Disgruntled couple speak out against underpaying motorhome dealer

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by Jake Polden

Being trustworthy requires you to be responsible, but this responsibility can be ignored by some dealers who underpay for motorhomes from unknowing individuals.

A recent example of this is Phil and Jenny’s story, a couple who told their tale to The Daily Express.

Looking for a quick sale on their motorhome, the pair received £11,000 in a transaction with a local dealer – a sum they now believe to be substantially less than the actual market value.

Stating that “leaks had rotted some of the bodywork” the dealer bagged himself a tidy profit by reportedly selling the motorhome on for £26,000.

Despite the process of selling a tourer being notoriously daunting and a hassle to some, Comfort Insurance product manager Ben Cue, told the news provider that there are a few things sellers can do to make the task easier.

Motorhomes are unlike cars in that they do not depreciate in value – at least not at the same speed. Most motorhomes in fact can actually increase in value over the spring period, with dealers hoping to make quick sales before the harsh wintry conditions arrive.

Recommending to get at least three offers before committing to a sale, Ben has explained how dealers will offer you less to cover their overheads, and that despite the extra leg work, private sales can be more profitable.

While this story is particularly unfortunate, considering the couple were forced to sell their motorhome due to Phil’s declining health, it is a rather extreme example.

Most dealers are fair and honest, and will offer you a competitive deal on your tourer.

That said, keep this story in mind and remember when you go to sell your caravan or motorhome to get at least three quotes, to not sell unless you are 100% happy, and to fix any minor defects to ensure you get the best possible price.

Climbers Against Cancer pose with caravan for saucy charity calendar

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by Jake Polden

As the New Year moves closer, many charities begin to rack their brains and wonder, “what can we do to make this year’s calendar a success?”

Well, according to Climbers Against Cancer the answer is simple, include a caravan.

Their choice to include scantily clad female athletes may also play a small part in making the calendar appealing – and we’d have to agree, it does.

Travelling from all over the globe, the female climbers gathered in Boulder Colorado, USA, and took it in turns to strike poses in front and inside of a vintage silver caravan, before grouping together to create the photograph for December.

Speaking to The Mirror, Shauna Coxsey, who features in October, said, “As a trustee of Climbers Against Cancer I wanted to do something different, fun and light hearted for the cause and this seemed perfect.

“A calendar full of climbing photos would draw some attention, but people see us climbing all of the time so it wouldn’t be different or unique.”

Founded in 2010, Climbers Against Cancer was established to bring cancer suffering climbers together from around the world.

John Ellison, whose idea started the charity said: “This calendar will be a huge help.”

The calendar is on sale now, priced at £19.99 from shop.climbersagainstcancer.org.

One in three caravanners take a Christmas break, survey claims

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by Tom Walsh

Christmas is traditionally seen as a time to spend at home with the family and inevitably fall asleep in front of the TV.

However, a new survey has found that a large number of campers and caravanners will be spending the festive period on holiday.

Shield Total Insurance found that a third of its customers will be enjoying Christmas dinner on a campsite when the big day rolls around.

When questioned on their reasoning 16 per cent said they enjoy being cosy when the cold weather sets in.

Nineteen per cent added that it gives them the freedom to enjoy Christmas anywhere they choose.

Shield found that a further ten per cent of their customers are already planning a break in the chilly months of January and February.

This coming Christmas is set to be no different with selected Caravan Club and the Camping and Caravanning Club sites staying open for the festive holiday to accommodate people who want to do something different over the period.

The Friendly Club has recently reported a 28 per cent rise in bookings for the festive period, and this trend is further backed up by a recent Caravan Guard insurance poll which claims that 76 per cent of caravanners regularly head out in the winter months.

Severn bridge car and caravan toll to rise in 2014

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by Tom Walsh

Caravanners heading to Wales in the new year will be met with an increased toll to cross the Severn bridge.

Severn River Crossing (SRC) plc confirmed that car and caravan owners would be charged £6.40, an extra 20p on the current cost.

The changes will come into place from 1 January and will also affect a number of other motorists using the bridges.

Small goods vehicles and small buses will be charged £12.80 (a 40p rise) while heavy goods vehicle drivers will have to pay an extra 60p taking the cost up to £19.20.

A spokesman for the SRC said: “The new toll levels are confirmed each year by a parliamentary Order made in December which authorises SRC to adjust tolls to the revised levels.”

Wales is a popular destination for caravanners with many people heading to the likes of Llandudno, Anglesey and Carmarthen Bay for a holiday.

Greetham Retreat Holidays named as Caravan Club CL of the Year 2013

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by Ruchi Srivastava

Greetham Retreat Holidays has won the Caravan Club’s annual prize for being the foremost Certified Location in the UK.

The announcement was made at a parliamentary reception on Monday (18 November), where Gorden Marsden MP presented the site owners Rob and Jeanette Folwell with a trophy.

Certified Locations (or CLs) are the exclusive, five-pitch caravan sites that are available to all Caravan Club members.

Becoming increasingly popular holiday destinations, these sites are often situated in beautiful, scenic locations such as near beaches, rivers or maybe even uniquely near a windmill.

The Caravan Club’s judges had 2,500 CLs to pick from, so this truly is a prestigious award for the winners.

Greetham Retreat Holidays is a peaceful five-pitch site, which offers great views of the scenic Lincolnshire Woods from the various pitches.

This location makes it a convenient site for holidaymakers, as they are easily able to commute to various local attractions and landmarks.

Some of these attractions include the nature reserves at Snipe Dales, Gibraltar Point, and the popular Freiston Shore.

Open all year round, Greetham Retreat Holidays also offers useful facilities that include free Wi-Fi, a laundry room, a heated toilet block and a shower room.

Second place went to Low Moor Head in Cumbria, while East Fortune in Berwick claimed the third prize.

Caravan Club names Baltic Wharf as 2013 Bloom Award winner

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by Ruchi Srivastava

The Caravan Club’s Bloom Award for 2013 has been presented to Baltic Wharf caravan park in Bristol.

Baltic Wharf is an impressive 55-pitch caravan site that is conveniently connected to a river ferry that takes visitors into the city centre.

This gives you the freedom to not only enjoy the idyllic nature of the park but to also venture into the bright lights of the city.

In addition to this, families also have the chance to visit the child-friendly Zoo and Downs Park, which makes for a wonderful picnic area.

The Bloom awards were first started in 2003 by the club member, Alan Payne with the purpose of appreciating the skill and hard work of Caravan Club site wardens, who along with various volunteers, maintain the beauty of the Caravan Club sites in various creative ways.

They are also the people, who work tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure that you feel welcome and enjoy your stay at their caravan parks.

Club chairman Grenville Chamberlain presented the award to the park’s wardens, Mike and Lyn Stirling.

Commenting on the couples’ admirable achievement, the chairman praised their “most stunning displays of plants and flowers to greet visitors, using tastefully themed bursts of colours throughout the site.”

Also coming very close to the awards and right behind Baltic Wharf, were the Ayr Craigie Gardens in Scotland and the Wyatts Covert site near Denham, in Buckinghamshire.

Signage may put an end to Norfolk tourist beach disorder

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by Tom Walsh

Signage at a popular Norfolk tourist beach has become a heated topic for caravan and chalet owners in the area.

Snettisham beach has become a hotspot for people visiting the area but for the past four years they have been told by nearby residents that they face prosecution for trespassing if they do not leave, EDP24 reports.

Norfolk County Council (NCC) had erected signage warning people not to walk there but Snettisham Parish Council has insisted that it is common land. The pair will now come together to discuss a solution to the problem.

Eric Langford, parish council chairman, told the news provider: “Pressure will be applied on a NCC working group of members to resolve once and for all the access signage scandal and subsequent lawlessness that exists at Snettisham beach.

“This area is common land. There can be no private land on a common.”

Snettisham beach is a great spot for holidaymakers and lies just over 12 miles away from King’s Lynn.

Ambleside holiday park adopts new tactic to tackle ‘sudden oak death’

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by Tom Walsh

An Ambleside holiday park is adopting an innovative tactic to help protect its trees from a conditional known as sudden oak death.

Residents and guests at Skelwith Fold Caravan Park are being asked to take home acorns to prevent the healthy saplings avoid being contaminated with the virus.

Sudden oak death is caused by the oomycete plant pathogen Phytophthora ramorum and has the ability to kill oak and other species of tree.

It has previously had a devastating effect to forests in the US and staff are keen to prevent it happening in Cumbria.

The Westmorland Gazette reports that the holiday park is collecting acorns from the 130-acre wood to help prevent the spread of the disease which, despite its name, can strike during any season.

Owner Henry Wild recently collected the park’s latest David Bellamy Conservation Award and is committed to protecting the environment in which his park is situated and by doing this he believes it will prevent the death of many trees.

Iconic holiday company Eurocamp put up for sale by Cox & Kings

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by Jake Polden

In a move that has been dubbed as the “end of an era”, Eurocamp has been put up for sale by owner Cox & Kings, suggesting that this type of camping holiday is now a thing of the past.

Speaking for the Association of British Travel Agents, chairman Noel Josephides said: “There is now an enormous supply of accommodation in hotels across Europe, much of it is cheap.

“And campsites, like hotels, know they no longer need to work with operators like Eurocamp when they can get business direct from websites”.

While this is unfortunate industry news, Mark Hammerton, son of the original Eurocamp owner, believes that despite these changes, the world of camping and caravanning is very much “alive and kicking”.

He adds that the upsurge in festival popularity, coupled with national financial insecurity, has inadvertently put camping and caravanning holidays back on the agenda.

Whereas before foreign camp sites would be culturally isolating, they are now fully equipped with reps and activities for all age groups.

Caravans reduced to dust after fire at Lynemouth storage facility

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by Jake Polden

Firefighters were called to tackle a destructive blaze on Saturday (16 November), as Lynemouth storage facility in Northumberland was shrouded in flames and thick black smoke.

Arriving to the scene at around 2:30pm, the fire department proceeded to corner off the entire facility and adjoining road, before attempting to manage the blaze.

Taking firefighters two hours to control, ten caravans and two motorhomes are reported to have perished, while many others have experienced some level of cosmetic damage.

Speaking for the Northumberland fire and rescue service, a spokesperson said: “There were ten liquid petroleum gas cylinders in the vicinity of the fire and some exploded.

“Fire crews adopted the procedure for these cylinders – applying a water spray to cool them and then checking that they were safe.”

While the current belief is that the fire was caused by youths who gained entrance by climbing a fence, the destruction, exaggerated by the gas canisters on site, will inevitably call into question the level of security that surrounds caravan storage facilities up and down the country.

Bolton caravan park honoured at Lancashire Tourism Awards

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by Tom Walsh

A caravan park in Bolton-le-Sands has been honoured at the Lancashire Tourism Awards.

Holgates Bay View Caravan Park took home the 2013 Holiday Park Award after beating four other competitors to the sought-after accolade.

Staff from the site were in attendance at the glitzy event and were delighted that Holgates had been able to attain this award.

Michael Holgate, owner of the site, told the Westmorland Gazette: “It [the award] really is the icing on the cake for everyone involved with Bay View, especially those who have worked hard to bring the site up to the standard people expect of a Holgates Caravan Park.”

The Lancashire Tourism Awards celebrates everything companies have been doing to attract more visitors to the region.

Among the other winners at the Blackburn Cathedral event was The Dukes Theatre and Lancaster Canal Boats which claimed the Cultural Venue/Organisation Award and the Small Visitor Attraction Award respectively.

Team Rickshaw & Bailey of Bristol raise over £1m for BBC Children in Need

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by Ruchi Srivastava

This year, the Rickshaw Challenge for the BBC Children in Need was even more phenomenal than ever before, with riders travelling 700 miles all across the four UK nations.

And backing them up at every step of the way was their trusty Bailey of Bristol motorhome support vehicle.

The challenge was undertaken to raise money for disadvantaged children and young people across the UK and this year the team was made up of five young people who had each been supported by BBC Children in Need projects.

The BBC Children in Need team also partnered with Alex Jones of The One Show who was more than happy to participate in such a great cause. The riders were also supported by TV presenter and Team Rickshaw veteran, Matt Baker.

He was a wonderful source of inspiration for the young people as he cycled alongside with them during their eight-day relay journey. In addition to this, four of the riders were also accompanied by their parents.

As people who have had the wonderful chance to have directly benefited from the charity’s work, the five riders were determined to raise as much money as possible in order to help other youngsters like themselves.

Well they have succeeded beautifully, having raised an incredible amount of £1,354,459. Riding around the clock, this year’s team has certainly outdone themselves.

To help with the cause, Bailey of Bristol lent the team a luxurious Bailey Approach Autograph 765 to help them rest during their brief down-time.

We, at CaravanTimes offer everyone involved our heartiest congratulations!