Tag Archives: Travel Trailer

NEC Show Roundup – it’s all technical…

28 Tuesday Feb 2017

Posted by in Caravan Electrics, Electrical, General, Maintenance, Modifications, Technical, tow vehicle, VW Amarok

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This is really a follow-up to my previous post – Smart Alternators: how they affect Caravans and Motorhomes….

While at the NEC show one of my big tasks was to get a number of technical questions answered by the industry players. One of my first stops was to Westfalia and to meet up with Rick Sykes and his colleague on the Westfalia stand. Rick is the national training manager for Westfalia and I was able to get answers to a number of questions that you have asked me and I’d not been able to answer fully. Continue reading →

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.

Feeling Festive and Shooting a Video…

20 Tuesday Dec 2016

Posted by in Accessories, Christmas Markets, Gadgets, General, Gifts

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This time of year is great for getting away in your caravan or motor home and getting into the festive spirit. We have owned a caravan for 5 years now and every year to extend the season we have managed to take in a Christmas Market – Lincoln, Erddig, Cheltenham, Oxford, Birmingham to name a few. This year would be no exception and we had decided to re-visit Birmingham. Around the same time as we were planning this, Andy Harris, the TV presenter, owner of RoadPro and avid motorhome enthusiast had been in touch and had a product he wanted us to try out… and make a video!

Monday 12th December

We had booked in again to Chapel Lane Caravan Club site in Wythall on the outskirts of Birmingham. Its ideally located for getting into the centre of Birmingham via the car or train.

We picked up the caravan from the storage facility and set off at 10:50 for the 104 mile trip down to the site. The motorways were showing clear on the GPS. Slight delay through the roadworks on the M6, but no major holdup. Pulled into Chapel Lane Camping and Caravan site at  13.15.

Pitching the caravan is by now, a well rehearsed act… pink and blue jobs and we both get on with it. However my awning setup routine was interrupted by Sue announcing “the loo won’t flush” You can read all about that in the previous post: Flushed With Success…. Eventually.

Twinkly lights under the full moon

Twinkly lights under the full moon

Tuesday 13th December

A little trip out to CAK Tanks for a spare part was the order of the day after ringing to confirm they had the part in stock. Before we set off Sue prepared the evening meal in the slow cooker (crock-pot). Sue recently ‘re-discovered’ our slow cooker and has been trying different recipes. It really is ideal for the caravan…. prepare everything in the morning, turn it on and set off for the day knowing there’s going to be a hot meal ready when we come back. Absolutely ideal for caravanning in the colder months.

We punched the address for CAK Tanks into the sat-nav and set off. It took us about 25 minutes to get there. This was our first visit to CAK and let me just say YOU GUY’S NEED A BIGGER SHOP! The existing shop was packed to the roof with products and I guess they only had a tiny percentage of what they actually stock on display and I would have loved to have spent hours browsing (and a small fortune probably) and chatting to the staff.

We arrived back at the caravan and I set to sorting out the ‘repair’…. which wasn’t really a repair, more putting right someone else’s mistake.

Wednesday 14th…. the video man cometh!

We were up fairly early to make sure everything was tidy… not that it usually isn’t, ready for Andy arriving. He was due to arrive about ten and had already got permission from the Caravan Club to shoot video on site.

Thankfully we were lucky with the weather. The previous days gloom and drizzle had given way to clear sky and in the morning bright sun. As for the video and what it was all about…. well you will just have to wait a few days but needless to say I ain’t going to win anything in the talent stakes!

Thursday 15th December

Wednesday night the temperature dropped and the fog started to appear. We were up early again and peering out of the caravan window.  After our showers it still didn’t seem like daylight had arrived properly. At least it wasn’t raining. We set off a little after nine to walk the mile or so down to Wythall station to catch the 09:57 train to Moor Street station which is perfect for visiting the centre of Birmingham.

Waiting for the train at Wythall Station in the morning mist

Waiting for the train at Wythall Station in the morning gloom

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Walking down New Street

Leaving the main entrance of Moor Street, if you cross over the road and climb the steps opposite it brings you out at one end of the Christmas Market on New Street and you just follow the stalls. We dropped in to a Costa Coffee to stock up on caffeine and followed  the trail of stalls. The stalls run along New Street and into Victoria Square where a number of the food and drink stalls are located.

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Some of the stalls in Victoria Square

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From Victoria Square follow Fletchers Walk toward Centenary Square where all the Christmas Craft market stalls are located, opposite the building that houses the Library and Birmingham Repertory Theatre. (You can use the loo’s in here if required). There was an excellent stall dispensing hot cider with sloe gin… well it would seem rude not to!

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The big wheel in Centenary Square next to the ice rink and library

Back at Victoria Square we partook of the first festive continental sausage… washed down with mulled wine (Sue)… and a hot chocolate with whipped creme (Me) and it wasn’t even noon yet!

We walked part way back down New Street past the stall on the other side and eventually cut across to New Street Station and the shopping malls for a spot of window shopping and in search of a late lunch.

 Friday 16th December – British Motor Museum, Gaydon

Last year, our efforts to visit the British Motor Museum were shorted lived. When we arrived it was shut. Not doing any checking about opening times was down to me. If I had, I’d have discovered that there was a £1.1 Million refurbishment being undertaken. This year however, I did check and it was open (well the first floor of the ‘Collections’ centre was closed while the floor was being repaired) and after a thirty minute drive from the site we arrived spot on 10:30. It’s well worth a visit if you have any interest in British car manufacturing, however I was a little disappointed that there were not as many Land Rovers on display as I had expected… plenty of Jaguars (well it is owned by Jaguar Land Rover) but a bit thin on Landy’s. Here are a few photos rather than me waffle on….

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Sue’s second favourite car

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Above & Below: Laura Croft’s Tomb Raider Landy

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Sue’s favourite car…. I’d better start saving!

A highlight was this 1935 Royal Winchester caravan. I managed to get a couple of photos through the windows without too much reflection. With a lot of the cars the door windows were open, and although you are asked politely not to touch the exhibits… you can almost put your head through the window for a closer look and to sniff the interiors… its surprising the memories this triggered. Unfortunately the caravan had all it’s windows firmly shut and I would have loved to have been able to at least have a closer look (and sniff) at the interior.

This did get me wondering, as we have been building caravans almost as long as we have been building cars, do we have a national collection of caravans anywhere?

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On the way back we called in to Hatton Shopping Village, the place we found last year. The shops were fairly quiet as it was Friday and obviously the schools hadn’t finished for Christmas yet. There were over a dozen Christmas stalls set up outside in addition to the many specialist small shops. As it was about lunch o’clock we dropped into Spinning Jenny, the restaurant, bar and tea room. Sue opted for fish cakes and I plumped for the gammon.

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However it arrived on a routed and planed scaffolding plank. My pet peeve is food served on planks, shovels, roofing slates or for that matter anything that is not a plate or something that can be suitably washed. OK I can accept a cheese board on wood, but grilled meat… unless they have a butcher’s apprentice trained to scrub a butchers block for twenty minutes with water and bleach washing up… I have a problem with it. That said… it was very nice.

As are most of our caravanning trips it had come to an end and the following day it was time to go home.

If you havent thought of using your caravan or motor home out of season, or thought about visiting a Christmas Market, start thinking about it now. Using your caravan or motor home in the winter isn’t an issue, they are all designed for all year use and have good insulation. Our tip is when you arrive put the heating on full blast and get the living space up to a comfortable temperature as quick as possible. Don’t fall into the “Keep the heating low to save gas/electric and let it warm up slowly….. use the “blast furnace” setting and get the heat into the van quickly, once it’s comfortable reduce the setting to maintain the level of warmth you are happy with.

Sites are usually quiet this time of year and you won’t have too many problems booking somewhere…. the hardest thing is deciding on which Christmas Market you want to visit… or visit two! Spend a few days at one then move on to another, that’s what caravans and motor homes were designed for, moving about. Remember you can go everywhere like a local!

OK that’s it for our travels this year, we are already looking forward to 2017 and the caravan and motor home show at Event City in Manchester in January…. then the NEC in Feb…

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Simon & Sue

Pressure Relief…

01 Wednesday Jun 2016

Posted by in Accessories, General, Modifications, Projects, Water & Plumbing

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A lot of new caravans now have the ability on a ‘super pitch’ to be able to attach a mains water feed directly to the caravan without having to have an Aquarol as a water reservoir, and this seems like a good idea. I started looking at the options available and was surprised at the cost of the only suitable system for our caravan. I also wasn’t keen on the plastic regulator. This got me thinking, maybe it was time for a little Caravan Chronicles DIY project.

I wanted to come up with some sort of contrivance that was assembled from stock components that were easily available anywhere. After a brief search on Amazon I came up with my shopping list and ordered everything (see links below).

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The result was a simple to use commercial pressure regulator that I could use our existing blue water hose that originally connected to the Aquarol and standard hose fittings that allow me all the options for connecting up.

IMG_0526As a temporary mount I used a couple of the small plastic hangars that Fiamma sell that slide into awning rails allowing you to hang things from. In this case a couple of cable ties held it in position. I’m currently in the bat cave folding a small aluminium plate to mount the regulator on that slides into the rail and has a foam padded back to protect the caravan. I opted to use brass fittings for the hose connections rather than plastic just for durability.

So how did it work out?

Well on a recent trip to Southport Caravan Club site (where the photos were taken) it worked extremely well. The initial set up was easy and to start with I reduced the pressure using the small screw on top of the unit to about 0.5 bar (7 PSI) to ensure I didn’t over-pressure the caravan plumbing. I increased this to about 1.5 bar and this gave an excellent flow rate with the added feature of not having to run the internal water pump.

Something that was in the back of my mind however was what if the regulator failed and full mains pressure was allowed through to the caravan’s internal plumbing? As I’d used a commercial unit, hopefully the chances of this would be very slim to non-existent as these units are designed to be permanently installed in commercial and domestic plumbing installations however I also added another little handy gadget at the tap end…

IMG_0547This ‘Y’ fitting has two small ball valves, one of each outlet. So when we go out, I simply turn off the appropriate ball valve. Having a ‘Y’ adaptor also allowed us to fill up our Brita filter jug or draw water off without having to turn the tap off and disconnect the caravan hose. All in all everything worked out perfect. (note I have since changed the blue hose adaptors shown for brass ones for durability).

One last thing…

If you are at all worried about water quality in your caravan, connecting up this way will allow you to thoroughly flush out your caravans water system and give you clean water from your caravan’s taps, (especially In summer too, when the sun has been warming up the water in your Aquarol all day) all you need to do is just run the tap for a minute or so to get cold fresh mains water.

Caravan Chronicles Shopping...

I am often asked where to buy some of the products we use. Here are the links to the products. If you click on the links and purchase any of the items, a few pennies will go to helping the cost of running CaravanChronicles.com

Caravan Ultraflow Inlet Hose Assembly (I bought one of these so I could keep my existing one intact. You will need the correct model for your caravan water inlet).
15mm Adjustable Pressure Reducing Valve Including Gauge 1-6 Bar Reliance Water Controls The pressure regulator comes complete with a pressure gauge.
Brass Bush 1/2“ BSP Female x 3/4″ Male Reducing Bush “Converter (these were used to adapt the size of the fitting on the pressure regulator so I could fit the female quick release adaptors.
Garden Mile® Solid Brass 2-Way Double Outside Garden Tap Adaptor & Hose Connectors 3/4″ With 2 Quick Release Female Adaptors. An option, but very handy.
Silverline 598438 Tap Connector Brass I bought two of these for the regulator.

A Timely Reminder…

17 Tuesday Feb 2015

Posted by in General

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i came across this while doing some research for a dash cam for a future project.

This is the first half term of the 2015 caravanning season and a lot of sites will have children staying. All sites have speed limits and it’s important to adhere to these limits… or even slower. However children will be children… we have all been one once and we have to expect the unexpected.

Happily no serious injuries. Everyone, please stay safe this season.

(c) Youtube/DashcamOwnersAustralia/OP

Milestone…

24 Saturday Jan 2015

Posted by in Blog updates, General

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Today Caravan Chronicles passed 1/2 million views!

Caravan Chronicles started back in January 2012 and in that first month had a grand total of 695 views and managed to get 36,831 total page views for the for the first year. Last year (2014) we had 336,734 total views. Today at the start of our 4th year we average around 1100 views each day and exceed 30,000 views per month.

To put these figures into perspective, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) caravan and motohome magazines had the following monthly circulation (the latest figures available are from 2013)….

  • Practical Caravan – 25,845 copies
  • Practical Motorhome – 12,399 copies
  • Caravan Magazine – 13,009 copies
  • Motorcaravan Motorhome Monthly – 31,475 copies
  • Which Motorhome – 5977 copies

Sue and I would just like to thank everyone for reading, following, commenting and giving us ideas for new articles. Without you, we probably would not of kept going.

Thanks

Simon & Sue

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.

Something To Keep An Eye On In 2015…

02 Friday Jan 2015

Posted by in Blog updates, General, Reviews, Travelling In Europe, Travelling in the UK, Web sites

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It’s not often something comes along that is different and maybe the next big thing in caravanning and camping… but I think this website might just be worth keeping an eye on. I was alerted to it by Chris Dunphy & Cherie Ve Ard. (Technomads). It started last year in America by a group of like-minded RV’ers that wanted a way to keep in touch… and more besides. Continue reading →

Blackpool Illuminations 2014 – DONE!…

04 Tuesday Nov 2014

Posted by in General, Mini Break, Travelling in the UK, Weekend Break

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Monday 27th October was the start of our next trip, our annual ‘cycle Blackpool Illuminations. Well I say annual, it was actually the third time we have done this. We again opted for a return visit to one of Tranquil Touring Parks member’s sites, the excellent Manor House Caravan Park at Marton Moss run by Jeremy and Sharon Haworth. Continue reading →