Stephen, don't pack up, just buy an old classic van, join its owners club, and REALLY enjoy caravanning.
Did you notice any orange woodwork, missing oven or lack of comfort in our van, Steve?? ;-) tee hee
Hi Steve and Janet
Such a shame to give up now.
Have you tried the CLs and CSs ; they are very reasonably priced and in some stunning parts of the UK.
Or howabout a seasonal CC pitch at one of their sites ( see latest booklet)
You said BUT gread now has come into play and things will never be the same.
I don't think it's all bad, well not as bad as some airlines who are proposing to charge you for using the toilet.
Best of luck
Cheers
Dustydog
Such a shame to give up now.
Have you tried the CLs and CSs ; they are very reasonably priced and in some stunning parts of the UK.
Or howabout a seasonal CC pitch at one of their sites ( see latest booklet)
You said BUT gread now has come into play and things will never be the same.
I don't think it's all bad, well not as bad as some airlines who are proposing to charge you for using the toilet.
Best of luck
Cheers
Dustydog
But a holiday without the caravan?
It could mean paying over the odds for a horrible packed flight, to be sardined into a bus along with the family from hell, dumped at a miles from anywhere hotel, where the food is awful and everyone comes down with the Delhi Belly. The pool is overcrowded, and the sunbeds reserved by others, the disco goes on until 3.00 in the morning, and then the drunks stumble home around the outside of your room and along the corridors, shouting and playing loud music until 6.00 - when the chambermaid stumbles in, to give you new towels.
Breakfast is awful, and so it goes on - you get sunburnt, the kids get stroppy, and it's a bus ride to the nearest bar. You pay over the odds (again) for a 'Cultural Tour of the Local Pie Eating Competition' - listen to the Tour Guide Charleeen-Marie's interesting guide to the local carpet factory, jewellery store, and local produce merchant, and eventually arrive at the Cultural location in an old shed which looks like an ASDA warehouse, where recklessly Dad volunteers to enter the competition, only to be assaulted by the next contestant disputing how many pies have been eaten and by whom.
The belly dancer entertains all with her wobbly bits, you all get drunk and go home to a hangover and the same noisy disco and returning revellers.. You don't sleep again and the following day have a quiet stroll through the 'Englis Pubbs' and 'Irish Barrs' of the authentic village street, and get accosted by Time Share touts who manage to con you out of five grand as the deposit on the unbuilt 'penthouse apartment' at the far end of the street.
Eventually, at the end of a perfect fortnight you get back on the tour bus and the crowded plane, your return flight is delayed by 24 hours leaving you a bed on the airport floor along with the family from hell *(again) and then you're home. . However,your luggage isn't returned until two weeks later so you have to make do with all your 'second-best' undies for the next fortnight.
I think I'll stick to my caravan.
It could mean paying over the odds for a horrible packed flight, to be sardined into a bus along with the family from hell, dumped at a miles from anywhere hotel, where the food is awful and everyone comes down with the Delhi Belly. The pool is overcrowded, and the sunbeds reserved by others, the disco goes on until 3.00 in the morning, and then the drunks stumble home around the outside of your room and along the corridors, shouting and playing loud music until 6.00 - when the chambermaid stumbles in, to give you new towels.
Breakfast is awful, and so it goes on - you get sunburnt, the kids get stroppy, and it's a bus ride to the nearest bar. You pay over the odds (again) for a 'Cultural Tour of the Local Pie Eating Competition' - listen to the Tour Guide Charleeen-Marie's interesting guide to the local carpet factory, jewellery store, and local produce merchant, and eventually arrive at the Cultural location in an old shed which looks like an ASDA warehouse, where recklessly Dad volunteers to enter the competition, only to be assaulted by the next contestant disputing how many pies have been eaten and by whom.
The belly dancer entertains all with her wobbly bits, you all get drunk and go home to a hangover and the same noisy disco and returning revellers.. You don't sleep again and the following day have a quiet stroll through the 'Englis Pubbs' and 'Irish Barrs' of the authentic village street, and get accosted by Time Share touts who manage to con you out of five grand as the deposit on the unbuilt 'penthouse apartment' at the far end of the street.
Eventually, at the end of a perfect fortnight you get back on the tour bus and the crowded plane, your return flight is delayed by 24 hours leaving you a bed on the airport floor along with the family from hell *(again) and then you're home. . However,your luggage isn't returned until two weeks later so you have to make do with all your 'second-best' undies for the next fortnight.
I think I'll stick to my caravan.
Val, ye have just gave me a tate of summer, hmmm great times.
what you said is what makes a holiday, ye will talk about it for years. bring it on.
what you said is what makes a holiday, ye will talk about it for years. bring it on.
since 1986 I have had 11 caravans,the last seven were t/a and two of them were german,my last english van is a Compass Rallye and so far no problems,the german vans where far superior to any other van ive owned,build quality and finish were second to none,by far the worst vans ive had and I was silly enough to have two of them were Lunar Lexon 640 and a delta 640 they were by far the biggest load of rubbish,my next van will be american,I will see how I get on with one of them.
Allen
Allen
Val perfect analysis of a foreign holiday, the only thing you forgot was the pick pockets, father in-law got off the cruise ship in Naples within 1 hour robbed.
Royal bank of Scotland would not believe him at first even though he had a crime number and the thief's had systematically used is Visa card 5 time in one hour in Naples, only when we he threatened them with a solicitor did they believe him.
I know it could happen here but it's different in another country especially when both parties don't speak the same language, that was some years ago only been in is motor home since and that's in the UK.
Royal bank of Scotland would not believe him at first even though he had a crime number and the thief's had systematically used is Visa card 5 time in one hour in Naples, only when we he threatened them with a solicitor did they believe him.
I know it could happen here but it's different in another country especially when both parties don't speak the same language, that was some years ago only been in is motor home since and that's in the UK.
Val's analysis is spot from what I've been told and read except for the belly dancers wobbly bits. I wouldn't complain about them.
The last time I went on a package holiday was back in the early 60s and the Costa's weren't in existence then.
My then girlfriend (now wife) went on a trial honeymoon, or 'trotting the course' as we say in these parts, to Ostend. When we got to our hotel, The Admiral, they hadn't got us booked in so they rang around and found us rooms at the Hotel Guido. I still remember the company we went with, Transeurope, who were based in Ostend.
The last time I went on a package holiday was back in the early 60s and the Costa's weren't in existence then.
My then girlfriend (now wife) went on a trial honeymoon, or 'trotting the course' as we say in these parts, to Ostend. When we got to our hotel, The Admiral, they hadn't got us booked in so they rang around and found us rooms at the Hotel Guido. I still remember the company we went with, Transeurope, who were based in Ostend.
Unfortunately, I see a number of posters are getting a bit confused, maybe it is the 'old age and Horlicks'? The 'Costa knees up' type package holiday still exists but is very much a minority, unless you subscribe to the '18-30' Club. For example Majorca, or Mallorca to give it its correct name, has 'ceaned' up most of the dunken spots apart from Magalluf, which they have left to the 'young uns'. This leaves virtually the whole of the rest of a large island avaiable for family holidays. Where we tend to go in the north, is very quiet and the beaches are clean, as is the water. yes, there are thieves about, just like at home, so you do not flash your dosh around. The hotel I use regularly has entertainment about 2 or 3 times a week from 9 pm to about 10.30, and that is it. The biggest noise is from geriatrics 'blethering' to about 1 am in the morning, but as the rooms are airconditoned and double glazed, you hear nothing.
There is also the opportunity to make you own holiday using the internet. Book your own flights and accomodation and take your choice. Villa with your own pool, hotel from 2- 5 star or even tent holidays. It is a long ferry ride to Tenerife, but you can tent there, if that is what you fancy.
As I have mentioned, I enjoy my van, but it is not the 'be all and end all' in my life. I want to experience other things apart from wet fields in Yorkshire. I also like to 'spoil' my wife on occasions by allowing her the opportunity to sit on the terrace with a cocktail wearing a nice summer dress, and get a bit of 'pampering' Why not, she deserves it.
As for the costs putting people off, all I can say is that looking at Edinburgh airport flights there are flights to Alicante, Palma, every day of the week, every day of the year. This is apart from the umpteen other destinations that flights go to, and they are certainly not for business. So, people are still flying away for any reason you can think of.
If you enjoy going to the same place every weekend, then by all means. But some of us are a little more adventurous, and enjoy the experience, whether it be with van, or not.
There is also the opportunity to make you own holiday using the internet. Book your own flights and accomodation and take your choice. Villa with your own pool, hotel from 2- 5 star or even tent holidays. It is a long ferry ride to Tenerife, but you can tent there, if that is what you fancy.
As I have mentioned, I enjoy my van, but it is not the 'be all and end all' in my life. I want to experience other things apart from wet fields in Yorkshire. I also like to 'spoil' my wife on occasions by allowing her the opportunity to sit on the terrace with a cocktail wearing a nice summer dress, and get a bit of 'pampering' Why not, she deserves it.
As for the costs putting people off, all I can say is that looking at Edinburgh airport flights there are flights to Alicante, Palma, every day of the week, every day of the year. This is apart from the umpteen other destinations that flights go to, and they are certainly not for business. So, people are still flying away for any reason you can think of.
If you enjoy going to the same place every weekend, then by all means. But some of us are a little more adventurous, and enjoy the experience, whether it be with van, or not.
Quote SL.... " I also like to 'spoil' my wife on occasions by allowing her the opportunity to sit on the terrace with a cocktail wearing a nice summer dress".
I also like that idea but not in a dress, she can wear one of those anytime. If at all she can lie on the balcony in the nuddy and give herself a good airing hoping the heat will get the creases out :O)
Only kiddin' my sweetness and light.
(Just in case she reads it)
I also like that idea but not in a dress, she can wear one of those anytime. If at all she can lie on the balcony in the nuddy and give herself a good airing hoping the heat will get the creases out :O)
Only kiddin' my sweetness and light.
(Just in case she reads it)
We're spoiling ourselves with a cheap flight to Girona shortly, hotel first and last nights, and three nights staying with a friend in the foothills of the Pyrenees - no van, but still not the package described above.
What I described was very similar to a holiday in Turkey about eight years ago when youngest son had just finished his GCSE's and wanted to go on a 'proper' holiday! It was his first and last - and now he much prefers camping again! Charleen Marie (who was actually a Turkish student with a name which sounded like that) tried to push her anti-Kurdish propaganda on the bus tour to the 'cultural destination' (which didn't involve pie eating, but a 'Berber roast' which as about as authentic). Otherwise a lot of the details were absolutely spot-on. I'm not anti package holidays, but so often they don't really live up to expectations, particularly at the budget end, where all our caravanning trips have done.
Like Scotchlad, my OH likes to offer the opportunity for a bit of pampering, so we've also got a weekend planned in this country, with a meal in one of Rick Stein's restaurants for that awful bit of 'just after Christmas but not quite Spring'.
What I described was very similar to a holiday in Turkey about eight years ago when youngest son had just finished his GCSE's and wanted to go on a 'proper' holiday! It was his first and last - and now he much prefers camping again! Charleen Marie (who was actually a Turkish student with a name which sounded like that) tried to push her anti-Kurdish propaganda on the bus tour to the 'cultural destination' (which didn't involve pie eating, but a 'Berber roast' which as about as authentic). Otherwise a lot of the details were absolutely spot-on. I'm not anti package holidays, but so often they don't really live up to expectations, particularly at the budget end, where all our caravanning trips have done.
Like Scotchlad, my OH likes to offer the opportunity for a bit of pampering, so we've also got a weekend planned in this country, with a meal in one of Rick Stein's restaurants for that awful bit of 'just after Christmas but not quite Spring'.
Miaowwww - here are some catty remarks about German vans in this thread 
I quite understand *why* people feel inclined to denigrate them - if I had a rotting two year old UK van, I'd probably be driven to make spiteful remarks about caravans that don't leak, as well.
UK vans have been leaking for as long as I've been caravanning -since the late 70's.
When bonded construction came in the problem got worse - and has never been resolved.
German vans, on the other hand, *don't* (generally) leak - which is why I've got one. In fact (prior to Pegasus, which is going to be cream of the crop when it comes to resisting water damage) I'd rather pull out my fingernails than waste money on a UK caravan! I've seen more rotten examples than I care to remember - and more than a few of them less than two & three years old!
Yet, you keep buying them! You trot back to the dealer who sold you your current damp shed, and part with yet more money for a new van that will leak as surely as the sun will rise!
And you do it time, after time, after time, after time!
Of course the UK vans aren't going to improve while punters keep handing over thousands of pounds for products that they *know* are no better than the last caravan they had, and the one before that, and the one before that...
You want fol-de-rols and fashion? - great, you've got it. But you've also got inferior mastic and extruded aluminium seals that don't cover the joints!!
I don't moan because my German van isn't as sumptuous as a Caliph's harem! - I bought it solely because I could be confident that it wouldn't leak (and it hasn't) So, conversely, why do the UK caravan crowd keep moaning about their damp and rot when they also knew (or should have known, based on past experience) exactly what *they* were getting
I quite understand *why* people feel inclined to denigrate them - if I had a rotting two year old UK van, I'd probably be driven to make spiteful remarks about caravans that don't leak, as well.
UK vans have been leaking for as long as I've been caravanning -since the late 70's.
When bonded construction came in the problem got worse - and has never been resolved.
German vans, on the other hand, *don't* (generally) leak - which is why I've got one. In fact (prior to Pegasus, which is going to be cream of the crop when it comes to resisting water damage) I'd rather pull out my fingernails than waste money on a UK caravan! I've seen more rotten examples than I care to remember - and more than a few of them less than two & three years old!
Yet, you keep buying them! You trot back to the dealer who sold you your current damp shed, and part with yet more money for a new van that will leak as surely as the sun will rise!
And you do it time, after time, after time, after time!
Of course the UK vans aren't going to improve while punters keep handing over thousands of pounds for products that they *know* are no better than the last caravan they had, and the one before that, and the one before that...
You want fol-de-rols and fashion? - great, you've got it. But you've also got inferior mastic and extruded aluminium seals that don't cover the joints!!
I don't moan because my German van isn't as sumptuous as a Caliph's harem! - I bought it solely because I could be confident that it wouldn't leak (and it hasn't) So, conversely, why do the UK caravan crowd keep moaning about their damp and rot when they also knew (or should have known, based on past experience) exactly what *they* were getting
I too have given up caravanning in the UK this year.
Nothing to do with costs.
Nothing to do with van quality ( my last four have all been German).
But all to do with the behaviour of fellow caravanners on site.
For the past 2 years I have used adult only sites, but this year on a "no one under thirty" site the behaviour of some "adults" partying, drinking and swearing all night was the last straw.
Unfortunately the owners lived well off site, but the offenders were given their "marching orders" the next morning.
My caravan is now permanently on a site in France that I have used for the past 15 years, and even though Brits use it, I have never experienced really bad behaviour.
Nothing to do with costs.
Nothing to do with van quality ( my last four have all been German).
But all to do with the behaviour of fellow caravanners on site.
For the past 2 years I have used adult only sites, but this year on a "no one under thirty" site the behaviour of some "adults" partying, drinking and swearing all night was the last straw.
Unfortunately the owners lived well off site, but the offenders were given their "marching orders" the next morning.
My caravan is now permanently on a site in France that I have used for the past 15 years, and even though Brits use it, I have never experienced really bad behaviour.
Creature Comforts, my caravan does not leak, is not rotten and has all the comforts I require, did not cost many thousands of pounds to buy, and I'm very proud of it.Miaowwww - here are some catty remarks about German vans in this thread
I quite understand *why* people feel inclined to denigrate them - if I had a rotting two year old UK van, I'd probably be driven to make spiteful remarks about caravans that don't leak, as well.
UK vans have been leaking for as long as I've been caravanning -since the late 70's.
When bonded construction came in the problem got worse - and has never been resolved.
German vans, on the other hand, *don't* (generally) leak - which is why I've got one. In fact (prior to Pegasus, which is going to be cream of the crop when it comes to resisting water damage) I'd rather pull out my fingernails than waste money on a UK caravan! I've seen more rotten examples than I care to remember - and more than a few of them less than two & three years old!
Yet, you keep buying them! You trot back to the dealer who sold you your current damp shed, and part with yet more money for a new van that will leak as surely as the sun will rise!
And you do it time, after time, after time, after time!
Of course the UK vans aren't going to improve while punters keep handing over thousands of pounds for products that they *know* are no better than the last caravan they had, and the one before that, and the one before that...
You want fol-de-rols and fashion? - great, you've got it. But you've also got inferior mastic and extruded aluminium seals that don't cover the joints!!
I don't moan because my German van isn't as sumptuous as a Caliph's harem! - I bought it solely because I could be confident that it wouldn't leak (and it hasn't) So, conversely, why do the UK caravan crowd keep moaning about their damp and rot when they also knew (or should have known, based on past experience) exactly what *they* were getting
It's a thirty year old Royale, built in Gloucester, and will probably outlast most of the new vans bought recently.
I too cannot understand why so many people spend so much money on goods they know are probably not going to last until the last payment in made.
hi all
It is a shame when people like stephen with 21 years experience decide to pack in because of some trouble with a van or site there are of course times when it is right to call it a day and move on if stephen and others think this is the time then is up to them and right to do so good luck with anything they decide to do next.
it is not all doom and gloom however just ask emmo with his 30 year old royal and all the others who use vans that in theory should be falling apart but are not, our old colchester was still usable and bone dry when we changed to a m/home having had it all the time the kids were growing up.
our present van yes it's a bailey "just a little un" was bought locally from a dealer that had used it as a demostrator and despite having the cupboards opened and closed a million times and having hundreds of kids jumping up and down on the seats still looked brand new we got it at a huge discount of 35% with all the kit needed to go away inc dorema awning wheel lock ect
and now 4 years on everything still works perfectly nothing has fallen off or broken and is bone dry it has never been back to the dealer apart from the free services and will probably last us both out.
we could of course just have been lucky but I doubt it afterall isn't this the way it should be??.
It is a shame when people like stephen with 21 years experience decide to pack in because of some trouble with a van or site there are of course times when it is right to call it a day and move on if stephen and others think this is the time then is up to them and right to do so good luck with anything they decide to do next.
it is not all doom and gloom however just ask emmo with his 30 year old royal and all the others who use vans that in theory should be falling apart but are not, our old colchester was still usable and bone dry when we changed to a m/home having had it all the time the kids were growing up.
our present van yes it's a bailey "just a little un" was bought locally from a dealer that had used it as a demostrator and despite having the cupboards opened and closed a million times and having hundreds of kids jumping up and down on the seats still looked brand new we got it at a huge discount of 35% with all the kit needed to go away inc dorema awning wheel lock ect
and now 4 years on everything still works perfectly nothing has fallen off or broken and is bone dry it has never been back to the dealer apart from the free services and will probably last us both out.
we could of course just have been lucky but I doubt it afterall isn't this the way it should be??.
Just to put the icing on the cake, nothing else fell off the 2009 Lunar, but we had water dripping in through an electric ceiling light and there's a damp patch on the side wall just underneath one of the windows!
The caravan is not yet six months old!
The caravan is not yet six months old!
It's interesting reading Nigels earlier post regarding choosing then trading in, in his words, 'our trusty Abbey'.
We also, in 2004, opted for a new Abbey GTS Vogue only the 217 version. On our first day out in it the oven wouldn't light and the shower leaked like a sieve, water spurting out from the tap.
The stops on the bed slats weren't big enough so a few times I ended up on the floor. The light shade lugs were so brittle they snapped off when trying to clean the lights. Every trip we would find screws of varying lengths on the floor, some I found where they came from and some I never did.
Now by coincidence Nigel found water coming in through light fittings on his Lunar, well so did we in the Abbey last March while at Marazion plus through the roof vent. We were pitched slightly nose up, couldn't manage to get it level, so the water was running in through the non existent seal on the back panel. To solve this we moved pitches the next day then no more water leaks. Our caravan mechanic said it could have been like it for years and it was only for the fact we pitched A Frame first on our sloping drive that the ran straight off the roof so in consequence didn't have any damp. By now I'd had enough so decided to get rid of it and bought one of those 'Baileys that are very much built down to a budget and are so bland and cheap feeling inside and out.
It is a Senator Vermont and guess what, we love it. After 6 months everything is still working, there are no bits and pieces fallen off and compared to the Abbey it oozes quality.
This isn't an advert for Bailey Nigel but just to compare the washroom doors on both models for example, the Abbey door was so flimsy with cheap, non effective door furniture whereas the Senator has a proper door with proper working door furniture. The locker handles as you well know were as flimsy as they could get, infact I bought a new set off eBay and replaced them with proper handles.
Sorry mate, there is no comparison whatsoever.
We also, in 2004, opted for a new Abbey GTS Vogue only the 217 version. On our first day out in it the oven wouldn't light and the shower leaked like a sieve, water spurting out from the tap.
The stops on the bed slats weren't big enough so a few times I ended up on the floor. The light shade lugs were so brittle they snapped off when trying to clean the lights. Every trip we would find screws of varying lengths on the floor, some I found where they came from and some I never did.
Now by coincidence Nigel found water coming in through light fittings on his Lunar, well so did we in the Abbey last March while at Marazion plus through the roof vent. We were pitched slightly nose up, couldn't manage to get it level, so the water was running in through the non existent seal on the back panel. To solve this we moved pitches the next day then no more water leaks. Our caravan mechanic said it could have been like it for years and it was only for the fact we pitched A Frame first on our sloping drive that the ran straight off the roof so in consequence didn't have any damp. By now I'd had enough so decided to get rid of it and bought one of those 'Baileys that are very much built down to a budget and are so bland and cheap feeling inside and out.
It is a Senator Vermont and guess what, we love it. After 6 months everything is still working, there are no bits and pieces fallen off and compared to the Abbey it oozes quality.
This isn't an advert for Bailey Nigel but just to compare the washroom doors on both models for example, the Abbey door was so flimsy with cheap, non effective door furniture whereas the Senator has a proper door with proper working door furniture. The locker handles as you well know were as flimsy as they could get, infact I bought a new set off eBay and replaced them with proper handles.
Sorry mate, there is no comparison whatsoever.
I think that if you compare a 2004 Bailey with the 2004 Abbey, most of the fitting will be similar. We never experienced any of the problems with ours, and the washroom door was far from flimsy. If you compare a 2009 Swift with a 2009 Bailey, again the fittings are very similar. However, Bailey have also come in for some stick from owners of the Pageant range recently for the awful plastic cupboard catches. I cannot comment upon that as I haven't personally experienced them. I did say that it was my opinion (and one that I stick by) with regards to Bailey's design (or lack of it), but was also quoting a dealer with regards to the longevity.
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