices are delicious).

 

Up the A429 we trundle. We have settled into a simple routine. Maggie is the better navigator and so she navigates! We never go above 50 mph. There is no rush. We aim to slowly meander without irritating any traffic behind and where possible, we will pull over to let any ‘tail’ behind us pass.

The road is fairly straight. It should be. It’s a roman road, built in the first and second centuries, that linked Exeter to Lincoln via Ilchester, Bath, Cirencester and Leicester. Approximately 230 miles long, the word ‘Fosse’ is derived from the Latin word ‘Fossa’ meaning ‘ditch’.

So, with its many interconnecting roman roads, it comes as no surprise that the Cotswolds holds one of the densest concentrations of roman villas in England. And, Chedworth Roman Villa at Yanworth, is one of the best.

For centuries it lay hidden, only discovered by a Victorian gamekeeper out ferreting for rabbits. Imagine his surprise in 1864 as he unearthed pieces of coloured stone, the small cubed tesserae from one of the hidden mosaics. The Landowner at that time, Lord Eldon, maintained timber shelter buildings over the most delicate ruins and set up a small museum for the artefacts. There is a one room museum in the house on the grounds where the estate offices now are and there is some really good stuff in it, so don't miss it on your visit.  

It is one of the largest roman villas discovered in the UK. A ‘des res’ of eye watering wealth, its owners living in luxury with their stunning views down the Coln valley. Flushing latrines, bathhouses, underfloor heating, fantastic mosaics and an entire guest wing including bath house and kitchen. Built during the 'golden age' of roman Britain!

If you are a history buff and have a real ‘thing’ about roman history (like Steve does), then it is definitely worth a stop off. Peaceful, serene and right out amongst beautiful rolling hills of cereal crops, valleys and woodlands. Be warned, the approaching lanes are narrow but passable and parking is tricky. There are only a few spaces that will take a motorhome, so book an early morning or late afternoon slot. You can only turn your motorhome right up at the entrance to the villa where there is a coach turning point; designed for tiny ‘Gulliver like’ coaches!

 

The fitting of semi air suspension has proven its worth, elevating Bryony’s rear end so that the ride is softer. She doesn’t roll around corners, there are less rattles and noises from within and she rides the bumps and pot holes far more elegantly. (As you can find out in previous blog posts, we up-plated her because we found ourselves 60 kg over the maximum rear axle weight due to the tow bar, bike rack and two E bikes. 

We now have a rear axle maximum of 2240 kg, a gain of 240 kg. We have also gained some extra payload space as well so now we can run about with full diesel and fresh water tanks. We upgraded all the tyres, moving from Continental 215/70 r15’s 109’s CP to 225/70 R15’s with a load index of 112.  The tyre pressures are 5 bar at the front and 5.5 bar at the back. Steve is worried about the slight bulge to the rear tyre sidewalls but so far, so good.  We aren’t overweight and are well within the new overall weight and individual axle weights. We went on a weigh station to check!)

 

Arriving at Bladon Chains CAMC site by 2pm after some initial confusion over which hard-standing we could have, we quickly set up on a pitch that looks out over a stunning wild flower meadow full of birds and rabbits. After levelling up, we set off on a 25-mile round trip on the bikes towards Banbury, following the Oxfordshire No. 5 cycle route through a mixture of cow parsley lined bridleways and small country lanes. Rolling hills of oil seed rape and barley with little valleys and clean, weed lined streams and brooks.

 

Later this evening, Steve sneaks out at 11pm, to do three hours of astrophotography imaging. His target M101, ‘The Pinwheel Galaxy’, found at the end of the big dipper in the constellation Ursa Major and which is barely visible to the naked eye. The skies prove perfect, clear and bright with minimal light pollution effect and over three hours he manages to acquire 50 images and sees three shooting stars and numerous satellites. The close encounter with a silently swooping barn owl is the icing on his cake. (Sadly, his post processing of the images showed that he had missed it. He had plenty of photographs of starry skies but not the actual galaxy. All part of the steep learning curve as he takes up this new hobby).