The days are growing ever shorter and winter is setting in, so why not snuggle down with a cup of coffee and catch up on the latest caravan news here …
The 1930’s couple who took a motorhome trip to the Sahara
Do you think you travel far and wide in your adventures with your caravan? A series of charming photographs published by the Nottingham Post on the 23rd of October might knock your outings into a cocked hat.
They illustrate the expedition to the Sahara undertaken by a Mr and Mrs Fuller back in the 1930s – when the Great Depression kept many other couples rooted in the gloom of the UK.
In a Chevrolet Eccles motor caravan – the original motorhome – they travelled a staggering 2,300 miles from Dover to the Sahara.
In 1934, when the couple made the trip, Eccles motor caravans had only just started production at the factory in Birmingham. You needed to be quite well-off to afford one – many of the buyers were titled people – and orders were generally custom-built.
The Fullers’ adventure was before the many metalled roads that now mark most of that route, of course – although being from a somewhat wealthy class of caravanner, they took along their housemaid from England.
Councillors to discuss caravan park extension
Plans to extend a caravan site in Mearns, Aberdeen, have met with a mixed reception, according to the Mearns Leader on the 28th of October.
The local planning authority is considering proposals by Cloak Caravan Park near Catterline to extend the site by an additional 17 spaces for static caravans, each with parking for two cars, and connections to the mains water supply. The increase would see the number of caravan pitches increase by around 50%.
Representations about the planning application are equally divided for and against – with the latter complaining about increased traffic noise and dangers to pedestrians on local roads.
Police investigate claims over caravan bookings
A caravan holiday booking agent is currently under investigation by Police Scotland.
It is alleged that the person responsible accepted thousands of pounds in booking fees from hopeful holidaymakers in Scotland, England and Northern Ireland, but failed to pass on the takings to Craig Tara, Aberdeenshire.
In a report on the 19th of October, the BBC reported that those who had made such bookings have been turning up at the site to find their caravans locked or already double-booked.
It is believed that more than 60 people have reported the unofficial booking agent to Police Scotland or the UK’s main centre for fraud and cybercrime, Action Fraud.
Plans for more static caravans at Colchester Holiday Park
In another story underlining the wide appeal of static caravan holidays, a caravan park in Essex is looking to substantially reduce the number of its touring caravan and camping pitches, substituting them for static caravans, according to reports in the Daily Gazette and Essex County Standard on the 29th of October.
Colchester Holiday Park currently has planning permission for 221 touring caravans and just 42 static caravans. The current application is to change this to a total of 85 static caravans and just 50 pitches for touring caravans and tents.
Opponents of the application bemoan the potential drift away from holiday and tourism use of the park towards residential purposes, although planning officials have noted the likely reduction in traffic noise and congestion in surrounding areas following any switch towards static caravans.