First, Park the Van: Weymouth 2012 Olympics and Security

On Wednesday we thought it would be really great to visit Weymouth and check out the Olympic free services. Danny has policed it from inside the custody suite so he wanted to see what it was like on the beach, on the streets and the girls wanted fun in the sea, ices and chips. There wasn't room for 7 in the van so Dan led the way in his car.

Signs told us that Weymouth Mount Pleasant Park & Ride was full so we went on to Monkey's Jump P&R outside Dorchester.

Link to the 2012 Olympic deliverance website for Weymouth P&R

And here is the link to Chris's post on Motorhomefacts

Only, when we arrived we were told by the gate security geezer that 'motorhomes were not allowed in'. Danny parked with us in a holding spot whilst he argued the case for entry: family day out split between two vehicles; his family are local and live in a village nearby; he works in Weymouth; we can see parked-up campers, hi-tops, pop-tops and panel vans; the site is only about a third full; the people of this district have been pushed around by London 2012 for years and now it appears some of them  are being denied access to the free services on rather spurious grounds; the alternative means both vehicles re-parking in 'normal' Dorchester parking and paying for a bus or train ride into Weymouth.

It took quite a while to explain all that. the guy listened and eventually called his manager and it was all explained again. He was quite understanding and sympathetic. The rule he had to enforce (and interpret) appears to be: no caravans, no 'camping cars' of coachbuilt type and above. The first is easy, they haven't engines. The second less easy. Size and weight were not relevant. The issue moved onto over-nighting. Danny pointed out one could do that in any of the vehicles on the site, especially the campers. We sussed that the hidden agenda was travellers. They cannot be excluded legally on any direct grounds and so this device was in place to keep them out. The manager agreed we could stay and took full details of both vehicles and Danny. 

 After perhaps half and hour we were parked-up on site where we could not be seen from the access roads or gates. Plenty of room to park, isn't there, even at about 1 p.m.

Well-know Wessex travelling girl Maeve at the van.

And we embark free of charge on one of the scores of Volvo deckers with Wright's coachwork for the Olympic Games in Weymouth! Game On!

 Our super day in Weymouth will be the subject of another posting. To finish this one off, we returned tired, but happy, laden with fresh crabs to note the motorhome below, an Adria, parked-up in full view. Well, technically it's a panel van conversion, but roughly the same size and weight as ours and quite capable of several nights wild camping.

Remember folks, motorhoming is fun, cheaper and problem-free - in France.