Who remembers when...?
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We also had a Sprite 400 with proper wood and piano hinges on the extension food prep flap. Foot pump for cold water only and an Elian "thunder box" which was housed in a toilet annexe to the awning. The top bunk was a canvas hammock type thing which had
two metal poles that slotted into two half round holders at each end. When the bunk was not in use the hammock and poles were stored in the back rest of the front bench. Happy days with four of us and the dog who slept under the double bed made up from the
dinette benches and the table . We had holidays in the U.K, Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands.0 -
We had a foot pump in our first caravan too. Mr VB thought it would be a good idea to change it to an on/off switch. Worked a dream until the dog rolled over in the night & lay on it with all our precious water running down the drain! Happy days indeed
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seems we all remember our first vans, possibly with slightly rose-tinted glasses - I certainly remember being very keen to sell it so we could get an inside loo and the Lunar went in favour of luxurious double glazing
But we travelled far and wide in both vans in those early days and from our first year we went away for xmas and new year and had SNOW!! (we always seemed to get some back in those good old days - I miss snow at xmas 
)There, now I've said that perhaps we get some this year
Alison
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Our original Piper had no hook up or even a battery. The only thing electric was one tube over the lounge which we powered off the car battery. We lived with it and thought there was nothing odd about it at the time. The replacement had more electric lights
and a battery plus a three way fridge which needed a hook up but must have used very little power from the hook up.0 -
Many many years ago i lived in my "first " caravan it had an end kitchen with a full calor cooker , it also had a drop down double bed and a wooden partition with another double pullout settee bed , it also had an ingenious solid fuel stove which had a steel
tank surrounding the flue which had a tap on , you could fill the tank and have loads of hot water .... It was very cosy
also very heavy and we towed it with a lorry : wish i had it now lol oh yes and gas lights , and glass and steel windows the frames
cleaned up beautifull with a brillo pad lol . Mrs bc0 -
I remember when CC rallies were popular with caravanners. . ---- In those days Rally centres used to set up rallies in a suitable field where Centre members used to meet up with friends for the weekend. Caravanners were self sufficient and resourceful
in those days and used all the facilities their caravans. They made their own entertainment, well into the early hours of the norning and consumed a considerable amount of the "Water of Life". Great fun was had by all.Sadly those days are gone and rallyists are seen as a bit of an oddity who have a need for public lavatories, mains electricity and to pitch up beside non-rallyists on CC camping sites.
Gone are the happy carefree days of the true Rallyist. -- There are very few left.
Cheers...................K
there are still 70 centres in the Club K, so hardly very few left, just not so visible to the members who only use CLs and Club Sites, it's a whole other world out there on a rally field (and still much more sociable)
Alison
...If you are in with the "in crowd" of the centre
I know what you mean. To be part of the "in crowd" you really need to have a Bailey
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every centre has its groups but the real 'in crowd' tend to be those who put their hands up and volunteer to do the work -be it serving on committee or running rallies, or just always willing to help out in any capacity. Centres certainly wouldn't survive
without them.Alison
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Same as the 'Tiger' Di, Fire and pap a Sprite 400 (bet its still going strong) in 91, can remember being away North Yorkshire at easter and it started snowing, gas ring on to try and keep warm, those were the days Brrrrrrrrrrrr.............
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Reading through this thread it takes me back to the Caravan holidays we had in the 60's & 70's with Mum & Dad. The van had absolutely no luxuries in it such as toilet/sink/cooker or fridge. Yet our new MH that we've ordered has a full size fridge and
quite large freezer. A proper cooker with a oven. 2 sinks, a flushing toilet and a large double fixed bed. In additon it has 2 tellys, Sat Nav and a 4 speaker DAB radio. I wonder what Caravans and MH's will have in 30 years time and the buyers will look back
at ours and think how on earth did they manage.0 -
I do feel as if the attitude towards our caravans has majorly shifted over the years, when we started out we'd invite friends in either the van or awning. or even both - it was our social space that made up into beds for four at night, then in the morning it was all packed away again back into a lounge. I remember saying I would never go for a 'new' fixed bed because I didn't want to invite everyone into our bedroom
But gradually van layout has definitely changed with more emphasis on beds than general living area, if we entertain now it is not a load of people anymore perhaps just another family (or more of our own) and in summer we will all sit outside but rarely do we have big get togethers in the evening in the awning (let alone the van) anymore.
Alison
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Thinking of the "Toilet Tent" reminds me of a week at Gt Dorset steam Fair in the late '80s.
There was I in my Autohomes Bambi { 970 cc of pure power petrol m/home, 'hidden' PortaPotti, -- and no 'Extras' thank you ! } all curled up for the night when the van started rocking quite badly, so popped head out of the Stable door and it was just a stiff old wind hitting on the side so I let it rock me to sleep.
About seven in the morning woke up to the sound of many voices, so a quick dress and went outside. There they were about ten or twelve folks standing round a great pile of fully detached toilet tents, saying " Noooo, mine was green but faded, what colour did you say yours was ??" And if you looked down the row there were an (approximately ) equivalent number of 'Potties etc all lined up nicely, but none in use !!
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I remember a bank holiday weekend at Thirsk Racecourse site. The wind was blowing a right hooly and we were up in the early hours hanging on to the awning poles for dear life. The awning was wrecked beyond repair and we couldn't find another one with a toilet
annexe. We bought another awning and had an annexe added by a firm in Bradford.0 -
sadly the stories of wind blowing awnings is way too familiar, never lost our toilet tent though as we made a 'floor' for ours - a heavy square of wood with a hook in each corner to attach said tent then pegged the whole thing down
all
because I hated getting cold/wet feet sitting on the loo
.Alison
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Talking about toilet tents reminds me of a CC rally on the public park in Banchory. . A number of us had gone up to the town to sample the local "Water of Life" and on the way back, late at night, one of our party unpegged the guys supporting somebody's toilet tent for a laugh.
As would happen, the wind got up through the night and the stort is that, while it was being used in the morning, the whole tent blew over. this apparently caused some hilarity.
The owners of the t/tent took it in good part as was the custom on Rallies in those days.
Cheers............K
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sadly the stories of wind blowing awnings is way too familiar, never lost our toilet tent though as we made a 'floor' for ours - a heavy square of wood with a hook in each corner to attach said tent then pegged the whole thing down
all
because I hated getting cold/wet feet sitting on the loo.Alison
At least you had a toilet tent. We relied on the site facilities by day and a bucket at night in our old Piper as due to its compact size the toilet compartment was used as a larder. The Trophy that replaced it did however have the luxury of more space and
we then got a Porta Potti.0 -
Ah, the 'bucket and chuck it' era, thankfully we just missed that
Alison
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As a child I recall in 1969 Dad bought a Sprite 400 that was towed by a Maxi with a 5 speed gearbox.He used to get up to 5th and dip the clutch to go over roundabouts with the caravan on the back. Used to tow from Lincolnshire to Cornwall stopping overnight
at the Taunton County Cricket Club where they welcomed caravanners.Once had to be towed off a mud slidden site near Leyburn.
The Sprite had gas mantles, gas heater and floor mounted water pump. The front 'diner' converted into 2 bunks, the upper being an orange hammock on 2 steel bars. The loo was a pale blue painted metal bucket with a red painted seat/lid. The awning was built
like the Ark Royal and took an age to put up. The green calor bottle was passed to me and in several incarnations became the current Calorlite without a contract!!Dinner was often a Vesta packet curry or a Fray Bentos tinned snake and pigmy pie on arrival day after the journey.
We had some brilliant holidays with the 'van.
Dad didn't join the CC as he had enough roolz and regimentation at work and didn't want to spend his free time with his fellow occifers
Happy days
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As a child I recall in 1969 Dad bought a Sprite 400 that was towed by a Maxi with a 5 speed gearbox.He used to get up to 5th and dip the clutch to go over roundabouts with the caravan on the back.
If you changed out of fifth on a Maxi, you might never find it again.
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As a child I recall in 1969 Dad bought a Sprite 400 that was towed by a Maxi with a 5 speed gearbox.He used to get up to 5th and dip the clutch to go over roundabouts with the caravan on the back. Used to tow from Lincolnshire to Cornwall stopping overnight
at the Taunton County Cricket Club where they welcomed caravanners.Once had to be towed off a mud slidden site near Leyburn.
The Sprite had gas mantles, gas heater and floor mounted water pump. The front 'diner' converted into 2 bunks, the upper being an orange hammock on 2 steel bars. The loo was a pale blue painted metal bucket with a red painted seat/lid. The awning was built
like the Ark Royal and took an age to put up. The green calor bottle was passed to me and in several incarnations became the current Calorlite without a contract!!Dinner was often a Vesta packet curry or a Fray Bentos tinned snake and pigmy pie on arrival day after the journey.
We had some brilliant holidays with the 'van.
Dad didn't join the CC as he had enough roolz and regimentation at work and didn't want to spend his free time with his fellow occifers
Happy days
Write your comments here... Sounds very like our old Piper. I still wonder how we managed with four of us in a 10 ft caravan. The longest trip was to the Isle of Wight.
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The main reason we bought our first Sprite was a weekend spent away with friends who had one. There were nine of us altogether . My mate and I slept on camp beds in the awning and our two wives with five admittedly small children somehow slept in the 10ft
Sprite. Only for two nights. On the journey home we looked at caravans and bought one shortly after . There were then four of us plus dog ,much more comfortable.0 -
Both our parents had caravans, my parents a Bailey Maru and my wifes a Sprite. We bought a tent to start with but after a few years went for a caravan. The Piper was in a local dealers and suited the Escort we had at the time so we took the plunge. The tent
was probably bigger but the caravan warmer even without heating.0
