by Damien Sharkov
128 years ago, Dr William Stables commissioned a vehicle from Bristol Wagon Works Company that was more than just the talk of every town he would visit.
The 30 foot long ‘Wanderer’ was the first ever touring caravan, weighing weighs two tonnes and boasting a bookcase, china cabinet and musical instruments in its Edwardian interior.
The caravan, which has been housed by the Motor Museum, went on its first tour in 1885 and was last used in 1960. Now it is going to be on permanent display at the Caravan Club’s site in the Cotswolds.
Beverley Larion from the club said “We would prefer to keep it at the Caravan Club rather than in a storage facility so our members can enjoy it.”
“It’s great for historians and enthusiasts to see this unique vehicle which was the first ever custom-built for leisure caravan.”
Upon the Wanderer’s construction Dr William Stables became known as ‘The Gentleman Gypsy’, as he travelled across the country, pursuing the bohemian lifestyle with aristocratic flair.
Although it is capable of being towed by a car, the caravan was initially pulled by Dr Stables’ two horses – Captain Corn-flower and Polly Pea-blossom.
Gwilym Owen of the nearby Cotswold Motor Museum said “It’s had a little bit of modernisation over the years, such as new wheels and axle from a 1930s Austin and a more modern hitch but everything else is basically the same as it was when constructed.”
To see a video of the Wanderer’s trip to Buckingham Palace click below:
Top five sites to take your caravan to on Bonfire Night weekend
by Damien Sharkov
As we have slowly dipped into the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness the tide of autumn gales has threatened to dampen our spirits and curb our caravanning enthusiasm.
Yet no sooner does the time for wrapping up warm come, before we can put the mulled wine on the hob and light up the bonfire, so why not couple that joy with a late caravan holiday?
Here is our list of the best spots to tow your home-from-home to and watch the firework displays over the next week.
Haven Seashore Holiday Park, Norfolk
If you are looking for an East Anglian getaway, with a good view of the celebrations, hurry over to Haven Seashore Holiday Park on Saturday (2 November).
Organisers will be holding their own firework display and guests of the park can watch for free. Rates for non-guests are £3 in advance or £5 on the night. Bring the family along for a thrilling display.
Gateway Holiday Park, Carmarthenshire
If you have kept Sunday free, but would prefer a trip westwards, fear not. We have the perfect solution, as Gateway Holiday Park, situated on the Gower coastline will also be holding their bonfire display this Saturday at 6.30pm.
A hard-standing pitch with electric hook-up is £20 per night, including entry to the Bonfire Night Party & Fireworks Display. Non-guests pay £3 to come along, while children under 14 get in for free.
The organisers promise live music, a hog roast and plenty of candy floss, soget your scarves, gloves, hats & wellies on for some good old-fashioned family fun.
Oakhill Leisure, Lincolnshire
For those of you who would like to try a more interactive Guy Fawkes Night, our friends at Oakhill Leisure has organised a commemoration of the night parliament was spared from tumultuous oblivion, spanning three days.
Starting on 1 November and ending 3 November the ‘Bonfire Extravaganza’ rally will see participators compete to make the most entertaining Guy effigy out of flammable materials.
The entry fee is £22, with a rally limit of 80 vans.
Royal Umpire Caravan Park, Lancashire
Should you wish to combine your family trip with a visit to one of Blackpool and Preston’s famous theme parks, Royal Umpire Caravan Park is a short car journey from both.
With the promise of a “fantastic array of fireworks” and hot food available, there is no reason not to spend 2 November here.
Kippford Holiday Park, Kirkcudbrightshire
Finally, if you were looking to venture out or remain on the northern side of Hadrian’s Wall, there is always the option of paying Kippford Holiday Park a visit on 4 November.
The Anchor Hotel Kippford is promising a BBQ, burgers, soup and drinks and, with touring prices ranging between £20-24, perhaps watching the sky ablaze on Scotland’s Riviera Coast is exactly what you need to warm you up for the coming winter.
How will you be spending Bonfire Night? Did we miss out on your favourite caravan spot? Tell us in the comment section below.
Stolen caravans recovered thanks to new theft alert system
by Tom Walsh
Caravan Theft Alerts has been praised for the role it played in helping to recover three stolen caravans from sites in Lincolnshire.
One of the tourers had been logged as stolen on the National Caravan Council’s new CRiS system (the national register for UK touring caravan owners) and Caravan Theft alerts was used by Lincolnshire Police to help track down and return to its owner while prosecuting the perpetrator.
Tim Booth, leisure vehicles officer at the Association of Chief Police Officer’s Vehicle Crime Intelligence division, explained that Caravan Theft Alerts had managed to list the vehicle as stolen before the police.
Mr Booth said: “Thanks to the industry working together, with Caravan Theft Alerts taking the notification and the CRiS database being kept up to date, these were essential elements in the recovery of these caravans.”
Caravan Theft Alerts recommends that owners get their caravan listed on the CRiS system to ensure that it can be returned to its rightful owner.
Manchester Caravan and Motorhome Show to return to Event City for 2014
by Tom Walsh
The Caravan and Motorhome Show will be returning to Manchester Event City in the new year, it has been announced.
Fom 23 to 26 January, visitors will be able to view the huge range of caravans, motorhomes and holiday homes on show at the north-west event.
The 2014 show will see brand new attractions, as Great Days Out will be out in force.
The company has a host of breaks available at some of the nation’s favourite sites such as Flamingo Land Resort Yorkshire, Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railways and Gulliver’s Kingdom, among others.
It will be showgoers some great holiday ideas for where they can take their caravan, motorhome or holiday home for a break.
Rob Hawthorne, The Caravan & Motorhome Show spokesperson, said: “Caravanners take an average of nine holidays every year so they are among the most ‘active’ and aware holidaymakers out there.
“There will be plenty to keep them interested and lots of exclusive deals for them to check out at the show this year.”
The show is supported by both the Camping and Caravanning Club and the Caravan Club, who will both be offering free caravan towing lessons to all visitors.
What’s more, Swift and Eterniti will be there to show off their entire 2014 collections.
Advanced tickets are on sale now, priced at £7.50 for adults, while children under 16 can come along for free.
Julia Bradbury voted Camping and Caravanning Club president
by Tom Walsh
Television presenter Julia Bradbury has taken the helm as the new president of the Camping and Caravanning Club.
She was chosen to receive the role at the Club members’ AGM in County Durham, thanks to her passion for the great outdoors, her relationship with members and having given a lot of support to some of the Club’s initiatives.
Julia, who is the first woman to hold this presitigious position, will succeed the botanist David Bellamy OBE, who has held the role as club president for the last 11 years.
She is most easily recognised for presenting the television show Countryfile and for hosting the ITV game show Take on the Twisters.
Speaking about her new role as president of the Club, Julia said: “I have had the pleasure of working with the Club for several years, so to now have been elected as president is a true honour and one that I plan to immerse myself in.”
Previous Camping and Caravanning Club Presidents of repute include Captain Robert Scott of the Antarctic (1909-1912) and Baron Robert Baden-Powell (1919-1941).
It’s clear that Julia has some big shoes to fill, and we at CaravanTimes wish her all the best in her new role.
VIDEO: Introducing the new Bailey Pursuit caravan range
by Chris Jefferies
It’s fair to say that 2013 has been a rather busy year for Bailey of Bristol.
Britain’s longest-running caravan manufacturer has celebrated its 65th anniversary by launching the Bailey Pegasus GT65 in January and the Bailey Approach Autograph motorhome range in July.
As if that wasn’t enough, we’ve now been treated to yet another new range, in the form of the Bailey Pursuit.
The latest arrival takes over from the outgoing ‘<' . strtolower('Array') href="/bailey/bailey-orion/">Bailey Orion and Bailey Olympus as the entry-level Alu-Tech caravan range.
In this video, we catch up with Simon Howard from Bailey of Bristol, to find out more about this lightweight arrival and the six initial layouts on offer.
Simon explains how the company tried to incorporate the spaciousness and specification of the Olympus as well as the light weights, affordable prices and distinctive styling of the Orion.
We also find out all about the new opening sunroof, which has been carried over from the increasingly popular Bailey motorhomes collection.
For full prices and weights of the Bailey Pursuit, click here
Dyson DC58 Animal: Ferocious, attractive but a difficult animal to live with
by Dan Cartwright
Caravan cleaning isn’t fun, but it is a small price to pay for the joy of caravanning. Anything that makes it easier and quicker is a bonus and allows you more time to spend enjoying your holiday.
Vacuuming a caravan with a traditional upright vacuum is cumbersome and difficult with lots of wires and attachments, not to mention limited space to manoeuvre.
So the invention of handheld vacuum cleaners is very helpful when cleaning your caravan and their small size means you can easily take them with you on holiday, unlike your upright home vacuum.
With this in mind, CaravanTimes was very excited to get a chance to test out a new premium handheld vacuum from Dyson, called the DC 58 Animal.
This vacuum boast 20 times the suction power of any other handheld vacuum, 20 minutes of vacuuming per charge and a host of useful attachments.
Retailing at around £230 it is very much at the premium end of the market, and much more powerful than the previous version, the Dyson DC34 Animal.
Good points
- Suction power: As you would expect from Dyson, the inventor of bag-less vacuums that don’t lose suction, the DC58 has incredible suction, it really does suck! For those of you have tried other hand held vacuums and given up realising that a dustpan and brush are better, you will not be disappointed.
- The attachments: Most vacuums come with a multitude of attachments that push on and fall off as soon as you use them. All the attachments on the DC58 lock into place and don’t come off even if you are pushing them down the side of the sofa. It also has a motorised brush attachment, which is excellent for deep-cleaning upholstery and carpets.
- Emptying the bag: It is easy to see when the transparent dirt container is full, and it is very quick and easy to empty. Not only is it easy to empty, but it does not get dust everywhere when you detach the attachment.
Down sides
- Unlike many handheld vacuums in this price range (including some from Dyson), it does not have a telescopic nozzle attachment. This means if you want to clean the carpet you have to get down on your hands and knees (or get a bad back). Likewise if you are short and want to clean high up it can be difficult. You can buy additional attachment kits but these are expensive and most of them you already get, so it seems like a waste of money.
- Whilst it is light for its suction power, it is still 1.57kg meaning older people may struggle to use this for prolonged periods.
- If you have large hands the confined handle area makes it difficult and even painful to fit my hand in, hold and apply the trigger (to see what we mean, take a look at the photo below). When I first tried this I thought it was broken because it kept stopping whilst I was holding the trigger in. It wasn’t broken but because I had to squash my hand in to the confined space I couldn’t press the trigger properly meaning it would cut out.
The verdict
To take a vacuum with you on your holiday in the caravan to clean toast crumbs from the bed, clean the seating area and occasional bits of mud or spills on the carpet, the DC58 is just the tool for the job and more than capable.
That said, for cleaning your van fully after using I would still struggle with the DC58 and still use an upright vacuum with flex attachments.
This is because having to be on your hands and knees to clean the carpets (even if you take them out of the van) is too painful and £230 seems like a lot for a vacuum that can’t do everything you want it to do.
If you got the Dyson DC59 with the extending attachment this would provide you the best of both worlds and would be a much better buy.
Swift Group reports £40m sales after successful show season
by Tom Walsh
Swift Group is kicking the 2014 season off on a high note by recording a huge surge in sales across the past three main industry shows.
The company announced that it has generated £40 million from caravan, motorhome and holiday homes and has scored record sales over this period.
Swift was present at the Motorhome and Caravan show at the NEC in Birmingham in October, where sales volumes benefitted from record attendance figures.
The manufacturer stated that there had been a 25 per cent increase in holiday home orders while demand for the Sterling caravan range had grown by half on the previous year.
Other highlights included sales of Sprite caravans and Swift motorhomes which were up by 15 and 30 per cent respectively.
Nick Page, commerical director of Swift, said: “The interest in our large price ticket items such as our new Swift Kon-Tiki Black Edition indicates that people are more willing to spend their money.
“Hopefully [these are] the first signs of a recovery in both the market and economy, giving a very positive picture for the industry going forward.”
This news comes a month after Swift reported its ‘<' . strtolower('Array') href="http://www.caravantimes.co.uk/news/makes/swift/swift-group-reveals-largest-ever-single-holiday-home-order-$21383331.htm">largest ever order of holiday homes, with £5.5m of static caravans being sold at the Lawns Caravan Extravaganza.
Club Care survey reveals £250,000 of stolen caravans for sale online
by Tom Walsh
The Camping and Caravanning Club’s insurance arm Club Care is urging owners to take every measure possible to protect their caravan following a series of thefts.
A recent report compiled using the group’s Caravan Theft Alerts system found that a large number of stolen tourers are being sold online to unsuspecting buyers.
Websites such as eBay, Gumtree and Auto Trader have all been used to sell these illegitimate vehicles. The research found that 18 caravan have been on sale on eBay with a combined value of over £250,000.
Keith Roberts purchased one of the tourers at auction and ended up losing £5,500.
Tim Booth, from the Association of Chief Police Officers, said: “Anyone buying from this type of source should ask the private vendor to supply to them some evidence of their usage of the caravan in the past – most people involved in caravanning will record their journeys by way of photos.”
To read Club Care insurance’s full report into caravan thefts online, click here.
Japanese artist turns Elddis caravan into Northern Irish art project
by Chris Jefferies
Art and caravans overlap more than you might expect, and a Japanese artist living in Northern Ireland is the latest creative mind to turn to the humble tourer for inspiration.
Shiro Masuyama, who lives in Londonderry, has been commissioned to create a work of art for the City of Culture 2013, and it was an old Elddis caravan that sparked his imagination.
The result is the Borderline Project, which showcases Shiro’s unique interior design that splits the caravan in two separate zones.
One side is distinctly British, with Victorian paraphernalia and vintage crockery, while the other side features a more modern design inspired by the Republic of Ireland, featuring Gaelic wall plaques that bid visitors a warm welcome.
“Since I started living in Northern Ireland, I’ve found it difficult to understand the particular differences between Irish and British culture in such a complex society,” Shiro told the Londonderry Sentinel.
“The idea of the caravan is to create a small museum to show the difference of each culture.”
His creation has been well received by the public, with an appearance at the Turner Prize Exhibition before a week-long installation on Ebrington Square, which runs until Sunday (27 October).
One enthusiastic couple even offered to buy it off him, but Shiro could not be tempted to part with his work.
Further appearances are planned for weekends during November and December, so keep an eye out for an unusual tourer parked on the streets of Londonderry.
VIDEO: An exclusive look inside Elddis testing at Markbronn
by Chris Jefferies
When it comes to caravan testing, the Markbronn testing track has something of a notorious reputation.
Don’t let its delightful setting in the south German countryside fool you; this is where manufacturers go when they want to give their new tourers a truly rough ride.
In this video, we meet up with the testing and development team at Elddis to put a prototype Solid Construction caravan through its paces, following a rigorous schedule developed by MIRA and BPW.
David Styles from Elddis explains how the team regularly carries out strenuous towing tests to simulate a lifetime of abuse in just a few days.
This includes towing across potholes, cobblestones and twist humps, with the aim of finding out how much stress and strain the individual components can stand up to.
We also find out what it’s like to ride inside the caravan during two laps of testing, in order to get a first-hand experience of the sheer violence of the testing process, which makes just sitting still a real challenge.
EXCLUSIVE: Meet the caravan beauty queen running for Miss Great Britain
by Damien Sharkov
“I don’t sell caravans I sell dreams,” the woman who could be the next Miss Great Britain, tells us.
The mask of stuffy marketing slips all but a second later, as she laughs off the stock sales pitch and regales us with a much bubblier and much more subtly captivating picture of a caravan break in Marton Mere holiday village.
Helen Bates, also known as Miss Lancashire, has many talents, having shared the stage with Allo Allo’s Sue Hodge, toured across Britain and hosted her own television programme on BidTV.
There is also the small matter of her modelling career, having appeared in FHM, OK!, Star and Now, as well as on the catwalk. As of the last four weeks, she seems to have added selling caravans to her list of skills.
“I am more of a talking brochure”, she says rather humbly. “The park sells itself… It’s stunning,” she exclaims, as we entertain the idea of pointing out the equity in her statement.
Despite being at Marton Mere for just over a month, Helen seems to have wider knowledge of caravan holiday parks and the British countryside.
She tells us she became acquainted with the industry as an entertainer. “I used to tour the caravan parks with Marilyn Monroe tribute show,” she smiles.
With Miss Great Britain approaching next month she has found herself increasingly busy. We ask her how she manages to balance beauty queen and caravan commitments.
“It is not easy,” she admits “but my boss has been amazing with giving me time off.””Winning Miss Great Britain and representing my country would mean the world to me,” she adds. Born in Yorkshire and now beauty queen of Lancaster, Helen is putting an end to the War of the Roses. “I was brought up to be patriotic and proud to be British.”
Ordinarily we are wary of generic persuasion tactics, but with Helen’s dive into the very Blighty end of the leisure industry, it’s hard not to warm to her.
If any of you want to make sure Miss Great Britain goes to a leisure industry darling you can vote for Helen by texting MISSGB22 to 64343, which costs £1 as well as your standard network rate.
The Miss Great Britain finals are due to take place over the weekend of 14-15 November at the Athena, in Leicester.
We wish her the best of luck as she thanks us, hoping this is not the last time we will be reporting on her. We ponder patenting the idea for ‘Miss Caravan and Motorhome’.
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