POWER-FUL GESTURE

The Best Of Times

AS LONG AS IT TAKES!

In October 2015 our Old Colwyn Campers (OCC) met for a spa treat when Terry the Intrepid suggested a challenge: the UK coast, three campervans to take as long as it takes! Who could resist?

All paid-up members of the Club, we set off on 28 February, 2016 –outside temperature on the dash read and ai in or ill ouse Farm CL in Suffolk where there was a pretty decent frost the next morning.

And so began our wonderful trip round the coast eadin north or anti-clockwise over the period from February 2016 to March 2023, the three campervans, six friends and three dogs spent between a week and 12 days completing each leg, moving on every day. On Tuesday 21 March 2023, where should e ind oursel es ac at ill ouse ar , o course o could e possi ly ha e guessed what a joy the whole experience would be? Careful planning allowed us to negotiate the far reaches – and sensational beaches – of Scotland without too much retracing of steps, although Oban did become quite familiar! The excitement of 15 ferries all round the Inner e rides only added urther to the adventure.

But how could we expect to engage the Caravan and Motorhome Club readers without mentioning the camps? Our 11 legs meant a total of 83 camps altogether [including] 12 Club Sites and 11 CLs.

Leaving only footprints and pawprints behind and taking only innumerable photos, the whole journey became far more than mere miles and stops. The closer friendships will now mean we will never be short of conversation and anecdote for many years to come.

Phillippa Goad, via email

I had to chuckle when my sevenyear-old granddaughter, Willow, announced that she was born in the ‘best week of the year’ since we always have our annual summer family get-together when it’s her birthday. We have been all over our beautiful country, staying mostly on CL sites for the last 10 years and always enjoy our caravan holidays.

Lesley Richardson, via email

We’ve just returned from a 16-night, 2,051-mile trip through Germany and Austria. We booked the sites through the Club. All the sites we visited were different in style and standard but the jewel was definitely ‘Sportcamp Woferlgut’ (pictured below), which has to be the best site I’ve stayed at in 48 years of camping. The facilities were magnificent – excellent shower block, shop fully stocked, restaurant/bar area was well attended and the takeaway pizzas were tasty and fresh. The best bit of the site for us was the leisure area – Olympic size pool, splash pool and a kids area (separate from the main area). On our return trip we stayed at Azur Camping and came across a Club rally. The numerous members were taking in the Romantic Road route. We were only staying one night but found that our electric cable wasn’t long enough. A fellow member approached me and offered a solution. He found me a suitably long cable from another member (Hugh from Wales I think his name was) who graciously swapped with me for the night. Although we could have survived on the leisure battery for one night it was great that the members helped me out and solved a relatively small issue for me.

‘Hugh’ got his cable back the next morning and off we went to Rotterdam. A great holiday it was, and it’s now a decision whether to return to France, Germany or try Spain next year!

Dan Perkins, via email

It is with great sadness [we] report on the passing away of Ollie, the American (or Canadian) Horned Eagle Owl and well-known celebrity here at Grafham Water Club Campsite.

These owls, also referred to as a Hoot or Tiger Owl, are native to the Americas so are a very rare bird. Ollie, as she was affectionately known, had been a resident on and around the site for many years. She must have been the most photographed bird in the country, when you could find her.

Ollie will be sadly missed by visitors to the site as well as locals in and around Grafham.

Bryan, Site Manager, Grafham Water Club Campsite

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