Category Archives: Camping & Caravan Show

Ticking All The Boxes…

21 Tuesday Jan 2020

Posted by in Camping & Caravan Show, Caravan & Motorhome Show, Caravan Designs, Caravan Electrics, Manchester Caravan & Motorhome Show, Modifications

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A few days ago we were at the Manchester Caravan & Motorhome show and we think that finally we may have found our next caravan. I posted on Twitter couple of photos and said something along the lines of “Now anyone that reads the blog will know we have been looking for a new caravan for the last couple of years and finally the @CoachmanCaravan Laser 665 ticks nearly all the boxes…“

A follower on Twitter – Venomator  @Venomator tweeted back “I would be very interested to know what box/es remain unticked then?…” so this is a bit of a reply really.

My “Lithium Ready” sticker…note the ticked box!

One of the biggest things I have been looking out for on any caravan or motorhome is a sticker announcing that the charging systems installed are suitable for Lithium chemistry batteries. So many people have been asking me recently about changing over to Lithium and what’s involved… well quite a lot actually. There is not that much difference between a motorhome or a caravan when it comes to changing over to Lithium.

The existing shore power charger built in to most motorhomes and caravans is not lithium friendly and will probably result in either damaged lithium cells or a battery that is never really charged. So the inbuilt charger will need to be swopped out.

The solar chargers on most (not all) leisure vehicles can’t be programmed for lithium, so that will need to be replaced. And finally the vehicle charging system, which currently on most production leisure vehicles be it motorhome or caravan is not suitable for lithium batteries so a DC to DC charger will need to be installed.

All this adds up to a bit of a job and a fair chunk of beer (or wine) tokens on top of the price of a Lithium battery. I have seen lithium batteries that are advertised as direct replacements and can be dropped in place of an existing Lead acid wet cell or AGM battery but this would imply that they have charging circuits built into the battery and careful research shows the same battery and part number offered by a different vendor with no such claim to be ‘drop in’ replacements. So beware.

As I really wanted to start off a new van with a lithium set up (I can get around 360Ah of lithium for the same weight as 110Ah of good quality lead acid) but the down side is I’d have to virtually rewire the charing side of a new caravan. I eagerly await one of the big caravan manufactures to offer a “Lithium Ready” product and maybe they would like to use my label!

I don’t think it would be that difficult to achieve and due to production volumes, the additional cost would only be marginal. I expect that (or hope!) that one of the aftermarket companies such as Sterling Power or RedArc would offer something that might be a cost effective ‘box’ to achieve a changeover.

So what else was on our unticked list?

Coachman Laser 665 – Twin Axle, mid bath, twin beds. The chosen one!

I still would like caravan manufacturers to actually go out and look at a site full of caravans being used. I can’t understand why they don’t move the electrical hook up and water at least behind the axle so it would be closer to where the EHU post is. One thing I find is having a VW Amarok which is one of the widest pickups on the UK market, on some pitches if we are using the Aquarol it’s damn near impossible to squeeze down the side. Moving everything to the rear would make it so much easier… well for us it would.

While I’m on the subject of EHU’s & water connections…. Instead of cutting lots of small holes in the sides of our vans for water and 16 amp connections… do what our American cousins do… locate everything in one locker and save on the routing out holes in the sides and adding plastic doohickeys with sliding or hinged covers. I do like the fact that some caravans now have the battery stored in a floor compartment.

240 volt connection, water inlet and valves to switch between internal and external water all neatly located on one locker with access panel for hose and cable through the floor. All located to the rear of the caravan… and in a European caravan too!

The other one that missed the tick box was the lack of being able to sit in front of a mirror…

Not a deal breaker for me… but Sue thought that if they had made the mirror so it could swing round either way to face each bed that would have been ideal. Some of Swifts offerings have got it spot on with a mini dressing table. Coachman however have conveniently located a socket for hair dryer/straightners. I did wonder about having a small stool or seat spanning across the two beds… but think the mirror swivel is a much better idea. Maybe it’s something that could be added as an after market item using a swivel TV bracket maybe”

Now… anyone know where I can buy some cheap lottery tickets…. hello… anyone….

2017 Manchester Caravan And Motorhome Show…

19 Thursday Jan 2017

Posted by in Camping & Caravan Show, General

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It doesn’t seem like 12 months since we were last here, how time flies! Each year the show seems to break the previous years attendance record (last year it was over 33,900 visitors over the four days) and I hope this year the trend continues. Held again at Event City next to the Trafford Centre its the North West’s only big caravan and motorhome show and is the opportunity for some of the biggest caravan dealers to kick the new year off with a deal or two to get the market moving. Although by all accounts this year is going to be a ‘staycation’ bonanza with more and more people choosing to holiday in the UK rather than travelling abroad.

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The Caravan & Motorhome Show is on at the same time as the Travel Destinations show, but I do wonder if it might be time to split these as the two shows seem to be getting very busy and competing for space. This year the organisers have decided to open at 9:30AM on both Saturday & Sunday in order to help ease the weekend congestion.

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 All the main North West dealers had stands…. and all were offering show special pricing.

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So what caught my eye at this show?

Well back in October last year we dithered about replacing our caravan… and decided to continue for a while with our current one as it did everything we needed it too, so I wasn’t particularly looking at caravans.

I did however want to drop by the Duvalay stand to get a couple of questions answered. We recently saw Dan Trudgian’s video about their experiences with making up beads and they had settled on a Duvalay solution, and although we have a fixed bed wondered if we could use two single’s on a fixed double bed. I managed to speak to a very busy Liz Colleran, sales and marketing director, about our options and wanted to know if two single toppers would ‘creep apart’ or generally move around. Liz told me that once put in place they tend to stay put. I did have a few other questions and Liz answered these with ease. So, the next thing is to choose the colour and get them ordered!

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I did like this retro scooter…hmm would it fit in the back of the Amarok?
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If you need a tool for a job, this guy will have it!
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Have you checked the date on your fire extinguisher recently? Might be worth doing so and stopping off here if you need to replace it.
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Sue and I would not be without our Ecocamel shower head in the caravan now.

My next stop was P F Jones. As many of you know I’m still in the process of fitting out our new tow vehicle and the last thing is a bike rack for our two bikes. My initial thoughts ware a simple rack over the Amarok’s Roll-N-Lock bed cover. However as the Amarok is so wide, it wasn’t as simple as I thought. Options for Pick-Up trucks in the UK are somewhat limited. The problem was not only the span, but the mounting points. As I wanted to mount the cross bars across the bed, the only point the bars would mount was the flat surface at the side of the Roll-N-Lock track. There were two manufacturers that made racks and bars that would fit… Yakima and Thule. Yakima manufacture a huge range of roof racks and bike carriers, unfortunately the available range is limited in Europe and although they had a solution, it meant importing it from the USA and that would prove very costly given the current exchange rate and import duty. This left Thule, however the correct mounting foot, although available in the USA (made for the Jeep Wrangler) was not available in Europe. Even contacting Thule directly, I could not buy a set in Europe. I have had to import them from the USA.

Back to the story! Looking at photos of all the bits is fine, and checking tables to confirm size is OK… but there is nothing like a hands on, pull it, push it, slide it, will it, won’t it, get up close look at something which is exactly what I could do on the P F Jones stand. I managed to talk to a young chap that works in the racks and accessories section who spent the time going through the options and how everything could be adjusted round the sports bars fitted to the Amarok. He did suggest I could take the Amarok down to their shop in Trafford Park and they could go through and check everything would fit and be in the right place before I ordered. I’ll be taking them up on that offer in the near future!

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I wish all Ice Cream vans were this cool! I wonder what jingle it plays?

…and finally

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My last stop was to put my head in one of our choices for a replacement caravan… It ticked most of our boxes back in October at the NEC but we were looking for a twin bed version. Unfortunately no one seems to make a twin axle, mid bath, rear twin bed caravan. Except Vanmaster of course!

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Now if they only made a twin bed version of this caravan, it would be nearly perfect for us!
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So that’s my little show roundup done. Nothing exciting really, it was more an intel gathering mission for me.

The show is on until Sunday 22nd January and remember it opens from 9:30AM  on Saturday and Sunday. There is plenty of parking both at Event City and across the road… or you can park in the Trafford Centre.

NEC Show, Caravan Designs and Looking For A Caravan…

05 Saturday Nov 2016

Posted by in Blog updates, Camping & Caravan Show, Caravan Servicing, Maintenance

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A bit of a belated post about our trip down to the NEC show and looking round at the possibilities of a new caravan and a catch up on the damp situation (thanks to everyone that emailed me about it!)

This year was our first time taking the caravan down to the show, and after some initial over thinking about actually staying on a car park, it turned out really quite a fun experience.

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I actually spotted someone taking a photo of the Amarok!

Due to both our work commitments we couldn’t leave for the show until Thursday after I’d finished a 12 hour night shift. So after a few hours sleep we left home to collect the caravan around lunchtime. The drive down even in mid-week traffic wasn’t too bad, and towing on a busy motorway with the Amarok is a breeze letting the cruse control pace us with the HGV’s. The instructions for getting to site sent to us by the Caravan Club were easy to follow and got us into the reception area smoothly without any wrong turns.

Surprisingly the N11 car park is fairly level where we were and setup was quick. The Caravan Club had done a sterling job of making sure water and electrics were all sorted and it didn’t take us long to set up. As it was fairly late, we put off going over to the show until the morning.

Friday

Up fairly early, quick shower (loving the Eco Camel shower head!), coffee and we walked the twenty or so feet to the bus stop for the 5 minute bus ride to the NEC. First stop was to the press office to pick up our badges and a quick text to Andrew Ditton who I’d arranged to meet up with again.

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After being told about the damp in the caravan and the cracked end cap, we had it in mind to look round for a new caravan. Our initial tick list was simple – twin axle, centre  bathroom. Other than that, we would start a list of likes and dislikes as we saw each van based on what we saw.

One thing became clear pretty quickly, we weren’t keen on transverse beds as it meant one or the other of us would have to do some nifty squeezing to get to the bathroom at night.

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“Hmmm why is this table here exactly?”

Hair Drying…

Sue finds the setup for her in our present caravan works really well for hair drying. There is a light, mirror, shelf and 240 volt power socket conveniently placed so she can sit on the edge of the bed and dry her hair. This was one of the things we were scoring on. We were surprised that in some of the vans this was not possible. Sit on the edge of the bed and watch TV… but no mirror. Or a mirror, shelf and light but nowhere to plug-in a hair dryer or straighteners. While on the subject of TV’s… why do manufacturers insist on installing a TV mount in the bedroom…. but not always in the living area. By choice we would not have a mount fitted in the bedroom but would want one in the living area.

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… Like the fridge and microwave locations… no cooker hood though.

The other thing that we noticed was Swift are now installing a TV mount in a locker on the outside of the caravan…. methinks someone has been watching too many American RV shows with 40 inch TV’s installed on the outside. Personally I think this is a bad idea. TV’s in awnings have been the source of noise complaints in the past. I do hope this is not going to be a new trend.

Tables…

In our current van, the table is stored under the bed, and to be honest it’s a pain to get out and put away. So we checked out the table locations. Some were great, right in the living area… others were not so good, you had to carry them from the back of the van through to the front. I know it’s only a minor thing but its a thing never the less.

Outside Lockers…

Right, who said “We don’t need outside lockers” then? It seems more and more are dropping the number of outside lockers. The ones that do remain, just how useful are they? A number of the caravans we looked over you would be hard pushed to get a couple of outside chairs in the lockers as the space inside had been sub divided or was a wet locker. Currently we can store our chairs, waste hog and Cadac that are stored under the bed from the outside via a reasonably sized locker hatch only having to carry the Aquaroll inside the caravan to store it under the bed. When you start looking at the practicality of some of the lockers and what you can or can’t fit in through the opening do you realise the limitations.

Sinks we like…

Sinks… not really exciting but getting it right is important. Currently we have a rind sink, which is OK, until you want to use it. we have to find a place to put the sink cover… get out the draining board, make some space on the counter top, drop on the draining board and we are good to go. Afterwards, dry off the draining board, put it away, get out the sink cover and fit it back over the sink. Not too onerous really, but not exactly convenient. Now we both spotted this sink…. (photo below)

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Now that sink we do like and a solid door between the kitchen are and bathroom.

and both of us commented on what an improvement it was. The lid acted as an additional splash back the draining board was integrated into the sink so water draining off the washed dishes would not go everywhere… except back in the sink and it was a more usable shape. The tap too was handy, it would swing over the hob to allow filling of a pan rather than hiding a pan partly in the sink with one hand while trying to operate the tap with the other. We liked the general layout of this kitchen, the powered roof extractor right above the hob, but the down side was the hight and location of the microwave.

While on the subject of roof fans… why can’t caravan manufacturers install a sensible extracting cooker hood that vents to the outside?

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… A cooker hood! sadly only a circulation type not a proper extractor and twin beds… only the bathroom is to the rear. Close but no cigar!

After looking round all the manufacturers twin axle offerings we were very tempted… to the point of sitting down with the sales rep from Glossop Caravans and getting a value on our van for a trade in with the Sterling Celebration 635 – a dealer special. It ticked a lot of the boxes but sat in our caravan that evening we went through where we would put what… and it seemed like we were always making compromises about what could go where. and the list of what we would have to change or adapt seemed to get longer and longer. The layout was good… and we did like the fact the transverse bed was on the opposite side… I don’t know why that should make a difference really. But it came down to silly things… like that outside TV locker. That was a complete waste for us, and why didn’t they offer the rear view camera? It was fitted on other spec Swift caravans?

Our Ideal Layout…

We popped in to see the Vanmaster caravan… hand-built luxury, they only build about 12 per year apparently. This was a bit of an eye-opener layout wise for us though. The interior design was not to our taste, but these guys had our perfect layout. Centre bathroom and twin beds to the rear. Solid doors to shut of the bathroom both from the bedroom and the kitchen area.

So here it is, our ‘ideal’ (for the moment!) layout and options…

  • A Centre bathroom with twin beds to the rear. Under each bed, a storage space accessible from the outside, with perhaps on the off side a slightly larger door so that an Aquaroll can be passed through (store the Aquaroll and wastehog on the side it’s going to be used… along with perhaps the mains cable and hose pipe).
  • A solid door between the bedroom and bathroom, and another solid door between the living area and bathroom. The bathroom to have a powered roof fan vent.
  • A service light on the off-side above the EHU plug-in point & water point and a light mounted on the “A” frame to light the front gas locker.
  • Rear view camera.
  • Proper cooker hood.
  • Sensible place to sit and dry hair.
  • No “hunk of iron” screwed to the wall in the bedroom for a TV that we would never fit.
  • Internal water tank.
  • Suitable area for me to work at a laptop.
  • Ability to install a second leisure battery.
  • 100 watts minimum solar panel
  • At least 800mm width of wardrobe hanging space (2 x 400 would be fine)
  • Lounge table stored in the lounge area.
  • A useful ‘user’ load capacity of 200Kg
  • Lockers… lots of lockers that you can actually put stuff in. Also locker doors that open downwards not lift up so you have to get on your hands and knees to peer inside under the open door.

Decisions Decisions….

So what did we decide in the end? Well our caravan went back to Glossop Caravans to have new caps installed and the damp sorted, and while it was there we decided to have the roof light in the bedroom and the one in the bathroom replaced with the new clear tilt lift ones that are now fitted as standard in a number of vans. The old ones were virtually impossible to clean and both were showing cracks in the edges of the outer perspex layer.

I have designed and built a new section for the chest of draws in the lounge that fits between the draws and the front window that will give us two 12 volt sockets, three 240 volt sockets and 6 USB sockets. Once that’s installed and with the new roof lights fitted…. we decided to keep the caravan for another year.

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Staying at the NEC for the show…

If you haven’t done it… DO IT! For us it was well worth it. It’s not cheap, but being able to wander in and out of the show, planning what to see and going back to check out things in detail was really worth it.

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That’s us in the distance on the corner…. in front of the tent!…

“In A Tent… In A Car Park…. Next To The NEC….”

We were pitched on the corner right in front of the tent and on the first night the music kicked off… and it was… it wasn’t all that bad, in fact it was pretty good. The next nights music was pretty good also. So not wanting to be missing anything we ventured in and it was packed out…

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It was a great atmosphere and everyone was enjoying it. It was a different group playing each night. The beer was cold and not too pricy, the food seemed to be going down well too.

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If you haven’t stayed at the NEC for one of the big shows, it’s well worth it in our opinion, especially if you are looking to buy a new caravan or motor home. It gives you plenty of time to look round, make lists and go back to find exactly what you want.

Oh and by the way…. the catch phrase of the week from the evenings MC…. “In A Tent… In A Car Park…. Next To The NEC“

I’d like to take a second to thank all the Caravan Club staff that make staying at the NEC possible. It looks easy, but I’m sure an awful lot of work has to go into the organisation of it all and hard work by members staffing the site. Remember, if we don’t book and use it, we could lose it!

What’s Next?…

I’ve just taken delivery of a dash-cam for the Amarok. It’s a twin camera unit so I’ll be installing that in the next few days. I’m not sure if I’ll be doing a write-up on the actual installation… unless you would like to read about it. Let me know.

UPDATE… (even before the post is posted!)

It’s taken me a few days to write this article and this morning (5th Nov) we went up to Glossop Caravans to collect our caravan after having the remedial work done for the damp and the two new roof lights installed. The work on the damp seems fine, I guess time will tell with that. The roof lights have been installed and they are exactly what we wanted. However our initial checks didn’t show up an issue. It wasn’t until we got the caravan back to our storage facility that on closer inspection one of the roof lights had a crack in the main body.

The bathroom roof light, perfect, no issues.

The bathroom roof light, perfect, no issues.

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However on the roof light above the bed there is a crack on the inner frame…

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At first we thought is was a dirty mark, but on closer inspection it is a fully developed crack…

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… possibly starting from this over tightened screw maybe?

So, as I was on a night shift last night and asleep most of the day as I’m on nights again tonight (no bonfire for me) I’ll have to drop them an email tonight with a follow-up call on Monday.

Sometimes you really want to just go “AAAAAGHHHHHHHHHH”

It’s That Time Again…

11 Sunday Oct 2015

Posted by in Accessories, Camping & Caravan Show, Events

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It’s that time of year again for the Motorhome and Caravan Show at the NEC. I’m all set to visit next Saturday(17th) and will be dropping in to see a few old friends of Caravan Chronicles… and some new ones.

A number of companies have been in touch about doing product reviews and testing over the winter months and with nearly 1.4 million page visits to the Caravan Chronicles blog (over 3500 per day!) it seems like in the next few months I’m going to be busy. We are still thinking about changing our tow vehicle and I’ve planned a couple of articles about the excision process that we will be going through to help us decide. I’ve also got a couple of features on caravan and motorhome electrics in the pipeline.

So if you see me there dashing between stands, please stop me and say “Hi”, it’s always nice to meet some of the blog readers.

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And I can’t go without saying a big thanks to NCC Events team for all their work in organising this years show. I’ll bet they have already started working on the 2016 show now!

Simon

PS… if you haven’t already planned you visit, this mint be handy: Motorhome and Caravan Show 2015 floor-plan

A Grand Day Out…

20 Friday Feb 2015

Posted by in Camping & Caravan Show, Events, General

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Yesterday I travelled down to the NEC for the Caravan & Camping Show. Catching the early “OMG it’s 6:35AM” train from Stockport got me down to Birmingham International around 8:20 and it’s only a short walk over the foot bridge straight into the NEC main concourse.

What a lot of shiny caravans!

What a lot of shiny caravans!

I’d arranged to meet up with a few people for a bit of a catch up and to find out what’s planned for this year rather than just visit the show to see all the new caravans and motorhomes. Although it’s hard to resist!

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Everyone on The Camping & Caravan Club stand getting ready for the doors to open

Everyone on The Camping & Caravan Club stand getting ready for the doors to open  

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First port of call was to drop by the Glossop Caravan stand and say hello. Last year Glossop Caravans allowed me to follow our caravan through the whole process of the service and gave me access to the service and repair facility. Hopefully I might be doing something else with GC later this year.

All quiet on the mahoosive Glossop Caravan stand... until the doors open that is

All quiet on the mahoosive Glossop Caravan stand… until the doors open that is

I took time to drop by and see Adam & Sophie on the Motorhome WiFi stand (http://www.motorhomewifi.com/). We have exchanged emails a few times about putting WiFi units in caravans and they have been working behind the scenes on a new range of products which will be coming out soon.

Powr Products... the motor mover people. I really must talk to them about doing a guide on the blog for installing movers.

Powr Products… the motor mover people. I really must talk to them about doing a guide on the blog about installing motor movers.

I had a brief chance to sit down and chat to journalist and fan of the full English breakfast Lee Davey (@tintent) and that thoroughly decent chap Andrew Ditton (@andrewjditton) about what’s happening this year and… well you will have to wait and see!

The whole caravan and motorhome industry seem to be in a rather buoyant mood. Early reports indicate this might just be a bumper year with everyone saying they are doing better than the same time last year especially with a lot interest from people who are new to the market. This seems to be backed up by recent figures from camping sites reporting an increase in early bookings for the year.

I also stopped to see John Turner from Visit Somerset and Tranquil Touring Parks. There is a lot of activity and some great things in the pipeline including some new sites being added… more about that soon.

The NCC - CRiS, Tow-Check, Approved Workshops, CaSSOA

The NCC – CRiS, Tow-Check, Approved Workshops, CaSSOA

If you’ve not been to the Caravan and Camping show at the NEC before, it’s well worth a visit, even if you are not considering a new caravan or motorhome, there are lots of accessories and “things that you just couldn’t possibly do with out although you don’t know it yet” to see. It’s on until Sunday 22nd so you can still plan to visit.

I’d just like to thank Sue for getting up at silly o’clock to run me to the station and then turning out in the evening drizzle to pick me up.

So that’s about it from me, but here’s a few more pictures… but you’ll probably never see it this quiet!

The experts theatre.... we just need an expert now...

The experts theatre…. we just need an expert now…

The Bailey stand all ready for action...

The Bailey stand all ready for action…

Not into caravans or motorhomes... well there's a shed full of tents too!

Not into caravans or motorhomes… well there’s a shed full of tents too!

It won't be long before you cant see this far...

It won’t be long before you cant see this far…

Everything 12 volt and satellite on the Road Pro stand (I think they were all off having toast with the boss)

Everything 12 volt and satellite on the Road Pro stand (I think they were all off having toast with the boss)

The Caravan Club stand already busy and the doors have only just opened!

The Caravan Club stand already busy and the doors have only just opened!

2015 Caravan and Motorhome Show Review…

15 Thursday Jan 2015

Posted by in Camping & Caravan Show, General, Motor Home, Reviews

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THE CARAVAN & MOTORHOME SHOW, MANCHESTER
15th – 18th January 2015
EventCity, Phoenix Way, Barton Dock Rd, Manchester M41

Show Opening Times:
Thursday: 10 – 6pm
Friday: 10 – 8pm (free for visitors from 5pm onwards)
Saturday: 9.30 – 6pm
Sunday: 9.30 – 5.30pm

2015 Caravan & Motorhome Show CoverThe 2015 Caravan and Motorhome show was held once again at Event City near the Trafford Centre shopping mall. Although in its 17th year, this is the fourth year its been held at Event City and 2014 saw a record-breaking attendance of over 27,900 visitors, up by 13% on 2012.  if the success continues at the current rate it won’t be long before it might have to go from a 4 day event to a 5 day event.

Although the weather was forecast to be a bit wild and windy, the sun was shining and the M60 motorway was surprisingly quiet as we left home this morning and it only took about 20 minutes to get there. Car parking is not a problem and this year they have introduced a temporary traffic light crossing on Barton Dock road to make it easier crossing from the car park to Event City.

The quiet before the storm... before the show opened!

The quiet before the storm… before the show opened!

Thankfully we had a chance to gain access before the show opened to the public which gave us chance to check out some of the stands before they got too busy.

One of the new exhibitors to the Manchester show this year was Airstream and they had one of their iconic Airstream travel trailers along with TAB and the largest gathering of Eriba caravans we had seen.

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Although you do see a lot of Eriba caravans on sites, it’s not often you can get to look round and for such a tiny caravan on the outside, really there is a bit of a space time thing going on as I’m sure they are bigger on the inside!

I think the award for most caravans on a stand has to go to Glossop Caravans for their mahoosive stand…

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… it needs a map all of its own!

Glossop Caravans are one of the biggest caravan and motorhome retailers in the country and this show is almost in their back yard and they make the effort to make sure that they cover as many of the models as possible.

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Sue’s favourite caravan of the show… I thought I was going to have to go and do a deal with Brian Lang before she would come out!

Between Glossop’s stand and Swift’s stand I think every option for Swift Group products was covered.

The other major caravan dealers in the north-west Lowdhams, Campbells and Kimberly covered the other manufacturers. It was noticeable though the tiny number of Bailey caravans on show although Lowdhams had a great selection of Bailey motor-homes on their stand.SPB_5D_098246 The Show Opens

The show opened it’s doors promptly at 10:00 and the massed gathering outside in the entrance foyer flooded in. You could tell it was going to be busy.

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10:00am and the doors open…

By now it was coffee and bacon and egg muffin time….. DISASTER! Non of the food retailers we checked out had a traditional show breakfast offering of the humble bacon and egg… or sausage and egg muffin. The nearest we came to it was the main food outlet that was doing Bratwurst rolls (I hope they weren’t a result of poor bratwurst sales at a Christmas market!) so two bratwurst rolls, one tea and one coffee (and £15 lighter in the wallet) had to do. I know the food outlets at shows normally charge a premium.. but seriously guys… £15.

Something new…

One of the most innovative ideas at the show was something from a company called MOGO Freedom.

SPB_5D_098248Matjaz Korosec and Ross Design from Germany followed the adage of less is more – the luxury lies in its simplicity. In its simplest form it’s a bed in a box… that you can tow. Now it’s not going to replace a caravan, but, and here is the clever bit, for avid campers that want something a bit more than a bit of canvas over their head at night but don’t want to give up the simple freedom of camping this might just be the thing that they are looking for. It is of course a bit more than a bed in a box. The bed rises up electrically to reveal a large storage area and both sides of the box open up to form a roof. The great thing about it is it will store in a normal size garage and it’s a maximum of 750 Kg’s so no towing restrictions for younger drivers.

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Photo (c) MOGO Freedom Ltd

I think it’s a great idea as the all season alternative to a tent… go and have a look at the website… http://www.mogofreedom.com/

Other stuff…

Doing the rounds of some of the smaller exhibitors stands we chatted to the guys from Equipmart Ltd about their new KIAM inverter generators which really are pushing the price point for 1000 watt and 2000 watt inverter generators. Hopefully I’ll be able to include KIAM in a Caravan Chronicles generator shoot out and review later this year.  (http://kiamproducts.co.uk/generator/petrol-inverter.html )

Make sure you don’t forget your wallet (or purse!) as Towsure once again are hosting the Towsure Accessory Superstore which has some great show deals. It always amazes me just how much stuff they can pack into their stand.

We did mooch round some motorhomes and as caravanners we can appreciate the different requirements that motorhomers and caravanners have for their particular chosen mode of accommodation. However we did come across Moto-Trek’s Euro-Trekka range and one in particular, the tag axle Euro-Trekka II did have us thinking… Hmmm. It has two slide out’s, a big 700 Kg payload and a 1600Kg towing limit. Only question is as Andy Harris asks… can you make toast in it?

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So what did we think?…

Well if the crowds that we saw are anything to go by, I think it’s going to be another record-breaking show. It was great to see some new exhibitors to the show, especially Airstream and I hope that they and the others continue. All the stalwarts were there – Towsure, Isabella etc. Event City is an ideal location although I wonder how the show can grow apart from extending the number of days it’s open for. I did think that this year there were less leisure homes and lodges on show than previous years and maybe that one option would be to have these in a separate show all of their own so both could expand.

Definitely worth a visit, especially if you don’t want to travel down to the NEC next month.

The show is open Friday: 10 – 8pm, Saturday: 9.30 – 6pm and Sunday: 9.30 – 5.30pm and plenty of free parking.

First Big Event of 2015…

23 Tuesday Dec 2014

Posted by in Camping & Caravan Show, Events, General, Motor Home, Uncategorized

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logoHave you got the North’s biggest outdoor leisure show in your diary? 2015 promises to be a bumper year for the Caravan & Motorhome Show at Event City offering a huge choice of the latest models of touring caravans, motorhomes and holiday homes.

With over 300 exhibitors there is an incredible choice of new model caravans and motorhomes from all the leading manufacturers. In 2015, the show will feature more product launches than ever before, with new layouts being exclusively unveiled by leading manufacturers Bailey and Swift.

Last year the show saw a record breaking 27,917 visitors, with attendance up 13% on the previous year and 2015 aims to smash this target to be the biggest yet.

For the first time, in 2015, AIRSTREAM & Company will be exhibiting at The Caravan & Motorhome Show. Specialists in ‘cool camping trailers’, the team will be bringing a splash of silver to the Manchester event with three of its iconic brands set to be displayed.

Accessories

Leading accessory retailer Towsure will be returning to The Caravan & Motorhome Show for a second year to host the Towsure Accessory Superstore. They will bring along their massive range of products from bike-racks to barbecues, sat-navs to outdoor furniture. Towsure will also be offering lots of special show-only offers and discounts too!

Visitors can swing by The Food & Travel Stage to see Simon Reeve, Charley Boorman and Martin Dorey from ‘One Man and His Campervan’ cook up their favourite dishes and tell tales from their many adventures.

Sam North, Show Director, said: “We’re hoping to build on the success of last year’s show and deliver the best show to date. The 2015 event will offer something for all ages; the return of Great Days Out will provide entertainment for all the family, while those on the hunt for a new caravan or motorhome can browse the extensive collection of the latest models.”

Sue and I will be there for the opening on Thursday 15th January and hopefully tweeting and posting updates directly from the show.

See you there!

2014 Manchester Caravan & Motorhome Show…

23 Thursday Jan 2014

Posted by in Camping & Caravan Show, Events, General, Reviews

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Heavy rain first thing this morning didn’t seem to dampen the opening of the 2014 Manchester Caravan & Motorhome Show at Event City. We arrived around 9:15 and managed to park at the back of the arena and make our way to the entrance just as the rain stopped. This year, the tiny coffee stand in the entrance hall that was over-run last year had been replaced by a bigger stand far more suited to the number of people expected and there were plenty of tables to sit at while we waited for the doors to open. Continue reading →

Aww shucks, we never made it…!

18 Wednesday Dec 2013

Posted by in Blog updates, Camping & Caravan Show, Christmas Markets, General, Projects, Travelling in the UK, Trips

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For all that were waiting for our blogs and tweets from Cheltenham Christmas Markets last week, well we never made it. Unfortunately some work we were having done at Caravan Chronicles Towers over ran and the day we were due to set off, they were just erecting scaffolding on two sides of the house!

I emailed Scott & Jo Sanderson from Briarfields to let them know we would not be able to make it, offered my apologies and hoped to see them next year (Cheltenham is one of our favourite places to visit and shop). So we missed out on the Christmas Market for this year… Ho Humbug. On the up side, we do have some bottles of mulled wine that need testing!

Anyway, what it did mean was I could spend some time planning for next year. I have a two or three projects planned for the DIY enthusiasts amongst you and maybe a couple of new things too. I’m also hoping to be able to do a bit more of an in-depth review of the Manchester Caravan & Motorhome Show at Event City in January as well.

I also managed to finish a little piece about ISO 11446 after Roger contacted me via email with a question. Roger had his vehicle fitted with 13 pin electrics at the main dealer and after a fridge defrosting towing session found out that the fridge connection was missing from the factory fitted 13 Pin towing electrics. This is not uncommon, especially on cars of German manufacture. The OEM wiring kits from the factory don’t always include leisure battery and/or fridge circuits, these have to be added by the main dealer in the UK.

So if you are having a new tow bar and electrics fitted from a main dealer or specialist tow bar company, always check that the electrical installation is to ISO 11446 to make sure you get all the right connections made, and if you want to know what it is, here is my simple guide: ISO 11446 – 13 Pin Trailer Connections 

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