Who We All Are

[MagsAlan]

Hi, Im Mags, been married to Alan for 18 years and live in West Yorkshire.

We have only owned our caravan since last April, previous holidays being taken in Site or holiday company owned statics both here and in France. We have 18 year old twins who dont want to go on holiday with mum and dad any more, so we bought a 2001 2 berth Elddis Hurricane GT which we tow with a Ford Galaxy Ghia diesel. We have trips booked to Knaresborough, Cornwall and France so far this year and cant wait.

The van sits on our drive and you can find us in there at every and any opportunity, usually with a cuppa, finding 'jobs that have to be done' in there.

Lets all hope the weather this year is much better than the last two summers.

 

[Michael_374349176]

Where in Derbyshire are you Michael?

Sam

I live in Allestree, a Northern suburb of Derby city.

Are you local to me?

Regards Michael

 

[Michael_374349176]

Hi Sam,

I put a reply in the wrong place so a slapped wrist is in order!

Anyway to reply to your question, I live in Allestree which is a northern suburb of Derby city.

Are you local to me?

Regards Michael

 

[AlfromYC]

Alan & Sam.

3 Children.

Ford Galaxy diesel (nick named Frank)

1992 Elddis Wisp 510cd

This (I think) is our 4th or 5th year caravanning, and we were tenters before that.

We have already had 8 nights away at Chatsworth Park so far this year, and are booked up for the first two weekends in April. We had 40 nights away last year, and hope to better that this year.

We are members of a few forums; www.fgoc.co.uk which is a fantastic owners club for Galaxy/Sharan/alhambra owners.

And our main forum, www.youngcaravan.org. Any younger caravanners out there under 40(ish) feel free to pop in and say hello.

 

[Sam_374394490]

Hi Sam,

I put a reply in the wrong place so a slapped wrist is in order!

Anyway to reply to your question, I live in Allestree which is a northern suburb of Derby city.

Are you local to me?

Regards Michael

Hi Michael, we live in Woodville which is near Moira.

We are 5 minutes away from Conkers.

 

[Pat_374304630]

Hi Sam,

We are Pat & Anne from Northants. 3 kids,6 grandchildren, 1 dog, numerous koi (well about 11), tropical fish, Coachman amara 520/4 which we tow with a Hyundai santa fe. Jan went to Yarmouth. Feb went to Northumbria, March we are going to Banbury. April, not sure yet. Brilliant hobby.

 

[Michael_374349176]

Hi Michael, we live in Woodville which is near Moira.

We are 5 minutes away from Conkers.

What a coincidence! My wife has been tracing her family tree and found that her great-great-grandfather set up, with his brother, a pottery (Thompson Brothers)in Woodville (or Wooden box as it was originally called). Sadly he left the business just as it started to make money so she hasn't had any inheritance. All say aaarrrhhh.

You are not related to the Thompsons or the Woodwards by any chance are you?

Nice to talk(?) to you

Michael

 

[Sam_374394490]

What a coincidence! My wife has been tracing her family tree and found that her great-great-grandfather set up, with his brother, a pottery (Thompson Brothers)in Woodville (or Wooden box as it was originally called). Sadly he left the business just as it started to make money so she hasn't had any inheritance. All say aaarrrhhh.

You are not related to the Thompsons or the Woodwards by any chance are you?

Nice to talk(?) to you

Michael

Hi Michael

I have some friends called Karen and Carl Thompson, do not know of any Woodwards. We are are originally from Middlesex, but moved to Derbyshire 7 years ago now.

There is actually an estate agents called the Woodenbox.

If I can help you with anything then let me know.

I think it is really exciting tracing your family tree.

 

[Rabfaetheblae]

Hi Sam

Rab and steph and wee Brogan (18 mnts)

2007 ace celebration pulled by a 2003 mondeo ghia 2ltr tdci

New to caravaning and finding this forum excellent for tips and banter.

I work on an oil rig in the caspian sea close to Russia 4 weeks on then 4 off..its great to particapate in the forum while im on the rig.

Rab

 

[emmerson2]

I'm Emmerson, wed forty five years to the lovely Anne, and have been caravanning for over forty of those years. We've had all sorts of caravans over the years, before finding our first Royale nearly twenty years ago, and we've had Royales ever since. Our current one is unique, having been custom built for its original owner in 1979. I currently chair the Royale Owners Club, and Herself and I edit the Club's magazine.We live in glorious South East Wales, better known as GoC. We are owned and trained by a Border collie, and a Cairn terrier, who are both passported. The collie has had one six week trip to France two years ago, and they are both coming with us to Belgium in May for the European Classic Caravan Rally.

Pretty boring people, really!

I cried in my beer last night after the Six Nations, but well done the Irish on a deserved win.

 

[Oklahoma]

Hi there

I'm Barbara, hubby tows our Sterling eccles onyx and our adult son who has Downs syndrome comes with us. We started caravanning in 1998 with our 3 sons but 2 no longer come with us. We have had 3 Baileys and now the Sterling and have towed with 3 Alhambras and have just got a Ford s-max which we haven't towed with yet. (Hope it alright!!)

So far we have only caravanned in the UK but have been from Brora in the north to St. Ives in the south and many places in between. Our fav places are Scotland, St. Ives and The Lake Distict though there are lots of other places we love (too many to list here. Being in County Durham we visit The Lakes and York regularly and our first trip this year is to Keswick over Easter and then up to Scotland for the rest of the week. I check out this forum most days and have got lots of useful info from it.

 

[mauron]

Hi Sam,

I'm Ron and my wife is Maureen. We live in Blackpool with our golden retriever Bailey.

Our caravan is a Lunar Clubman and the tug is a VW Passat 2 litre TDi.

We're booked in at Knaresborough and Norfolk up to now but hope to have a few more trips this year.

Happy caravannin' y'all.

Ron

 

[GrahamSouthBrum]

Hi Sam

I am Graham married to Janet for 36 years, one son and soon to be grandparents for the first time.

We have a Hyundai Terracan pulling a Burstner Tresento.

We have been caravaning since 1987 & owned several different makes of car & caravan, & been all over the UK & Ireland.

Our first trip out this year was to Lincoln, we will be going to Stratford for Easter and France in July / August.

We rally with the British Leyland Ass. (Longbridge section) & the Caravan club.

I am a member of this forum, carry on camping and Caravan talk.

Graham

 

[Zafiral]

I am Alan and I am married to Amanda and we have a 7 year old daughter.

We have been vanning for 3 years now and in January bought a new Pageant Bretagne which I tow with a Zafira CDTi (150) which normally also has 3 bikes on the roof!!

We have been to France (x2), Devon (x2), Norfolk (x2) and New Forest (x3) along with lots of shorter trips.

Holidays booked for this year (so far):

Ferry Meadows, Longleat, Grafham Water, Poolsbrooke, Sandy Balls and Seacroft. There is no point in having a van and leaving it in the storeage site!!

 

[valeter]

Hi Sam;I am from south wirral with heather my wife we have taken up caravaning again after long break,Nearly retired kids left home we have Van Royce 450ET towed by a Volvo S80,Cant wait to go away again this year loving every minute of itGlad you like the forum lots of advice and tips are available when you look for them lots of luck caravaning;;Mike

 

[Sam_374394490]

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this post.

It has been lovely getting to know you all and finding out a bit about each of you.

Maybe we should start a new post about when and where we will be going this year, so maybe a few of us will be in the same place at the same time without realising.

 

[Brailleman]

Hi Sam

We collected our new Adria Adora 2 weeks ago and we really like it. The first thing that we noticed was that there wasn't a power socket to plug the kettle in in the kitchen area, and as we stayed overnight near the dealer we were able to get one fitted the following day. Also the wiring on the TV areiel was faulty, but this was rectified at the same time (this is something that they don't check in the PDI).

We also thought the fire was also faulty as it kept turning off, but it was just the thermostat working as it should, you don't expect it being so warm in February. Everything else was fine and we're looking forward our first trip away at Easter with our two granddaughters. We have also booked the whole of June in Weymouth, you can get some great deals when you are retired and can go out of season. Last year I had a hip replacement so we had to put it on a commercial site on the Yorkshire coast summer as I was unable to drive for several months, our granddaughters loved it as they spent much of the summer holidays with us. I'm fully fit again now so we will be hittng the open road again, Northumberland, Scotland and the Keswick (our favourite site) being on the itinery.

I saved several marriages during last summer, mediating between arguing couples putting up awnings for the first time with instructions in pigeon english, and fitting brackets to caravans etc. I've been caravanning for over 30 years so I've had and helped put up many awnings over the years. We spent many weekends over the years on CC rallies in the Yorkshire Dales, an excellent way of meeting other caravanners.

Happy caravanning.

 

[cara89]

Well, Sam( and everyone else)We had our 1st trip away in our new Adria 542dt. It was a fantastic weekend. We found the small differences to our last caravan made a big impact(although our memories with the last one are so important)We used to (kinda have to) sit in the awning at night to enjoy our wine when the kids went to bed. This is something we will still enjoy but now that we have the space to sit in the caravan in the evening means we can go away whenever we want(Off-season, cooler weather)It was so cosy. We ended up hardly having any wine and falling asleep on the seats though! It was great that the kids fixed bunks stayed all ready for them to crash into and the side dinette was so well used by them. The extra width in the caravan was noticeable too.As was the height!-- I am a positive person so I cant really mention the couple of small things like when I got stuck trying to put my daughters night light off on the top bunk as its at the far side(of big, long bunks) and the ladder hurts your feet with no shoes on!)She found it funny when I told her in the morning. Washroom great but all the toiletries I can fit in the cupboard it jammed the door shut when in transit! Ive got a really good feeling about this Adria and we are going to have to go away very soon again!

 

[Sam_374394490]

Well, Sam( and everyone else)We had our 1st trip away in our new Adria 542dt. It was a fantastic weekend. We found the small differences to our last caravan made a big impact(although our memories with the last one are so important)We used to (kinda have to) sit in the awning at night to enjoy our wine when the kids went to bed. This is something we will still enjoy but now that we have the space to sit in the caravan in the evening means we can go away whenever we want(Off-season, cooler weather)It was so cosy. We ended up hardly having any wine and falling asleep on the seats though! It was great that the kids fixed bunks stayed all ready for them to crash into and the side dinette was so well used by them. The extra width in the caravan was noticeable too.As was the height!-- I am a positive person so I cant really mention the couple of small things like when I got stuck trying to put my daughters night light off on the top bunk as its at the far side(of big, long bunks) and the ladder hurts your feet with no shoes on!)She found it funny when I told her in the morning. Washroom great but all the toiletries I can fit in the cupboard it jammed the door shut when in transit! Ive got a really good feeling about this Adria and we are going to have to go away very soon again!

Hi Caroline

I am so jealous, that you have been away in your Adria already.

I did have a little chuckle to myself when you said about turning off the lights on the bunks.

OMG!!!! I bet it was really funny. Are the ladders metal or wooden, there wasn't one in the display van when we bought ours..

Those beds seems to go on forever don't they.

I am going to put my eldest daughter on the top, so at least I can wake her up to turn the light off.

I am pleased that it was all positive, I cannot wait until Saturday to get ours. How did you find the front bed size? Was it comfortable. It's so nice that I have you to ask all these questions too. Any tips would be greatly appreciated ......lol x

 

[theothertom]

Hi All

We are Sheila&Tom weve been camping for 20 plus years started off in a tent with 2 small kids and gradually progressed to caravans, 2 small kids (not any more)grand kids now .

We tug a Lunar Delta SB with a Citroen C8 .

Already planned 4 trips this year with more to come (hopefully).

From the University town of Guildford in the lovley county of Surrey.

 

[dazber]

hi sam..

i am daz..divorced and now living with my new partner johann.. i have 2 lads 9 and 13 to my ex.. they live with her and i have them every other weekend plus every wednesday..

my partner is new to caravanning and as only been away twice so far..( just booked to trewethett farm, so if anyone as been any info would be appreciated ).. trying to get away with the kids too in august but not sure where..

i have been caravanning for about 5/6 yrs, still a relative newbie i know.. but been to eurodisney, devon loads of times, wales and local too..

we live in south kirkby and tow a abbey cardinal 330..i towed it previously with a sorento but have just bought a vauxhall signum cdti 150 ps which i hope will do the job only cheaper..( again any info on the signum is appreciated) )

im always nosying around the site and pick up some brillaint chatter and tips, so keep up the good work..

hi the everyone else on here..

daz and johann and the sons of satan oops i mean the kids jordan and connor

 

[cara89]

Hi Darrell. I was just wondering what your boys like at the age of 9 and 13, if you were choosing sites. My children are 6 and 4 years old and I lovethe freedom of caravanning. They are easy pleased at the moment...beach...rock pools...good park...other children..bikes..I just wonder what sort of sites we may have to consider later on. Do you think we can still get away with quieter, beach places or not? Time may tell, mind you.

 

[cara89]

Sam (and everyone)The ladder is wooden but the rungs are cylinder rather than flat so thats why I hurt my feet. Your children are older so the ladder may not be a major thing--they may just leap up to the bunks!LOL. My boy (4ys) couldnt do the transfer from ladder to middle bunk (safely! -He thinks he is a superhero at the moment!) so we are gonna get him a wee step instead! You will see exactly what I mean regarding myself getting stuck trying to turn the night light off on top bunk when you get your van (All the best for you and your family from me xSaturday!X)Anyway, as I say I am a positive person and we had a wonderful time--these are just part of the funny adventures of caravaning!We go to the CC site Yellowcraig - Edinburgh area on Fri so we are off again! Can give you an update next week if you want!!x Caroline

 

[ajmacintosh]

Hi All!

I am Andrew, Wife Sharon, kids Josh 13, Chloe 4.

We live near Bridgend South Wales and our Caravan is a 2005 Bailey Ranger 470/4 (2005) towed by our ever reliable Citroen Picasso 2.0 Hdi.

Have booked many weekends away this year starting with Tredegar Park Newport this easter. Hope the weather is good want to try out the new cadac

Anyway thats a bit about Us!

 

[Sam_374394490]

Hi All!

I am Andrew, Wife Sharon, kids Josh 13, Chloe 4.

We live near Bridgend South Wales and our Caravan is a 2005 Bailey Ranger 470/4 (2005) towed by our ever reliable Citroen Picasso 2.0 Hdi.

Have booked many weekends away this year starting with Tredegar Park Newport this easter. Hope the weather is good want to try out the new cadac

Anyway thats a bit about Us!

Hi Andy

We have just bought a Cadac, or should I say my Hubby insisted that we buy one. Well, at least it means he will be doing all the cooking ;-)

Nice to meet you, Sam