by Holly Tribe
What would you do if you had the opportunity to completely re-design your caravan’s interior? Add a couple of inches to the washroom here, create some extra storage space under the beds there?
Well, Caravan Times reader Pamela Barnett bravely bit the bullet and embarked on a mammoth three month overhaul of a 1983 Cosalt Piper caravan, completing a project which many of us only ever talk about starting.
As she raced against time to get the gutted shell ready for its maiden voyage to the Edinburgh fringe festival, Pam takes us through the highs and lows of transforming a tired old caravan into a rustic chic palace on wheels.
Where it all began.
Finding it increasingly difficult to pitch the canopy of her trusty trailer tent, Pam finally made the decision to trade it in for a 1983 Cosalt Piper in May last year.
“After selling the Pathfinder trailer tent I decided a small caravan was more practical. The trailer tent was brilliant, a small bathroom and all you need in a kitchen. It really was the “bees knees”, but with suffering from Rheumatoid Arthritis it was getting to be one hell of a problem erecting the canopy. So off ‘Elsie’ went and in came the 1983 Colsalt Piper.”
Despite never owning a touring caravan before, Pam decided to launch herself into the lifestyle and purchased her new home-from-home on ebay for the very reasonable sum of £600.
Gutted.
Given its age the van was structurally sound, but on closer inspection there were clear signs of damp in the corner of the bathroom. Determined to make the most of her new hobby, Pam began to strip away the rotten wood and replace old for new. One thing led to another, and before she knew it Pam had completely gutted the whole interior. “I didn’t really intent to totally strip it out but that’s what happened and looking back I really don’t know how I did it, but I did! Necessity is the mother of all invention,” she admitted.
“I tried to use as much reclaimed wood etc as I could. My head was never out of any skip I happened to come across! ”
Pam’s exploits soon inspired a sense caravanning bonhomie within her local community. As her neighbours got wind of the project they began to drop by with bits of wood for the furniture and polystyrene sheets for insulation. Not one to shy away from the hard labour that renovating a caravan demands Pam borrowed tools from friends and family to complete the refit. The only element she quite sensibly left to the professionals was the electrics, but even this was carried out by her best friend’s brother, a trained electrician…
