Marlborough Common

The second of the two week stands was another common, this time in Marlborough in Wiltshire. It was the first ground that Willow remembered. As soon as we drove on she seemed to get flash backs and said her head was going to explode. The main thing she remembered were the swings at the front of the tent, even though this year she didn't really go over to them to play that much.

 

The main thing I remember about this ground is the hill you go down to get in to town. Or should that be I remember the hill you have to climb to get back to the ground. Once again the town is pretty old with loads of interesting old buildings.

As the season starts to draw to an end we seem to get busier, with wedding receptions being booked in the tent and lots of people visiting.

We also have our end of season meal in town at Pino's. It is an Italian restaurant in town and the whole place is booked just for us. It does really good food, the staff are great and it is a really enjoyable evening.

LULA Magazine - Giffords Circus By Ellen Von Unwerth

I really like this video.  It was shot at Barrington during the summer but I have just stumbled across it just now.


Giffords Circus By Ellen Von Unwerth from nathan guillaumey on Vimeo.

Minchinhampton Common

This year the last three grounds were for two weeks and Minchinhampton was the first of these.

We were on the common at the top of town and it is a really nice ground with free roaming cows and a few free roaming horses that seemed to want to join the circus.

We were also next to the church with its bells, which isn't as bad as it sounds. I quite like being woken to the sound of church bells.

There is also a golf course on the common which must be a bit of a nightmare with the cows. Not just because of the cow pats but the cows themselves. Imagine how hard it would be to get a ball in a hole when it is surrounded by cows.

Even though Michinhampton is a town it has more of a village feel to it. There aren't that many shops but I like the ones that they have including a nice butchers and an organic dairy. Of course if you need more Stroud and Cirencester aren't too far away.

It is an old town with some lovely buildings including a house that looks like a castle.

After moving on a weekly basis, two weeks suddenly seems very long and however much you like a place you are pleased when it is time to move on to the next one.

Frampton-on-Severn

Frampton-on-Severn is said to have the longest village green in Britain. I'm not sure if this factual but it certainly is a long and thin village green. Complete with ponds with reeds and lilly pads, games of cricket being played by men in whites and a local village shop. It is all so very stereo typically English and actually very nice.

There are lots of nice walks through the village and along the river with lots of old houses and buildings and wild flowers bursting out of the pavement wherever you go.

There are a few pubs in the village which are all meant to be pretty good though the only one we have been to is The bell Inn, right on the green. It has free wifi (always a bonus for us travelling folk) serves pretty good food and has a load of pigs and goats out the back which was a hit with Willow.

There is also a play park a short walk away from the village centre that we usually try and visit but with Willow in the show this year we didn't get round to it.

Another tradition for Frampton is the local church has its service in the tent on Sunday morning.

An old post

I just found an old blog post that had been forgotten and filed in drafts. I thought this had been posted but maybe it hadn't. It is from Giffords Caravan show in 2008 and since I haven't posted in a while thought I would publish it even though it is years old.

Back Stage

Willows hands

Willow working in the shop with Kelly


Willow in the stables with Roger


Lancelot the Bear

Photo taken by La Fanfare Suivante

Pre-show with the Band La Fanfare Suivante

Photo from Ramones Karaoke http://www.flickr.com/photos/philatkin/
The band taught Willow lots of card games.

Water fight


Show Photo

Photo from La Fanfare Suivante
Taken before the very last show. 

Willow started sitting down next to Jimmy-Joe but moved when Brian came over.

Barrington- The Fox Inn

Barrington- The Fox Inn

Barrington is one of the closest grounds to Folly Farm and to Willows school. This meant we had quite a few visitors which was lovely for Willow and I think her friends quite liked getting a chance to explore and play behind the scenes.

One thing I have never liked about Barrington is the thistles, you can not go anywhere here without shoes on and even Crocs struggled sometimes.

We are nearly opposite The Fox Inn and they have a table set up and take orders for interval drinks.

I have never really explored the Barringtons and really should one day as there are some nice houses and buildings and even herds of deer.

Business this year has been good with lots of sell out shows. Bookings for Barrington were so good we even added a show on Sunday which also sold out straight away.

This is a ground that I have a lot of memories of Daisy which is sad and happy at the same time. I still miss her so much.

Lechlade – The Trout Inn

Lechlade is always interesting before we even get parked up due to a narrow bridge going on to the ground. It has recently been made a bit wider but not by much. This year Nell and Toti have a new wagon which is a bit bigger than their old one. I wish I had been there when Toti reversed it over, I think it would have been a really impressive sight to see and I doubt there are many people who could have managed. Willow and I had headed back to Folly so she could get a few days at school so we missed it.

The circus actually plays in The Trout Inn's garden, out the back and this is another venue you can pre order interval drinks. Its quite odd, in all the years we have been visiting this venue I think I have only been in the pub once. Though I'm sure they get plenty of custom from others in the company. They also have live music which draws Tweedy across occasionally.

We are right next to the river and for a few years now a local wild duck has hung out near the pen Brian the goose and duck live in. I'm sure it is the same duck from three years ago and I think it may want to run away and join the circus. Or maybe it is Brian’s number one fan.

The pub is situated out of town, but it is walk-able and there is a path which always helps. The town isn't big but I have always liked it and there are a few nice shops, including an all year Christmas shop which my Mum would love.

The town is fairly old and there is a notice board that gives its history and also has old photos so you can see what has changed or more interesting, what hasn't changed.

Stadhampton

Stadhampton was a ground that we had only done once or twice before we went to America so I wasn't a hundred percent sure the image I had was the correct one, but it was.

There isn't a lot near the ground and the only shop is attached to the petrol station so not too much to buy there.

Once again there was a play park, which is what I remember about the place as Willow hurt herself on the climbing frame before. She vaguely remembers it but it didn't stop her from enjoying herself or charging over on her own any chance she got.

Tweedys Mum and Dad visited while we were here and they stayed close by in Dorchester, which was a nice town full of interesting old buildings. I would have liked to explore more there and maybe do one of the town walks the tourist information had printed out. Maybe another time, if we come back?

Tackley Oxfordshire

The description of Tackley didn't ring any bells with me and I wasn't sure I had been there, even though Tweedy had. Eventually I thought maybe I just didn't remember and I would recognise it once we arrived. This didn't happen and I'm sure I would have remembered, so I'm pretty certain I didn't join the circus last time Tweedy played here with them. Maybe Willow had something important to do that weekend, like a birthday party.

We play the village green which is nice and has quite a bit going on with the school being attached to it as well as the community centre and the Village Shop. The shop is really nice and definitely better than most corner shops you come across. The fruit and veg was all really fresh and they sold a lot of local products including some really rich chocolate ice cream. All the staff were really nice too, even tracking down some bubble mixture from another town for Willow when she wanted to buy some, though they didn't actually sell her it she got it free. Willow also loved the shop as she could just pop over on her own as it was so close.

Right next to the shop was a play park. Not as good as the one from Broadway, but then that will take some beating. Again close enough for Willow to pop over on her own.

On the day off we visited a town close by called Woodstock which I liked except for a car reversing into me. We visited the Oxfordshire Museum and Dinosaur garden which was free and Willow enjoyed. She hasn't really been to that many Museums or Gallery’s since we return from America and she was use to visiting lots. My favourite part of the museum was a visiting display by the photographer John Gay.

Broadway

Broadway was another ground the circus played last year for the first time, so this year it is a new ground for us.

The High street is a stereo typical quaint English town. It is the type of place that many foreign tourists imagine most of England to be like, or at least want to believe that is what it is like. People have day trips to visit here, so it is fairly busy considering its size. A large portion of the shops cater to the tourist trade too with gift type shops, and places to have an afternoon tea. Unfortunately this isn't so great for us.

There was a supermarket but it was Budgens, so even that is quite expensive and small but certainly better than nothing and they sold Cartmel Sticky Toffee pudding so not all bad. Luckily I only realised this on the last day, otherwise I may have consumed too much.

The other place for food was a nice (but again expensive) Deli. I was drawn in via their window display, which includes some cider called Wobblejuice. They also sold scotch eggs made with black pudding, which actually tasted pretty good.

There was an amazing play park right next door to the circus ground, we just had to climb over the fence and we were in. Unlike most play parks, it also catered for adults with keep fit type equipment, zip lines and climbing walls. So it wasn't just the children who made the most of this.

www.giffordscircus.com
www.cartmelvillageshop.co.uk/

Cheltenham

Cheltenham was a bit odd as I felt I didn't really do anything here. On build up and the day off I was a Folly Farm as Willow was at school. So apart from a few trips to the supermarket we didn't really do much. This wasn't too bad though as we have spent quite a bit of time here over the last few months as it is the nearest big town to Folly. When we are at Folly we are not the only ones from the show that come and go. Some of the horses come back too and hang out in the field for a few days.

Being at the race course is really nice and there are spectacular views of stereo-typical English countryside.

When we first arrived a hot air balloon was getting ready to take to the sky, right next to where the caravans were being parked up.

We are right next to the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire steam railway line. We were wondering why we hadn't been on it before but I think it is probably due to the cost. Also now I doubt any train will live up to what we were use to in America.

We had another charity performance, this time for SHN. There was the usual hog roast, which is always delicious, along with music and dancing after the show. There were also some limited edition Emma Bridgewater mugs on sale which I really liked.

The English weather hit us quite bad on Sunday and it was a all hands on deck type of day to make sure the tent was safe and secure as well making sure all the performances were incident free, which they were. Unfortunately the same can not be said for our awning, as it decided to take a flying leap over the caravan, poles and all. We were very lucky and the only damage was a few bent poles (we have spares) some stitching coming away and a tiny tear in a window.

Thankfully the weather had improved a little the next day for those pulling down the tent. Rain makes it miserable but wind makes it dangerous.