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Pru's Blog
  
| Travels with Prudence ... |
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Pru’s blog: 7 – 21 August 2009
We decided to hire a VW camper for the two weeks of our wedding and honeymoon as we wanted to tour around Cornwall and Jamie grew up with an orange VW camper and has many happy memories of holidays in it. We had the idea that a VW camper would be fantastic as a wedding car – Pru didn’t disappoint!
Jamie & his Dad picked Pru up from Snailtrail on the Friday before our wedding and drove her straight back to Portland in Dorset – she went like a dream. She was then treated to a clean & polish, ready for her big day ahead.
Luckily, our wedding day was a beautiful sunny mid-summer day and Pru was sparkling. Jamie & his Dad put her ribbons on and she was ready.
Jamie’s Dad picked Esme & her Dad up and drove them to Esme’s family church at Dewlish (a small village in the middle of Dorset).
After the ceremony Pru was chuffed to be involved in the photo’s.
 
Everybody commented how wonderful she looked and what a good idea it was to use her for the wedding car. Jamie’s Dad then drove us to our wedding reception at the National Sailing Academy at Portland.
A good time was had by all at the reception with Pru again receiving lots of admiring glances and comments!
The next day Jamie’s niece & nephew decorated Pru ready for us to head off on honeymoon. She looked great covered in balloons and “just married” banners. It was great to drive off in Pru heading for Devon & Cornwall with the sound of tin cans rattling on behind!
 
We spent a couple of nights relaxing in South Devon and visiting Burgh Island.
Pru was intrigued to meet the WWII tank on display at Slapton Sands (“what a funny old-fashioned thing” she thought!)
 
We were soon heading off to the Lizard peninsular and had booked in to a lovely quiet campsite.
We had a few days based there and explored the area including visiting the Seal Sanctuary. One day Pru was allowed to chill out in the campsite as we headed off for a spectacular walk to the Lizard Point.
Before long it was time to head to our next campsite near St Ives where were due to stay for a bit longer. Pru loved the campsite as she had her own bay complete with electric hook-up and water.
We really enjoyed exploring this part of Cornwall as there is so much to see. Some of our favourites were St Michael’s Mount , a day trip to the Scilly Isles and the Minack Theatre. There are so many lovely natural beaches along the coast, Sennen Cove being just one example.
 
Reluctantly we had to move on from St Ives and headed up Cornwall’s north coast to Padstow for a couple of nights. Pru was able to take a well deserved rest here as Padstow was within walking distance of our campsite.
On the day we were due to travel back home to Dorset we stopped off to visit King Arthur’s castle at Tintagel.
The next day we were back in Pru at 4.30 in the morning heading to Snailtrail. Yet again, Pru went like a dream and we arrived back by 8.30! We then said our goodbyes to Pru and headed back to Dorset on the train.
It was not long after we got back home before we started having a look online to see what campers are available to buy (one day!). We absolutely loved having Pru for a couple of weeks and could have quite easily driven on past Snailtrail to explore another part of the country in her. She was fabulous both as a wedding car and for our honeymoon and we would thoroughly recommend her to anybody else. She was a star!
Photographs shown here courtesy of photographer Chris Whitefield
www.chriswhitefield.co.uk |
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Prudence ended our holiday by taking to us to The Orchard somewhere I have wanted to go for a long time - a corner of England where time stands still as the outside world rushes by.
The Orchard, first planted in 1868, became a Tea Garden purely by chance. A group of Cambridge students asked Mrs Stevenson of Orchard House if she would serve them tea beneath the blossoming fruit trees rather than, as was usual, on the front lawn of the House. They were unaware that, on that spring morning in 1897, they had started a great Cambridge tradition. The students enjoyed their rural tea, and word spread around the colleges. The Orchard soon became a popular ‘up-river resort’ which was well known to Varsity men.
With few exceptions, very little has changed in the Orchard since then. In order to supplement their income, the Stevensons took in lodgers at Orchard House, and, in 1909, a young graduate of King’s College took up residence. His name was Rupert Brooke. He had moved out of Cambridge, hoping to escape his hectic social life there, but in vain. The charismatic young Brooke drew a constant stream of visitors, and eventually became the centre of a circle of friends, later dubbed by Virginia Woolf the 'Neo-Pagans'. Brooke had fallen in love with his idyllic life in Grantchester, and, while in a homesick mood on a trip to Berlin, wrote one of his best-known poems, 'The Old Vicarage, Grantchester': the famous final lines immortalising afternoon tea in the Orchard:
Stands the church clock at ten-to-three And is there honey still for tea?
There has since been much debate over whether or not the church clock had actually stopped at that time, but one certainly senses that Time has stood still in the Orchard.On his return to Grantchester, finding his rooms had been let, he moved next door to ‘The Old Vicarage’, where he continued to live his bohemian lifestyle.
On leaving Cambridge, Brooke travelled exten-sively in North America and the South Seas. He returned to England in 1914, and at the outbreak of the First World War joined the military, coming under heavy bombardment during the retreat from Antwerp.
In March 1915, he embarked on a troop-ship bound for Gallipoli. Tragically, he was never to return. He became very ill on board, and on 23rd April 1915, aged 27, he died from blood poisoning. That same evening he was buried in an olive grove on the Greek island of Skyros, where a monument has since been built over his grave. Just a few months earlier he had written ‘The Soldier’, containing the prescient lines:
If I should die, think only this of me: That there’s some corner of a foreign field That is forever England
Brooke became posthumously famous. His poetry was widely recognised, and he became a symbol of the innocence of youth - a ‘Young Apollo’. He caught the imagination of the nation, and his cult status has been steadily increasing ever since.
Meanwhile, a long and golden era lay ahead for the Orchard. From the 1920s onwards (apart from a period of closure during the Second World War), The Orchard became increasingly popular. Visitors would walk or cycle along the path (nick-named the Grantchester Grind) that crosses the famous Grantchester Meadows, or punt up-stream,to exchange the formal surroundings of ‘the backs’ for the peace and tranquillity of the meandering River Granta.
During the May Balls, it became customary for bleary-eyed students to ‘punt up’ for an al-fresco breakfast, which often included champagne and strawberries. This tradition still continues.
By 1964, the Orchard had become so popular that the proprietor erected an eight foot board reminding customers to return their cups and saucers to the tray-rack in 35 different languages!
The Orchard had found a place in the hearts of the people of Cambridge and was a popular destination for the thousands of visitors to the city, but, in the 1980s, the Orchard closed so that the land could be developed for residential housing. It was, however, rescued from this fate, and its present owner intends one day to sell it off in small plots to the general public, so that it will never be in danger again.
The Orchard is now over 100 years old, and to paraphrase Rupert Brooke, it will always remain..
Forever England
{taken from the The Orchard website}
The main reason to hire Prudence was to celebrate Alfie's 5th birthday! Which we did in style... we discovered the BEST adventure park in the world Bewilderwood {get this - it had reasonably priced, simple whole food and only one shop! - 'pester' power doesn't work here!} It is a 'treehouse' adventure park, packed with safe tree's to climb, rope bridges to cross and zip wires to whizz down on - perfect for an adventurous boy and plenty of little stuff in toddlewood for younger brothers!
Yes - he really went that fast! We finished the day back on the campsite with a birthday tea with his newly made friends. A little bit of bunting added those extra special touches to Prudence too, don't you think?
one of the best things is when you manage to capture a moment on film. This picture is of Ted, who loved driving Prudence to the "beeeeach" and spent hours on the front seat pretending to drive - oh and looking at himself in the mirror!
I also love the fact I managed to capture it with the Polaroid - what better way to take a picture of this seventies icon than with a 70's polaroid camera! The colours are great too! There is obviously a perfectionist in me as there aren't many pictures that I am happy with, but this one I am, in all it's 70's retro glory!
As Prudence is a hired camper van, she has taken people on holiday all over the UK and certainly knows where the best beaches are. She didn't disappoint and took us to Holkham beach near Wells-next-the-Sea. A beach that stretches out as far as the eye can see, bordered by pine woods and the prettiest row of beach huts you can imagine. Now I do have favourites and nothing in my mind compares to Cornish beaches, but here I was, happily sitting and enjoying an ice-cream dreaming of which beach hut I would buy and of course how I would decorate it!
The hours just slipped away, between collecting shells and playing in the dunes, a brilliant place to slow down and live in the moment.
I have always quite fancied having my fortune told... not for any great reason but just out of curiousity. My husband is very sceptical about things like this which I understand and I know things that she said to me could apply to hundreds of others... BUT they did apply to me and I take great strength from the few minutes of wisdom that this Romany fortune teller shared with me. Some of the things she told me I knew or weren't any great revelation but sat in that beautiful caravan, with views to the sea, the words of a stranger hit home. As I held the crystal ball, she could see water and green and told me that I reveal too much {what! - had she read this blog?} the rest I am going to write down, keep secret and wait and see what my fortunes bring...
... if you are driving along the beautiful A149 coast road between Salthouse and Kelling, why don't you stop and see what fortunes are coming your way?
Yes, you read correctly there is a World Snail Racing Championship that takes place in the village of Congham every year. We decided to take a quick detour in Prudence who is one of the 'Snail Trail' camper vans - it was meant to be! Of course being experts ourselves in the fine art of snail racing we just had to enter...
Number 39 {found in a hurry under a log at the side of the cricket pitch}, a rather fine brown lipped snail, not as big as his rivals but just as speedy and came a respectable 3rd in his heat. Rain stopped play for us as we got back into Prudence and onto the North Norfolk coast!
I love "englishness" and the customs, traditions and peculiarities of our island, typified by snail racing, cheese rolling and well dressing
Emma's pictures...
 
 
 
 
 For more of Emma's stunning photographs take at look at her blog here or her photo set of Pru here ... well worth a look!
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Mon 26th May 2008, "Glitter Bus"
Arrived at Farm Cottages 12 noon on the dot to collect our lovely Prudence for a 3 night break to celebrate Daddy's birthday...all of us grinning madly. Incredibly excited, we headed off in the strong winds and driving rain for North Norfolk. Journey was great fun...smiling all the way. Some 3 hours later and after a few stops to see the 'Teletubby' wind farms and Jerome having improved his biceps muscle tone (wrestling against the winds) we arrived at Cromer. Had a great first night on the campsite: absorbed by The Happy Campers book and attempting to memorise games, recipes and top tips. Meanwhile, Pru became the Glitter Queen as Archie & Amelie set to with their glitter art and craft set (sorry Steve for the excess glitter everywhere)
'Still smiling!'
Tune of the day: The Ting Tings.
Tues 27th May 2008, "Daddy's Birthday"
Phew! Survived the winds (thought we were going to be blown over at one stage). Contrary to our expectations of a 5am start, Archie & Amelie awoke at a respectable 7am singing Happy Birthday to Daddy (and to the campsite). We had a fab cooked breakfast on Prudence's stove, opened birthday cards and presents (including a toy mini Prudence) and then set to on the 'getting ready for the off' routine. Some 50 mins later: washing up done and crockery stored, bedding stowed away, foils folded, roof down, clips on, buddy box away, ipod ready, table stored, elec hook up de-hooked, gas off, car seats in, children in car seats, map opened....KEYS LOST! Keys found 15 minutes later in under seat storage area. Headed off to Cromer. Visited the Cromer lifeboat and the RNLI museum (bumped into our postman of all people!), purchased crabbing buckets. Tea in a car park and then headed to Blakeney, Stiffkey and Wells next the Sea just as the sun came out.
That night, pitched next to 'Bud' a 1969 left hand drive, white camper, who Pru took a shine to. Thank you to Bud's owners for the lighter so we could carry on making tea!
Took the mini train into Wells next the Sea, Archie & Amelie had a great time in the park, watching everyone crabbing and tat shopping. Had a beer at The Crown followed by fish & chip supper and then had a beautiful walk back to camp.
'Still smiling!'
Tune of the Day: Happy Birthday and the wheels on the bus
Weds 28th May 2008, "Disco Bus"
Deafening thunder storm at 4am but Pru kept us dry! Headed off in the sun for a seal watching trip to Blakeney Point which was wonderful. After tea and ice cream stop, headed to Holkham.
Took Pru for a drive around the estate of Holkham Hall and then hit Holkham beach in the early afternoon which was GORGEOUS! The sun shone and we collected shells and settled by the sand dunes to build sandcastles, Archie using shells as circular saws!.
Back to camp, takeaway ordered, champagne cork popped, playing outside and DISCO night! 'Still smiling!'
Tune of the Day: The wheels on the lorry
Tune of the Night: Arnej - they always come back
Thurs 29th May 2008, "Oh we do like to be beside the seaside..."
The sun is up, the sky is blue, it's beautiful and so are you......Glorious sunshine and so warm at 7am. Breakfast al fresco and then set off for Sheringham. Had a great morning on the beach making dams and eating ice cream and then reluctantly re traced our steps home. Followed a coffee coloured Westfalia full of happy campers and then arrived back to drop off a not so clean but very sparkly (following glitter night) Pru.
Photo shoot in the field and then home (Hoo- Boo)....hilarious watching Jerome oversteer in our own car for the entire journey home....still smiling...probably even more so after a FABULOUS time in Prudence.
Tune of the Day: The Beatles - Dear Prudence
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Had a great time in Pru visiting family in Suffolk and Kent. Was a trial run as we're thinking of buying a camper ... want one all the more now! xx
  
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| Simply a dream come true!!! Had a brilliant weekend in Suffolk, cycling in Thetford and a day in Bury St Edmunds. |
| What an awesome weekend break! Pru took us all the way to North Wales - we can definitely recommend Betws-y-coed! Not even the typical Bristish winter weather could spoil this break as Pru kept us snug and warm. Thanks a million snailtrail - see you in the summer with a string of friends!! |
When Frankie and Mark took Pru to Cornwall - Mark had something up his sleeve (an engagement ring!). The weather was perfect, the view over Port Isaac stunning and the answer from Frankie was "yes!". Many, many congratulations to you both on your engagement from all at snailtrail, including Pru of course. We wish you happy, happy times on life's journey together! Thank you so much for the beautiful photos. xx
"We had such a great time and are happily engaged after our holiday with Pru to Cornwall! We went all the way to Padstow and stayed for four days (between 22-26 October), touring around the area, going to Port Isaac (where Mark popped the question!), Constantine Bay (gorgeous beach, lots of surfer dudes!), Bedruthan Steps (where we had a little cove all to ourselves for a bit!), Watergate Bay, the Lost Gardens of Heligan, the Eden Project and Gorran Haven, so we crammed a lot in! We even enjoyed some Rick Stein take away fish and chips in the back of Pru!
 
 
Carnewas and Bedruthan Rocks
Overlooking Port Isaac where Mark popped the question>
 
Literally Just Engaged!>
 
 
Watergate Bay
Eden Project>
 
 
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What an awesome weekend break. Pru took us all the way to North Wales. Not even the typical Bristish winter weather could spoil this break as Pru kept us snug & warm. Thanks a million snailtrail - see you in the summer with a string of friends!
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A lovely adventure with Prudence in North Norfolk - Sandringham and then Stiffkey.
thanks to Kate & Richard for this fantastic postcard - wish we were there! |
| Before you read this blog we have some explaining to do! Prudence was new to our fleet when Rupert and Emily took her to France - at that point she had no name. They named the camper "Archie" - a great name, which we may well have kept. But, oblivious that she had spent a week in France as a boy, we went on to name her Prudence! Just goes to show ... you never can tell... and campers can have their secrets too ...
Having been born and bred a Cornishman I had developed an unhealthy
obsession with VW campers over the years, so I convinced my girlfriend
(also Cornish - who didn't really need convincing!) we should hire a camper
and head down to the South of France. As the VW Bus adverts of the 60's
used to say, "If you can sell her on this, you can sell her on anything".
14th April 2007
Having picked up our periwinkle blue camper (new to Snail Trail's fleet)
the night before, we headed down to Dover from London and picked up the
early morning crossing to Calais on the ferry. We had no plans as to where
we could get to once in France and just headed South once we left Calais.
The weather was great and by nightfall we had reached a service station
just south of Lyon (very glam!).
Archie's First Night
15th April 2007
We continued from our overnight stop and reached our first port of call at
Frejus - St.Raphael in the South of France. The weather was beautiful and
Archie (as we had christened him) had done us proud. We pulled in to our
campsite at L'Etoile D'Argens and Archie had a deserved rest basking in the
sunshine!
Archie at L'Etoile D'Argens
16th and 17th April
We lounged on the beach, by the pool and even took in Monte Carlo for a
day! We enjoyed a nice juicy steak for supper cooked on Archie's very own
stove.....
Meal in Archie
18th April
Back on the road and down the coast to Port Grimaud. We found another
great campsite where Archie had a pitch right next to the beach! Archie
had a great view of the Mediterranean!!!!!
Rupert, Emily & Archie - Port Grimaud
Plages Sur La Mer
19th April
Archie's day out to St.Tropez!
20th April
We had to start heading back to Calais on Friday. Archie was amazing. So
easy to drive and he drew the odd hoot from friends passing on the
motorway! We had a few stops on the way back to give Archie a rest and
take some holiday pics....
 
21st April
Archie got to go on the ferry again and was at the front again as we headed
back to Dover....
Going Home
There He Is!
Emily and I loved our week away with Archie - he was sssooooooooo cool and
reliable and made our week away in the South of France all the more
memorable.....problem is I want one more than ever now!
Thanks Snail Trail.....
Rupert and Emily
Thank you Rupert & Emily - the photos are great! We're so glad you had a great time with Archie/Prudence! Good to meet you both, hope to see you again x
We regret we no longer hire our campers out for European travel.
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For more information on VW camper van hire
CONTACT US
NOW ON:
01767 600440 |
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The sun is up,
the sky is blue,
It's beautiful
and so are you.
Dear Prudence won't you come out to play?
Lennon/McCartney
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