Defeated by mud - again!

The follow-up to my last post will have to wait. I'm on holiday now.

Strictly speaking, this is my second caravan holiday of 2024, as I had a few days near Wareham in East Dorset in January, primarily to see a friend who had moved to the area. But this is the first of my regular trips. Once again, seeing that friend was a prime aim of coming to my usual farm site near Lyme Regis in West Dorset, but I was also going to do all the usual things, and generally enjoy getting out and around. But it hasn't worked out quite that way: poor weather has compromised this leg of my West Country holiday. 

I should have postponed or cancelled. It had after all been a very wet March. Such a contrast with some previous years! In 2012, for instance, March in this part of the country was gloriously warm and sunny. But of course, climate change has bitten, and damper, cloudier, rainier weather has prevailed. I didn't want to let my friend down, so I kept to plan. 

It looked like a good omen when I got away from Sussex in dry sunshine. And although there were a few showers (wintry at one point) on the way, I arrived here in sunshine. But I noted that the ground on this farm site was a little soft. Even so, Sophie manoeuvred the caravan into position without trouble. 

Overnight came a deluge. Next morning, setting off for a long day out in Exeter, Sophie slithered a bit on the grassy track from caravan to the site gate. This was despite four-wheel drive and good tyres. Hmm! Well, perhaps it would dry out over the next few hours. I went first to Sidmouth, then parked at Exmouth and caught the train into Exeter. It was at first cloudy, but with the sun peeking through often enough. But while at Exeter the heavens opened. Absolutely torrential rain. I hoped rain like it wasn't falling back at the farm!

Returning in late afternoon, I learned that the deluge had made the ground much softer. It was in fact saturated. You couldn't tell by just by looking at the grass, although there were puddles here and there that gave a clue. I pointed Sophie away from them, and drove forwards onto what seemed to be better ground. But all that happened was that my car dug herself into a pair of muddy ruts. She made a sorry sight!

There was nothing to be done but trek down to the farmhouse and get help, donning the wellies I keep in the caravan on the way. 

This had happened before, in March 2018, when I arrived at the farm towing the caravan. Colin the farmer had pulled car and caravan off with his tractor. It was only my car this time. Fortunately Colin had seen my plight, and soon drew Sophie backwards onto firm ground. I was then able to park her at the farmhouse. She was somewhat mud-spattered, but I washed it all off before settling down in the caravan for the evening.  Here's a next-day shot.

Not a great start to this part of my West Country holiday. Going anywhere has involved a muddy tramp to Sophie, changing footwear before driving off - I've had to put all the shoes and boots I am likely to wear in the car - and then the reverse procedure when coming back later. It's easily doable, of course it is, but an unwelcome palaver all the same. 

Worryingly, the ground isn't drying out as fast as I would like, and I'm expecting that three days ahead, when I must journey onwards to North Devon, and with more heavy rain forecast, the ground will have softened up again and I won't be able to pull the caravan off, at least not with Sophie. Colin has a pickup truck that will do the trick - or if necessary he can use the tractor, as he did in 2018. As this shot shows.

So this isn't an insurmountable problem.  

Nevertheless, it's all such a shame, because I'd hoped for decent weather here. And especially so, because Colin's wife Jackie has told me that he wants to retire, and they intend to sell up in 2024. The farm is going on the market shortly, and although they will continue to accept caravan bookings throughout the summer, they are closing the caravan site from 1st September. I would ordinarily have booked a week with them sometime during September, but now I can't. 

This visit in March will therefore be my last. I first came here (with M---) in 2004. Then, after a five-year gap, I came every year from 2009, most often twice a year. Twenty-seven visits in all. What a pity that the very last one has been made less than perfect by mud! 

I shall miss coming here. More: I'll need to find a substitute site in the area to pitch the caravan on. The best of these seems to be a Caravan Club main site the other side of Sidmouth, at Putts Corner. It's much closer to Honiton, Sidmouth, Exmouth and Exeter, but it will still allow me to visit magical Lyme Regis if I want to. 

And perhaps it's time to radically change how I do the West Country - especially if the other farm site I go to near Great Torrington also announces that they are selling. Change is sometimes upsetting, but it can also be stimulating: and certainly a chance to try new places. So I'm philosophical.