Find your ideal home on wheels at the Motorhome & Caravan Show 2014

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by Joe Jeffrey

This year’s Motorhome & Caravan Show promises to be the best yet, featuring a host of new caravans and motorhomes from the UK and Europe for 2015

It’s October folks, which can only mean one thing : we are fast approaching one of motorhoming and caravanning’s biggest dates on the calendar ¬- The Motorhome and Caravan Show 2014.

From the Experts’ Theatre, featuring an array of live shows and guest speakers, to learning how to manoeuver or tow your motorhome or caravan, there’s something for everyone including those wishing to dip their toe into the world of caravanning or motorhoming.

Speaking of newbies, or even those wishing to trade in their home on wheels for a brand spanking new model, you’ll find all you need at the show to help you make up your mind – from the smallest and lightest caravans and motorhomes to the biggest and most advanced; a whole host of vehicles from manufacturers throughout the UK and Europe await, all under one roof.

The Motorhome & Caravan Show 2014 takes place between 14 – 19 October at the NEC in Birmingham. If you haven’t booked tickets yet, make sure you click here to make a saving on a show not to be missed.

The Astronauts’ Caravan

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by Jo Subramaniam

Fully rotating caravan could blast you into orbit

Forget NASA’s three year experience requirement or the European Space Agency’s year long training programme. Skip all of it and don’t worry about qualifications required. Just like the lucky people in this video, you could get into the astronauts’ caravan. All you need is… not love, that’s a different one. All you need is £1.

This 360 degree, fully rotational caravan was spotted at the Grand Henham Steam Rally, and is based on a Victorian ride called the Haunted Swing. Fully hand operated, the astronauts’ caravan seems to do a good job of scaring the living daylights out of a few kids (and maybe a few more adults). We can definitely peg the owner as a space enthusiast; the homage to space travel inside the caravan and the ride’s name are not coincidental.

So check out the video below and let us know: would you venture where no caravanner has ventured before?

New, refined Approach Autograph motorhome range from Bailey

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by Jo Subramaniam

Bailey announces updated Approach Autograph motorhome and new 2015 range

Leading caravan manufacturer Bailey of Bristol has announced that the Approach Autograph range will be modelled on the new Peugeot Boxer graphite cab. This means the Autograph range will get quite a few new updates such as LED daytime running lights and DAB radios with Bluetooth connectivity.

The new range will also feature a lighter chassis, the ultra-low profile lightweight AL-KO AMC, which has a lower centre of gravity and consequently, better weight distribution. The bodyshell will be constructed using the Bailey patented Alu-Tech system, meaning that there will be a GRP outer skin and under floor protection. All new Approach Autograph models will also be built with an ABS braking system, high performance Michelin tyres, standard twin cab airbags and three point seatbelts for rear passengers. Two additional models, the Autograph 540 and the Autograph 740, have been announced to expand the existing range, and each of the Autograph models come with slight variations. The Compact 520 and the Autograph 750 have been discontinued, meaning that the 2015 Autograph range will consist of the following models:

Approach Autograph 540 – (new) 3 berth with a convertible front lounge
Approach Autograph 625 – 2 berth with a low-line end-lounge
Approach Autograph 740 – 4 berth low-line end-bedroom and a fixed double bed
Approach Autograph 745 – 4 berth low-line end-bedroom with fixed double bed & designated travelling seats
Approach Autograph 730 – (new) 4 berth low-line end-bedroom with transverse island double bed
Approach Autograph 765 – 6 berth low-line end-lounge with drop down double bed & designated travelling seats

In addition to the new Autograph range, Bailey has also announced the introduction of the Approach Advance, an entry level range. This line of reasonably priced motorhomes, aimed at first time buyers, is set to be released in early 2015. However, you don’t have to wait till 2015 to see the new Autograph range. All Autograph models will be on display at the at the Motorhome and Caravan show show in Birmingham this October.

World first: Nissan e-NV200 transforms into electric campervan conversion

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by Joe Jeffrey

Hillside Leisure’s electric Nissan campervan conversion to be unveiled at the Motorhome & Caravan Show 2014

Good news for those who want to be that little bit greener – and economical: the world’s first electric campervan conversion is on its way.

Based on the Nissan e-NV200 electric van and converted by specialist British firm, Hillside Leisure, the electric, zero emission, campervan conversion comes with a host of features you’d expect from a top quality conversion, including two-ring hob, 39-litre fridge, on board water tank and low voltage LED lighting. A spinning front passenger seat provides more room for making the most of what’s in the back and a rear seat converts from seat to bed in literally just a few seconds.

The one to four berth campervan with elevating roof is also great for those wishing to economise and is up to four times cheaper to fuel that standard diesel vehicles. A practical 106 mile range and 76mph top speed doesn’t mean it will get you from Land’s End to John O’Groats and back any time soon without needing to stop and recharge but, coming with a host of extras including pre-heating control which can be operated by a smartphone, electric air conditioning and more, for a perfect get away, well, it sounds perfect.

Mark Cross, director of Derby-based Hillside Leisure said: “We believe this conversion will be a first in the industry, indeed in the world, and the start of the electric revolution in our market. We went to great lengths to ensure delivery of the brand new Nissan e-NV200 electric van, which is the first one in the country, and we’ve used our in-house team of highly skilled craftsmen to create our unique campervan conversion.”

The Nissan e-NV200 campervan conversion will be unveiled at this year’s Motorhome & Caravan Show at the NEC in Birmingham, which runs from 14 – 19 October, so make sure you check it out if you get the chance.

Lord of the Rings themed Hobbit camping and caravan site, North Shire, coming to East Cleveland

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by Jo Subramaniam

Middle Earth campsite comes to East Cleveland

We’re not trying to take sides or anything, but hobbits are so much cooler than rabbits, aren’t they? Carol Hopkinson and Karl Wragg seem to think so too, which is why they’re converting former tourist attraction Bunnyland, in East Cleveland, into a Middle Earth themed campsite called ‘North Shire’. That lifelong dream of finding out if you fit inside Frodo’s humble abode is finally going to come true.

North Shire will have hobbit themed underground accommodation and will operate as part of a larger campsite, which also has traditional gypsy caravans. All in all, Carol and Karl are keen to ensure visitors really feel like they’ve jumped into Frodo’s birthday party during their stay.

The Lord of the Rings inspired campsite has already received £10,000 in funding fromRedcar and Cleveland Council‘s coastal communities, as well as extra funds from National Parks and Teesside based charity Five Lamps and Carol and Karl seem very eager for the project to get underway, telling The Northern Echo: “When we opened the campsite we wanted to create a place where families – and particularly children – could enjoy nature instead of being glued to the telly. We aim to create an environment for wildlife to thrive and the new project is an extension of that ethos.”

Before you go off typing ‘Middle Earth’ into your GPS though, let us just remind you that the campsite will be near Liverton, East Cleveland. And don’t spend all your precious daylight hours watching The Lord of the Rings; the owners of the North Shire would rather you ventured outside and did a bit of exploring. After all, you might be surprised what the inner-hobbit is capable of.

Staycations are here to stay

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by Jo Subramaniam

Staycations cause an increase of 55,000 caravan holidays this year

Want to go away on a summer break? Just a short trip to France, nip over and back over the weekend? If you did that, you’d be going against the general trend in caravanning holidays this year. What’s more, you’d be disregarding the recommendations of The Caravan Club.

A reported 55,000 extra holidays have been booked with the Caravan Club this year than in 2013, so what are people doing right in 2014? Taking several little holidays instead of a big one, apparently. This trend is a positive one for many reasons. First, evidence suggests that taking shorter and more frequent breaks helps you recharge and makes you a better worker. Secondly, shorter breaks mean that you could just hop into your caravan and drive off to one of the many campsites that the UK has to offer, which, needless to say, is also kinder on your finances. The Director of Marketing for the Caravan Club, Tony Hall, suggests supplementing an overseas trip with a caravan tour to make the most of your time off. He adds: “This year it seems that many more people have discovered the great outdoors and the benefits of a caravanning or motorhoming holiday and taken the opportunity to enjoy a break in the UK. So many people spend the first half of the year looking forward to their one-and-only annual overseas summer holiday, and then the second half of the year feeling blue because it is over.”

If you’ve already started planning your next caravan holiday or tour after reading this, there’s another bit of good news for you. The Caravan Club has access to around 2700 campsites around Britain, meaning one campsite for every 30 square miles! How many have you been to?

Crema Caravan? More like Dream-a caravan!

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by Jo Subramaniam

Edinburgh caravan tours the streets with crème brulee

Whoever said that there was nothing more satisfying than hearing your crème brulee crack as you dug your spoon into it clearly hadn’t heard of the Crema Caravan. Maybe we here at CaravanTimes just like the combination of sweets and caravans too much, or maybe we just like caravans with alliterations in their names, but we’re definitely more than just a little excited to introduce you to the Crema Caravan.

The sophisticated mouse grey caravan has been making the street food scene go wild with their even more sophisticated array of desserts. Think crème brulee at it’s fanciest, most extravagant level. Owners Callum McDougall and Mel Duncan have been taking their customers to dessert heaven with sticky toffee topping, apple crumble crème brulee, espresso brulee and of course, chocolate crème brulee. Not to mention crema Catalana, the Spanish version of crème brulee with orange zest, vanilla and cinnamon. Yummy, yummy, yummy all the way.

Given how far Crema Caravan has come, it is interesting to see how the concept started out. Mel and Duncan had their first Crema Caravan event at the Edinburgh Farmer’s Market, with their trademark crème brulee going at £3-3.50 a piece. You’d think they’d been doing this for years together, but they’ve only just started out. Mel told STV Edinburgh that she and Callum hadn’t even planned their Crema Caravan journey, commenting: “We spent the last few years travelling around the world. After we came back street food was taking off and we just thought it was a really good idea. We had originally planned on doing something like pulled pork or smokey meats, but everyone was doing savoury stuff already so we decided to go down the dessert road.” The couple bought the van in France and plan on using it to cater to a range of events in Scotland, having already covered weddings and food markets.

We know you’re hungry for details, so we won’t keep you waiting any longer. You can crack open a crème brulee with Crema Caravan at the Edinburgh Farmer’s Market on Castle Terrace on 4 October, or catch Mel and Callum at Eats From the Street at Fort Kinnaird shopping park later on in the month and in November. For more details, contact the Crema Caravan here.

MP calls for limits on trucks after caravan ban proposal

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by Jo Subramaniam

Newquay MP hits out at John Gregory’s proposal to ban caravans

There isn’t a single person in the caravanning world who hasn’t heard of John Gregory’s proposition to ban caravans during the daytime. It seems that the news has now spread far beyond caravanners and motorhome enthusiasts, as an MP from Newquay has suggested that limiting trucks would be a better solution to accidents and congestion.

Writing in the Western Morning News, Christopher Tankard of the Cornish Liberal Party has reacted to John Gregory’s suggestion that caravans should be off the roads from 6am to 6pm, and has articulated a few of his own ideas on road safety. The MP has stated : ”A caravan might roll and it takes time to clear up the resulting mess. But over the years there have been many accidents where a fully loaded truck has ploughed into a column of cars and crushed many of them causing numerous injuries and indeed fatalities. If there is to be any form of travel ban on the roads of the South West my guess would be that most motorists would rather that it affected articulated trucks.”

Christopher has also pointed out that articulated trucks, such as the ones operated by Gregory Distribution, frighten the average motorist more than caravans. He has called for tough restrictions on large articulated trucks travelling on South Western roads, ironically during the same hours suggested by John Gregory. He added: ”There are many who would argue that the right place for bulk freight is on the railways rather than on the roads in huge trucks. So might we in the Cornish Liberal Party propose that the bulk long distance freight is put back onto the railways where it belongs and trucks should only be used for short distance distribution from the railheads. This would leave the road network for cars and other passenger vehicles.”

The Cornish Liberal Party MP’s comments reflect the sentiments of many caravanners who proposed a limit on trucks and lorries in the wake of John Gregory’s proposal. Could Christopher be on the right track? Should trucks and lorries only be on the roads from 6pm to 6am?

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East Devon holiday park named best in England

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by Tom Walsh

Oakdown Touring and Holiday Park crowned Overall AA Best Campsite of the Year for 2015

Oakdown Touring and Holiday Park has beaten off competition from 900 other sites across the UK to be crowned the Overall AA Best Campsite of the Year for 2015.

The award is just one in a long list of accolades the holiday park has received in recent years including the retaining of the prestigious David Bellamy Conservation Gold Awards for 17 consecutive years. It also boast a five-pennant rating from the AA Camping and Caravan Park Scheme.

This latest award comes after an inspection of the site resulted in a 94 per cent approval rating from the AA.

Alastair Franks, whose family has run the site for 40 years, said: “We are so happy and excited to be named the best campsite for 2015 by the AA.

“We are continually striving to better our park and offer high quality amenities. To receive this level of recognition for our work is fantastic.”

Oakdown is situated near the Devonshire town of Sidmouth and is only a short drive to the seaside.

Brits still loving caravans

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by Tom Walsh

New research for eBay found that the term ‘caravan’ is one of the most searched terms within its Motors platform

Caravans have been given somewhat of a bad rep in recent years.

You can’t get through a series of Top Gear without seeing Jeremy Clarkson, James May, Richard Hammond and co destroy a mobile home in some kind of elaborate way.

While they may not be popular on the BBC Two programme, caravans still hold a firm place in the hearts of Brits, according to new findings.

Research by internet auction site eBay revealed that the term “caravan” is one of the most popular searched-for word on its Motors platform. It stated that users are searching for mobile homes every 17 seconds or so, BT.com reports.

‘Caravan’ was the fifth highest on eBay’s ranking while ‘camper van’ and ‘motorhome’ placed 12th and 14th respectively.

The most popular terms was ‘spares or repair’ while ‘cars’ and ‘classic cars’ were joint second.

It shows that while they may get a bad name on the television, Brits simply cannot get enough of caravanning holidays.

Concerns over ‘new’ caravan park in Great Holland

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by Jo Subramaniam

Temporary pitch for sea defence workers could lead to new caravan park

Town Councillors in the village of Great Holland, Essex, are debating whether to allow a temporary pitch for workers to go up for the next ten months.

Birch Hoe Farm in, aptly named, Pork Lane is currently licenced to house five caravans without permission, but the temporary pitch would mean that sea defence workers will be able to camp there for the next ten months as they work on a £36 million project on the Clacton and Holland coast.

While the owners of Birch Hoe Farm have denied any plans for a permanent caravan park, councillors for Pork Lane remain unconvinced. Brian Johnson of the Town Council told the Clacton and Frinton Gazette : ”I think it is far too risky to allow this. We would be setting ourselves up for a big problem. It is a nice area and we might end up with a proper site with caravans strewn across it.”

Although the final decision rests with Tendring District Council, town councillors have recommended that the project be rejected.

What do you think? Should the council all for the temporary site or do you sense someone’s telling ‘porkies’?

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Forty percent rise in bookings for caravanning holidays

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by Jo Subramaniam

Caravan Club reports a forty percent rise in bookings around Suffolk

What makes a caravan holiday in the UK so appealing? You could just as well be parked in France, Spain or Portugal with amazing views and nobody to remind you of home or your office, but why then has there been a continued preference for British campsites among caravanners? The caravan industry has been making headlines, withyoungsters and celebrities showing an interest in caravanning, and a forty percent increase in bookings across UK sites this year. With around 1.7 million caravanners and a £1 billion industry, it seems like the UK caravan industry isn’t being towed off anywhere any time soon. And who better to testify to this fact than a couple of caravanners who have been at it for nearly 30 years?

Bernie Binnie and his wife Sandra have been touring around in their caravan more times than they can count. The pair also work at the White House Beach Caravan Club in Kessingland, where Bernie is the warden. They must have their hands quite full, since the White House Beach Caravan Club has been full for months together now. Bernie told the East Anglian Daily Times : ”We have been full since Whitsun until now. Now the school holidays are over and the children are back at school we have a slightly older clientele.” He added that the best thing about caravanning was the people he met, both on and off work, commenting: “We get to go to some lovely places and we get to meet some lovely people. It is a lovely life.”

Bernie isn’t alone at all. John Cozens goes on a caravan holiday every September, and although his interest in activity began after bed and breakfast holidays in France, he prefers to holiday in Kessingland so he can meet his old friends. John, like Bernie, cites the supportive network of carvanners as the reason he comes back each year, commenting in the East Anglian Daily Times (EADT): “My wife died suddenly and I lost my soul mate. I wasn’t sure what to do about the caravan but I went on a holiday organised by the Caravan Club and everyone was so friendly I decided to keep it. I’ve been away five times already this year.” Indeed, John’s holiday habit has made him furnish his caravan more than his own home. With a full sized oven, double bed, fridge and freezer, TV and DVD player, is it any wonder he’s away five times a year?

The network of caravanners and motorhome enthusiasts is only one of many reasons the UK caravan industry is flourishing. The other reasons of course could include the flexible lifestyle that caravanning offers, at least according to John’s friends Bob and Jane Thornton. The couple have a Peugeot Compass motorhome, in which they have learned to enjoy caravanning. Jane told the EADT: “We love the freedom and the sites are very welcoming and there are lots to choose from. ?I love being by the sea and waking up near the beach.”

What about you? Have you been on a caravan holiday yet this year? What’s your favourite thing about caravanning?