Wow! What a cool little adventure. In the last couple of weeks my kids have slept in a hotel, a converted stables/barn, a tent, a hammock, a modern detached house and a ship’s cabin. They’ve eaten in restaurants, in the kitchen of a 400 year old thatch-roof farmhouse, on a patio, in fast food joints, in a teepee, in the woods in torrential rain, in the back of a Land Rover and in ancient pubs frequented by Lawrence of Arabia and Prince Charles. They’ve travelled across Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Holland, Poland, Belgium, a bit of France, and a lot of England.
I didn’t originally want to travel to the UK this summer due to problems across Europe, huge queues at the ferry ports, the whole Brexit thing, and the fact that my mechanic managed to screw up the clutch on my Discovery. However, I’m very glad we did.
On the way there we stopped over in Sribro, a small town on the Czech/German border and stayed in our usual hotel for the night.
We then set off to first Dunkirk and then Dorset to stay at my friend Dominic’s beautiful holistic retreat, Middle Picadilly.
It was great to spend some time with Dominic Harvey and his family before camping, and I’m really pleased to have met his mother, Eliana Harvey, co-author of the famous White Eagle Medicine Deck Cards. Chatting with her inspired me to start writing spiritually again.
We then all set off to Bison Farm, Wiltshire, about 20 miles from Stonehenge, to the Wilderness Gathering bushcraft festival, where I gave acouple of lectures on trailcam use and changing one’s mindset when in the forest. There, I had the opportunity to reconnect with the editor of Bushcraft Magazine (for whom I write), Steve Kirk, his wife Cathy and other members of his family. My boys helped Cathy set up a teepee and enjoyed themselves thoroughly doing so (although she later had to completely rebuild it after we’d returned to our own camp…). I was completely stunned when Steve presented me with a Bison Bushcraft Knife for being Bushcraft Magazine’s Best Writer.
Many thanks to him, and to Roger Harrington who made it (and for letting me lecture and camp at his festival).
Besides having several species of interesting animals to view (and eat), particularly Bison and American Elk,
the Wilderness Gathering was good for meeting up with old friends and making new ones. I was especially pleased that two old Welsh friends of mine, John and Pete, attended and could join us at our camp.
The weather, sadly, was horrendous, with Met Office warnings, gales and a never-ending downpour. The festival did give me chance to meet others who enjoy the same outdoor activities as me, though.
After several hours of packing up our camp (3 tents and 2 hammocks), we set off across England to Grantham to visit my family. I can’t begin to describe what it was like having a hot shower, huge amounts of hot food and a clean, warm bed after 5 days in the mud and cold.
My father and stepmother treated us extremely well and made sure the kids were very well fed (which is the most important thing). They also took us to Lincoln to see the sites and do a bit of shopping.
Amazingly, there was a steampunk festival going on so the area around the Castle, Cathedral and Steep Hill (along with all the shops and cafes) thronged with steam punk enthusiasts in costume, or sold steam punk themed wares.
My godmother and her husband visited while we were at my father’s and it was great catching up. She’s a cognitive behavioural therapist with holistic leanings and is one of the few people who can actually appreciate my bizarre viewpoints on life, the universe and everything.
We celebrated the kids’ birthdays at the house) and i had chance to meet up with my brother and a couple of old school friends, Nathan and Ryan. It’s scary how the decades just seem to fly by.
It was sad leaving (especially when you have to get up at 3am and pack the car). We sailed from Harwich to Holland and booked a cabin for us all to sleep in. This is a North Sea wind farm:
Then we drove for an extremely long time (22 hours straight). I literally collapsed in bed and slept for 17 hours straight upon reaching home. I’m amazed at Vlochka, our Land Rover Discovery. She did us proud, although she really was straining near the end. Here she is in Dominic’s nearby village of Holwell next to the oldest postbox in England (still in use after 163 years):
My thanks goes to all those who made our trip such a pleasant one, and to the lords and ladies above and below who watched over us. I needed to get out of my little box for a while and the trip, and the people I met, definitely inspired me.
It’s just a shame the adventure’s over…
