September is turning into an expensive month for us what with the recent trip up to Grimsby. It is now time for the van’s annual service, habitation check and MOT down in Poole at Essanjay.
To break the journey from Grimsby we spent two nights on the outskirts of Birmingham on the Caravan Club site Chapel Lane. Very handy as a stop over for anyone travelling on the M6 as it is not far from the motorway.
In the past when we have come to Poole for our servicing we normally park outside Essanjay as they have overnight parking with hook up and water. There is a bit of road noise which for one night is bearable but this time I did a bit of research and found a campsite 10 minutes down the road. I didn’t read many of the reviews or take too much notice of them which was a mistake! I think this site has seen better days and as such looks very tired. It was clear as we walked around that it had not been cleaned for a while. Despite the signs saying no open fires there was evidence that this had been going on and it looked like some people were actually living on site permanently. Lots of rubbish around the site and I am not even going to try to explain how bad the toilet/shower block was. It was cheap, convenient and very peaceful at night but we will not be returning again.
Steve and the team at Essanjay have been looking after our van since 2008 and they do a sterling job. It is a great location, very professional and they keep you well informed. This time we made use of their courtesy car and drove out to one of the car parks on the outskirts of Poole next to the seafront. As usual we had a walk around the centre of Poole before finding somewhere to have breakfast. Free WiFi meant we could catch up with emails and other social media items that needed replies.
Our original plan was to stay overnight on the car park before heading to Oxford CCC tomorrow. As the van passed the MOT and everything else went well with no problems we left for Oxford early afternoon.
