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We made a visit to Stoke Minster, also known as St.Peter ad Vincula (St. Peter in chains) church. The church and churchyard have a fascinating history dating back to 670AD, when a wooden church was erected on the grounds. This was replaced by the first stone church in 805AD, with the remains of part of the stone Saxon cross still standing in the churchyard. The Saxon baptismal font can be found inside the church itself and is still in use today.
The arches from the 13th century chancel are also still standing and the grave of Josiah Wedgwood lies in front of them. Nearby, the remains of the original altar can also be found.
Wedgwood was not the only master potter to worship at the church, Josiah Spode was also a parishioner and his grave, along with his family members can also be found here.
The “modern” church that we see today was built in 1830, as the original church was no longer large enough to cope with the growing congregation. Unfortunately, the church was closed so we were unable to see inside on this occasion. However, John and I have had a tour of the inside of the church on a previous occasion, and that too has a fascinating history.
Accessibility wise, the churchyard has smooth pathways to get around, however to get a good look at some of the items of historical interest, you do need to cross some grass. From memory, some parts of the inside of the church are difficult to access due to the age of the building.
If you have an interest in history, Stoke Minster is definitely worth a visit.
We are a family of three. George has ASD, EDS and dyspraxia. John is totally blind and partially deaf. Sue is our driver and trip organiser. These are the tales of our adventures. All opinions are our own.
Friday, 26 April 2019
Friday, 19 April 2019
Is The Camera Recording?
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We travelled up to the Lake District for a few days, during the first week of the Easter holidays, and stayed at the Coniston Park Coppice Caravan Club site. As the name suggests, it’s very close to Lake Coniston, so it was very picturesque.
When we arrived at the site, we requested a pitch near to the disabled shower room, for John and George. We got a pitch that was really close, however we didn’t feel that it was wheelchair disabled friendly. To get to the ramp up to the toilet block, you had to use a very stony road and when you reached the ramp, the ramp was a good 3cm or so above the stony road. Luckily for us, we were close enough so that George could walk there and not use his chair.
In common with the other Caravan Club site we have visited, we also found that it was not visually impaired friendly. John has made the suggestion that Caravan Club sites provide signs in Braille in the disabled bathrooms, so we shall see what happens with that.
We have a friend who lives up there, so we met up with him for dinner one night. We went to a lovely little pub in Coniston village, which allowed dogs in the dining room so Jasper came too, although he had to lie under the table. On our way back through the site, returning to the Opus, a deer ran across the road in front of us, we heard owls hooting through the night and squirrels were running around the next day, so there was plenty of wildlife!
Jasper saw sheep for the first time as well. I don’t think he quite knew what to make of them, as he tried to hide behind my legs! Obviously, he was on his lead as well, as having dogs running wild around sheep isn’t a good idea. When we reached the lake, Jasper went for a paddle in it. The water was lovely and clear, with swans on it and also a few boats.
We filmed some fabulous footage of the site where we were staying and also of the lake... well we thought we did. When we came to look at the video we’d thought we’d filmed, it turned out that we hadn’t filmed anything - whoops!
It’s a beautiful area to visit and we would definitely visit again.
We travelled up to the Lake District for a few days, during the first week of the Easter holidays, and stayed at the Coniston Park Coppice Caravan Club site. As the name suggests, it’s very close to Lake Coniston, so it was very picturesque.
When we arrived at the site, we requested a pitch near to the disabled shower room, for John and George. We got a pitch that was really close, however we didn’t feel that it was wheelchair disabled friendly. To get to the ramp up to the toilet block, you had to use a very stony road and when you reached the ramp, the ramp was a good 3cm or so above the stony road. Luckily for us, we were close enough so that George could walk there and not use his chair.
In common with the other Caravan Club site we have visited, we also found that it was not visually impaired friendly. John has made the suggestion that Caravan Club sites provide signs in Braille in the disabled bathrooms, so we shall see what happens with that.
We have a friend who lives up there, so we met up with him for dinner one night. We went to a lovely little pub in Coniston village, which allowed dogs in the dining room so Jasper came too, although he had to lie under the table. On our way back through the site, returning to the Opus, a deer ran across the road in front of us, we heard owls hooting through the night and squirrels were running around the next day, so there was plenty of wildlife!
Jasper saw sheep for the first time as well. I don’t think he quite knew what to make of them, as he tried to hide behind my legs! Obviously, he was on his lead as well, as having dogs running wild around sheep isn’t a good idea. When we reached the lake, Jasper went for a paddle in it. The water was lovely and clear, with swans on it and also a few boats.
We filmed some fabulous footage of the site where we were staying and also of the lake... well we thought we did. When we came to look at the video we’d thought we’d filmed, it turned out that we hadn’t filmed anything - whoops!
It’s a beautiful area to visit and we would definitely visit again.
Friday, 12 April 2019
Blackshaw Moor Caravan Club Site
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For our first trip in the Opus we went to Blackshaw Moor Caravan Club site. Blackshaw Moor itself is about 3 miles north of Leek in Staffordshire and about 10 miles south of the ancient spa town of Buxton in Derbyshire, and is on the edge of the Peak District National Park.
The site itself is next to the main A53 road, so if you have a pitch that’s near to the road you can get some road noise. We had a pitch that was fairly close to the main road but the noise didn’t bother us too much.
The wardens are really helpful and friendly. When we said that this was our first time, they were very willing to help in anyway that they could. They allocated us to a pitch that wasn’t too far from the disabled bathroom, so that was helpful for John and George.
Our neighbour on the next pitch to us told us that during the Second World War, the site had been used to hold Polish airmen. We saw some evidence of this on the dog trail walk around the campsite, as some of the ruins of the old houses they lived in are still there to be seen.
From the dog walk trail you can see the Winking Man or Winking Witch, as some people call it. This is a rock that has a hole in it, and as you drive past it, it appears to wink at you. There are also some fabulous walks in the local area, for those who are fit and able to do them.
Blackshaw Moor Caravan Club site has seasonal opening because the area is quite high above sea level, and it’s not unheard of for the roads to become impassable in the Winter time.
We really enjoyed our few days at Blackshaw Moor and would definitely visit again.
For our first trip in the Opus we went to Blackshaw Moor Caravan Club site. Blackshaw Moor itself is about 3 miles north of Leek in Staffordshire and about 10 miles south of the ancient spa town of Buxton in Derbyshire, and is on the edge of the Peak District National Park.
The site itself is next to the main A53 road, so if you have a pitch that’s near to the road you can get some road noise. We had a pitch that was fairly close to the main road but the noise didn’t bother us too much.
The wardens are really helpful and friendly. When we said that this was our first time, they were very willing to help in anyway that they could. They allocated us to a pitch that wasn’t too far from the disabled bathroom, so that was helpful for John and George.
Our neighbour on the next pitch to us told us that during the Second World War, the site had been used to hold Polish airmen. We saw some evidence of this on the dog trail walk around the campsite, as some of the ruins of the old houses they lived in are still there to be seen.
From the dog walk trail you can see the Winking Man or Winking Witch, as some people call it. This is a rock that has a hole in it, and as you drive past it, it appears to wink at you. There are also some fabulous walks in the local area, for those who are fit and able to do them.
Blackshaw Moor Caravan Club site has seasonal opening because the area is quite high above sea level, and it’s not unheard of for the roads to become impassable in the Winter time.
We really enjoyed our few days at Blackshaw Moor and would definitely visit again.
Friday, 5 April 2019
Our First Opus Experience
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Now that it’s Spring time, we decided to make our first trip in our Opus camper.
A few things went wrong - from not being able to connect the electrics to the car when hitching up, to not having enough room for John in the car, when the car was loaded up! We managed to resolve the issues, with a bit of help, and had an enjoyable first trip.
We didn’t put the awning up this time as we were getting used to putting the Opus up, but the plan is to do a tour of both the Opus and the awning, once we have both up together. This will probably be later in the year, when we’re away for longer than a few days.
It was an enjoyable trip and we’re looking forward to doing the next one.
Now that it’s Spring time, we decided to make our first trip in our Opus camper.
A few things went wrong - from not being able to connect the electrics to the car when hitching up, to not having enough room for John in the car, when the car was loaded up! We managed to resolve the issues, with a bit of help, and had an enjoyable first trip.
We didn’t put the awning up this time as we were getting used to putting the Opus up, but the plan is to do a tour of both the Opus and the awning, once we have both up together. This will probably be later in the year, when we’re away for longer than a few days.
It was an enjoyable trip and we’re looking forward to doing the next one.
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