Is there a stigma surrounding a Hobby

[Phills_Hobby]

Having just bought a hobby I'm wondering when I pull on to a site will people think (term removed) (yes it's spelt wrong) that's to be politically correct. Or are they widely excepted now? I bought it as I really like them, having spent weeks trawling and viewing loads it was our favourite.

Moderator Note: The term removed whilst being a slang word to describe a person of the traveller society is now regarded in Law as a racially motivated crime. This Forum will NOT be a party to that possibility of legal recourse.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Sadly I suspect there is :dry:

 

[Phills_Hobby]

thanks for the reply, do they use a proper caravan site???

 

[Martin24]

Yes the traveller community have been known to book a night or two and then refuse to leave. This is why certain sites won't even entertain letting the likes of Hobby caravans on site regardless of who you are.

 

[outdoors]

Having owned 5 T.E.C - 1 Geist - 3 Hymer, there seems to me to be a stigma against most German 'vans.
Are there many UK manufactured caravans in Europe, no. Is there a stigma against V.A.G, Mercedes, BMW, Porsche cars, no ??
I'm sure if I wished to own a Hobby caravan, I'd buy one.
Happy caravanning, ( whatever you tow )
NB: Don't see many caravans pulled by Rovers nowadays.

 

[Craigyoung]

Over here I would say so , but we have just come back from Holland a few months ago and I've never seen so many hobby's , and they weren't travellers they were just normal families I presume holidaying but over here my friend from work has just bought a hobby , brand new to but has sited it as they cant be bothered to tow anymore. He shares it with his brother and says it is lovely but they are not travellers . But then another friend of mine which has his van on a different site said none allowed or dethleff vans also

 

[Hutch]

I can't see the problem, all you need to do is at least put up an awning, (it looks like the travelers don't), keep the Staffy on a lead, and dont power the gas from a 47kg propane bottle. Oh yes and of course, take the rubbish to the waste bins.
Its a shame people can have a stigna like this.

 

[Kiveton]

To have a stigma, you have to earn it.

 

[Raywood]

I am afraid if you look for travelers on the road you will see that the Hobby is the caravan of preference for them although it is the larger twin axle models they go for. This does mean that some sites might turn them down, they have a higher theft risk and some insurers will not cover them or charge more to do so. There is a video of a theft of one on this forum although to be fair there is also the report of the theft of a Bailey on the same thread but there are a lot more Baileys than Hobbys in this country.
They are well made caravans though and it all depends if you can live with the problems if you go for them.

 

[Damian]

Quote " I am afraid if you look for travelers on the road you will see that the Hobby is the caravan of preference for them "

That is not the case.
The travelling community tend to use more of the UK built vans now as the Hobby and other E.U. made vans stand out so much more.
Having had a Hobby van for quite a number of years now I have never encountered any problems getting on sites, despite having not only the Hobby van but also two Lurchers.
It is still a bit of "what used to be" which Is no longer the fact.
Yes there are a few, but very few, sites which do not take Hobby and other E.U. made vans but both the main clubs have no problems with them, neither does getting Insurance through either club prove to be a problem.

 

[JonnyG]

i wouldn't worry about it a single hobby turning up at a campsite might get some looks but surely more looks as they are still rare sites in the uk on the more club based sites .it might even be an ice breaker talking point .At the end of the day they have a good reputation for being a quality caravan and if my burstner was anything to go by well deserved and a pleasure to spend time in...enjoy

 

[Phills_Hobby]

I am afraid if you look for travelers on the road you will see that the Hobby is the caravan of preference for them although it is the larger twin axle models they go for. This does mean that some sites might turn them down, they have a higher theft risk and some insurers will not cover them or charge more to do so. There is a video of a theft of one on this forum although to be fair there is also the report of the theft of a Bailey on the same thread but there are a lot more Baileys than Hobbys in this country.
They are well made caravans though and it all depends if you can live with the problems if you go for them.

Problems what problems

 

[Jaydug]

we have just come back from Holland a few months ago and I've never seen so many hobby's ,

Where I'm staying in southern Spain there are two Dutch caravans side by side. They're both Hobbies and are both towed by Citroen Picassos so I guess they are together. I've not heard any comments about them. They're just two more caravans.

 

[Dustydog]

We need to differentiate from the old Hobby's towed by a Ford Transit open truck to the the new millennium ones towed , legally, by our 4x4 's.
Yes the Hobbys of old attracted a stigma but the the later models for us mere mortals are as acceptable as anything else on the market.
In 38 years of using "approved" sites I gave never seen Hobby towed by an"????????" On site.
Come on. Some of these caravans are some poor persons home. Please don' t be judgemental

 

[Martin24]

Thank you Dusty for your comments around judgements being made. As a family with a proud traveller heritage I object to the derogatory comments hence my red highlighting earlier. In addition my delightful wife works with travellers regularly with no hostility shown towards her.

As a general observation English travellers are more likely to have rough old Hobbies or UK vans and the Irish travellers who are very "House" proud are likely to have fairly new Hobbies with the plastic still on the furniture. This is in no way critical of English Travellers but the Irish seem to be financially more secure.

I suppose now I've got the Sprinter I'd best get a LMC

 

[Dustydog]

Hi Martin
I was at a show two years ago with Travellers old caravanners going back to the 1920s.
They were immaculate with full coal heating. These are people's real homes ajd we shouldn't forget.
In many respects us tuggers are the interlopers disliked by the non tuggers . :evil: :woohoo:

 

[Raywood]

The Hobbies at risk are generally the large twin axle models but I do accept that other makes including the UK built ones also carry a risk. The caravans used by travelers are lived in, so they want the largest and most comfortable caravans they can get and the transits they drive can tow these. On that basis smaller models are less attractive to them, but there are thieves taking these others for different purposes, so nothing is safe, even the smaller caravans near the end of their life. Essentially thieves will take anything they can turn a profit on,
I am not saying that all caravans used by travelers are stolen but many are.

 

[emmerson]

We were forced to leave the municipal site in Metz two years ago because of an invasion of a huge group of these undesirable people. They were driving very large, very new Hobby and Dethleffs motorhomes!

 

[Parksy]

I've not been very well lately so haven't been able to do much with the computer, but I have to say that although some rogue elements amongst the travelling community may have created a stigma for Hobby owners in the past there are only a very few sites that have a problem with these caravans nowadays.
As Damian mentioned, neither of the two main clubs have any issues with Hobby products and the minority of sites that do discriminate have to be very sure of their grounds for not allowing these caravans if they want to remain on the right side of the law.
As for the travelling community, there are good and bad in all walks of life.
I was on a seasonal pitch for a few years, occasionally itinerant workers from the travelling community would stay for a few weeks but they never caused any problems whatsoever, in fact they showed the regular 'seasonals' the greatest respect and could be quite helpful.
Enjoy the Hobby, they are lovely caravans.

 

[KeefySher]

Parksy, hope you are on the mend.

On the seasonal pitch were the Hobby residents offering to cut the trees, bushes, lawns, fix the fences, tarmac the pitches and sell you lucky heather? :evil: :evil:

 

[Parksy]

Parksy, hope you are on the mend.

On the seasonal pitch were the Hobby residents offering to cut the trees, bushes, lawns, fix the fences, tarmac the pitches and sell you lucky heather? :evil: :evil:

:lol: :lol: :lol:
Thanks Keefy, I'm feeling much better thanks
I walked right into that one didn't I? :lol:
Thanks for the laugh, but as it happens the site warden at the time didn't cut any grass around the caravans, and some of us had small flower beds that we made at the back of our pitches.
I'm a bit crocked still, I was much worse at the time just after I'd had a stroke (hence the seasonal at the time, I'm a tourer again now) and the travellers were the first ones to help me, they wouldn't let me pull the full aquaroll across the site, they strimmed around our caravan to keep things neat and tidy and they were unfailingly polite and friendly.
I speak as I find, I've met worse people than the travellers around Pershore.

 

[Raywood]

I suppose that the travelers like any group contain good, bad and a middle. What is clear though is that there are some very dubious characters in amongst them who have made us very wary of them as a group. There propensity for leaving masses of rubbish behind also does not help.

 

[Dustydog]

As many of you know there are a few long term members on here who come from a Romany type of background.
We tend to use "Travellers" as a catch all word for anyone we don't like the look of on site. There are at least five other terms in use and possibly only two relate to the unliked people. Travellers and Romanies and another seem to be fine and shouldn't be tarred with the wrong brush.
I prefer not to use the other two words for Forum Etiquette reasons

 

[Phills_Hobby]

As many of you know there are a few long term members on here who come from a Romany type of background.
We tend to use "Travellers" as a catch all word for anyone we don't like the look of on site. There are at least five other terms in use and possibly only two relate to the unliked people. Travellers and Romanies and another seem to be fine and shouldn't be tarred with the wrong brush.
I prefer not to use the other two words for Forum Etiquette reasons

But a "traveller" is a showman i.e. Fairground person so it could get confusing

 

[Hutch]

Phiĺls, there is a site in Nothamptonshire that we go to, that a group of "Travellers" go to in Late November after travelling around with their Fairgrounds, they stay for about two weeks for three differnt birthdays, always a great bunch of folk, Hobbys Deltcliffs and Fifth Whelĺers.