Then and Now
Hi everyone,
This one is just for fun.
Post a photo of your very first caravan/motorhome vs. your current one.
Bonus points if you tell us:
- How many years are between the two photos?
- What is the #1 "luxury" you have now that you didn't have back then? (Hot water? A fixed bed? A reversing camera that actually works?)
I'm looking forward to seeing your photos.
Comments
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You know my first
and this was the last
We owned them 50 years apart but there was 70 years between their build dates.
Luxuries? Well, everything really. The old Bluebird had none.
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After a few episodes of tent camping we bought our first caravan, an Abbey Somerset, in 1989.
For cooking it only had a hob, a small bathroom and the heating was very poor. We had a second caravan with improved spec, but changed to a motorhome in 2001. Our current motorhome is based on an RS Endeavour and was custom-built for us in 2011.
Compared to our first caravan, it is like chalk and cheese. It has Alde heating, full cooking facilities, off grid capability, amply storage, a wet room, full sized fridge and fixed beds. We have now had this spacious motorhome 15 years, but it is as good as new.
peedee
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Stunning interior, @peedee - reminds me of our boats😀!
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Can't post a current one as we no longer have a caravan or motorhome but this is the first caravan,probably around 1982 it was an Ace Airstream towed by a Vauxhall Viva (probably the worse tow car I ever owed. Second picture of our last motothome.
David
![EarlyCaravanning[1].jpg](https://us.v-cdn.net/6035433/uploads/AP7Z4ZKOXQXS/earlycaravanning-5b1-5d.jpg)
![Goodbye%20Alliance[1].jpg](https://us.v-cdn.net/6035433/uploads/DI2UTSYNZJ6I/goodbye-2520alliance-5b1-5d.jpg)
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These are all such amazing pictures. Thank you so much for sharing. It's so interesting to ready what people started with and what they have now with all the mod cons!
Looking forward to hopefully seeing some more pictures of then and now. 😊
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We started with a £95.00 van in 1976.
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@richardandros more photos can be found on my website >here<
peedee
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We started Caravanning in 1971 in my in-laws 2 berth Abbey van, only 12v lighting , end kitchen with 2 ring gas hob with grill below, and a gas operated fridge and little heater. Toilet compartment housing a chemical toilet. Foot operated water pump.
In 1972 we bought a Cavalier with L shaped end kitchen, pull out toilet area with tip up basin, gas hob, little oven and a grill that folded out from the wall. I fitted it with mains power so we could use a small fan heater, a 3 way fridge and a couple of mains sockets. I converted the foot pump to use 12v power. It had an unusual L shaped plus bench seating area which could sleep 5 in 2 pull out doubles and a hanging bunk that looked like a stretcher. We probably do have a photo, but I have no idea where it is now. It had glass windows, which we later changed to plastic double glazed ones. We towed it in UK and in 1977, 1979 and 1980 we went to Scandinavia.
We sold that van in 1983 and did not return to Caravanning until 1998 when we found things had significantly improved! We bought an Eccles Emerald, 4 berths, end bathroom with excellent shower compartment, blown air heating, 3 way fridge, hob, oven and grill. We also had a Carver motor mover.
In 2008 we sold that van and for our retirement bought a Sterling Searcher, twin axle with large end bathroom, Alde heating, big fridge freezer, air conditioning, and the necessary Truma mover. It has been a great van and has travelled over 50,000 miles round UK and Europe. We still have it, but will soon be taking delivery of what will be our last caravan, a Bailey Cadiz.
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What a magnificent vehicle @peedee - you must be very proud of it - and quite rightly so!😀
I started caravanning - in my 'former life' - in the early 80's when I bought a new Swift Pirouette. Don't have a photo of it, unfortunately. Towed it with a Talbot Solara - does anyone remember those? I remember it developed damp in the shower when it was just over a year old and therefore out of warranty - and since we lived about five miles from the Swift factory I rang them and complained. Quick as a flash the guy on the other end of the phone said, "Bring it in over the winter and we'll rebuild it - free of charge of course" - and apologised profusely for the inconvenience. Can't see that happening now!
After a few years of 'vanning, I got into boats and had a couple of smaller yachts (both called Harlequin) until I had Harlequin III built in the early 90's which resulted in Ros and I spending a couple of years in the Med. Came back, sold the yacht and returned to caravanning with a Bailey Pageant Moselle. However, eventually my love of matters maritime won again and we had a couple of motor yachts - a Linssen Dutch steel yacht and a Broom 345 - Harlequin IV and V. With age creeping up on us, we decided to go back to caravanning and bought a Bailey Barcelona about 11 years ago and then the current Knaus Staclass 695, some 7 years ago. In a different league, quality wise than anything we have seen produced in the country. Sadly, because of mobility issues, we may have to give up the caravan before long - or perhaps look at siting it on a seasonal pitch - but not yet!
Here's us @Skybarn Farm CL, near Lincoln, a couple of years ago - where we hope to be again, next month
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Got any photos of your boats? My sailing experience has largely been limited to dingy sailing, wind surfing and hiring canal boats! I did consider buying a canal boat, but caravanning won the day, I thought there were too many travel limitations with owning a canal boat and I have never had the nerve to tackle ocean sailing.
peedee
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@peedee - you really shouldn't have asked that question🙄 - because I'm about to get my knuckles wrapped for going off topic! So here we go……. (apologies for the quality of the pics of the first three yachts - all I have is a photo of a photo - and in the case of Harlequin III - the only record I have is the Westerly brochure - but that's my yacht with me at the helm - I did the photo shoot for them on the Solent, just after she was launched. No such thing as mobile phones or even digital cameras, then). And before anyone says - as some did when we are away - "you must be a lottery winner" - I retired from the Police when I was 42, sold my house and furniture and was a liveaboard for three years!! So it was my 'house'!😀
The original Harlequin - Parker Super Seal - 27'
Harlequin II - Jeanneau Sunlight 31'
Harlequin III - Westerly Oceanranger 38'
Interior
Harlequin IV - Linssen 35 SL
Harlequin V - Broom 345
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Wow, what a start to your touring experience, quite a collection you have had. You must have quite a few stories to tell. Thanks for sharing, it all helps to keep what is an interesting thread going. Beats "what are you all up to"
peedee
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Lots of stories @peedee - and as with most yotties, they're all of the horror variety! Like coming back from our shake-down cruise to Holland in Harlequin III in August, and the fog descended about half way across the North Sea. No radar fitted at that time - it was sitting in the chandler's in Hull Marina! Visibility was about 20 yards plus it was pitch black at midnight and I had been on watch for more than 40 hours. Did the sensible thing given how busy the Humber estuary is, and called up Humber Pilots who very kindly guided me into the anchorage using their high definition radar. At one point he said to me, "Can you see the beach at Spurn Point - it's about 20 yards from you". Could I hell!!! (Edit - the deep water channel goes right alongside the beach)
Or - anchored in Calvi Bay in Corsica when we experienced 100 knot winds - which we survived but were then struck by lightning which wiped out £20k's worth of electrics / electronics (and that was at 1994 prices!)
I had a special relationship with H3 - she was built like a tank - but was also fast - would cruise easily at 6 to 7kts in a Force 5. She looked after us and it was one hell of a wrench when I decided to sell her.
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@richardandros, great photo! It's very strange seeing the wind turbine now it's no longer there! Looking forward to catching up with you both (Meg too 🐾) again soon.
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@richardandros great pics and stories
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We started out caravanning in 1990. We wanted some way of getting to the farthest South-Eastern part of Austria, next to Hungary. At that time there were no easy way to do it as no budget flights to that area and a commercial flight to Vienna with hotels etc was prohibitive. We'd been toying with the idea of getting a caravan so bit the bullet and bought a s/h Swift Silhouette, picture from an old photo.
So our second trip after a couple of nights locally was about 1200 miles down to Neusiedlersee, a real adventure as Austria wasn't in the "EU" at that point and of course everyone had border controls. We travelled down through Belgium and Germany and then across Austria, mistakenly ending up in rush hour around Vienna. The whole idea was bonkers but great fun. It was mainly to do with birdwatching. The area bordered Communist controlled Hungary and a nature reserve was adjacent. I remember being stopped by Austrian machine gun totting police on leaving the area and having to try to explain our presence with binoculars so close to Hungary. That was fun, well it made them laugh which was a good sign as it happens. So no toilet in the van so we used sites with facilities even though we had a porta potti.
1200 miles back home via Brussels and back to work the following day. That first caravan got us hooked. It was a smashing little van. We part-exed it after about 30 months and got more for it than we paid.
We now have an AutoSleeper Nuevo EK. Not had it long so we're looking forward to using it this year.
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![EarlyCaravanning[1].jpg](https://clubtogether.caravanclub.co.uk/home/leaving?allowTrusted=1&target=https%3A%2F%2Fus.v-cdn.net%2F6035433%2Fuploads%2FAP7Z4ZKOXQXS%2Fearlycaravanning-5b1-5d.jpg)
![Goodbye%20Alliance[1].jpg](https://clubtogether.caravanclub.co.uk/home/leaving?allowTrusted=1&target=https%3A%2F%2Fus.v-cdn.net%2F6035433%2Fuploads%2FDI2UTSYNZJ6I%2Fgoodbye-2520alliance-5b1-5d.jpg)
