Touring Norfolk in motorhome

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Day 5: 8^th June: still getting to Norfolk via Blenheim Palace

 

Expenditure:

·        Blenheim coffees and cake £9.00

·        Blenheim entrance fee £42 (Advanced booking essential)

 

We walk to the Palace entrance along the road into Woodstock. It takes around 30 minutes and we are impressed with the long tree lined drive way that extends up to the house. It is almost a mile long. 

Having booked in for the 11.30am tour, we have forty minutes to wait and so opt for coffee. So much for breaking this habit then!

The walkway from the orangery through the second archway ends with gasps of awe. That final courtyard and the buildings beyond are breath-taking in size, colour, design and sheer magnificence. It comes as a surprise to most. Think the parade ground in front of Buckingham Palace and slightly bigger than that!

All the details for Blenheim can be found at this website:

www.blenheimpalace.com

One quick recommendation – don’t miss the really interesting little exhibition about Churchill. Really informative and illuminating. There is also an exhibition in the stables, which sadly we didnt get to see for various reasons. The walk around the Great Lake was beautiful and there was a really good photographic exhibition on waterproof display boards in the formal gardens area. 

Back at the campsite, we watch the rabbits in the fields, their long ears just poking above the buttercups. The campsite is spacious, well laid out and tree lined. There is some traffic noise from a neighbouring main road but you soon acclimatize to it.  

Showers were closed and so we used the van shower. There are some shifting logistics involved in this since normally the shower holds the telescope and its associated gear. All this gear gets moved to the very front of Bryony, in front of her seats and this is where it stays for the duration of a stay (once the front seats have been swivelled inwards).

And, talking of logistics, we have also been learning how to ventilate the motorhome. The temperature has been averaging 25C most days and inside the van we have record several days where the internal temp has topped 32C. We have discovered, through trial and error, that pulling across all the front cab screens, pulling up window screens and opening top roof vents fully, means that the internal temp drops considerably during the day.

Before sun down, Steve is sent out to clear off some sooty deposits which seem to have accumulated along the driver’s off-side panel. It was everywhere, from along the awning right down to the bottom of the habitation door. Where it came from is a mystery but it wiped off easily and that’s the main thing.

Another thing that has prompted much discussion between us is whether to use security clamps when we are on a big site. We have a wheel lock and a Milenco wheel clamp. Steve tends to favour using both, irrespective of wherever we are. We welcome any people’s views on this matter. Drop us a comment in the box below this post.

The last thing we did this evening was to test the awning. We had never opened it until this point. Well, it was an illuminating procedure because we discovered that one of the clamps on one of the legs wasn’t working properly. It is amazing what a man with determination and a Swiss Army Knife can achieve!!  Confession time, we did have to get the help of a neighbouring motorhomer to help us work out what the problem was!

It’s a steep learning curve is this motorhoming malarkey!!

Here are some more images from Blenheim palace - well worth a visit. The grounds are stunning and there are plenty of walks and lovely picnic spots throughout.