Now we have a four legged member of the family, we decided that we would holiday in this Country and look for a self catering property. that allows dogs. On searching the internet I came across a pet friendly company called “Pets Pyjamas” (fab name!!). where all their accommodation caters for pets.Hampshire Holiday With Archie Our Clumberdoodle June 2018
We narrowed it down to what part of the Country we decided to stay which was Hampshire and then it was a case of finding somewhere we liked to stay for a week. There was lots to choose from but decided that Cornhill Lodge in Bishops Waltham looked perfect so went ahead and booked it. Included in the price was a pet goody bag which arrived a few days before we left addressed to Archie and consisted of a little linen drawstring bag with a range of little treats and toys. It was rather sweet and definitely a lovely idea. It was packed and ready to take with us.
1/6/2018
We left for Hampshire at about 12.00 p.m. and decided to take my new Fiat 500 Twinair which we bought 2 days before we left for our holiday, rather than Steve’s electric car. Why I hear you ask? Steve’s car has a battery range of about 110 miles which would have meant that it would have needed charging on the way, which although was no problem, we would also have had to make sure there charging points near where we were staying and on checking the “charging map” they were few and far between, so we thought why not give my new car a thorough test drive.
I have to say that we were amazed that the two of us, Archie and everything he needed including his bed, food, bowls, towels toys etc, etc, and and all our clothes and shoes for a week including walking boots. fitted in (who needs an estate car?). As Archie is too big to fit in the back he is strapped into his seat belt on the back seat so then the boot and the footwells were packed around him, but it all went in which is unbelievable for such a small car.
It should have taken us about 3 hours to get there but we arrived just after 6.00 pm. The traffic was horrendous and traffic jams started at Exeter and it just got worse and worse. We decided to do a detour and stop at Charmouth for our picnic lunch and for us and Archie to to stretch our legs . We found an overflow car park in a large field that overlooked the beach which was perfect.
We made another stop in Poole for Archie to relieve himself and have a short walk as the journey seemed to be taking forever.
We arrived at Cornhilll Hall Lodge and were shown around by the owners’ friends who were looking after the house why the owners were away for the weekend. It was a one bedroom converted garage in one corner of the grounds of a very large and impressive house. It had a very nice large open plan living/dining area and kitchen and a bedroom and bathroom. Outside it had a pretty enclosed dog friendly garden with a raised decking area with patio furniture. Archie seemed very excited and made himself at home.
We unpacked and then drove the short distance into the centre of Bishops Waltham for a quick look around. Also as there was no room in the car to pack any food we bought some croissants for breakfast. We then decided to get a Chinese takeaway and a bottle of wine to eat back at the lodge in the garden as it was still a warm sunny evening. I have to say that the meal was lovely but the portions were huge so a lot of it was wasted.
We were all very tired so we had a reasonably early night. Archie was a little restless as he doesn’t like change but eventually he settled down.
2/6/2018.
Didn’t sleep too well as it was very warm, and being in the Country we had a few intruders that flew in through the window as we had to keep them open to let some air in but Steve was bitten by a flying bug which he humanly killed! and kept it on his bed side table all week as evidence.
We enjoyed our croissants for breakfast and then popped in to the supermarket in the town for some basic provisions, even though I had no intention of doing any cooking whilst on holiday. We sat out in the garden, looking through various leaflets that were in the lodge to help plan where to go throughout our stay whilst enjoying a baguette, pate and a glass of wine.
The house sitter also showed us the fabulous and very grand indoor pool that we had the use of at a certain time of day and also told us about some local walks. As it was so warm we did enquire if there was a portable fan to help with my tropical fever as I do feel the heat. One was brought over later in the day, which was much appreciated and much used throughout the week, as we had lovely weather.
We then went for a walk from the lodge following footpaths through fields and then came back and had a coffee before we tried out the pool which was very nice. It was a very warm day so a refreshing dip in the pool was very nice.
We then drove into the town for a short walk around what they call The Ponds and Archie was very interested in the bird life and it was very pretty. We then got fish and chips and a sausage in batter for me as I don’t eat fish to take back to eat in the garden with a glass of wine. Again the portions were huge (they must love big portions in Bishops Waltham!!) and quite a lot was wasted again but the quality was excellent.
3/6/2018
Very hot and sunny day so after breakfast we decided to go to the Royal Victoria Country Park in Netley Abbey which borders Southampton Water, so there was a chance for Archie to cool off. It was about a 30 mins drive away. I packed up a picnic and off we went.
We made use of the sun roof on Whizy (the fiat) which Archie loved. We arrived and it was quite quiet and managed to find a nice spot for Whizy between 2 large trees with a view overlooking Southampton water.
There was a band on a stage blasting out pop music with various stalls set out in a large central area but we had no idea what was going on. There were lots of different walks around the park and we followed one which lead us to some Commonwealth War Graves, which was very interesting. Men from Britain, Europe and the Commonwealth were buried here with some dating back to the Crimean war.
We then found ourselves on the shingle banks of Southampton Water and Archie went in for a much needed cool off. He is a bit of a wuss with regards to actually going out of his depth and swimming but he loves the water. He usually will go up to his tummy but he loves to lie down in and it looks as if he is floating. However he must have been really hot as he did wade out where the water came over his back and the only part of him that was dry was the very top of his head.
It was then lunch time so we found a quiet picnic table although it was not in the shade and it was very hot. Archie loves climbing and at every opportunity he has to jump or climb be it rocks, benches, picnic tables etc. Today it was the picnic table.
After a rather speedy lunch we then got an ice cream with Archie enjoying one aswell.
We went for another short walk around a different part of the park which was now very busy and a last sit down admiring the view, before we drove back to the lodge.
Now I said that I was not going to do any cooking, but I did buy a pizza when I did some shopping, which needed heating in the oven so you cannot really call that cooking so we enjoyed that out in the garden when it had cooled down a bit with a glass if wine.
4/6/2018
A very sleepless night with one thing and another (mainly swatting insects that decided to come in and join us again!!). It was another hot day so after our croissants for breakfast I packed up a picnic and headed off for the New Forest.
We decided to go to Bolderwood which is a part of the New Forest which we we hadn’t been to before which also has a deer sanctuary, which we did not know before we went. There was a large car park and from here you could take a number of coloured trails. We opted for the longest red route which stated was only 2 miles.
It started with a viewing area to have a look at a large herd of deer. We followed the red posted route, or so we thought and just kept on walking but didn’t come across another post indicating it was the red route so it then dawned on Steve that we must be going in the wrong direction.
It appeared we were now on a cycle route and the path just went on and on and on. Steve tried to connect to the Internet on his phone to try and pin point our location as we were well and truly lost, but the signal was practically non existent not in the forest.
However, we got to a clearing and he managed to connect to the Internet, which confirmed we were going in completely the wrong direction. So we turned around and re-traced our route, stopping for our picnic at the first bench we came across.
Retracing our steps we eventually found the post that we should have taken. How we missed it we have no idea as it was quite prominent and not hidden so we could not find any excuse as to how two adults (which I like to think are quite intelligent) missed it.
We eventually got back to the car having been on a 3 hour walk which must have amounted to about 6 or 7 miles. We inityially thought that as the original walk should have only taken us about 45 mins we were going to go on another walk after lunch. However as it turned out by going wrong, we probably walked more than the total of all the coloured walking routes put together. Our feet were aching but Archie was clearly having a lovely time.
We got back to the lodge and enjoyed a much needed cup of coffee. After we had charged our batteries we decided to walk (yes walk, well we intended to keep fit!!) into Bishops Waltham which is 0.8 of a mile to have a pub tea in the the Barley Corn in the dog friendly garden.
After a leisurely tea it was back up the hill to lodge for a much needed sit down. I think Archie was also pleased to get back as as soon as he went through the front door he went into the lounge and fell fact asleep. The end of another energetic day.
5/6/2018
We decided to go to Wickham and do part of the Meon Valley Trail, which is a walk along a disused railway line. The full extent of the walk is about 18 miles long (36 miles to include the return journey) but decided this was just a bit too far!!! We walked about 3 miles before heading back to have our picnic lunch in a forest area and then another 2.5 miles back to the car, so it was quite a jaunt.
We then walked into the village of Wickham from the station car park where we had parked the car, which is a very pretty typical English town. A row of shops, pubs etc on each side with plenty of spaces for cars to park in the middle of the village square. There was even a sweet shop with the old fashioned jars of sweets that had to be weighed out by the shopkeeper and all the old favourites were stocked, a real step back in time. and brought back memories of ones we used as children. We then stopped and had a drink in The Square Cow pub in the square.
After we quenched our thirst it was time to head back. Archie and Steve were both shattered and fell asleep as soon as we got back. Good job one of us managed to stay awake!!!!
Now tonight I decided to cook a meal in the lodge, well again if you call heating up a pie, chips and a tin of vegetables cooking. Then we had a game of Scrabble Trickster which was a game we found in a cupboard of the lodge and is based on the game of scrabble with a twist. We had never seen or heard of it before but I quite enjoyed it, but Steve was not so keen. Well I won so of course I liked it!!!
Another not very good night’s sleep as even with the fan I still had to have the bedroom windows open which open right out on to some large trees so the insects decided to join us again, which is only to be expected in the middle of the country. So I kept Steve busy once again swatting them with his book, whilst I was ducking under the duvet in case they fell on me. I had to give in and shut the windows so it was a good job that we had the fan. Thankfully the intruders stopped and we managed to get some sleep.
6/6/2018
Another very warm and sunny day so we decided to go to the River Hamble Country Park and some more walking. It was only about 8 miles from the lodge, so I packed up another picnic and headed off. However there were some major roadworks on the way at a large roundabout with traffic lights and we were queued for ages, so what should have taken about 15 mins took us about 45 mins.
We parked the car and a man came over to us and was admiring Whizy. He asked us questions about it, as it transpired that he was looking to get one and wanted to know if we were pleased with it. He had obviously seen the sun roof (which are quite rare) as that is what he wanted and was looking for a Fiat 500 as a fun smaller car. We chatted about the fiats but advised him not to get a 1200 engine but to go for a twinair (which Whizy is) which is far more powerful even though it has a smaller engine, but this of course is our preference. He was very grateful and did did say he had seen one advertised not far from his home so by the time you read this he might have one himself!
We went for a lovely walk again following a trail which ran alongside the River Hamble and this time we did not get lost.
You could get down to the shingle foreshore and Archie actually swam a few doggy paddle strokes. We have been trying to teach him go swim without success, but today he seemed to gave cracked it. Steve did feel the water and said it was luke warm so that might have been the reason.
We found a nice picnic table, which note, Archie decided to clamber on again and ate our lunch whilst Archie dried off.
We then went for another walk in another direction, and then back to the car and back to the lodge, which thankfully was a lot quicker on the return journey with only a short wait at the roadworks.
We decided to have another Chinese take away which again was very good, and even though I only ordered one portion of rice they were still huge portions. We washed it down with a glass of wine sat out in the garden, which certainly got a lot of use during the week and in fact we did not eat inside at all.
7/6/2018
Woke up to a dry but not sunny day which was the first for the week. It was Steve’s 62nd birthday today so after croissants for breakfast, he opened his cards and one present that I took with me (I couldn’t get any more in the car!!) we drove the 10 miles to Winchester. We actually came across a park and ride and thought that might be the best way to get into the City. I have to say that the park and ride was brilliant value, it was a pay and display car park where you bought your ticket which covered the car park and the return bus ride which cost £2.50 after 10.30 am for 2 of us and Archie who was free of charge. However Archie had never been on a bus before so was this going to be a good idea? Too late as we were on the bus and on our way, well that was after the lady bus driver had finished making a fuss of him.
It was a little way into the centre but Archie behaved very well taking everything in.
We wanted to see the Cathedral with a view of having look in side,but it cost £8.50 so we decided just to look at it from the outside.
We then walked around to the West Gate
It was then back down the main street passing some market stalls making our way back to the bus. However just as we were nearly at the bus stop Steve spied a patisserie and cafe with some lovely cakes in the window. It had tables outside so as it was his birthday we decided to sample a cake each and a cup of coffee. It probably turned out to be the most expensive cup of coffee and cake we had ever had as the total came to £14.40. Well it was his birthday and the the bus ride was cheap!
We waited at the bus stop and just had to take a photo of the bus as it was Archie’s first trip on public transport. He enjoyed his return ride back to the car park and then we headed back to the lodge after a very nice morning.
It didn’t take long to get back and it was still quite early in the day we decided to go out for a walk as Archie had been on the lead just strolling around a town all morning, so he needed some offlead time.
We decided to to The Moors Nature Reserve which is a walk in Bishops Waltham, so we parked the car in the town and headed off with the aid of a map to find it. We eventually found it, and followed a track passing some Highland Cattle and other wildlife.
What should have been a simple short walk turned out to be a marathan again, as would you believe it we ended up in the wrong place and couldn’t find our way back to the car. We found ourselves walking along a very busy main road but then eventually found another entrance back in the Reserve and eventually found our way back to the town centre. Perhaps now is the time to only go on escorted walks!!!
We then stopped at The Crown pub in Bishops Waltham for a Guinness and a soft drink for me. We then walked around the Bishops Waltham Palace which is now a ruin, but we had a great game of hide and seek with Archie in the ruins which he thought it was great fun, sad and childish I know!!
Back to the lodge for a cup of coffee and to light the candles on a little birthday cake I managed to pack (emphasis on small, as I had a larger one that we were going to have tomorrow when we got home) and to sing the obligatory “Happy Birthday” to Steve and for him to blow out the candles.
We decided that the menu looked quite nice at the Crown Pub, so decided to go back there for a nice meal sat outside in the garden while Archie sat patiently whilst we ate.
We then had one last game of of hide and seek in the ruined palace as it was just across the road from the pub, well it just had to be done, and it was Steve’s birthday, so we can say he played “party games”!!!!
It was then back to the lodge and start packing in readiness for returning home tomorrow.
8/6/2018
Our last breakfast at the lodge and I packed up a final picnic and finished off the last of the packing, hoping it would all fit back in the car. We thought the return journey wouldn’t be as bad as the trip up, but 15 minutes in we had a 20 minute wait at the roadworks on that roundabout which was a good start. We did hit pockets of traffic along the way but nowhere near as bad, and we did it in about 4 hours which included the stop at Charmouth, for all of us to stretch our legs and have a picnic.
We arrived safely home and really pleased with Whizy as it was a good test drive, albeit a bit risky after only picking it up on the Wednesday before we left on the Friday, and it was it’s first outing – up and around Hampshire and back again, a round trip of 488 Miles. I think Archie enjoyed himself as he had us 24/7 for a week and every day was an adventure, he was going to find it hard when we get back to routine. His walks will also be a bit shorter but at least we should know where we are going!!!
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