By by Niki Greig
Caravans have long been a popular holiday choice for the discerning tourist, but the hobby has certainly come a long way since the post-war boom that brought them to prominence.
How times have changed! The Guardian has unearthed this article from their archives, which harkens back to a bygone era and shows that the pioneers of modern caravanning holidays weren’t all overly enamoured with the upcoming pastime.
In 1956, one family from Manchester swapped their usual boarding house for a fortnight in a caravan for the princely sum of six guineas (the equivalent of £18 today) after seeing an advert that promised “all modern conveniences” on a site with flush sanitation, electricity, laundry and fishing.
Unfortunately what they got was a small caravan in poor condition with terrible equipment and sanitation. The husband commented that “the wife wanted to come home after the first day but we stuck it for three until the heavy rain made it unbearable.”
The unfortunate family had been victims of a shortage of caravan sites. This lack of suitable sites opened up an opportunity for corrupt owners to exploit tourists by providing shoddy facilities, the Guardian reports.
This experience can’t have helped endear many to caravanning and may unfortunately have put many people off it for life.
An MP estimated that the caravan population of the UK was growing by 3000 ‘vans per year in the 50s, although this was thought to be pure conjecture by the Ministry of Town and Country planning.
The local authorities at the time decided what land was to be made available, but it seemed that little or in some cases, nothing was being done to control the situation.
Of course we must remember that this was all when the average price of a four berth caravan was £350. Times were very different and caravanning wasn’t quite always the relaxing experience it is these days.
