By Emma Dodd

In this edition of CaravanTimes Classic Gold we head back to 2013 when our reviewer bought a 2010 Knaus Azur caravan for windsurfing trips to the Dutch islands with her husband. Joyce Pashley was very pleased with her purchase overall, but there were a couple of little niggles along the way.

Let’s start with the positives… Ms Pashley loved its modern design and fittings and was impressed with the amount of cupboard space at a moderate price. She found it easy to clean and that the layout suited their needs as a couple.

Without an oven or microwave, our reviewer and her partner took to having barbecues outside the van, which seems to have suited their needs on their annual trips to the Netherlands. They also seemed to have made peace with the fact that the small water tank on board the Knaus Azur meant showering at caravan site facilities instead of in the van.

Among the niggles pointed out by our reviewer were a slight draft under the fixed bed when the weather was cooler, not enough sockets and no full-length mirror. The couple got around these issues with ingenious solutions and ended up reasonably happy with their purchase.

Ms Pashley concluded: “It has been such a pleasure to live in these last two seasons! A pleasure to wake up in and we love the fact that it has two big windows in the bedroom area. We enjoy our first tea or coffee in bed looking out at the day. We love the big lounge area with windows on three sides and the huge roof skylight over the kitchen-lounge.”

Did you have a Knaus Azur back in 2010 or any year after? Let us know how you got on with it.

By Emma Dodd

Caravan owners can count themselves very lucky that they have their own motorhomes, as it’s becoming increasingly difficult to rent one this summer.

Demand for leisure vehicles is outstripping supply in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and the situation has only been exacerbated in recent days with the introduction of a quarantine when returning from Spain.

The tentative return to foreign travel has been dealt another blow, putting more pressure on the staycation market.

As a result, caravan and campervan holidays are seeing an unprecedented level of interest this summer, as Brits attempt to holiday at home.

Looking into the availability of rental leisure vehicles, the Daily Telegraph got in touch with six leading motorhome rental firms and found that none could supply a campervan in the next three weeks.

Nick Lomas, chief executive of the Caravan Club, said this summer is shaping up to be among the busiest the organisation has ever seen.

He told the Telegraph: “There is a natural feeling that [a campervan] is a self-contained space, you have that element of control, being able to travel place to place and being able to explore the coasts and countrysides of the UK at your leisure.”

Since caravan sites were not able to open until the beginning of July in England – and later in Scotland and Wales – it’s thought the season is likely to be extended.

Many people may see their annual holiday taking place in September or October, as demand starts to fall off when children return to school and the days draw in.

The Caravan Club has reported a ten per cent increase in bookings for this August, making an already very busy time of year even busier.

Mr Lomas added: “It’s a level of demand we haven’t had for many years. I would say in terms of the bookings on our site, we’ve never been as busy as we’ve been this year for the main summer season, and I’ve been involved for 15 years.”

Most caravan sites are now operating at close to capacity, meaning spontaneous trips away are almost impossible to undertake, as coronavirus continues to impact all areas of life.

By Emma Dodd

A caravan park in Wales saw 300 bookings being taken in just 24 hours and its website crash after the sites in the country were allowed to reopen.

Three Cliffs Holiday Park in Gower is now full until September, as Brits turn to staycations to salvage something of the summer.

The family-run site has been rated five stars by VisitWales and is usually popular from May through to September, with its enviable position on the Wales Coastal Path.

It reopened to the public on July 25th and has seen unprecedented demand for pitches, with the owners needing to deploy an extra member of staff to take bookings over the phone.

Thomas Beynon, owner of Three Cliffs, told WalesOnline he and his team had spent lockdown considering the best ways to reopen safely when the time was right.

Among the measures they have put in place are plastic screens at reception and on the counter in the shop; hand sanitiser points and social distancing signs; and more frequent cleaning of the showers, toilets and washing up facilities.

Mr Beynon said: “We’re fully booked right up to September. The feedback we’ve had so far has been really good and people are reassured with all the measures we’ve put in place.”

The Gower Peninsula was recently named the top place in the UK for a socially distanced staycation in money.co.uk’s 2020 Safecation Report.

Visitors to the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty can expect to find sandy beaches; walking routes, including the Wales Coast Path and the Gower Way; and local delicacies like cockles and laverbread.

Alison Hutchings, a teacher from Monmouth, is currently enjoying a stay at Three Cliffs with her family.

She said: “I haven’t noticed too much of a difference from our usual stay here, we’ve been coming for years. As you can see – there is plenty of space for social distancing.

“I’ve got five other camping trips planned over the summer to keep us busy.”

By Emma Dodd

The Radfords, Britain’s biggest family, have gone on a caravan holiday to Scotland, after plans to travel to Australia were put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Sue and Noel, along with their 22 children, started their trip with a visit to The Kelpies, the famous 30-metre high horse head statues in Falkirk.

Mrs Radford said: “We’re staying with our friends in their caravan, they have some caravans at a site in Edinburgh, so we’re staying there until Monday – and then going to another caravan site with them for the rest of the week.

“We’re just getting ready to leave for Scotland. It’s been crazy, crazy busy trying to get everybody sorted and in the car.”

Packing for the staycation has not been straightforward, with each of the children having a bin bag full of clothes, which is labeled with their name to keep confusion on arrival at a minimum.

The couple live with 19 of their children in Morecambe and the youngest, Heidie was born in April, while their eldest, Chris, is 30.

Like many families, the Radfords are now waiting to get the money back on their cancelled family holiday abroad, but the caravan trip to Scotland seems to be a success so far.

They shared pictures of the children playing happily together, cycling around the caravan site and eating ice cream to their Instagram account.

With the school summer holidays now officially underway in England and many caravan parks reopening, staycations are proving popular.

Caravan owners are advised to book in advance and be aware of new rules to help stop the potential spread of coronavirus during their stay.

Most sites that have managed to open are operating at a reduced capacity to ensure there is adequate space between pitches.

Cornwall, the Lake District and Scotland, where the Radfords are currently enjoying their staycation, are all proving to be popular for family holidays this year.

By Emma Dodd

The Caravan and Motorhome Club is offering leisure vehicle owners insurance to give them peace of mind while heading off on trips in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

It has highlighted the varying needs of owners due to the many differences in circumstances and motorhomes throughout the caravanning community.

One thing all of them have in common, however, is the desire to protect their vehicles against theft and damage, so the Club has designed its Caravan Cover with its members’ priorities in mind.

The benefits include new-for-old replacement of the caravan and equipment in the event of loss; cover for storm and flood damage to awnings; and up to £50,000 personal accident cover.

As the Caravan and Motorhome Club is member owned, purchasers of its cover can rest assured any profit will be channelled into its sites and services.

Harvey Alexander, director of marketing at the Caravan and Motorhome Club, said: “As we are a membership organisation, and caravan cover is not a legal requirement, we have been able to establish a product just for our members where all aspects of cover are dealt with by the Club and we have a wide and inclusive acceptance criteria.

“We want to reassure members we’re here to help, every mile of the journey, and to help provide peace of mind with ensuring their caravans and trailer tents are covered against loss, theft and damage. We have decades of experience in providing insurance and cover products for our members.”

Caravan Cover starts at £59 and there is a Super Cover option available. The Caravan and Motorhome Club was founded in 1907 and has been offering insurance for more than 45 years.

It has a claims handling customer satisfaction score of 9.1 out of ten and 4.95 out of five for service and resolution.

The Caravan and Motorhome Club represents the interests of some one million members and operates more than 200 sites in the UK.

By Emma Dodd

It’s rather fun when you stumble across a vintage review for the CaravanTimes Classic Gold series where the enthusiasm of the motorhome’s owner pours from the page. Lawrence Phillips was so taken with his Adria Adora 642UP when he reviewed it in 2012, he rated the van five out of five in every category.

When doing his research for buying a caravan, Mr Phillips’ main concern was finding one with a double bed wide enough not just to fit two humans, but a terrier too. The answer was the Adria Adora 642UP, as it was the only standard-width caravan on the market at the time with a proper-sized double bed.

This is achieved by two very wide single beds being mounted on a track and slid together to create the double. Luckily, for our reviewer, the motorhome also performed beyond just the dimensions of the bed.

Mr Phillips said: “The separate shower unit has proved a boon as one does not have to wait for the bathroom to become free before showering. The all-plastic washroom/WC is well fitted with shelves designed so that you don’t have to empty them or pack them before travelling and things stay put.”

He added that the washroom being all plastic made an excellent drying room for coats when it had been raining and was complete with a rail for the purpose. We’re getting quite a vivid insight into the way of life of these caravan owners and their pet pooch.

Let’s give the last word to our reviewer and his wonderful phraseology: “A lovely galley area with a peninsular worktop and a fabulous cavernous corner cupboard with fiddles and shelves to help hold things in place. Speaking of fiddles, the shelves in the lounge area all have these; an excellent idea to stop items sliding off the shelves.”

Have you owned an Adria Adora 642UP and if so, were you as enamoured with it as our reviewer? Get in touch to let us know.

By Emma Dodd

A new blue plaque has been unveiled in Somerset, which commemorates a time when Dwight D Eisenhower stayed in a caravan on the outskirts of Weston-super-Mare.

The year was 1944 and Eisenhower was not yet president of the United States, but he did have a very important role and one that led him to visit the seaside town.

It was towards the end of World War Two and he was the supreme allied commander for Europe, en route to the D-Day landings in Normandy.

Weston-super-Mare was filled with American servicemen, but instead of pulling rank and demanding to stay in a hotel, Eisenhower spent the night in a caravan in Weston Woods.

His pitch was near the woods’ Water Tower, but he was not alone, as other military personnel occupied vehicles under the cover of the trees and along the Toll Road.
A socially-distanced audience gathered at the spot where Eisenhower’s caravan was pitched back in 1944 on August 20th to see the plaque unveiled to the public.

Under his name and rank, the plaque reads: “Camped here with American troops preparing for D-Day 1944.”

It will now stay in place for visitors to Weston Woods to discover as they take a stroll and come across a little piece of world history.

Anyone taking a caravan holiday in Weston-super-Mare this summer will now be able to claim they’re following in the footsteps of a man who would become US president.

Holidaymakers wishing to find out more about the blue plaques scattered around the resort can now take an audio tour of all the locations.

A spokesman for Weston Town Council told the Bristol Post: “The idea is that as you arrive at a plaque you can use your phone to access a page on our website and play the film that gives you the history of the plaque.

“This is the first stage in what we hope will become a digital walking audio guided map app.”

By Emma Dodd

Many of us feel like the decision to holiday at home or abroad has been taken out of our hands this year, but there’s still options when it comes to your annual summer trip away.

Caravan owners have the whole of the UK at their disposal, but it can be difficult to narrow down which area you wish to visit.

A new analysis of data has been produced byIsland Cottage Holidays to help inform your choice, ranking destinations throughout the UK for the amount of sunshine you get in relation to the cost of the holiday.

It found the south-east of England represented the best sun per spend, with an average 1,880 hours of sunshine a year and an average holiday cost of £167, putting the likes of Brighton and Margate at the top of the list when it comes to value for money.

While the north-east is a relatively cheap place to go on a caravan holiday, the hours of sunshine came in at 1,498 and the temperature at just 13.3 degrees C.

When you compare this to the south-east at 14.5 degrees C, you’re more likely to want to spend time on Brighton Beach or Margate Main Sands than Tynemouth Beach or Bamburgh.

Using Met Office data and Tourism Office costings, Scotland came out as one of the most expensive places to visit at £252, as well as the destination with the fewest hours of sunlight.

Caravan enthusiasts heading north of the border are therefore likely to be travelling to the region for its rich culture and dramatic scenery.

Last weekend was what would traditionally have been the start of the school holidays in England, and roads and caravan parks filled up with holidaymakers.

While some people are starting to travel abroad, others are remaining cautious, and local lockdowns like the one currently facing Barcelona add an extra question mark to foreign travel.

By Emma Dodd

Days and weeks may have blended into each other for many over the past few months, but for families, the start of the summer getaway has been eagerly anticipated.

This weekend marked the date when schools in England would have broken up for the summer had they been open, and therefore saw the end of homeschooling instead.

On Friday, roads across the country became congested, as the start of the traditional holiday combined with more relaxed rules on trips away and overnight stays.

Mike Newton, Devon and Cornwall police control room supervisor, commented on the situation on Twitter: “The M5 south currently looks like a cross between a caravan and boat show between [junctions] 30 and 31.”

Caravan holidays have been widely accepted as the best option for a safe break this summer, stretching the UK’s staycation infrastructure in a way that would usually be mitigated by families travelling abroad.

This year, the usual scenes will not be played out at airports but on roads and in caravan parks instead.

While many have set off for seaside destinations in the south, including Cornwall and Devon, the situation is similar elsewhere.

Caravan parks in Scotland have reported being full to capacity, which is not surprising when guidance dictates they must keep numbers lower to ensure social distancing.

The Caravan and Motorhome Club’s Culloden Moor at Newlands near Inverness and Queen Elizabeth Park in Stonehaven have both been inundated with bookings since they confirmed they were reopening.

Keith and Lisa Jeffs, site managers at Culloden Moor, told The Press and Journal: “For the club that we work for it’s been challenging times for all of us and it’s just good people are coming out.

“We could tell from our bookings it was going to be healthy, numbers wise, but I think people are just glad to be back out.”

It’s a timely reminder that caravan enthusiasts who are used to being able to turn up at sites without a booking will not be able to do that this year and can expect the experience to feature some significant differences.

By Emma Dodd

Caravan holidays and Croatia’s Dalmatian Coast are the perfect match, so in this edition of Dream Destinations we’re taking you to Sibenik. This often overlooked city has plenty of history to offer, as well as easy access to the Kornati Islands and Krka National Park.

Sibenik’s cathedral occupies an enviable position right next to the sea and is dripping in history. Its construction was funded by local people in the 15th century, who wanted a monument to their faith, and subsequently took 100 years to build.

You can still see the faces of some of the donors, as 74 of them were immortalised in stone on the cathedral’s exterior. Its outer walls also bear the scars of shells used by the Serbs on an attack of the city in the 1990s. Step inside and the sarcophagus of St James rests inside this impressive gothic and renaissance monument.

Just off the coast lies the Kornati Islands, an archipelago of some 140 islands, many of which fall inside the national park. While uninhabited for most of the year, some small cottages are used by farmers from Murter Island to tend to the olive groves, vineyards and orchards during the growing and harvesting seasons.

A boat trip to this stunning island group will show you the very best of the Adriatic, with clear waters in every shade of blue you can imagine and hidden coves contrasting brightly with the sea. The sixth-century Tureta Fort dates back to the Byzantine era and its remains can be seen on Kornat Island.

Just ten kilometres inland from Sibenik is the captivating Krka National Park, which is home to a network of hiking trails, a number of monasteries and a series of seven waterfalls. The most southern of these falls is Skradinski Buk, where you can go for a dip.

Sibenik lies within a wine-growing region, so it’s worth taking a trip to one of the nearby vineyards for a tour and a tasting if you’re a wine aficionado. At the very least, ordering a glass of wine that was made in the local area to go with a meal is a must during your stay.

Where are your post-lockdown caravan holiday plans going to take you? Get in touch to let us know.

By Emma Dodd

In this edition of CaravanTimes Classic Gold, we are once again heading back in time to 2012. The Sterling Elite Amber was new on the market and our reviewer, Martin Ackers, had great expectations for its performance.

It started off very promisingly, when Mr Ackers commented that the “level of equipment is very high and it has all that is needed”. He added that it tows well, looks excellent and is very good in terms of day-to-day use.

Things started to go downhill after that, with our reviewer noting that the quality seems to have dropped a little since he purchased his last Swift caravan. His concerns started with the lights, as the LED awning light stopped working after just two uses and he noticed moisture inside the rear light clusters.

And it didn’t get much better after that. Chief among Mr Ackers’ complaints was that the shower door hinge broke, making it impossible to close the door or use the shower without making the carpet wet. The issues with water did not end there, as the onboard water tank gauge didn’t work from day one.

The construction of the drawers were not up to the expected standard either, as our reviewer pointed out that anything more than a newspaper would make the bottoms fall out. Retrieving said newspaper was further hampered by the seat cushions moving forward, meaning everyone would have to stand up to gain access to the drawers.

Mr Ackers ended on a high, stating that there was an “excellent amount of space for the two of us and two dogs,” but it appears his overall rating of four out of five may have been somewhat generous when you consider his comments.

Did you have a Sterling Elite Amber back in 2012 or in subsequent years? If so, let us know whether you agree with our reviewer’s comments.

By Emma Dodd

Wild camping has long been legal in Scotland, but under COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, the government has told caravan owners not to indulge in the practice.

As of July 15th, Holyrood makes it permitted again, but one council has spoken out urging caravan owners to stick to official sites to begin with.

Argyll and Bute County Council has asked visitors to use official caravan parks as a way to help the local economy and prevent a second wave of the coronavirus taking hold.

Councillor Alastair Redman, policy lead for economic growth, said: “Use official campsites so that numbers can be properly managed and so that your waste can be disposed of safely.

“It will not only keep you safe: it will help keep our businesses going at this crucial time so that people can enjoy coming here for years to come.”

He highlighted the fact that the people of the region, like others across the country, have made sacrifices to suppress the virus and that everyone must continue to act responsibly now that restrictions are being lifted.

Tourism is a key industry in Argyll and Bute, which has been particularly hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, making it all the more important to welcome visitors back in a safe manner.

Argyll and Bute is a tempting place to visit with a caravan as it has many attractive landmarks to explore, such as the Inveraray and Carnasserie castles and Iona Abbey.

It is also home to 23 inhabited islands, including Bute, Mull and Tiree, where an outbreak of coronavirus could be devastating for the small populations.

While national guidance must be followed, it’s also important to think about local sensitivities and how appropriate it is to travel to specific destinations at certain times.

The Scottish government is only encouraging caravan owners whose leisure vehicles are self-contained and do not rely on shared facilities to undertake overnight stays at present.