Beginnings

Ruth and I have enjoyed camping since our youth. We have “graduated” from small tents to frame tent, then trailer tent (Conway) to folder (Dandy 6 Berth). In 1991 we visited a dealer to replace a lost picnic cup and came away with our first caravan (Ace Globetrotter XL), eventually replacing that in 2004 with a Bailey Ranger 510/4. We have thoroughly enjoyed all our camping experiences, both at home and abroad, and have, since our first visit in the ‘80’s, experienced a love affair with the Scottish Highlands.

In Autumn 2008 we visited the show at the NEC, Birmingham, to see what new caravan layouts were available to us when we eventually changed ours. We were particularly interested in fixed bed models. However, by a strange quirk of fate we entered the halls via the Motorhome section and casually drifted around amongst the models on show. Timberland were showing a very swish panel van conversion with seemingly everything fitted in a relatively small space. Real class, but I almost fell off the comfortable bench seat when the price was declared to be £55k! And nowhere near as much space as our Bailey with its luxurious end bathroom.

However, we were suddenly interested – would a motorhome be a realistic proposition? Would we use it more than the caravan? I have always been relaxed about towing but we rarely used the Bailey for those impromptu “one or two nights away” that we had always promised ourselves. We drifted around the stands, leaving little time for our original aim – to view potential fixed bed caravan layouts. 
When we did get to the caravans we were a little disappointed that ‘vans just seemed to be getting heavier without much real innovation, and we went home having bought a new eco friendly groundsheet for under our Fiamma Caravanstore awning, firmly resolved to hang onto our Bailey for a little while yet.