10 Friday Jan 2014
Posted in Blog updates, General, Navigation, Tips
Back in the day, practical things used to be taught. One of the things I learnt was how to navigate using my wristwatch. The first time I piloted a single engine aircraft across the Atlantic even though we had accurate GPS navigation on board, I still used it as a gross error check. So what use is it when out in the caravan, motorhome or even tenting? Continue reading
07 Tuesday Jan 2014
Posted in Blog updates, Facebook, General, Web sites
Tags
Caravan, Caravan Chronicles, Caravanning, Caravans, Facebook, Touring, Towing, Travel Trailer, Travel Trailers
A number of people emailed me and asked why Caravan Chronicles wasn’t on Facebook? Well after some procrastination as of this morning Caravan Chronicles has a Facebook page… https://www.facebook.com/caravanchronicles
So if you have an urge to click “like” on Facebook… just make sure is Caravan Chronicles!
S
PS… Not a clue how this is going to work out, so you might have to be patient!
31 Tuesday Dec 2013
Posted in Blog updates, General, Reviews, Web sites
Tags
2013 Review, annual report, Caravan, Caravanning, Caravans, Touring, Towing, travel, Travel Trailer, Travel Trailers
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for Caravan Chronicles – one of the fastest growing blogs in caravanning & travel in 2013.
Here’s an excerpt:
The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 98,000 times in 2013. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 4 days for that many people to see it.
18 Wednesday Dec 2013
Tags
Briafields, Caravan, Caravanning, Caravans, Cheltenham, ISO 11446, Manchester Caravan & Motorhome, Touring, Towing, Travel Trailer, Travel Trailers
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
S
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06 Friday Dec 2013
Posted in Blog updates, Christmas Markets, Events, General, Projects, Travelling in the UK, Trips, Uncategorized, Weekend Break
Tags
Caravan, Caravanning, Caravans, Cheltenham, Christmas Market, Christmas markets, Touring, Towing, travel, Travel Trailer, Travel Trailers
Well not long till we set off for Cheltenham Christmas Market ! We looked for a campsite close to Cheltenham and found one just 2.5 miles from the centre. Briarfield Touring Campsite (@BriarfieldsUK on twitter) is open all year and offers 72 hard standing pitches with all the usual facilities and free WiFi. There is a regular (every 10 minutes) bus service into Cheltenham so it means we don’t have the hassle of driving in and parking. So with the free WiFi hopefully we will be blogging and tweeting from Cheltenham in a few days time!
There is still time…
If you want to have a quick getaway and visit one of the many Christmas markets in the UK check out www.christmasmarkets.com to find out where they are and the dates. It not too late to gat a quick couple of days away in your caravan or motorhome and there is nothing like wandering round a Christmas Market drinking some mulled wine to get you in the festive spirit!
Replacing the road lights on your caravan with LED bulbs
I was hoping to have this article published by now as a number of people have emailed and asked me about it…. what are the benefits?… Is it legal?… Any problems?… Would it solve one manufacturers brake light problem? I did intend to get it on-line so that the ‘all season’ caravanners (like ourselves) could take advantage for the dark mornings and evenings.
Well unfortunately the company that was going to supply me with a selection of bulbs to use on long-term test and so I could photograph the ‘before and after’ of replacing the bulbs has pulled out. I was trying to do a deal with them so that you could order a full set of LED replacement bulbs for your caravan at a big discounted price from a UK supplier rather than chance you luck on one of the well-known auction sites and have the bulbs of varying standards coming from the far east.
So for the moment its on hold until I can find another UK supplier.
S
17 Sunday Nov 2013
Posted in General, Help Guides, Maintenance, Modifications, Projects
Tags
Caravan, Caravanning, Caravans, Fog Lights, Maintenance, Modifications, Towing, Travel Trailer, Travel Trailers
Do you get dazzled by the reflection of you vehicles fog lights on the front of your caravan at night?
Someone emailed me about this problem. As he had a 4 x 4 and the fog lights were higher than some cars, when he turned the fog lights on, the front of the caravan was lit up bright red and a distraction. He asked me if I could come up with a simple way of turning the vehicle fog lights off, but leaving the caravan fog lights on…. but making sure it complied with the law.
Heres a “How To:” on how I suggested one way in which it could be done…. Modify Your Rear Fog Lights
S
28 Monday Oct 2013
Posted in General, Travelling in the UK, Trips, Weekend Break
Tags
Blackpool, Blackpool Illuminations, Caravan, Caravanning, Caravans, Manor House Caravan Park, Squires Gate, Touring, Towing, travel, Travel Trailer, Travel Trailers
Trip number 30 was becoming our annual jaunt to Blackpool to cycle the world-famous Blackpool Illuminations. Last year we stayed at Eastham Hall, but this year while staying at The Old Oaks, Tara had given us a book, “Tranquil Touring Parks Guide“, which listed 30 top adults only touring parks. The newest member was Manor House Caravan Park (http://www.manorhousecaravanpark.co.uk/) just outside Blackpool at Marton Moss. For us it was conveniently located about three miles from Squires Gate – the start of the illuminations – so we could cycle straight from the site to Squires Gate, along the prom all the way to Bispham and back again. A total of about 20 miles. Continue reading
16 Monday Sep 2013
Posted in General, Travelling in the UK, Trips
Tags
Caravanning, Caravans, Fleet Air Arm Muesum, Glastonbury, guy salmon, Guy Salmon Land Rover, One Hairy Caravanner, The Old Oaks, Touring, Towing, travel, Travel Trailer, Travel Trailers
Last year while in France we had problems with the Freelander. This was put down to the amount of bio-ethanol the French mix into their fuel and there are now lots of postings on various forums about this. Not only Landrover but BMW and other manufacturers have been affected as well. After returning to the UK and after the first tank full of fuel bought here, the injector rattle all but disappeared. However it was still there and over the next 4000 miles in the UK it got increasingly worse. I’d gone through the process of using injector cleaner without any improvement. I’d also checked the injector wiring harness (there is an issue with contamination on some vehicles) and a few other things so it was time to bite the bullet and book the Freelander in to our local Land Rover dealer for a full checkup. So two weeks ago it was booked into Guy Salmon Land Rover in Stockport. Continue reading
10 Saturday Aug 2013
Posted in Blog updates, General, Help Guides, Projects
Tags
blogging, Caravan, Caravanning, Caravans, The Old Oaks, Touring, Towing, Travel Trailer, Travel Trailers
It’s been a while since my last post, however it’s not been quiet in the Caravan Chronicles office. We have booked our next jaunt out and seeing as it’s our 30th Wedding Anniversary we decided to go back to The Old Oaks for a few days as we thoroughly enjoyed our last visit there… and it is one of the best sites in the UK! Continue reading
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