Film4 caravan movie Sightseers to premiere at Cannes Festival

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by Tom Lowenstein

Visitors to the Cannes Film Festival are more used to seeing multi-million pound yachts than caravans, but this year will be different.

British movie maker Film4 is set to give debuts to two of its latest creations at the event this year, and dark comedy Sightseers is set to be one of the stars of the show.

The film centres around young couple Chris and Tina, who set off on an English caravan trip in high spirits only for things to go badly wrong.

Starring co-writers Steve Oram and Alice Lowe as the ill-fated couple who find their dream holiday turning into a nightmare, Sightseers promises to give festival-goers a unique insight into the world of British caravanning – something not usually given much thought on the French Riviera.

It will makes its debut alongside Walter Salles’ eagerly-awaited movie adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s seminal beat novel On The Road, while another Film4-funded movie The Curse will also appear at the festival.

Film4 boss Tessa Ross said: “We’re really thrilled … On The Road, Sightseers and The Curse represent the incredibly broad range of wonderful talent and stories that Film4 works with – we’re so proud of the films.”

Strictly stars James and Ola Come Dancing at Caravan Club summer ball

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by Tom Lowenstein

This June is the Caravan Club’s 105th birthday and to mark the occasion a star-studded summer ball is being thrown.

Strictly Come Dancing stars James and Ola Jordan are on the guest list for the event and will be showing off their moves on the dance floor of the Grosvenor House Hotel in London.

This year, the event will be in aid of the Leukaemia Lymphoma Research, and the charity’s president Sir Ian Botham will be on hand to host an auction that will help raise funds for the organisation’s sterling work.

Along with these celebrity appearances, the Club have arranged a night of spectacular performances in the vein of Last Night of the Proms.

Silks Aerial Ballet will put on a stunning show and the British Military Band are also set to appear, before the group Mixed Feelings turn up the volume for an evening’s dancing.

Grenville Chamberlain, the Caravan Club’s chairman, said that although the evening will be a wonderful celebration of the Club and caravanning, it also has a serious purpose.

“The Club and I would like to take the opportunity to raise money for a very deserving chosen charity, Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research, whose mission statement is ‘Beating Blood Cancer’,” he said.

VIDEO: What makes Alde heating a must-have for Dunster House Concordia?

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by Chris Jefferies

Alde heating has been a must-have for luxury caravans for some time but what sets it apart from other brands?

In this video CaravanTimes sits down with Dunster House to find out why they have chosen to use Alde heating systems across their new Concordia range.

Marc Millard explains how Alde is different from other caravan heating systems and points out it is the closest you can get to a home heating system, as well as being the most energy efficient.

We also find out how this system makes it comfortable to go caravanning all year round, even in the winter months.

Prices in the Dunster House Concordia range start at £17,995 and MTPLM weights range from 1,360kg to 1,580kg


For a virtual 360-tour of the Dunster House Concordia Serenity, click here

NASA architect creates ‘camping machine’ with the Cricket Trailer

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by Maeve O’Donnell

Is the idea of a serious touring caravan a little much but the thought of sleeping in a tent horrifying? If yes, fear not, there is a solution and it comes in the form of the Cricket Trailer.

We present to you what could well be the future of caravanning and camping, as brought to us by no less than NASA designer and architect, Garret Finney. A man determined to at least half fulfil his childhood dream of owning a houseboat.

Garret, being a lover of the great outdoors but far from keen on camping with his family in tow wanted something lightweight and flexible to travel in and so the Cricket Trailer was born.

Click here to see more pictures of the Cricket Trailer

You may well be thinking that caravans have absolutely nothing to do with crickets. But, as Garret points out crickets can be found everywhere from deep inside caves to the mountain tops.

Since this trailer has been designed to travel pretty much everywhere it makes perfect sense. The alternative explanation was that one of the mechanisms resembled a cricket’s leg but that isn’t quite as poetic.

Now we have established what the Cricket’s purpose is and the story behind it, how does it fare for real life caravanning?

Custom built for you

The idea behind the Cricket is that you custom build the interior to suit your travelling needs so you choose either the Folding Couch or V-Berth layout, exterior colour, and then plan the inside selecting everything from appliances to soft furnishings.

The exterior is eye catching to say the least, its angular shape immediately establishes it as a caravan for the future and the orange of the pop up roof reinforces that this is not your usual white ‘van.

Made from stress-skin aluminium, the lightweight frame is available in either green or blue and has dual access, including one extra wide door, making the caravan easy to get in and out.

Each window is fitted with mosquito nets and privacy blinds so you can get the mix of ventilation and privacy that suits you.

So far, so good but for those used to fully equipped, full sized touring caravans Cricket living may take some adjusting to.

Back to basics

For instance, if we move on to the interior, the kitchen area contains a sink, space to have a camp stove inside and adequate storage for both food and kitchen equipment. All the necessities are there, but it might not be for those who enjoy a home-from-home holiday.

Also found in the kitchen is the adjustable shower, which can stretch outside to wash off people and/or animals (in a similar way to the design on the Elddis Xplore 302) or be used inside alongside a rubber mat and shower curtain.

Not forgetting the camping toilet, which is not everyone’s favourite but may come in handy if you join the real crickets at the top of a mountain.

Sleeping arrangements are dependent on the frame you choose, but generally these caravans are suitable for either two or four people. There is a futon-style bed for the adults and for children weighing up to 130lbs a bed unclips from the ceiling.

Though it doesn’t exactly look sturdy Garret assures children will sleep in “comfort and style”.

A camping machine for the future

The size and weight do mean that the Cricket is far from offering all mod-cons, but what it lacks in luxuries it makes up for by bringing you as close to the outdoors as possible, without actually being outside.

Garret is proud of his “lightweight, athletic camping machine” and hopes everyone will come round to, what he regards as, 21st century camping.

A real plus point for this caravan is that it is seriously lightweight, coming in at around 630kg for the Folding Couch model and 715kg for the V-Berth. This weight is calculated before add-ons but the equipment is so light even when full the Cricket can be towed by virtually anything.

Prices start at $14,300, which works out at around £8,600 before you kit it out, so the Cricket is more similar in price range to a trailer tent than a touring caravan.

Importing it all the way from Texas could be problematic but Garret and his team do take enquires here on their website.

If you are environment or money conscious but still want to have a caravan-style adventure then the Cricket Trailer could be just the thing, not to mention you will look pretty unique doing it.


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How to make the Caravan Club Sandwich

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by Tom Lowenstein

Keen cook and Caravan Club member Samantha Haas was stuck in her tourer on a rainy day and determined not to visit the shops, so she rummaged around the fridge to see what she could whip up.

The inspired double-decker sandwich that followed was duly named a Caravan Club Sandwich and now sits pride of place on the website she devotes to her foody creations.

“I am not a trained professional chef, just an everyday cook with a passion for great food,” explains Samantha.

“This particular creation came about on a rainy day at The Caravan Club’s Sandrigham Estate site, I was just trying to utilise what we had in the caravan fridge so I didn’t have to go out to the shops!”

It takes just five minutes to make, here’s how:

Ingredients:

  • 3 slices white bread
  • 4 slices danish salami
  • 4 slices cucumber
  • A few slices of raw white onion
  • Seasoning to taste
  • 1 slice mature cheddar cheese
  • 1 tbsp low fat mayonnaise
  • 1 tsp mint sauce
  • Margarine
  • Crisps of your choice to serve
  1. Butter the bread
  2. Add salami and onion to the first slice and then place the next slice of bread on top, before spreading with mayonnaise and mint sauce
  3. Layer with the cheese and cucumber before seasoning with salt and pepper
  4. Finish the double-decker sandwich with the final slice of bread, before cutting into triangles
  5. Plate up with crisps on the side

Sussex caravan park importing rocks worth £17m from Norway

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by Tom Lowenstein

Bunn Leisure has embarked on a huge project to import 93,000 tonnes of quarried granite from Norway at a cost of £17 million, but they are not going to be used for fancy landscaping or any building project.

The leisure company is instead shipping the rocks across the North Sea to its West Sands caravan park in Selsey, West Sussex, as part of a project to protect its beach that is so popular with caravanners and holidaymakers.

As coastal protection projects go, this is the biggest of its kinds carried out by a private company in the UK, but Bunn is hoping that it preserves the future of its beach, preventing erosion and the ever encroaching sea.

In 2008, huge storms wreaked havoc on the holiday park, destroying holiday homes as a flood invaded the site. The new project is designed to stop that happening again.

The rocks are now being delivered by sea from Norway’s Larvik Quarry and will be piled up to make ‘breakwaters’ along the beach.

Once they have been put in place, Bunn Leisure will then spend time restoring the shore and a staggering 115 deliveries each of 3,000 cubic metres of sand and gravel will be pumped along the coastal strip to create a shingle beach worthy of the four-star holiday park.

Sprite Caravans: A closer look at the modern new interiors

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by Chris Jefferies

Caravanning with a family requires plenty of space and a practical layout. With this in mind Sprite Caravans have come up with three new layouts for their 2012 range, in the shape of the Major 4, the Major 6 and the Musketeer EB.

In this video CaravanTimes speaks to Mick France and Chris Millburn from Sprite about the redesigns, and they explain how the new layouts will ease caravan holidays and increase flexibility.

The designers also explain how the models benefit from improved Truma gas and electric heating systems.

Prices in the Sprite range of lightweight caravans start at just £12,031, and MTPLM weights range from 1,164kg to 1,571kg

Morris Leisure caravan parks teams up with Shropshire tourist attractions

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by Tom Lowenstein

Morris Leisure has partnered a section of Shropshire’s top tourist attractions to offer caravanners staying at its sites a range of money-saving deals.

Holidaymakers visiting the firm’s Stanmore Hall, Oxon Hall Touring Park or Ludlow Touring Park will all be offered discounted access to local destinations as part of their stay.

Caravanners staying at all of the sites can get 25 per cent off an annual passport for the renowned Ironbridge Gorge Museums, which include the Coalport China Museum and the Jackfield Tile Museum.

Also featuring in the deal is the fantastic Blists Hill Victorian Town at Ironbridge, where visitors get to meet the inhabitants of a recreated century-old village that has its own shops, farm, newspaper, blacksmiths and more.

Those staying at the Ludlow park, meanwhile, will be offered a £5 no-strings voucher for the lovely Ludlow Food Centre.

Set within the Earl of Plymouth’s stunning 8,000-acre Oakly Park Estate, most of the food sold at the farm/production/shop attraction is local and much of it is made on site.

Edward Goddard, managing director of Morris Leisure, paid tribute to the tourism firms for their support.

“I think it’s an excellent example of progressive tourism businesses working together to attract more visitors to boost the economy of Shropshire,” he said.

Truma does its level best with new caravan gas cylinder tool

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by Tom Lowenstein

A brand new futuristic product from Truma is set to make caravanning even easier, by allowing users to accurately measure how much gas they have left in their canister.

Bound to appeal to gadget fans, Truma’s product manager Nicolas Toomer explains that users hold the torch-like device against a canister and it employs ultrasound to read whether there is any gas behind that point on the cylinder.

An LED then glows green or red to say that there is or isn’t.

“This means it is very easy to establish how full the gas cylinder is. The ultrasound measurement makes it very precise and reliable,” he says.

“It is a great help when camping or enjoying outdoor activities, for example when barbequing with gas.”

The LevelCheck also works for any propane or butane canister, whether they are made from steel or aluminium. The only stipulation is that they have to measure between 200 and 350mm in diameter.

Used Caravan of the Week: 1973 Carlight Casa

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by Maeve O’Donnell

Carlight have been manufacturing caravans since the 1930s so they know a fair bit about building a ‘van to last. This week’s Used Caravan of the Week is no exception, this Carlight Casa dates all the way back to 1973.

Throughout the 1970s Carlight stuck with their ‘Classic’ design and this caravan, with its lantern shaped roof, is instantly recognisable. This Casa is perfect for anyone with a love of all things retro.

To see more images of the 1973 Carlight Casa for sale click here

The 1970s saw Carlight build their caravans with the idea of being a home from home in mind, and the emphasis was on details. Soap holders, magazine racks and cocktail cabinets were just some of the features offered to ensure no home luxuries were missed.

History

This model is the smallest of the collection at 12ft and has 2 berths. Despite this, it is surprisingly roomy for two people and manages to fit in decent living space, a well planned kitchen and compact bathroom with ease.

This vintage Casa is furnished with carpet and curtains throughout which add to its homely interior.

The seller admits one of the side windows needs repairing as there is a small crack and some of the windows have been affected by moisture. But the seller is keen to highlight that for its age it is in good shape.

Kit & Caboodle

The kitchen features include a fridge freezer, a hob, grill and oven combination and sink area. There are two full length beds/settees and considerable storage with a wardrobe and overhead lockers. The caravan also has a 12v water and lighting system to ensure life on the road is as easy as possible.

The exterior is painted in the classic white, coupled with the Carlight profile it is sure to make a statement on the road.

  • Price: £1,495.00
  • Berths: 2
  • Unladen weight: 686kg
  • Max weight: 890kg

For more information and to buy click here


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Great North Caravan & Motorhome Show coming soon

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by Tom Lowenstein

It was only three years ago that Catterick Caravans held its first summer show but it has quickly risen to become one of the highlights of the annual calendar.

The Great North Caravan & Motorhome Show has moved rapidly and over the May bank holiday weekend this year, for the first time, it will have the backing of the Caravan Club.

A range of great deals will be available across four days at the dealership’s flagship Leisure World outlet in Richmond, north Yorkshire, with many of the industry’s leading brands represented.

Catterick Caravans is a specialist supplier of Elddis caravans and motorhomes too, meaning that the full range of touring vehicles from the brand and its sister-make Buccaneer will be on display.

There will also be a competition to win a coveted Elddis Xplore caravan at the show.

Matthew Kinsell, commercial director of Catterick Caravans, said: “The whole show just keeps getting better and better, and we can promise a superb day out for the whole family.

“The association with The Caravan Club proves just how far we have come in such a short time.”

The Great North Caravan Show 2012 will run from Friday May 4th to Monday May 7th.

Park Resorts launch £80,000 caravan competition on ITV’s This Morning

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by Tom Lowenstein

Breakfast television is about to get a lot more exciting for caravanners after Park Resorts launched a new competition on ITV’s This Morning.

For the next two weeks, TV audiences will be asked questions by Jeff Brazier and Alison Hammond with one winner given a static caravan worth an eye-watering £80,000.

Park Resorts are providing a top-of-the-range Willerby Meridian along with a pitch, site fees, insurance and connections, while This Morning are adding a £20,000 cash sum meaning the lucky contestant will pick up a prize worth £100,000.

A similar competition last year had the Badman family in west Yorkshire celebrating after they won a luxurious three-bedroom ABI Summer Supreme caravan.

“When the call came to tell me we had won the prize, I was in disbelief,” admitted Andrea Badman, who entered the competition.

“I’ve never won anything in my life. Park Resorts had to call back to reassure me it was genuine.”