I've recently bought an old (1994) Bailey Pageant CD Auvergne which seems to be watertight but needs some attention to some fair wear and tear damage which it has sustained over the years.
I first started caravanning back in 1983 I think it was. At the time my wife and I had two young children and wanted to be able to raise them the way we were, that is by being out and about in the countryside and able to let off steam. My wife's brother bought an ancient "Astral" 'van which needed some attention to it's running gear,As well as some other things which I found out later. Having serviced my own motorcycles and cars since I was old enough to drive and him not having much of an aptitude for that sort of thing I offered to try and sort it out on condition that I could borrow it that summer. I sorted the out of date brake linkages some earthing problems in the running lights then found that the rear wall was so damp that if the window was opened the frame twisted so that the window would not shut again. That was sorted by manouvering the window back in and fabricating some brackets which were bolted onto the window and frame so that it could not be opened again without spanners. The electrics (lights only) were wired from a spare ordinary car battery in the cupboard under the sink and crocodile clips. The water pump was a foot operated bellows. I shudder to think of it now but we had a couple of weeks in Scotland (Loch Ness area) and did not come to any harm. It was one of those summers when one day was glorious and the next was steady rain all day but we enjoyed it and were bitten by the bug.
The following year after much heart searching we invested in a 1982 CI Sprite Musketeer and had several years of happy caravanning, visiting places that we would never have been able to visit otherwise.(e.g Cheddar Gorge, Lands End, and several years at a CL in West Sussex where the children were made most welcome and treated as members of the owner's family. We learned a great deal about caravanning over those years. The 'van was last used in 1992 but, against my wife's wishes, I kept it hopeing that eventually it would be brought back into use. Unfortunately life and it's trials and tribulations conspired against that and the poor old 'van slowly deteriorated over the years. I thought that a good clean and service would bring it back to life but last year I found that both rear lower corners needed attention and the gas bottle securing rack in the seperate gas locker had corroded away. It was still redeemable but, as my wife and now adult children pointed out, the toilet compartment was too small by current standards with a free standing Porta Loo and no shower and there were no mains electrics or hot water. We decided that maybe, if it was not too expensive, we should replace the faithfull old Musketeer with something else. A factor in the decision was that we now have a 6 years old grandson and we thought it may be good to introduce him to the "good" life. So now we have the Bailey Pageant, all be it an old one, with a shower room, mains electrics, hot water and blown air heating. Once I've licked it into shape and wired up the faithfull old Volvo Estate we'll be back "on the road again"
I first started caravanning back in 1983 I think it was. At the time my wife and I had two young children and wanted to be able to raise them the way we were, that is by being out and about in the countryside and able to let off steam. My wife's brother bought an ancient "Astral" 'van which needed some attention to it's running gear,As well as some other things which I found out later. Having serviced my own motorcycles and cars since I was old enough to drive and him not having much of an aptitude for that sort of thing I offered to try and sort it out on condition that I could borrow it that summer. I sorted the out of date brake linkages some earthing problems in the running lights then found that the rear wall was so damp that if the window was opened the frame twisted so that the window would not shut again. That was sorted by manouvering the window back in and fabricating some brackets which were bolted onto the window and frame so that it could not be opened again without spanners. The electrics (lights only) were wired from a spare ordinary car battery in the cupboard under the sink and crocodile clips. The water pump was a foot operated bellows. I shudder to think of it now but we had a couple of weeks in Scotland (Loch Ness area) and did not come to any harm. It was one of those summers when one day was glorious and the next was steady rain all day but we enjoyed it and were bitten by the bug.
The following year after much heart searching we invested in a 1982 CI Sprite Musketeer and had several years of happy caravanning, visiting places that we would never have been able to visit otherwise.(e.g Cheddar Gorge, Lands End, and several years at a CL in West Sussex where the children were made most welcome and treated as members of the owner's family. We learned a great deal about caravanning over those years. The 'van was last used in 1992 but, against my wife's wishes, I kept it hopeing that eventually it would be brought back into use. Unfortunately life and it's trials and tribulations conspired against that and the poor old 'van slowly deteriorated over the years. I thought that a good clean and service would bring it back to life but last year I found that both rear lower corners needed attention and the gas bottle securing rack in the seperate gas locker had corroded away. It was still redeemable but, as my wife and now adult children pointed out, the toilet compartment was too small by current standards with a free standing Porta Loo and no shower and there were no mains electrics or hot water. We decided that maybe, if it was not too expensive, we should replace the faithfull old Musketeer with something else. A factor in the decision was that we now have a 6 years old grandson and we thought it may be good to introduce him to the "good" life. So now we have the Bailey Pageant, all be it an old one, with a shower room, mains electrics, hot water and blown air heating. Once I've licked it into shape and wired up the faithfull old Volvo Estate we'll be back "on the road again"
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