After a frantic week last week we decided to go away for a quiet long weekend in the country. We have been chuckling to ourselves since we arrived on site on Saturday about the term ‘quiet’ weekend. There is a field of sheep behind the site bleating noisily away, every time I sit down outside the caravan I am accosted by a flock of ducks begging for food and there are a couple of dozen crows In the trees above cawing noisily from dawn to dusk. It’s definitely not quiet but lovely to get away for a few days. Home tomorrow sadly.
We spent a few days away in Rutland a few years ago in similar circumstances. We were on a lovely little CS that was on a farm, and there were all sorts of birds wandering about on the site, including peacocks, geese, and guinea fowl. When they started up it made quite a racket! We enjoyed it though, and I can think of much worse noises to wake up to.
The van provides good sound insulation when the doors are closed, so Bean the dog and I just need to put up with each other's snoring!
The site where I am had been a lot quieter since Sunday afternoon after the majority of critters and ankle biters of the human kind had gone home, including some (usually small girls) who seemed to like screaming for no apparent reason(s).
It is part of a working farm with lots of sheep about and machinery noises when they cut the trees and mow the grass etc...
This afternoon I had to close the doors when I was attending an online training session when they were mowing the grass as it was very noisy.
It is nice to be out and about, change of scenery, fresh air and all that.
I usually manage to achieve 10k steps every day when I am camping, whereas I seldom manage that when I am working from home.
Working from the van has its advantages for certain!
DK
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Quote: Originally posted by Pixie_Hez on 10/5/2022
After a frantic week last week we decided to go away for a quiet long weekend in the country. We have been chuckling to ourselves since we arrived on site on Saturday about the term ‘quiet’ weekend. There is a field of sheep behind the site bleating noisily away, every time I sit down outside the caravan I am accosted by a flock of ducks begging for food and there are a couple of dozen crows In the trees above cawing noisily from dawn to dusk. It’s definitely not quiet but lovely to get away for a few days. Home tomorrow sadly.
They are the sounds of the countryside. For me, much more preferable than the constant roar and drone of traffic.
Hah, reminds me of the time I camped somewhere near Glastonbury one summer, in the company of two ancient and venerable oaks called Gog and Magog, just over the hedge. Lovely site - can't remember the name! All was well until somewhere after 4am the next morning, and then.... woodpeckers. You win some, you lose some!
------------- Always edited for sloppy typing - when I spot it!
Quote: Originally posted by Hedgehugger on 11/5/2022
Hah, reminds me of the time I camped somewhere near Glastonbury one summer, in the company of two ancient and venerable oaks called Gog and Magog, just over the hedge. Lovely site - can't remember the name! All was well until somewhere after 4am the next morning, and then.... woodpeckers. You win some, you lose some!
That would be The Old Oaks, Wick Lane, Glastonbury, listed in campsite search. :-)
I think the world has been over run by doves and wood pigeons now they cant be 'culled'. When i was a kid, you couldnt get near a 'woody', but now they use our water feature to drink from in our modest garden. And rarely if ever saw doves when i was young. Yet they are everywhere now. Now, wherever we are - home or camping, we are woken by their bloody incessant cooing for the first half hour of dawn before they go off to feed somewhere. Theres no such thing as a 'quiet' break nowadays.
Many years ago, when we had our first caravan, we went to a C&CC DA meet. When we arrived, we discovered it was in a field also catering for a huge group of youngsters having a pop concert for the weekend. When I stepped out of the car, I had difficulty breathing against the pressure waves created by the loud speakers.
Needles to say, I got back into the car and drove out.
I always chuckle to myself when folks talk about 'the quiet of the country'!
As a Londoner born and bred, but blessed with living in a little urban oasis largely isolated from the outside cacophony of urban life with the exception of Thiefrow airport flights when the wind is in the right (wrong!) direction, I often find trips to the country rather noisy!
My ex-girlfriend lived in a rural home counties town and right on the edge bounding farmland, now talk about noisy, there was the farm activity from land prep and harvesting, there was the clay pidgin shoot, there were a million wood pidgins and crows etc., when she came to mine, she'd say 'it's amazingly quiet around here isn't it'!
Being away in the caravan, I've lost count of how many times the 'peace and quite' has been shattered by farm animals, and to top the morning chorus, some feathered beasties insist on reinacting 'River Dance' on my van roof at 6am!
Quiet of the country my backside! ..... and it smells pretty bad too! ..... will I get back there as soon as I can, of course I will!
I know what you mean Monty. I live in a village in Hertfordshire and I don't think anywhere I have been with my caravan has ever been as quiet as home. It is extremely quiet here. We are on a small estate with no through route to anywhere, so very few cars ever go past, just our neighbours, and our house is very well insulated. We are under the flight-path into Stansted when the wind is in the right (wrong) direction, but unless we are out in the garden or have the windows open, we can hardly hear them. The wind, however, is only in that direction less than 40% of the time. Planes never take off over us, they always turn before they get here.
No site we have ever been on has been that quiet, and of course our caravan is nowhere near as well soundproofed as a house, but it has still never been a problem.
Thanks, chrisandsandra- I went back and looked at my holiday journal (they're all on the computer) and back in 2002 - Gad, 20 years ago! - I hadn't noted the name of the site, just that it had a Bellamy Gold Award for conservation.
------------- Always edited for sloppy typing - when I spot it!
I have to read site reviews very carefully. Our rescue Working Cocker is obsessed with birds, and will try hard, while barking, to get off her lead is there are any wandering around. We have to go inside. She will bounce off the walls and us at 0400 when the pheasants start up with their calls.
Our last site had many blackbirds singing & they were the only sound, it was very relaxing. I’m also particularly fond of sites where I can hear waves or running water.
Wildlife can be very noisy. We have fields front and back of us at home. You have the foxes, especially the young ones who screech looking for their mum. We have the owl, the cuckoo, the pheasants, doves and then the rooks and crows when they wake up. We have a rook and pigeon that seem to hang around together every morning, and at the moment we have the ducks come by, looking for somewhere to nest. I love sitting there watching them all, it’s very entertaining. Mr Robin always sits on the fence as your doing the gardening.
Would I change it, certainly not.
The other night one of the cats brought in a mouse at 4am, we rescued it and opened the front door to let it out and the birds were singing lovely.
Given the current global situation, I consider us to be extremely lucky to have a door to open and birds to hear rather than living in rubble and with the sound of bombs.
Quote: Originally posted by clbewi on 13/5/2022
Wildlife can be very noisy. We have fields front and back of us at home. You have the foxes, especially the young ones who screech looking for their mum. We have the owl, the cuckoo, the pheasants, doves and then the rooks and crows when they wake up. We have a rook and pigeon that seem to hang around together every morning, and at the moment we have the ducks come by, looking for somewhere to nest. I love sitting there watching them all, it’s very entertaining. Mr Robin always sits on the fence as your doing the gardening.
Would I change it, certainly not.
Same here, no money would ever tempt me to live in an urban area. The sheer thought of it makes me shudder!
But we are all different, which is just as well I guess.
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: A Quiet Weekend in the Country
via mobile 12/5/2022 at 1:18pm
