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Camping with nobs on
We have camped for decades [I originally as a scout when roughing it really was rough bit character forming apparently], first in tents, then in a motorhome, a VW Microbus of the classic kind with a split windscreen and side hinged doors that opened outwards and folded back. Then years later we got a newer VW with sliding side door and elevating roof. Eventually we progressed up to a half bus, bought derelict and lacking a gearbox which was underneath it on the ground. The bus had been owned in the first, new, part of its life by a local authority as a disabled vehicle and had an electric chair lift on the back, and seating throughout. The chair life was sold to a fairground ride owner who wanted it to fix to his truck to make the task of loading heavy equipment so much easier, which covered the cost of buying the bus, seating was removed and we converted it into a motor home from scratch, using mostly recycled-found materials. This wasn't just for camping in. It became our summer home and we toured the country in it with a mobile environmental video show, visiting fairs and festivals and any other outdoor events we heard about and fancied going to to tell people what was going down with the environment. Making our living costs by running a vegetarian cafe, we spent beautiful summers throughout the eighties, free, independent and loving it. A horse box trailer joined the bus, painted to match and we struggled overloaded with a marquee and cafe round the country for another year, including Glastonbury festival, before buying a huge removal van and converting that into a two story house and video workshop on wheels. That lasted for a year until drowned in unexpected [then] floods in Norfolk which drowned it in five feet of muddy water. Our motorhome years ended in that flood and we returned to our house. Decades later and the environment dominates the news as we knew it would, and we have taken up camping again for holidays. We now have a brand new American made Outwell tent, believed by most pro campers as being the best on the market, which has a fitted groundsheet, three bedrooms, a porch awning and a fitted carpet in the central living room part. We also have other mod cons like a fridge recently purchased second hand on ebay and working beautifully on mains or car battery, a 'kitchen' which is a fold out cooker stand, cupboard and table tops all-in-one contraption with even a waste bin hanging at the side - I have yet to find the Swiss army knife but I'm sure there is one somewhere. A table and chair set is of course totally necessary for anyone not wedded to the idea of eating all meals sitting on wet grass, or even dry grass. We also have a stand for a washing up bowl, rechargeable and wind up lanterns for lighting, and will be taking the microwave and toaster, as this year the pitch we have booked has mains hookup which we have to pay for whether we use it or not. More used to 'roughing it'; building our own kitchen structures out of wood [much like Ray Mears but years before he was born], and cooking with an open fire, this modern camping gear is all relatively new to us, and the novelty of having a cold beer from the fridge while turning food on the barbecue [did I mention the travelling barbecue?] has a certain attraction. It certainly beats staying in a hotel where strangers are in and out of your room, you have to be 'suitably' dressed for meals and you know you're paying through the nose for the privilege. There are so many amazing places in Britain to visit, we have no time or inclination to fly off round the world, polluting as we go, only to be bitten by strange insects, suffer heat stroke and return with a stomach bug. Wales has more than enough stunning coastline and countryside for hundreds of holidays, and it's still relatively uncrowded in most parts. An innovation I haven't heard of before but which sounds rather neat is a 'footprint' which matches the shape of the tent on the ground; you place it on the ground, adjust it to exactly where you want the tent to sit, and then the tent is erected over it to fit. No more putting the tent up and then finding out the front is facing the prevailing wind and isn't the back door as we thought - living in a tethered kite on a clifftop is a fine way of appreciating the Atlantic! That was the last year for that tent which was past its dump-by date anyway, and had a distorting top that was supposed to keep rain out but which sailed sideways during a gale and stopped nothing. A river ran through it would be an apt description of that tent that year. An adventure I wouldn't have missed nonetheless, but the reason we now have the best there is. |
http://www.swissknifeshop.co.uk/
| http://www.cei-bach.co.uk/
| http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/index.asp
PLEASE VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S WEBSITE
Fool on the Hill
A blog about the state of the world
www.oneworldnet.co.uk/blog/index.php
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