Tewkesbury Abbey Caravan Club Site wins Sites in Bloom 2015 Award

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by Joe Jeffrey

Gloucestershire site takes home Best in Bloom prize at House of Commons Awards ceremony

Tewkesbury Abbey Caravan Club Site has taken the top prize in The Caravan Club’s Sites in Bloom Awards 2015.

The Gloucestershire-based site, with reception area featuring cascades of florals in lilac and purple with accents of yellow, managed to scoop first prize for 2015 following designs cultivated by site wardens Mike and Ros Mears.

Second place went to Morn Hill Caravan Club Site, whose collection of flower pots and sun flowers added a nice visual touch, whilst third place went to Malvern Hills Caravan Club Site‘s display of red and orange hanging baskets.

The Sites in Bloom Awards were introduced in 2003 by the late Alan Payne OBE, former executive member and Caravan Club Life member, in a move said to recognise the creative and horticultural skills of site wardens and volunteers and to showcase their success in making their sites colourful and welcoming.

Judging criteria takes into account a number of factors, including layout and creative use of space, variety, innovation, flair and colour coordination, with particular attention paid to economy and low maintenance.

Wingamm Rookie 3.5 micro-caravan comes to the UK

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by Joe Jeffrey

Wingamm’s micro-caravan is available in the UK for the first time for 2016

Its true to say that Italians are renowned for innovation when it comes to fashion and design, but what happens if you take these elements and mix them together to create a micro-caravan? Well, the results are pretty impressive if the Wingamm Rookie 3.5 is anything to go by – and the lightweight micro-caravan is now available in the UK for the first time.

Featuring a full-sized interior, the aerodynamic Rookie 3.5 comes in two weight options – 750kg or 1,000kg respectively – and three different models are available within the range.

The Rookie Lite, weighing in at just 750kgs, is the lightest within the range, whilst the Pitch is designed for those who enjoy utilising campsite facilities and features gas/electric boiler, electric floor heating, alloy wheels, AL-KO stabiliser and an upgraded 1,000kg chassis. Thirdly, the Wild features the highest specification and includes a Truma heating system and bathroom with Thetford cassette toilet and shower.

A one-piece fiberglass body on each of the three models provides for an extra-smooth look, complementing the flush-fitting external door and lockers complete with hidden hinges.

Measuring in at a length of just 3.6m, the Rookie is also pretty roomy for a micro-caravan, meaning that space and comfort has not been compromised. The front seating area converts into a large double bed with the option of an additional bunk above, whilst the central kitchen has a sink, two-burner hob and 7-litre Dometic fridge.

Wingamm has stuck to a similar ethos to its motorhome design when it comes to creating the Rookie, running with a neutral colour scheme whilst sticking to the distinctive Italian design the company is known for.

A choice of additional options are available aross the Rookie range, including a choice of two Truma heating and hot water systems, 12v battery, AL-KO AKS 1300 stabliser, ATC stability control and much more, including Dometic air conditioning and wiring for a solar panel for true off-grid living.

Prices range from £11,9995 for the entry level, up to £15,495 for the the Rookie Wild. There’s no need to splash out straight away, though, and Wingamm offer those interested a try before you buy ‘Wingamm Experience’ where you can choose to hire a Rookie to put it to the test; any rental charges are then deducted from the final price of purchasing your very own should this be decided.

Gaving Campbell, managing director of Wingamm UK, said of the Wingamm Rookie’s arrival in the UK: “We’re delighted to bring the Rokie 3.5 to the Uk for the first time. It is a unique caravan that’s perfect for the increasing need for lighter caravans that can be towed with smaller cars or by younger people who don’t automatically have driving licences with B+E entitlement.”

To see more of the Wingamm Rookie 3.5, The visit the official Wingamm website here.

Certified Location of the year 2015 winner announced at prestigious Caravan Club Awards

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by Joe Jeffrey

Field House Farm in Yorkshire scoops CL of the Year 2015

Field House Farm has been awarded first place in The Caravan Club‘s Certified Location (CL) of the Year Awards 2015, voted for by The Caravan Club’s one million members.

The Awards, which highlight the best privately owned, maximum five-van sites across the UK, took place earlier this week at the House of Commons, and saw owner Wendy Tomlinson and her partner Stuart Preston presented with the prestigious title by the Rt. Hon John Whittingdale MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport at the annual parliamentary reception.

Nestled within the rural countryside approximately eight miles south of the city of York, dog-friendly Field House Farm features five double electric hook up points, new shower and toilet facilities, WiFi and much more to make one’s stay pleasant. The CL site is also within close proximity of a number of fishing lakes as well as Lower Derwent Valley National Nature Reserve.

CaravanTimes sends its congratulations to Wendy Tomlinson and those involved in being presented with first place.

The Caravan Club announces 2016 peak booking day date

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by Joe Jeffrey

Prepare to get booking for your 2016 break now!

The Caravan Club has announced it is to open its booking system for the 2016 season from Wednesday 9 December.

Booking for next season will be easier than ever before, thanks to The Caravan Club’s Easy Book Service, which features upfront pricing, interactive calendar and allows you to make bookings with just a few clicks on your tablet or mobile phone.

Don’t worry if technology isn’t your cup of tea though, as you can still make bookings from 8am on 9 December by calling The Caravan Club direct on 01342 327 490 for UK club sites and 01342 316 101 for overseas.

For 2016, all site prices will be available by clicking through to this link from 9:30am on Monday 9 November, providing you plenty of time to sift through all sites on offer and choose where you’ll be heading to for 2016.

As previously mentioned, booking opens on 9 December at 8am, but you will be able to sign in to your profile from 7am to prepare for snapping up your pitch. Only one booking will be able to be made at a time and confirmation will appear on your profile page immediately, with email confirmation winging its way into your inbox within 24 hours. In order to book, members will be given ten minute slots in order to ensure fair process, so the trick here is to have a list of your preferred sites with dates so the process runs as smoothly as possible.

A number of exciting developments at Caravan Club sites are in store for 2016, including redevelopment plans for Black Knowl Caravan Club Site, Freshwater East Caravan Club Site and White Water Park Caravan Club Sites, which will inevitably cause delays to opening times, but are sure to be worth it. Bookings for these sites will not be available on peak booking day, but with plenty more to choose from, you’re sure to be spoilt for choice.

Will you be heading back to your usual site in 2016, or do you feel like going somewhere different? Let us know in the comments below.

Caravanners and motorhomers call on Portsmouth council to act on removal of height restrictors

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by Joe Jeffrey

Locals claim height barriers are affecting local tourism

Hundreds of people in the Portsmouth area have hit back at Portsmouth council’s decision to introduce new height barriers to carparks in the Gosport area, amidst claims the move will affect local tourism within the area.

Gosport Borough Council implemented the height restrictions to deter travellers from pitching up around the seafront at Stokes Bay, but some residents are now saying the height barriers installed will discourage tourists to visit, with one local resident, Alan Rowland, setting up a petition calling for the removal of them.

Rowland said: “There are a lot of people who travel down here from all over the country.

“Stokes Bay is well-known but these barriers will discourage people to come here.

“The barriers affect people with motorhomes, boats on their cars and surfboards on top of their roofs.

“These are people who pay to use the car park, but now they don’t have a choice.”

Another local resident, Deborah Bull, agreed, saying: “It’s wrong to penalise a whole section of the community just because of the chance of the car park being misused by a minority.

“Recreational vehicles should be allowed to park and enjoy a facility their owners have paid for.”

Other people who have signed the petition said it was an act of ‘madness by the council’ and would ’cause problems for the community’.

A representative for Gosport Borough Council has since stated the council is currently looking to provide for a designated area for caravans and motorhomes to park by the beach, but is this too little too late and simply a case of caravanners and motorhomers being overlooked once again? Considering Portsmouth acts as a ferry port to many destinations further afield, and one which many mtoorhomers and caravanners use, this isn’t exactly a smart move.

Man designs two-berth lightweight caravan light enough to be towed by a bicycle

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by Joe Jeffrey

Wide Path Camper looks set to be a hit with cyclists looking to escape

A lightweight, two-berth caravan has been designed which is light enough to be able to be towed by a bicycle.

The collapsable Wide Path Camper, brainchild of Danish designer, Mads Johansen, who came up with the idea in 2012, will feature a bed, storage space, a sitting area, as well as cooking options, and will launch in Spring 2016 with prices starting at around £1,400 – weighing in at just 45 kg.

Of his design, Johansen said: “I wondered how to create better sleeping possibilities while being on a bicycle holiday.

“I made a couple of designs and also participated in an entrepreneur contest, winning a free office and consulting for a year.

“That was the push to get started and turning this into a business.”

In all, 50 Wide Path Campers are available for preorder, with the scope to provide more should the innovative design prove popular.

Additional options are available, including solar panels, in order to allow people to charge mobile phones on the move.

Despite its small size, the Wide Path Camper is also resistant to winds of up to 33mph, with wheels which have been designed to allow for stability.

Although not in line with the creature comforts we’ve come to appreciate within our own caravans, we reckon this would be ideal for those wishing to explore the great outdoors on, say, a biking holiday away. Check out the video below and let us know what do you think.

Resurgence in caravan industry creates positive impact on other company sectors

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by Joe Jeffrey

Growing trend in caravanning helping to aide company growth elsewhere

New jobs are set to be created at a logistics company, said to come off the back of the positive impact the surge in caravanning is bringing with it, it has been reported.

Neill & Brown Global Logistics, based in Hull, will be creating a number of jobs and increasing its vehicle fleet, as well as expanding its business opportunities in both domestic and export markets, with the resurgence of the region’s caravan industry helping to fuel company growth.

Neill & Brown group chief executive, Peter Brown, said: “This is a significant investment, reflecting our desire to meet current customer demand and demonstrates our optimism about future growth.

“The resurgence of caravan manufacturing has resulted in an increase in business for us in the transport of new mobile and static caravans within the UK.

“We are also seeing increased secondhand sales to Europe, particularly to Poland, and to Belgium, the Czech Republic, France and the Netherlands. There is additional activity from construction clients for the movement of site cabins and modular buildings, and we are also expecting demand from the renewables sector.”

Following on from recent news on the positive results seen at the Motorhome & Caravan Show 2015, it goes without saying that the caravan industry is currently experiencing a positive boom. Long may it continue.

Auto-Sleeper announces sales in excess of £5 million at NEC Show 2015

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by Joe Jeffrey

Impressive sales figures annaounced again off strength of NEC show

Auto-Sleeper have heralded the successful launch of their 2016 flagship model ranges at this year’s Motorhome & Caravan Show 2015, with sales in excess of over £5 million for their new range of 2016 motorhomes.

Every model in Auto-Sleeper‘s portfolio was on display for visitors to view, including the all new Fairford, which is based on the Peugeot Boxer XLWB chassis and features a sumptuous rear lounge, a front dinette offering spacious lounging plus 2 additional forward facing travel seats alongside a superb kitchen and generous washroom.

All three model ranges benefitted from significant specification upgrades inside and out whilst, crucially, Auto-Sleeper’s flagship Peugeot coachbuilt and van conversion models will continue to be offered on the licence friendly 3500kg chassis for 2016. Meanwhile, Mercedes remains the undisputed king of the road with its seven speed fully automatic gearbox and rear wheel drive chassis.

Dave Williams, sales director for Auto-Sleeper Motorhomes commented: “Building on last year’s success was a tremendous achievement for us, ever increasing market competition from the mainstream and smaller independent manufacturers is great news for everyone as it spurs us on to constantly raise the bar, this year’s range is undoubtedly our finest ever.  

“Well done to the organisers too, it was fantastic to experience such a positive atmosphere throughout the show and bodes well for the year ahead,”Williams continued, referencing the Motorhome & Caravan Show 2015, which attracted close to 100,000 visitors to the NEC.

Bill Bailey takes to social media over stolen tour bus

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by Joe Jeffrey

Another celebrity caravan theft, as Bill Bailey’s tour bus stolen during gig

Bill Bailey has taken to social media to track down his tour bus, which was stolen in Liverpool during a gig.

It is thought that Bailey’s tour bus was taken after thieves forced entry in through the backdoor of the Liverpool Philharmonic where Bailey was performing to a sold out crowd. The celebrity’s tour bus keys were taken along with his laptop.

The 51-year-old comedian, musician and television and radio presenter took to Twitter shortly after discovering his tour bus had been taken, saying: “Lively crowd @liverpoolphil last night- shame our tour bus was nicked from outside the venue! So gig not too bad all things considered.”

The West Country comedian also utilised Facebook in order to ask locals to keep an eye out for the bus, saying: “Scousers, keep ’em peeled . At 2.30pm yesterday afternoon (Monday 26 October), two thieves entered the Liverpool Philharmonic via a wedged open side door and broke into the production offices for Bill Bailey’s live tour, Limboland.”

The theft of Bailey’s tour bus comes less than three weeks after Warwick Davis’ Elddis caravan was stolen from Cambridgeshire
as reported by CaravanTimes.

Robinsons Caravans appointed Elddis retailer in exciting expansion plans

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by Joe Jeffrey

Expansion plans see Elddis ranges come to Worksop and Chesterfield dealerships

Robinsons Caravans have joined forces with Elddis to offer a number of new ranges as part of expansion plans at the popular dealership network.

The family-run dealership, located in Chesterfield and Worksop, will represent all Elddis ranges, including the new Avante, Affinity and Crusader and new 2016 models have now arrived at the company’s Worksop dealership just in time for the new season, including the all-new Avante 554 featuring four berths and a transverse island bed.

Chied executive of Robinsons Caravans, David Robinson, said of the new partnership with Elddis: “I am excited about the addition of Elddis touring caravans to the Robinsons Caravans portfolio.

“Elddis are one of the best-known caravan brands and have been synonymous with quality leisure vehicles since 1964 and I believe the 2016 range is the best ever!

“The reliability of their fully bonded SoLiD Construction and StongLite sides coupled with unique features and layouts make the new Elddis range the perfect choice to broaden our customer appeal at our Worksop site.

“We look forward to welcoming both new and existing customers to discover the 2016 Season Elddis models, all of which should be on site at Worksop by the end of September.”

Spancer Davis, Elddis’ national account manager, echoed Robinson’s sentiments, saying: “Since the launch of SoLiD Construction and our continued investment in product development, we have seen strong growth in the UK and beyond.

“Robinsons Caravans‘ confidence in Elddis – both with our industry-leading SoLiD Construction – combined with their strategy for growth is both exciting and encouraging.

“This new partnership strengthens our position yet further and – at a time that demand for Elddis is so high – gives Customers in the Region even greater access to the range.”

Introducing the new Swift Rio layouts for 2016

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by Joe Jeffrey

Check out the two new additions to the Rio range in our latest video here

The Swift Rio was launched in last year to much critical acclaim, providing a compact, sportier and more convenient choice to motorhoming for the discerning motorhomer and to those looking to enter the motorhome arena for the first time.

Filling the gap in the market between larger motorhomes and van conversions, the Rio is a mere 2.26m wide and under six metres in length, the Rio is designed to provide a more compact alternative than the bigger and bulkier motorhomes on the market today, whilst encompassing everything we’ve come to expect form Swift, including quality build and design both inside and out.

Two new layouts have been added to the Rio range for 2015, including the two-berth Rio 310 with front lounge, centre kitchen and end washroom, and the fourth-berth Rio 425, featuring plentiful rear garage, electric drop down bed and much more.

We caught up with Swift’s Gary O’Brien to find out more, so make sure you check out our latest video to see what makes the Rio the sporty, compact number it is today.

Tickets on sale now for the Caravan, Camping & Motorhome Show 2016

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by Joe Jeffrey

Caravans, motorhomes and more set to return to the NEC for 2016

Tickets are on sale now for the Caravan, Camping & Motorhome Show 2016, taking place from 23 – 28 February 2016 at the NEC in Birmingham. The event is the UK’s largest start of holiday season showcase and is set to welcome visitors that love nothing more than spending their leisure time in the great outdoors. It’s the place to visit for families, pet owners and anyone else looking to go on holiday in a leisure vehicle and there’s plenty of free advice for those new to the lifestyle.
In 2016 a brand new glamping holiday village will debut at the Show featuring bell tents, yurts, tipis and other trendy accommodation options. There’s more than 350 exhibitors, plenty of outdoor accessories to browse and buy and exciting feature areas that add up to make a fantastic value day out.
The popular dog agility area returns as well as a packed programme of sessions in the revamped Experts’ Theatre, including slots on what to look for when buying a first leisure vehicle. For people new to towing, or those looking to freshen up their skills, the free towing experience is back to help visitors try driving with a caravan in a safe and controlled environment. And, free motorhome manoeuvring sessions can be booked with expert tuition from qualified instructors.
James Bissett, marketing campaign director for NCC Events, organiser of the Caravan, Camping & Motorhome Show, said: “Following on from our successful Motorhome & Caravan Show in October 2015 I can’t wait to throw open the doors to our February start-of-season showcase, especially with our new glamping holiday village in mind. For anyone who loves spending time in the great outdoors and wants to find out more about the leisure vehicle lifestyle there is no better place to start than our show. We’ll have plenty more thrilling news to come in the weeks ahead so stay tuned to our website and social media channels.”
Organised by NCC Events, a wholly owned subsidiary of industry trade body the National Caravan Council, and supported by The Caravan Club and The Camping and Caravanning Club
the Show features many leading leisure vehicle manufacturers, including Adria, Bailey, Coachman, Elddis, Lunar, Swift, Trigano and more. This means visitors will be able to compare all the latest motorhome and caravan layouts, interiors and benefit from exclusive show offers on thousands of products ahead of the 2016 season.

Tickets can be booked now by visiting the official show website here or by calling 0844 873 7333.