Hunkered Down in South Shropshire

Hunkered Down in South Shropshire

The Pandemic continues, with the new Omicron variant spreading like wildfire and new restrictions in place, so we decided to have a quiet Xmas and New Year at our Static Van near Bishops Castle in Shropshire. We drove down just before Xmas and soon had the heating and water back on – it was great to be back, although the opportunity for walks in the countryside was a bit limited due to the amount of rain that’s fallen in December.

We’d brought a small Xmas tree and a few decorations to make the place Christmassy, plus a shed load of food and drink to while away the days.

We managed to escape to Myndtown one day for a short but very muddy walk and also a look around the 12th Century Church of St John the Baptist.

We did think we had a fatality on our hands one day, when Santa suffered a Schnauzer attack, but fortunately there was a Xmas miracle and he was restored to health.

Ralf got a new bed for Xmas, but sometimes a seat with the adults amongst the chocolates is more to his liking.

We eschewed a Turkey on Xmas Day, in favour of a large Chicken for dinner (and also in deference to the small caravan oven), but still managed to have a lovely meal, although I’m still of the opinion that it’s too much work for too little gain – next year we’re having Venison casserole. Talking of opinions, many of my friends seem to think that Yorkshire Puddings have no place on a Xmas meal. Each to their own, of course, but they’re wrong!

The birdlife was out in force whilst we were there – no sooner had I filled the feeders, than they were covered in tits and squirrels. We had Blue Tit, Great Tit, Coal Tit, Woodpigeon, Pheasant (no doubt, avoiding the shoot that took place over 3 or 4 days in a nearby wood), Nuthatch, Robin, Chaffinch, Blackbird and even a Jay on a couple of occasions. Ralf gets a bit het up with the squirrels but he’s definitely calming down.

A great 10 days then, and just what we needed, including a few family Zoom calls to catch up with everyone.

Things We’ve Learned

Driving up and over the Long Mynd is scary enough, but add in a knocking wheel bearing on the Discovery and you’ve got one frit old Tyke

No matter how hard you try there’ll always be too much food and drink at Xmas

The delivery of meals from Marlon’s is a godsend

Sometimes, doing very little is just what the doctor ordered