I couldn’t have been more excited when Tot announced her topic for this school term was castles. We often visit forts and castles as part of day trips on the south coast of England, and this gave us even more excuse to indulge in some history related adventures. At half term we spent a weekend…
Norfolk is famous for its 125 miles of lock-free waterways that make boating holidays extremely popular in the region. When we visited in the summer we were staying in our own trusty caravan, but couldn’t resist the opportunity to hire a boat for a family day out on the Norfolk Broads. Here’s some of the…
I’m shocking with heights to the point where I look like Elvis when standing on anything higher than a chair. Thankfully my crazy legs haven’t passed on to Tin Box Tot. She was an absolute star during our recent trip to Go Ape at Itchen Valley Country Park in Southampton. *Advertisement feature* We were invited…
2026 update: sadly the Hythe Ferry has gone into liquidation and is no longer running. Last month we towed our caravan, Tin Box, to Blackfield on the edge of the New Forest in Hampshire. It’s a great location for exploring the National Park and for hopping on the Hythe Ferry to Southampton. In all of…
There are few stories that sum up the festive season more than Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. So when I heard that there was A Christmas Carol themed trail at Mottisfont Abbey near Romsey in Hampshire I made sure it was on our bucket list of pre-Christmas family activities. While we haven’t been able…
After a flurry of festive activities at the end of November, the start of December has felt a bit ‘bah-humbug’ in comparison. We had planned to go to Mottisfont Abbey in Hampshire to see the Christmas Carol family trail, but unforturnely preparations for our move to Devon took over. We will get to Mottisfont, so watch…
At last, it’s December and perfectly acceptable to mention…Christmas! To be fair, I’ve been doing it quite a lot having already shared our pre-Christmas bucket list a whole month ago. Last weekend we ticked off one of the activities I was most excited about: the Victorian Festival of Christmas at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard (27 to…
This time last year I saw a lot of friends on Facebook raving about the Christmas experience at a local garden centre – Keydell Nursery in Horndean, Hampshire. If it was just one person posting loads of photos I might have passed it off as over-enthusiasm. But in the space of a few weeks I…
A review of our visit to Peppa Pig World at Paulton’s Park – a Hampshire attraction and theme park perfect for toddlers
Ever since the summer when Tin Box Tot went swimming in the pool at our holiday park she hasn’t stopped talking about it. She even flips on to her front in the bath and pretends to swim. So when Mr Tin Box suggested talking Tin Box Dog down to the beach for a paddle at…