Then they started playing.

Wow.

The first few chords were enough to know these guys could play, and the rest of the set just continued to demonstrate this.  They managed a huge, full sound, perfect timing, stunning energy, well written songs and you felt they were hugely enjoying themselves and this was seriously infectious.   They played a mixture of their own songs and traditional folk songs, with something of a leaning towards shanties!  They use the word “raucous” on one web page describing themselves, and this is a well chosen word.  We’d been to the Bristol Folk Festival earlier in the year and these guys could easily have been a mainstage act there and held there own.

Fortunately they were selling their album at the gig, so we bought a copy, and have just downloaded an EP they have recorded since.  Our youngest reviewer, Jonathan (aged 9) has declared the Sail Pattern to be his favourite band and plays the album at any opportunity.  The recording lacks the polish of a professionally recording, but the stunning sound of the band still comes through.  So, we would strongly recommend the album, but if you can catch The Sail Pattern live, don’t pass the opportunity up.

Visit The Sail Pattern’s website, facebook page, Soundcloud or Bandcamp page for more info or to have a listen.

We had booked ourselves a room in the Melville Hall Hotel.  We spent a pleasant day pottering around the south of the Island, eating at Chale Green Stores, wandering round the beautiful botanic gardens at Ventnor and browsing round a knitting shop.  Ok, I admit, I skipped that part and watched some loony surfers bobbing around off Ventnor beach while Mrs G browsed for knitting excitement.  After all that we wondered if we shouldn’t have bothered booking the hotel, which could yet turn into a massive let down, but we had, and having paid for it, we were going!
I have to say we were pleasantly surprised.  We ended up in a room with a four poster bed (a nice, if ultimately rather pointless, touch) which was clean and attractive (the room, though the bed was too).  When we discovered the room was equipped with wine glasses and a tea pot we were simply delighted.  As cheapskates we are often found drinking supermarket plonk in our room.  Usually this involves using teacups ordisposable  plastic beakers from the bathroom.  And we are both converts to the way of the teapot, so being able to make an (almost) proper brew (no loose tea) was great.

We had no time for tea or wine at this point though, as we had discovered an extra feature when we checked in.  The friendly chap at reception had told us they had not only the jacuzzi and plunge pool, but an outdoor jacuzzi, which was open until 6pm.  This we had to sample, and so we stepped out through the bar into the November air, and quickly dunked ourselves into the warm, bubbling water.  The jacuzzi was huge, sat next to the outdoor pool which was closed for the winter, and we spent a lovely 45 minutes watching the final light of the day fade away and the stars come out.    Getting out wasn’t quite so pleasant as getting in, but we quickly warmed up again in the plunge pool inside, though the small indoor jacuzzi was too small for another round of bubbling.  Instead we found our next batch of bubbles in a glass in the comfortable bar.

The bed was comfortable, though as this is an older hotel noise transmission from the rooms either side and above did intrude a little into an otherwise peaceful night (we had an Olympic snorer next door).   Breakfast the next morning was perfectly adequate, though nothing stunning.

Service throughout was good and always friendly.  At this time of year the hotel was fairly quite but there were still sufficient staff around.

All in all this provided a great value for money mini-break, and was great for a quick recharge of the batteries.

Our night cost £59 for a double room, including breakfast and use of the spa facilities, booked through Laterooms.  The Hotel also offers ferry inclusive breaks from those arriving from the neighbouring Island, but do check if it is cheaper to book your ferry and accommodation separately - with Laterooms prices you might find it sometimes is.

P.S.  If you’re interested in Chale Green Stores, we’d suggest you read Matt and Cat’s review.  We just can’t compete on food reviews so aren’t going to try, though you can read my comment on the review based on one of our previous visits.

The site is neat and well kept, surrounded by hedges with good sized plots and a gap between each. The ground was level, but about an inch below the surface there appears to be a hefty layer of gravel, which made pegging in the awning almost impossible. Only our sturdiest pegs were up to the job, most just bent. The toilets and showers were close to most of the plots (further from the tent pitches though) and accessed via a keycode, as they are right in the country park (there are also public toilets just across the yard so no mass of park users trying to sneak into the campsite loos!). They were spotlessly clean and in good condition, hot (free) showers and a utility room next door with 2 washing up sinks and 2 clothes sinks.

The camp site sits in the grounds of the former Hartsholme Hall, with many remnants of the Victorian landscaping around the house (demolished after the 2^nd world war) and a large lake which once served as a water supply reservoir for the city. The lake and grounds are now home to an array of wildlife, including a vast number of Herons nesting in tress on the lake’s central island. Further to the south are several more lakes formed by gravel quarrying (which probably explains the pesky ground conditions on the campsite). The park makes a great place to walk or cycle round, has a large playground for the kids, a cafe (of the greasy spoon/ice cream stand variety) and a ranger station. The only reminder of the fact you are still in the City of Lincoln is the single towerblock visible from the site (soon ignored though in favour of the rest of the views).

Lincoln City centre is just a few miles away, and there is a regular bus service (every 10 mins daytime and hourly in the evenings) which we used to get into town. 5 minutes walk away are 2 convenience shops and a fish and chip shop.

We had original only booked in for 2 nights, but liked the location so much we booked a further 2, and didn’t regret it. Despite being fairly full for some of our stay the site was always quiet, the country park was great, the wardens friendly and helpful and the location really convenient. What’s more this site didn’t come with an over inflated price tag, we were charged just under £20 per night in half-term, week for a campervan and awning, with electric hook up. Highly recommended by us.

The last cider outlet we had visited was Middle Farm in Sussex, which has a vast array of casks of cider.  Bristol’s offering was more modest, occupying a tiny shop unit.  However the range on offer was excellent, and all locally sourced (all ciders are from a 50 mile radius of Bristol apparently).  While the selection was good, what really impressed was the service.  We were offered tasters to suit our palates, and bought some draught Black Dragon (in a screw cap bottle, more sturdy than the milk bottles from Middle Farm, but it didn’t pour very well).  We then asked for some pointers for a couple of bottled ciders, and received some excellent tips and suggestions.  While we were paying the tasters kept coming, which was a nice touch, rather than the “got your money now no more” approach that some establishments might veer towards.  Overall well worth the trip, if we’re back in Bristol we are sure to drop in for supplies.

The set contains an ultraviolet filter, a circular polarising filter, and a fluorescent light filter, all for the bargain price of £9.02 (at the time of writing this review).  Just the polarising filter would have cost more than this from many places.

I can’t really comment on the quality of the filters, they look fine and appear to do the job, but I am no optical expert!  I can tell you they come with a nice semi-hard case, with individual pockets for all 3 filters (though the UV is pretty much permanently affixed to my camera).  This fits nicely in my camera case next to the camera due to its irregular shape.

The selection of filters did strike me as slightly odd though.  If I was buying filters my first choices would be UV and polarising, but I don’t think a striplight filter would feature anywhere on my list.  A Neutral Density filter would have been much more useful.  As it is I would have happily paid this price for the two filters, so the extra one and the case are a bonus really.

So, here’s looking forward to a summer of photos free of haze and filled with deep blue skies.

Website:  None

Following on from Buckle Holiday Park we wanted to visit the Wildfowl and Wetland Centre at Arundel, and have a look around the town, which always looked interesting as we passed by on the A27.  We wanted a site in walking distance, and only one presented itself, Maynards Campsite.  The site was listed on UK Campsite but had no web presence of its own – a distinct black mark for us, and many other online campers.  If there had been alternatives we would probably have ignored Maynards due to this Faux Pas, however there weren’t.  A phone call in advance elicited a price per night which we thought must have missed some extras off, and confirmation we didn’t need to book in advance outside of the school holidays.  When we turned up we were booked in easily by a friendly member of staff on reception, and pointed in the direction of the electric plots and offered our choice of them.  This indicated how busy the site was(n’t) in the April week before the Easter Holidays.

As usual before booking we had checked out reviews on the excellent UK Campsites website, which were, well, mixed.  We have fairly low standards, we don’t need luxury sites, as long as the basic facilities are there and there aren’t mass murderers lurking in the bushes we are OK, especially if the price is cheap.  So we weren’t dissuaded.  One of the issues mentioned was people living permanently on site, which did seem to be the case, though this didn’t cause us any major issues, though there was some noisy music on site in the evenings.  Another was over the standard of the facilities.  There is one toilet/shower block, which appeared adequate for the small size of the site, and fairly central.  The block was basic but in reasonably condition.  It wasn’t particularly unclean but there was no evidence of daily cleaning, and hand drying was on a standard towel which didn’t appear to be frequently changed.  There were signs suggesting that people should keep the toilets clean, so perhaps a DIY approach was expected?

Gas was available on site, and a nearby BP petrol station offered a 24 hour shop.  There is a pub and Beefeater right next door.  Arundel was 20 minutes walk away, with pavements alongside the busy A27 providing the functional if slightly unpleasant route.  The A27 runs right past the edge of the site, so there is constantly a measure of road noise.  Oh, and a noisy horse nearby.

The clincher for us was the price.  For our van, 2+3, awning and electric hookup we paid £31.  For 2 nights.  That’s less than a one night stay in many parks.  For us this made it a great value stay for a short visit to Arundel, which we found worthy of a days random wanderings, plus another day to visit the excellent wetland centre.  An assortment of other attractions lay nearby, so if you wanted a longer stay then it would certainly be a cheap one, but the traffic noise means it wont be a full-blown peaceful away from it all break.  Oh and bring your own towel.

N.B.  As with our other reviews the comments in this review of Maynards Campsite are our own opinions, normally based on a single experience.  You are welcome to add your own views in the comments but please keep them measured and reasonable!  If you want to see more users views we suggest you try sites like UKCampsite.

Website:  www.buckleholidaypark.co.uk

This small holiday park was the first stop for Brian the Campervan since we acquired him late last year.  We were looking for a campsite in Brighton, but the only one we could find was rather pricey and still some distance from the centre.  Buckle Holiday Park appeared on a trawl of the local area on the Internet and is located just a stone’s throw from Bishopstone station on the Seaford Branch Line.  From here it’s a pleasant 30 minute train ride into Brighton (off peak day return with Railcard for 2+3 was just £8.70).  This combined with a cheap price and beach-front location made the decision for us.

From the website and a quick look on Google’s satellite imagery it was clear this was a small site, and from various user reviews on UK Campsite it looked like it was of the “cheap and cheerful” variety.  It was obviously close to the railway and a main road.  Some reviewers were disappointed by the facilities, but we found them perfectly adequate.  All we needed was a water supply, hook up, washing up facilities, clean toilets and showers.  Buckle Holiday Park provided all of these, everything was clean but rather low-key.

The site itself is visually uninspiring, and clearly work was ongoing to add or improve some hard standings.  The site was quiet (April, out of school term) and the road and railway were not intrusive – on the first night the wind was much noisier!  The site has direct access onto the broad shingle beach, with opportunities for walking or cycling, or just sitting watching the ferries as they come into nearby Newhaven Harbour.  We also spent a pleasant evening stargazing on the beach.

The site is lower than the top of the beach level, so is afforded some protection from the sea “breeze” but when the wind picks up you will feel it.  We gave up on trying to put our awning up the first night (though that may be more down to never having done it before than anything else).

The pitches were not huge.  Our combination of LDV Convoy and 3m awning took most of the width up, so those with larger outfits may struggle to fit in, and at busier times it could all get a bit tight.

Overall we were quite happy, and at £20 per night for an electric pitch with no extra charge per person or for the awning it proved good value for money.

N.B.  As with our other reviews the comments in this review of Buckle Holiday Park are our own opinions, normally based on a single experience.  You are welcome to add your own views in the comments but please keep them measured and reasonable!  If you want to see more users views we suggest you try sites like UKCampsite.

It is undeniably cheap.  It is cheaper than the big supermarket’s “value” ranges.  However you very much get what you pay for.  It is rough (a step up from the greaseproof-paper-esque stuff you used to get in public loos and a similar standard to value loo-roll) and not very strong, often requiring more sheets than more expensive loo roll.

So, if you want to save a lot of money on loo roll, especially if you have lots of bottoms in the house, then this is the way to go (yes I know, another one).  Your bottom will not thank you, but your wallet will.  I leave you to choose, but if you visit our house you may want to bring your own toilet paper.

I had been advised that their trademark orange buckets were only £1 so I went in search of one.

I couldn’t find any so asked a “helpful” member of staff who told me there were a load by the front door.  I hadn’t noticed them but traipsed back to see if I had missed the garish orangeness.   There were none there so I approached a second staff member who also directed me to the door and then told me that perhaps they were sold out or maybe I could find one in the builders yard.  Surely B&Q couldn’t be out of buckets!   I had already looked in the builders yard but went again, still couldn’t find any and approached a 3rd staff member who was able to give me an exact location “at the back and round the corner, if we’ve got any left.” What could have been going on on the Isle of Wight causing the buckets to have been flying off the shelves I wondered.  Eventually around the corner I found 3 very dusty black builders buckets.

I bought one for the princely sum of £1 and took it home to fill with elderflowers and boiling water (after giving it a very very thorough clean).

So the price was great but the stock levels and staff knowledge left a little to be desired.  Oh, and it is a massive failure on the orangeness front.