The definitive guide to caravanning and… cycling

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By Emma Dodd

There are certain hobbies that are particularly well suited to enjoying on a caravan holiday and cycling is one of them. It’s important to plan properly and understand some of the issues you’ll need to overcome for your caravan and cycling trip to go smoothly, so we’ve put together this handy guide.

Transporting your bike

Getting your bike and those of your companions to your caravan site is the first challenge. There are so many things to consider, including the number of bikes and the weight your caravan can cope with. The options include a rear wall mounted bike rack, tow car mounting and A-frame mounting, each of which have their own benefits.

To work out which type of rack will best suit your needs, you need to know how heavy your bikes are and the nose-weight limit of your van. These factors will determine where best to position the bikes without putting too much pressure on your car’s tow-ball.

Keeping your bike secure on site

You need to consider how you will secure your bike on the caravan site before you even set off. Be sure to take a good cycle lock or padlock and chain with you, as hundreds of childrens and adult bikes are stolen from caravan parks every year. Threading a chain through the caravan’s chassis and padlocking your bike to it each evening is a good way to guard against theft.

Setting off on your bike ride

To get the most out of your bike ride, be sure your tyres are pumped up to the right pressure before you set off and your saddle is at the correct height. This is especially important with children, who may have grown since they last rode their bikes. Make sure everyone is equipped with clothes that will keep them warm and dry or protected from the sun, as well as visible from any traffic.

Even if you’re not planning on staying out after dark, your bikes should be equipped with lights, just in case. Pack plenty of water and snacks, as well as a puncture repair kit to be prepared for all eventualities. Plan your route and look at the gradient and terrain, as well as the distance, to prevent any unexpected challenges along the way.

Keeping your van clean after a muddy ride

Your caravan will be your home for multiple nights and with the whole family traipsing in after a muddy ride, it can quickly get dirty. An awning is a good piece of kit to help prevent this, as you can use it as a porch, where muddy boots and clothes can be stripped off and kept outside of the van.
Bring some stackable plastic boxes with you where everyone can put their muddy kit before it gets washed. Door mats are great for catching dirt on the way into your van and can be removed to be cleaned. Wooden duckboards are also useful to stand on under the awning when removing boots.

Best caravan sites for cyclists

There are many tempting cycle rides close to caravan parks up and down the country, but if biking is your priority for your holiday, you may want to base yourself at one of these:

  • York Rowntree Park – located on the ten-mile York to Naburn route, which is mainly free from traffic and perfect for families.
  • West Runton Caravan Park – East Anglia is notoriously flat and from this site the Norfolk Coast Causeway, the Broads Cycle Route and the Marriott’s Way Cycle Route are all within easy reach.
  • Beadnell Bay Caravan Site – follow one of the routes marked out by Cycle Northumberland or the Coast and Castles and National Cycle Route, which both pass close to the site.
  • Erwlon Caravan Park – situated in the foothills of the Brecon Beacons and with services including bike hire, storage and cleaning on offer.
  • Minnows Touring Park – close to the Grand Western Canal in Devon, which makes up part of the Sustrans National Cycle Network.

Lincolnshire caravan sites rescued in buyout

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by Chris Malone

Three Lincolnshire caravan parks have been rescued from administration by a single buyer.

According to the Peterborough Evening Telegraph, Lifestyle Living Group has paid a total of £ million for Metheringham’s White Horse Caravan Park and Chapel St Leonards’ Little Haven Caravan Park and The Willows Caravan Park.

It sees the premium holiday park owner acquire a total of 126 caravan pitches and just over eight acres of land.

The firm will keep the sites as caravan parks but upgrade the facilities to make them more attractive to guests.

It plans to invest £10 million in the sites to bring them up to the same standards as its other parks.

Owner and chairman Tony Barney told the newspaper that the Lincolnshire coast is an attractive option for tourists thanks to its “thousands of acres of splendid countryside”.

“We are seeking to expand our park portfolio in Lincolnshire further and we welcome direct approaches from park owners looking to sell or even those looking for a joint venture partner,” he said.

In other news, a caravan lent to the St John Ambulance Service has been burned to the ground in an alleged arson attack in Maidenhead.

Vandals destroy St John’s Ambulance caravan

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by Chris Malone

Vandals have destroyed a caravan lent to a charitable organisation in Marlow, which used it to help it conduct its business.

St John Ambulance Service was “completely dismayed” to find the vehicle had been turned into a pile of ash by arsonists on Wednesday (September 8th).

According to Bucks Free Press, the mobile home had been lent to the group by a kindly local resident after its own caravan was stolen in November 2009.

Aside from the caravan, the theft cost the service £1,500 in lost equipment, although the replacement vehicle had yet to be kitted out before the blaze.

“Obviously it means a lot of work we will have to do and the insurance we have to get for our building and the time and aggravation it will cause,” divisional officer Graham Innes told the newspaper.

“It’s just sheer vandalism and we’ll be spending time dealing with this rather than what we need to do.”

In other news, the Camping and Caravanning Club has promoted its finance manager to the post of finance director.

Camping and Caravanning Club appoints new director

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by Chris Malone

The Camping and Caravanning Club has promoted finance manager Sabina Voysey to the role of finance director.

She has been with the group for nine years and said she is looking forward to leading a 15-strong team.

Ms Voysey will be charged with looking after the finances of the Camping and Caravanning Club Group, the club and its units while assessing and monitoring the impact its subsidiaries have on the club.

“The club provides a challenge to the management team in terms of ensuring that the organisation is managed as a business, whilst acknowledging that it is still a club, run by its members for its members,” she said.

Her promotion comes into effect immediately and follows an announcement that the club is set to invest £29 million in its 110-site network over the next five years.

These are “ambitious plans” that will require the club to perform well operationally if they are to succeed, Ms Voysey added.

The Camping and Caravanning Club operates a Siteseeker application on its website, which allows caravanners to choose a park that is right for them.

Auto Sleepers premiere new caravan range at NEC show

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by Holly Tribe

Auto Sleepers are launching their first ever range of caravans. The release is due to coincide with 2011 season launches from big name caravan manufacturers at the NEC Caravan and Motorhome Show in October.

Auto Sleepers has been the exclusive domain of motorhomes since 1961, but due to an increasingly buoyant caravan market, the company are diversifying and branching out into the touring caravan field.

The new range will be named ‘AS Caravans’ with three models available at Marquis dealerships from the beginning of October, with a fourth to follow in February next year.

The three models are all single axle tourers with rear end washrooms and have been named Mayfair, Kensington and Grosvenor.

The Mayfair model will be the only fixed bed option whilst the entry level two berth Grosvenor houses two single berths at the nose end.

We predict Auto Sleepers will pitch its new range to the higher end of the market, and while prices haven’t yet been confirmed the high spec finish and regal names of these ‘vans are likely to have a princely price tag to match.

Auto Sleepers have been successfully constructing motorhomes using sandwich sidewall method with GRP front and rear panels – a method which should translate well to touring caravan build.

Check back soon for photos, layouts, prices and weights.

Caravanners pull together to escape flood

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Caravan owners in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, have been forced to move their mobile homes after torrential rain.

The equivalent of an entire month’s rain has fallen in the area within the space of just a few days, the News Letter reported.

Lisnaskea Caravan Park boss Pearl Duncan told the newspaper that the site had dealt with the situation by everyone pulling together.

“We had a lot of people here still enjoying their holidays when this happened, but thankfully everyone is on dry ground now,” she said.

“The flood peaked at around 12:00 BST and then began receding slowly again.”

According to the report, the park was flooded after the heavy rain caused the Colebrooke River to burst its banks.

Ms Duncan explained that it was the worst flood she had seen in 11 years of working at the site, but that the residents all worked to help each other out.

In other news, Warwickshire-based Allens Caravans has completed a £2 million investment in its Leedons Holiday and Residential Park and has pointed out that caravans are becoming popular places for people to spend their retirement.

Caravan finance up dramatically

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by Chris Malone

Brits have been buying caravans in their droves this summer, according to new figures from IM Financial Services Leisure.

The firm arranges finance for mobile home buyers and has noted a threefold increase in business during the warmer months of 2010.

It reported that loan applications were up 270 per cent on 2009 figures, which divisional manager Nelson Drinkwater puts down to a resurgence in the UK tourism industry that has seen more people commit to taking staycations.

“The main motivation for buying a touring caravan or a motorhome is often to take a larger number of short breaks throughout the year in the UK,” he explained.

“Although there is an initial outlay, the cost of each holiday is obviously much less than staying in a hotel or rented cottage – and makes spur-of-the-moment getaways much easier.”

Mr Drinkwater added that the firm was surprised at the scale of the resurgence, which began in early spring.

The expert noted how local economies have been boosted around the UK’s 3,000-plus campsites.

In other news, Visit County Durham has noticed a marked increase in visitor numbers to the area in the past 12 months.

2011 Swift Caravans: New products double Lawns sales to 3.5 million

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by Marcus Dubois

Swift Caravans has received early confirmation of the popularity of its newest ranges after achieving record sales last weekend. The firm saw over £3.5million worth of sales in just two days at the Lawns Caravan Show at Cottingham near Hull.

The Lawns show was the first opportunity for the public to view the new models, though over 110,000 people were known to have visited the Swift website following the press and dealer launch of the new range. As reported on Monday, the turnout for last weekend’s Caravan Extravaganza was the best in two decades and thousands of visitors were present to take a closer look.

Caravan Times took a video tour of the new Swift and Sterling models and found a radical new exterior and interior treatment which the company believes will “shape the future design of touring caravans”. Much of the design stems from the firm’s construction of motorhomes and the standout new feature is a panoramic sunroof window over the lounge area.

Swift’s commercial director Nick Page believes that the caravanning public are eager for new and modern designs.

“We were confident we had some revolutionary new products – but the speed at which the public have latched on to these new designs via our web site shows record levels of interest” he noted after the show’s figures were announced.

“To achieve this level of retail sales less than two weeks after the launch clearly demonstrates a massive pent up demand for a more modern design of tourer. This gives us great confidence going into the major show at the NEC in October”.

Click the image below to be taken to our video review of the 2011 Swift range

Woman still in caravan two years after floods

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by Chris Malone

A former BBC broadcaster has been living in a caravan on her land for two years after flooding enveloped her home and destroyed a footbridge that provided her access to the village across the river.

According to the Northern Echo, Eileen Carr’s only means of getting basic supplies now involves making a nine-mile round trip from her home on the bank of the River Derwent to nearby Consett.

Iron Bridge, which allowed her to cross the river, was swept away in September 2008 and a number of disagreements with the local council have held up its replacement.

The council reportedly has another bridge ready to be erected, but claimed it could not put it in the same spot due to it breaching the privacy of a neighbour.

It then offered Ms Carr £200 for a patch of land on which it wants to build a jetty, even though the 59-year-old says an independent evaluation valued it at £4,000.

A further disagreement over the amount the local authority wishes to pay to rent land for plant machinery has held up the process even more.

Meanwhile, the Daily Post has revealed that caravan enthusiasts in north Wales have been given free breakfasts to encourage them to buy local produce

Caravan tourists in North Wales given free breakfasts

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by Chris Malone

Caravanners in north Wales have been reportedly enjoying free breakfasts thanks to a drive to get people buying local produce.

The Conwy Rural Partnership and Rural Development Plan have teamed up to offer complimentary bacon, eggs, bread and rapeseed oil to visitors to summer festivals and caravan sites.

According to the Daily Post, people have been given a treat to encourage them to try the tasty dishes the local area has to offer.

As well as freshly-made rolls, packets of ready-to-cook breakfasts were handed to attendees at events such as farmers’ markets.

Those heading to tomorrow’s (September 8th) Conwy Farmers’ Market will be in with a chance of getting their hands on one of 50 free breakfasts and will be able to browse and purchase an array of local foods.

The scheme is run by Annog Cyf and spokesman Dafydd Gruffydd explained that organisers are sure that “once people get a taste, we are confident they will be back for more”.

In other news it has recently been revealed that a Consett woman has been left living in a caravan since flooding swept away an iron bridge and ruined her home.

Video of stolen caravan rammed into police car

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by Holly Tribe

Click here to see video footage of the incident

A thief who stole a caravan and deliberately reversed it into a pursuing police car has been convicted for dangerous driving and vehicle theft.

Footage of the incident was captured by a camera installed onboard the pursuing police vehicle and shows the moment the stolen caravan was reversed into the stationary car, ripping off a rear bumper before speeding away.

The constabulary vehicle was rendered immobile with steam coming from under the bonnet and an estimated £3000 worth of damage was caused.

The towcar used to commandeer the caravan was a four-wheel drive Daihatsu which was registered stolen from a home in Mackworth on 5th August last year. Police were alerted to the theft when they received a phone call from a concerned neighbour who witnessed the vehicle being attached to the Avondale caravan and driven off.

Police pursued the stolen caravan through the streets of Alvaston at speeds of up to 40mph as it swerved over the road and was driven the wrong way round a round-about.

Terence Hall, 22, was arrested on the day of the incident and has been convicted of vehicle theft, dangerous driving, and driving while disqualified and ordered to serve thirty months in jail.

According to the Derby Evening Telegraph, when sentencing, Recorder David Farrell QC said: “If someone was driving along that road in a proper manner and you were driving the way you were, you could have killed them or seriously injured them.”

Hall’s brother, Kevin, was also sentenced to 20 months in a young offenders’ institution for his involvement in the robbery. He is said to have been following the chase in his van, but voluntarily stopped behind the police car.


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Bailey Caravans fit new bumper to 2011 Unicorn and Pegasus models to combat stone dents

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by Marcus Dubois

Earlier this summer a number of our forum users expressed concern as to whether road chippings and stone dents could cause cosmetic damage to the new Alu-Tech models from Bailey Caravans.

In an edition of our consumer programme Talkback we spoke to Bailey marketing director Simon Howard who revealed that as part of a two-tier solution the firm would be developing a front bumper. And today after speaking to Bailey, we can confirm that a bumper design has been added to all 2011 Bailey Unicorn and Bailey Pegasus models.

A forum user sent us a picture alerting us to how the new bumper design appears on the Bailey Unicorn. Sporting a three-striped decal which echoes the colour scheme of the Unicorn logo, it swoops up on either side to protect those areas likely to be bombarded by loose chippings on the road.

Bailey confirmed that aside from the three prototypes displayed at the official launch, all of the retail Unicorn models will carry this front bumper as standard. The bumper will also be fitted to all 2011 Pegasus caravans, but is not available on the Olympus range.

There has been no word as yet from Bailey as to whether owners of early Pegasus models will have the option to have the bumper fitted at their local dealership.

Bailey will be displaying the Unicorn alongside the full Alu-Tech range at International Caravan and Motorhome 2010 at the NEC in Birmingham. The show takes place from 12-17th October and is the largest caravan event in the UK.

Click below to watch the original interview with Bailey marketing director Simon Howard