Camping & Caravanning Club purchases new site near Alton Towers

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by Gemma Roskell

Caravanners looking for accommodation close to the Alton Towers theme park may be pleased to know that the Camping and Caravanning Club has purchased the Star Caravan and Camping Park in Cotton.

The rural site in the heat of the Staffordshire Moorlands is just a mile-and-a-quarter from the popular family attraction and is home to 195 pitches.

As well as two full-operational toilet blocks, a laundrette, a chemical toilet disposal point and electric hook-up points, there’s also a large children’s play area and a parent and baby room.

Bob Hill, sites director at the Camping and Caravanning Club, said: “To secure a site in such a prime location and at the same time strengthen our ties within the Peak District and Derbyshire is another major coup for the club.”

Alton Towers opens for the 2011 season on March 26th, boasting numerous thrill rides, such as Nemesis, Oblivion and Thi3teen, as well as gentler family rides like the Congo River Rapids and the Runaway Mine Train.

Park Resorts invests in major caravan site upgrades

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by Gemma Roskell

Caravanners heading to one of Park Resort’s sites this year will see a number of improvements, as the group has been investing in upgrades for the 2011 season.

Millions of pounds have been pumped into its 39 award-winning caravan parks across the UK to improve the visitor experience.

When they open next month, guests will find new venues, such as restaurants and bars, as well as upgraded swimming pool facilities.

More than £250,000 has also been spent on the refurbishment of touring amenity blocks and pitch drainage on a number of sites.

Andy Edge, sales and marketing director for Park Resorts, said: “Although we have some of the best parks in the UK, with many visitors returning year after year, we are not complacent.

“We’re making major investments in our parks to ensure that people staying with us have the best holiday possible and go home with some amazing memories.”

Park Resorts has seen a 20 per cent increase in visitor numbers to its caravan parks in the last three years and is seeing strong demand for holidays this year.

Lucky couple win a Swift Challenger in Caravan Club competition

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by Gemma Roskell

A couple from Kent have revealed their delight at winning a brand new Swift Challenger 570SR in a competition organised by the Caravan Club.

Mr and Mrs Crawley entered the contest last summer in the hope of walking away with the £18,000 touring caravan.

The Challenger 570SR had not been launched when the competition was opened.

The victors were there on the first day of the exhibition to collect their prize, insisting they were “simply amazed and delighted” by their win.

Tony Lewis, head of membership marketing for the Caravan Club, said: “It is always really great to be able to run a high value competition such as this one for our members.

“To be able to do so on this occasion with such an exclusive product is even more special. These new ranges by Swift are certainly very exciting for the industry.”

The Swift Challenger 570SR is four-berth caravan with a fixed double bed layout and a spacious end washroom.

Pancake Day: Caravan Cookbook author Monica Rivron’s recipe for Shrove Tuesday

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by Marcus Dubois

It’s Shrove Tuesday and here at Caravan Times we’ve been thinking (lots) about tasty pancake recipes. Luckily for us, we were able to call upon the expertise of a caravan chef who had a rather tasty pancake recipe up her sleeve.

Monica Rivron is the author of the Caravan Cookbook, a beautifully photographed collection of recipes that caravanners will find easy to make. She first discovered caravanning ten years ago while filming a caravan holiday for the BBC with husband Rowland – and since then has collected together a compendium of tasty meals that can be cooked while touring.

To celebrate Pancake Day, Monica and her publisher Anova Books have kindly allowed us to publish this classic recipe for crêpes from the Caravan Cookbook. And if this whets your appetite, you can purchase copies of Monica’s cookbook here.

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Crêpes

Here is a basic recipe for crêpes, which are wonderfully wonderfully versatile. Our favourite toppings are the obvious ones: Nutella: ice cream; lemon and sugar; and golden syrup. We also enjoy bacon and banana; Maltesers; and hot sugared pineapple.

Makes 6
4 eggs
140g/ 8fl oz/ 1 cup plain flour
250ml/ 8fl oz/ 1 cup milk
Pinch salt
Butter, for frying

Preparation

Put the ingredients into the blender in this order: eggs, flour, milk then salt.
This stops the flour sticking to the bottom. Blend together. Allowing the mixture to stand for 30 minutes will improve the texture, but sometimes you just can’t wait!

Melt a little butter in a frying pan, pour in 1/6 of the mixture, then fry each crêpe until golden.
Serve immediately.

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If you’d like the chance to win a copy of the Caravan Cookbook, you can enter our competition here.

A quick survey of the Caravan Times office revealed some of our favourite fillings include stewed apple and cinnamon, ice cream and hot chocolate sauce (while one of the CT crew likes to keep it savoury with cream cheese and asparagus!)

Yet whatever your favourite filling, Caravan Times wishes a Happy Pancake Day to one and all!

Used Caravan of the Week: Voyager Vector 650

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by Holly Tribe

On quieter moments in the Caravan Times office conversation often turns to the topic of ‘what is our ideal caravan?’ This usually leads to some dedicated research, or, scanning the classified ads and daydreaming about the perfect van!

Along the line, we often stumble across a few quirky little numbers – and thought you might be interested in what’s out there on the used and second hand market.

In our first ever ‘Used Caravan of the Week’ we bring you the Voyager Vector 650: currently listed on eBay for £18,995.

Click here to see photos of the Voyager Vector 650

One of just three prototypes ever made, the Voyager Vector is a concept caravan that was built in 2005 for the little-known Voyager caravans.

Originally priced at £25,000, it was estimated to have a massive 25 year shelf life before succumbing to the perils of water ingress – that’s £1K per year for watertight touring.

As you would expect from a concept ‘van, it’s got some completely unique design features. The front end has a windowless aerodynamic nose cone that curves upward to meet the roof…which has led me to affectionately nickname it the ‘Back-to-the-Future Egg’.

According to the Daily Telegraph, it was the first ever monocoque caravan to be built using a single mould. Cheltenham Laminates are the brains behind the construction system, which uses the same technology developed for the monocoque bodyshell on Auto-Sleepers motorhomes.

The advertised price is £18,995: and if the original marketing spiel is anything to go by, it still has another twenty years of life left in it before the dreaded water seepage sets in.

‘<' . strtolower('Array')>History: According to the sellers, the van has been used a grand total of five times, and is offered in top condition, both smoke and pet-free.

Kit & caboodle: Dometic fridge/freezer, flat screen TV, alloy wheels, sun canopy, fixed end bed, touch pad dimmer switches, radio/ CD, heki rooflights, stone effect floor, mains hook up, TV aerial.

  • Price: £18,995
  • MTPLM 1,700kg
  • Width 2.28m
  • Length: 6.5m
  • Berth: 3/4
  • Axle: Twin

Get it while it’s hot on ebay.co.uk .


Find more photos like this on CaravanTimes

Suffolk caravan park planning improvements

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by Gemma Roskell

A caravan park in Suffolk is planning to replace key facilities for both its static caravan residents and its touring caravan visitors.

According to the Bury Free Press, Starglade Parks, owner of Stonham Barns Caravan and Camping Park in Stonham Aspal, has applied to Mid Suffolk District Council for permission to make the improvements.

As well as adding another 47 static caravans, in addition to the nine already on site, it also wants to replace the existing toilet and shower building.

Stonham Barns covers 1.7 hectares and has planning permission for 60 touring caravan pitches with both hard and grass standings. All are serviced with electric and water points.

In a statement accompanying its plans, Starglade Parks said: “The holiday accommodation at Stonham Barns is ideally suited to take advantage of the increase in domestic holidays driven by the recession, a poor sterling exchange rate and the trend for greener holidays.”

Caravan holidaymakers challenged to spot Bownessie in the Lake District

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by Gemma Roskell

Caravanners heading to the Lake District should make sure they have their cameras at the ready in case they spot Bownessie.

A pair of tourists kayaking on Lake Windermere claim to have made a recent sighting of the mythical creature, which is said to be a relative of the fabled Loch Ness Monster.

According to the News and Star newspaper, theirs is the eighth sighting of the humpbacked beast in the last five years.

However, Nigel Wilkinson, managing director of Windermere Lake Cruises, said he is not convinced the creature exists.

“We carry more than a million passengers on our boats each year and we’ve not witnessed a Bownessie spotting as yet,” he remarked.

The company is therefore offering anyone who captures a photograph of the beast from one of its boats a year’s free cruises.

“We’re not yet convinced that Bownessie exists but our passengers will certainly enjoy a great day out trying to find him,” Mr Wilkinson added.

‘Caravan holidays for the disabled’ charity forced to close its doors

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by Gemma Roskell

The founders of a charity set up to provide disabled people with enjoyable caravan holidays have said they are sad to see the end of their initiative.

North Staffordshire and South Cheshire Holidays was established 15 years ago with the purchase of a specially converted caravan in Wales.

However, the trustees Alan Barlow and Jake Plant have had no choice but to wind up the charity because of old age and ill health, the Sentinel newspaper reports.

Over the years, thousands of local people have used the trust’s disabled-friendly caravan at Greenacres Holiday Park in Porthmadog to enjoy a holiday by the sea at a dramatically reduced cost.

Mr Barlow, aged 73, said he and his friend decided to set up the charity after hearing that a local council was closing down a holiday home for the disabled in Llandudno.

Explaining their reasons for bringing the initiative to an end, he said: “One of us had to go to the site every month to do general housekeeping duties and sadly it has now got to the stage where we just can’t do it anymore.”

Mr Plant also said he was sad to see the charity closed down and insisted there have not been many weekends when the caravan has sat empty.

100 years of International Womens Day: A guide to towing…for ladies

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Today marks 100 years of International Women’s Day, which brings awareness of injustices faced by women around the world. Here at Caravan Times we marked the day by asking whether enough women participate in a key part of caravanning: towing. Here’s Yvonne Turley with her guide to towing for ladies.

Click here to have your say in our forum topic

by Yvonne Turley

One of my favourite aspects of caravanning is the gender role each of us adopts so naturally. Don’t get me wrong, sexual equality is important – but in the caravanning community we get it right. Sometimes it feels like natural order has been restored on a caravanning holiday.

We never need to assign tasks to our spouses, or they to us. It’s often the case that men do their thing and women do theirs. And we love it. It is a place where the word feminism has been left at the gate and chivalry still exists.

While men are busy levelling the caravan, parking the car exactly parallel, hooking up the gas and wrestling with the awning they insist they can put up themselves…the women will be putting on the kettle and checking out the toilet and shower blocks.

Men are the hunter gatherers, fetching water and emptying chemical toilets. Women are the home makers and meal preparers. Unless it is a barbecue, in which case you will (without exception) find a man equipped with a pair of tongs at the coals. It is all rather primitive and rugged. Some of us like our men to be men.And the beauty is that this is the case with all age groups.

Having said all that, sometimes this perfectly tuned routine can suffer an unexpected blow.

When roles are reversed

Let me paint you a picture which is more Pollock than Monet. Once upon a time, a happy family were on holiday in the south of France when my husband the hunter gatherer put his back out. As in can’t-stand-up-never-mind-drive. This posed a predicament previously unknown to this experienced caravanning family. Namely, who was going to be driving this huge caravan hundreds of miles home?

There was of course only one option – that the homemaker drives the family home. Imagine how daunting this must have been for someone who has become used to only one aspect of caravan life. Towing a caravan isn’t the most difficult of tasks, but can be frightening if you haven’t done it before. Sure I am happy to tow…but there are things to bear in mind.

Tips for towing

One of the first things i found alarming was what it feels like braking with all that weight behind you.You feel like you are being forced ahead when you are wanting to stop and I can only advise all you ladies who have never done it before to try it out somewhere quiet and safe. If you have packed the caravan to the rafters it will be heavier still.


As if that wasn’t bad enough there are other drivers. What can I say? You will experience the frustrated tailgater whose ire increases with the gradient of hill you are crawling up. My best advice? Ignore them. Don’t give in to bullying, you can only drive as quickly as you feel comfortable. The only way is to remain at a speed where you feel totally in control.

The urge to speed up because you are holding six cars up on a bendy country lane on the hottest day of the year will overcome you. Ignore that urge and forget about the guilt. If you are going too fast you aren’t in control and that makes you a danger on the roads. You don’t want to be the caravan on the traffic report that is upturned on the M4.

Also worth getting used to is not having a rear view mirror. You will be relying entirely on wing mirrors which feels strange at the beginning. And if you are parking in a car park with a height restriction check you fit under before rather than after.

Furthermore, know your route and next pit stop. Motorway petrol stations are big so you have plenty of room to manoeuvre (or abandon as the case may be) and recharge your batteries.

The perils of reversing


By far the most difficult thing about towing is the reversing. It is the offside rule of caravanning. The back-to-front steering wheel turning is an art form when performed well is akin to perfectly executed choreography. When performed badly, it can only be described as hilarious.

Personally I am a bit of a left handed back to front person and it has taken me literally years to crack it but at least I know if push came to shove I can reverse the thing. All caravanners are glad to help anyone who becomes unstuck because we have all been there so ask anyone for a hand and help will rally round.

So be prepared but remember, emergencies by their nature are not commonplace. So sit back in the passenger seat, relax and let him drive, because all too soon you will be making the tea and orchestrating the barbecue from behind the scenes.

After all…only you know where everything is packed.

Are you a lady who enjoys towing, or is it something you avoid at all costs? Click here to have your say in our forum topic.

Introducing the EDGE: a slide-out touring caravan from Heartlands RV

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by Holly Tribe

Until quite recently, caravans with a slide out section were relatively unheard of in the UK. Yet within the space of a month, we’ve come across two new ranges that feature this innovative design.

Both were unveiled at Boat & Caravan 2011; the first came in the shape of Inos, built by the Welsh Fifth Wheel Co., and the second hails from the other side of the pond. The name of the range is EDGE, built by US specialists Heartlands RV and sold by Exeter based 1-RV (the UK’s sole importers).

Heartland RV is an American company who specialise in building big, full fat caravans for big American tastes. Like the Fifth Wheel Company, its forte is fifth wheelers, but the firm has also diversified into the touring caravan market. Interestingly, the Edge is marketed as an ‘ultra lightweight trailer’ in the US – despite having an MTPLM of well in excess of 1,900kgs.

Full fat caravans

What’s clear from the outset is that these caravans come from an American stable – they’re loaded with kit and share similar design elements with larger recreational vehicles (pictured). For instance there are onboard fresh and waste water tanks, an electrically operated awning, air conditioning and exterior speakers. Though you may run the risk of infuriating park wardens if you crank these up full blast!

The UK imports have been made fully EU compliant by replacing the electric brakes with the European cable system, modifying the front and rear lights and converting the electrics to run on the domestic 12v system.

The three models currently available include the M18, M21 and M22.

Click here for more pictures, prices weights and layouts.

Swift Caravans register strong sales at Boat and Caravan 2011

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by Marcus Dubois

Swift Caravans has revealed it saw continued sales success across its product ranges at Boat and Caravan 2011 last month.

Despite the hardening economic climate and the rising cost of petrol, Swift said sales of the company’s new products remain “encouraging”. The four new models introduced last year proved especially popular, with the Swift Challenger and Swift Conqueror continuing to perform well. The revamped Sterling Eccles and Sterling Elite ranges were similarly popular with show visitors.

Yet the main winner for the Swift Group appears to be its most cost effective range. A Swift insider revealed to Caravan Times earlier this year that sales of Sprite Caravans are up by 40% as caravanners look to save money when buying new.

“A hardening market”

The newly-appointed CEO of Swift Group appeared confident that UK holidaymakers will continue to choose Britain this year.

James Buckley commented “The market is showing definite signs of hardening but people are still keen to buy style and value for money, two areas in which Swift have a reputation for excelling. With foreign travel both proving more expensive this year due to rising oil prices, and political uncertainty in various parts of the world, we will continue to benefit from more people choosing to holiday in the UK this year”.

Mr Buckley also took time to praise the efforts of Swift’s staff in continuing their run of results.

“A large part of this result is due to the fantastic effort put in by our dealers and our sales and customer services staff, whose efforts turned what could have been a difficult show into a great success – for which I thank them.”

Lost Enid Blyton novel tells tales of magical caravan

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by Gemma Roskell

A fantasy novel telling the tale of a magical caravan has been discovered in an archive of Enid Blyton’s work.

Mr Tumpy’s Caravan has never been published and fans of the late children’s author never knew it existed.

The 180-page manuscript was included in a collection of Blyton’s fables that was sold to Seven Stories Children’s book centre in Newcastle for £40,000.

It was not recognised as a new work at first, as its name is similar to another book published by the writer in 1949 called Tumpy and His Caravan.

However, the newly discovered story seems to be quite different from the published version and focuses on a totally different type of caravan.

Hannah Green, archivist at Seven Stories, told the BBC that this novel tells the story of a caravan on legs that takes its occupants off on exciting trips.

The main characters in the book are Mr Tumpy and his friends Muffin and Puffin.

“They live in this caravan and go off on adventures,” Ms Green explained.

“They don’t really control it – it decides where it’s going to go and when it’s going to stay somewhere.”

Enid Blyton is most commonly known for her Noddy books, as well as the Famous Five and Secret Seven series of novels.