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Caravan Chronicles

~ not just another caravan blog

Caravan Chronicles

Tag Archives: Travel Trailers

Lighting Up The Scene…

25 Saturday Mar 2023

Posted by Simon Barlow in Accessories, Car Trailer, Caravan Electrics, Caravan Road Lights, Electrical, Gadgets, Maintenance, Modifications, Projects, Technical, tow vehicle, Towing, Vehicle Wiring Projects

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Caravan, Caravanning, Caravans, Maintenance, Modifications, Reversing lights, Scene Lights, Towing, Trailer Electrical projects, Travel Trailer, Travel Trailers, Work lights

A while ago I upgraded the lights on our caravan by changing the functions round and added two new LED reversing lights which I can’t understand why I hadn’t done this years ago. In daylight they are bright… and at night they are really bright… retina burning bright according to reports. Reversing into a dark pitch is a lot easier and safety wise having an additional set of tail and brake lights with two large bright rear fog lights instead of the single factory 21 watt light mounted almost as low as you can get on the rear of the caravan is a vast improvement in my mind. You can read about my changes here… “Put Yer Lights On Mate…“

Following that article I had lots of people contact me letting me know they liked what I had done and considering upgrading themselves. Not a clue if anyone did, but that’s how these things go. I did have another email from a gentleman which was a bit different. Now I’ve edited it a bit as it was originally two emails and included a company name and some specific details which I’m sure they would not wish me to publish to the world…. here’s the gist of it though:

“Hi Simon, been reading your blog for a while and I read your post about upgrading your caravan lights. I was wondering if you might be able to help with something we would like to do with our trailers or could put us in touch with someone who can? We have around eight trailers that are used on various locations separately or as a group and are towed by a variety of vehicles, mostly our own but occasionally by contractors. Most of our trailers have additional side lighting powered off the trailers own batteries which are charged from the vehicle or while on site from generators. A lot of our set up and tear down is done at night and we have had issues at dark locations where the vehicles reversing lights don’t really help. Is there any way we could get the side work lighting to come on when the vehicle reverses but could be controlled from the vehicle without any additional switches or alterations to the vehicles but could be turned on and off as reversing on a public road with them on might not be legal”

From an exchange of emails, I do know what the company does and some of the sorts of places it works. They don’t always have access to mains power when setting up or tearing down and would like something that can easily be installed in a trailer without too much alteration to the electrical services. Nothing could be installed in any of the tow vehicles as the vehicles were not always their own and I first suggested a cheap(ish) remote switch that could be used by the driver to turn them on and off as required. I was told this was not an option as the remote switches would likely get lost/damaged or need batteries or be with the wrong crew, some sites they could not use any radio equipment.

Time to put my thinking cat on…

Polo…. always a great thinking cat, sadly no longer with us.

I had a bit of an idea forming. Something I’d seen on a Class A American RV (Prevost I think) was a set of spotlights set in the side panel of the RV pointing backwards and located near the front wheel. These lit up down the side of the RV and the ground to the side when reversing…. I’d thought about adding a couple of simple cheap LED lights to the underside of the caravan between the wheel and front of the caravan angled outwards by about 60 degrees mounted under the floor… so when I reversed they lit up the caravan wheel and the ground it was going over so I could see it clearly at night in my mirrors. I had pondered how to switch this on and off using the Amarok but not add any more wiring between the caravan and vehicle. So I’d already come up with a solution.

Here is what I came up with…

It’s a simple two relay set up. The two triggers for this to work are the vehicle reversing lights and the rear fog lights. The top relay in the box is activated by the vehicle being in reverse with the reversing lights on. The lower relay is activated by turning the vehicles rear fog lights on. Only when these two conditions are met, is there a circuit across the two relays switches made thus activating the work lights on the trailer.

Quite simply when reversing to turn on the work light simply turn on the rear fog lights and the work lights will come on.

Cables 1, 2 & 3 connect to the road lights. Cables 4 & 5 are for the switched load. The cost was around £15 for the components for each unit and that included Bosch relays & sockets, the die-cast box and fuse holder. I guess putting it in a plastic case and using cheaper eBay sourced relays could halve that cost.

I did also think that as an upgrade or option the relay operated by the reversing lights could be a timer relay. Set it to say 15 seconds, then when reversing you turn on the work lights and they will remain on of 15 seconds after reversing as long as the rear fog lights are on. This would give you time to reverse, pull forward and reverse again. Each time you select reverse the timer would reset and as soon as you disengaged reverse the timer would start its countdown again.

High level work lights could be a boon to reversing into dark pitches or storage sites. Image take from the internet, copyright not mine.

It was as simple as I could get it using existing signals from the vehicle that already pass through to the trailer. I guess it could be used to turn anything on using any combination of lights operating from the vehicle.

The wiring between the road lights and work lights is kept separate as I wasn’t 100% sure how the trailers power system worked and how it was connected to the road lights (if at all) The two relays were installed in a die cast box with a grommet for the 5 cables. All the trailers were fitted with one of these and apparently they have all been working fine for several months.

Why did I opt for reversing lights and fog lights?

I wanted something that would not be used generally through the day so reversing on a public road during daylight or even at night the work lights would not illuminate. Running during the day with lights on and your fog lights will not operate the working lights… and if you are running in weather that requires headlights and rear fog light… then I guess having the working lights come on while you reverse in those inclement weather conditions just makes you more visible to everyone around. So apart from that I don’t think that you will cause a danger on the road with this set-up.

So…. I think I might just have to install one of these on my caravan…. just in case!

Low level scene lights down the side of the trailer can be just as effective as high level work lights. Image taken from the internet, copyright not mine.

Its a fairly simple DIY job to build a box and install it without too much messing about with the original wiring. Now someone asked me about getting the orange side marker lights to flash in time with the indicators…. and remain as side markers when the indicators weren’t being used. Is this something I need to put my thinking cat on for? Let me know in the comments.

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Just a quick one…

08 Sunday May 2022

Posted by Simon Barlow in Accessories, Caravan Electrics, Electrical, Modifications, Off Grid, Projects, Technical

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Caravan, Caravan Electrical, Caravanning, Caravans, Off Grid, Travel Trailers

Lithium Upgrade for a caravan

I’ve had quite a few people email me asking for more information about the Victron system for a caravan that I was planning mentioned in the previous post. As this seems to have generated a number of questions, rather than give detailed answers to each one I thought I’d post the drawings. For the moment it’s on hold but here are the drawings.

While Victron would seem the obvious choice, there are a number of recent new products from Sterling Power that have rekindled my interest in the project…. watch this space.

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NEC Show Roundup – it’s all technical…

28 Tuesday Feb 2017

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

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

13 Pin Plug, Caravan Electrics, Caravanning, Caravans, Maintenance, Modifications, Sterling Power, Travel Trailer, Travel Trailers

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 →

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Feeling Festive and Shooting a Video…

20 Tuesday Dec 2016

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

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Caravanning, Caravans, Maintenance, Touring, tow vehicle, Towing, travel, Travel Trailer, Travel Trailers

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

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Bernoulli – what’s he got to do with caravanning?…

25 Sunday Jan 2015

Posted by Simon Barlow in Car Trailer, Towing, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Bernoulli, Caravan, Caravanning, Caravans, Dynamics of towing, Towing, Travel Trailers

One thing that anyone new to towing feels nervous about is being overtaken. The pull and push as another, usually large vehicle overtakes can be so nerve wrecking for some that they never venture near a motorway. However a clever mathematician named Bernoulli back in the 1700’s had it all figured out.

So if you want to find out more, I’ve just published “Understanding the dynamics of towing – being overtaken” where all will be revealed.

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2015 Caravan and Motorhome Show Review…

15 Thursday Jan 2015

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

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

2015 Caravan & Motorhome Show, Caravan, Caravanning, Caravans, Event City, Touring, Towing, Travel Trailer, Travel Trailers

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…

SPB_5D_098240

… 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.

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More Mulled Wine and Markets…

17 Wednesday Dec 2014

Posted by Simon Barlow in Christmas Markets, Events, General, Mini Break, Motor Home, Travelling in the UK, Trips, Uncategorized, Weekend Break

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Andy Harris, Camping & Caravanning Club, Caravan, Caravanning, Caravans, Christmas, Christmas Market, Jamie Oliver, Oxford, Touring, Towing, Travel Trailers, Waddesdon

Part Two of our Cheltenham and Oxford festive outing…

Wednesday 10th December

Thankfully the wild weather that was affecting northern England and Scotland didn’t extend as far south as Gloucestershire and after a bit of a late start we were packed up and ready to say goodbye to Briarfields and set off for Oxford. We called in reception to drop off our electronic tag that operated the security barriers and waved goodbye to our neighbour who was leaving in his campervan after an overnight stay. The Sat-Nav gave a distance of about 37 miles and a time of one hour twenty minutes to complete the journey. We pulled off the site just before eleven o’clock and headed out into the late morning traffic enroute for Oxford Camping & Caravan Club site.

We hadn’t being travelling long when Sue produced a ten pound note out of her pocket… “That’s the deposit for the electronic tag.”

“Hmm I don’t remember paying a deposit”

When Scott booked us in I think he forgot to take a deposit, and Jo assumed he would have and gave Sue ten pounds back. So apologies Scott and Jo, we seem to be ten pounds up on the deal, just means that we have an excuse to return next year to give you the money! Mind you, I don’t think we need an excuse as there is still so much to see and a visit to Gloucester in the summer is definitely planned.

The trip took us through the beautiful rolling hills of the Cotswolds, the sun was shining and it was a pleasant drive to Oxford. We had stayed at the Oxford C & CC site a number of times before as it is convenient for exploring Oxford. It does have a downside though. It can be noisy as the main Oxford to London railway line runs only a couple of hundred meters away and through the night there is plenty of railway freight run on that line. Additionally there is a large factory that sometimes can be noisy. All that said, the advantages tend to outweigh the disadvantages.

We arrived at the site about 12:20 and checked in. During the winter months the site has to run on a reduced number of pitches due to the ground conditions and motorhomes are parked on the tarmac road areas. We were shown to our pitch which was on the northern side of the site. The grass wasn’t too soft but had obviously been wet for a number of days.

SPB_5D_098184  That evening the clear skies of the day gave way to a drop in temperature as the sun set. Behind us was a Hymermobile Motorhome, which had three satellite dishes on the roof. Now it was either an outpost of Mission Control or Andy Harris of the Motorhome Channel had upgraded to a Hymer…. but we could not smell any fresh toast being prepared, so discounted that idea.

Had Andy Harris upgraded to a Hymer?

Had Andy Harris upgraded to a Hymer?

A quick trip to Aldi to stock up on Gluevine and a few other essentials and a quick wander round Go Outdoors finished off our day.

Thursday 11th December

The weather forecast for the day was generally windy and rain but Friday looked like it would be clear again so we decided to put off our visit into Oxford for the Christmas market until then. Sue had always wanted to go Blenheim Palace and thought it would be a good destination for the day. Checking on-line they had Christmas events and it was looking promising. I checked the ticket price and was floored at the cost. For the two of us for the Christmas attractions it would be just over £45 to get in. As we were mulling that over I clicked on Trip Advisor and read some of the reviews for the Christmas event…. there weren’t many but most complained about the cost and there wasn’t actually that much to see. However one lady that had posted a review (Margaret151151 ), her last line was “…Now our visit to Waddesdon at Christmas WAS well worth the money!”

Neither of us had heard of Waddesdon!

A quick ‘google’ soon found the website and it did look interesting and the ticket price a more reasonable £36 for the two of us. Decision made, I bought the tickets on line which gave us timed entry into the house and Sat-Nav programmed we set off for Waddesdon. Located on the A41 between Bicester and Aylesbury it didn’t take very long to get there.

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The house is the former home of the Rothschild family… (or some section of it… I’ve not read up on it yet) and is set in wonderful landscaped gardens. While most of the house was closed for its annual winter deep clean, one wing was still open and had been decorated for Christmas… with dozens of Christmas trees grown on the estate specifically for certain rooms in the house, so the height and width of the tree had been monitored to ensure an exact fit… here is just a few:

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The trees and decorations were all themed for the rooms and they really were spectacular. Not often I stand in front of a Christmas tree(s) speechless! The timed entry into the house really worked well and there wasn’t a mass of people who could make enjoying the spectacle a disappointing experience.

The corridor from the Manor shop to the restaurant

The corridor from the Manor shop to the restaurant

From the house we headed down to the stable block, a short walk from the main house to the cafe and shops. If we had been there a couple of days earlier we would have also had chance to visit the Christmas market that is also held there.

The impressive and lavish stable block now houses shops and a cafe

The impressive and lavish stable block now houses shops and a cafe

A late lunch in the cafe followed by a walk round the Bruce Munro light installations in the grounds in a vain attempt to walk off the calories.

Waddesdon is somewhere we are planning to return to so we can see the rest of the house. We both would recommend it as a definite ‘to do’ on anyones list of Christmas places to visit.

All too soon we were back on the road towards Oxford again… it was fast approaching mulled wine time.

Friday 12th December

Bus GuideThe weather wasn’t quite as promised but it was clearing slowly. We walked across to the Park & Ride stop opposite Go Outdoors to catch the number 300 service into the centre of Oxford.

Just as we arrived, it started to rain again so we headed in the direction of the indoor market for a mooch round in the dry. By the time we had come out the rain had stopped and we set off towards the Christmas market. Sue had an Italian version of mulled wine (well it is nearly Christmas!) while we wandered around the many stalls. As always is was rapidly approaching ‘lunch o’clock” again and we kept an eye out for a suitable place. Last time we were in Oxford it was with our friends Pete and Julie (Julie sadly passed away last year) and we had tried to get into “Jamie’s” – Jamie Oliver’s restaurant but it was full. This time we managed to beat the crowd.

We decided on a light lunch and opted for…..

JAMIE’S ULTIMATE SHARING PLANK

£10.50 PER PERSON

For two or more to share.
Artisan fennel salami, mortadella, spiced chicken-liver pâté, truffled salami & fennel pork scratchings with grissini & music bread, Cauliflower fritti,mozzarella & aged pecorino, tomato mostarda & crispy shallot rings, Olives & pickles, grilled marinated peppers, & crunchy kale slaw

… and a carafe of house white.

Now I’m not sure what I was expecting. It was nice with a good selection but maybe I was expecting more of a ‘wow’ than I got. Service initially was a bit slow off the mark but there was a Christmas party of around 20 people starting to arrive that seemed to delay things a little. The service did improve after the party group got sat down. The lunch was enjoyable and the atmosphere in the restaurant vibrant. However… I was missing the ‘wow’ that I thought I’d get… not sure what the ‘wow’ should be but there you go.Bus Guide_0001

We headed out again to cover a few more shops and to do another turn round the Christmas market – just in case we had missed anything. The light was starting to fade and all the Christmas lights decorating the streets came on. Deciding it was time to head back we retraced our footsteps back to the bus top to catch the 300 back to Redbridge Park & Ride opposite the caravan site.

Saturday 13th December

The temperature on the digital thermomiterbob said minus 2.6 degrees outside and it felt like it as it was only 10 degrees inside the caravan (OK who turned the heating on to the lowest setting then… that would be me!)

It was a bit of a lazy start packing up – Sue attended to all the inside ‘pink’ jobs while I looked after the outside ‘blue’ jobs. Thankfully the water in the Aquarol and the wastehog hadn’t frozen. I drained the loo flush tank back into an empty container and just before 11 we were ready to hitch up.

Now this is the first time that this has happened to us. The pitches at Oxford are lower than the tarmac road and on hitching up I discovered that due to the Freelander still having the front wheels on the road, the tow ball was so low I could not rotate and raise the jockey wheel so we had to unhitch again. We struggled and swung the caravan round so we were at an angle to the road and hitched up again… same problem. So we had to unhitch and swing the caravan enough so that the front wheels of the Freelander were off the road, hence lower so hitching up for a third time finally gave us the clearance to swing the jockey wheel round under the A frame and raise it.

It’s my fault as one our very first trip to Oxford with the caravan we had hired I watched someone have exactly the same problem… I should have remembered. By 11:30 we were pulling out of the site heading for home.

Surprisingly the roads were quiet. The A34 onto the M40 was very quiet and we made good time. On the M40 a National Express coach driver after taking about 40 seconds to actually overtake us (we were doing about 55 mph) decided that he didn’t actually need to know if he was clear and just pulled in without indicating with about ten inches clearance between the back of his coach and the front of the Freelander. I wish we had one of those CCTV camera recording do-hickeys.

A brief stop at Norton Caines services on the M6 Toll road and using the Caravan Club membership card to get our discount at the toll plaza we hit the M6, which even though there are road works at the M6 / M6 Toll junction was free-flowing and no delays. The rest of the M6 north was quiet too… we had never seen it run so freely even on a Saturday. By 3:30 the caravan was parked up in its storage bay and we were off home… time to go and give ‘the boys’ (our three Siamese cats) a good ‘polish’

Summing up…

Six days, three cities, two christmas markets… done!. Visiting Christmas markets is a great way of getting in the festive spirit. We used christmasmarkets.com to find out when and where the Christmas markets are. If you can’t get out in your caravan this year to a Christmas market…. start planning for next year or we might beat you to it!

The sites… 

Briarfields is ideally located for exploring Cheltenham and Gloucester at any time of the year. With the additional on site motel, it’s great if you want to explore the area with family or friends that don’t have a caravan or motorhome. The site is well maintained and the facilities are spotless and it offers free WiFi. It could do with another Grey Water Disposal point though.

It is however about 1 mile (1500 metres) from the threshold of runway 27 at Gloucester airport so there will be aircraft passing overhead at around 300 to 400 feet but don’t let that put you off. They are mainly small single engine aircraft with the odd executive jet and the noise is not obtrusive. The airport operates restricted hours so the aircraft won’t be passing overhead all night. If you are an aircraft spotter it’s ideal!

Time it right and you can do Gloucester Victorian Christmas Market and Cheltenham Christmas Market in the same visit. I would suggest you book early though as it will fill up quickly, especially at Cheltenham Gold Cup time.

Would we return to Briarfileds? – Yes. Would we recommend it? – Yes.

Oxford C & CC site is ideal for exploring Oxford as it’s so easy to get into the centre by bus or walking beside the river. Oxford is a great place to visit any time of the year and is one of those cities you want to go back to time and time again. The Oxford C & CC site is a little tired, but well-kept. As the site is actually owned by Go Outdoors the C & CC club do have limitations on what they can do there to improve things. There is the known noise problem from the railway line, but in fairness it’s not constant like a road.

Would we return to Oxford C & CC? – Yes. Would we recommend it? – Yes.

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Getting into the festive spirit…

06 Wednesday Aug 2014

Posted by Simon Barlow in Christmas Markets, General, Mini Break, Travelling In Europe, Travelling in the UK, Trips, Weekend Break

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Camping & Caravanning Club, Caravanning, Caravans, Cheltenham, Christmas, Christmas Market, Christmas markets, Oxford, Touring, Travel Trailer, Travel Trailers

What!… It’s only August! 

One of the great things you can do in the run up to Christmas to get you into the swing of things is stay a couple of nights at a site that’s within striking distance of one of the many Christmas Markets held all over the country (and Europe for that matter) Staying local also allows you to sample some of the mulled wine and cider that’s on offer.

Last year we had booked to visit Cheltenham’s famous Christmas Market, but unfortunately due to the builders not removing scaffolding from around the house in time we had to cancel. However to make up for it we decided to do two markets this year! We have booked into Briarfields an independent site just outside Cheltenham with a good bus service right into the centre of the town. From Briarfields we then head back north to Oxford to the Camping & Caravan Club’s site for a few days so we can ‘do’ Oxford’s Christmas Market too!

christmas-marketsIf you fancy the idea of visiting one of the UK’s many Christmas Markets we use this handy website that lists all the dates and opening times… http://www.christmasmarkets.com/UK.html and currently they list over 150 markets in the UK and over 250 markets all over Europe.

If you have never caravanned  ‘out of season’ don’t worry. Caravan’s are great in winter… when it’s nice and toasty inside with some mulled wine… who cares what the weather is doing!

So it may only be August, but find yourselves a Christmas Market, find a site and get booked in and even better invite some caravan or motor home friends to join you.

A very early Merry Christmas.

Simon & Sue

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Annual Service – “Dealer or No Dealer?”…

10 Thursday Jul 2014

Posted by Simon Barlow in Caravan Servicing, General, Maintenance

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Annual Service, Caravan, Caravanning, Caravans, Glossop Caravans, Sterling Caravans, Swift Group, Travel Trailer, Travel Trailers

I had booked our caravan in for its annual service for Tuesday 8th at Glossop Caravans, the local main dealer that we bought our caravan from 3 years ago. Now, by chance after a couple of comments on Twitter and a brief conversation via email with Jonathan Robe, Glossop Caravan’s IT Manager, it was arranged for me to spend some time and follow our caravan through its annual service to see what goes on behind the scenes at a major dealer’s service centre. Continue reading →

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