Driving down narrow lanes

Our locals are clearly more polite than yours 🙂

Some trailers, small ones, can be absolute so and so’s to reverse, jackknife instantly. Easier to unhitch and push if not too heavy.

We had one of those.☹️ Many, many years ago when the kids were primary age, we were navigating some lanes in the hill behind Genoa, looking for a campsite. We went the wrong way up a particularly narrow steep lane and got totally stuck with cars both ahead and behind. Several very nice locals help me unhitch the heavy trailer and stoped it rolling down the hill, while the cars behind used a field to get out of the way and I turned round. We rehitched and one of the Italians insisted on escorting us to the campsite we had been looking for. There are some very nice and helpful folk about.👍

Some maybe probably incomers

I have not towed a caravan so can't comment and I don't profess to be a great driver but I can manage to reverse my motorhome so that it is next to the peg on a site (I don't have a reversing camera).  It really amazes me however, how many motorhomers find that so difficult to do, even with someone standing directing them to where the peg is situated.

I think going in forward is more difficult. Reversing, the peg is clearly seen in the mirror. Forward it disappears below the bonnet and I never seem to allow right amount for the coach built bit.😂

you just have to try to look that bit further up the road for any on-coming traffic so that the situation doesn't arise. I have had on-coming cars when on little B roads that move over 1/2" and think that provides enough room for you to pass them ..... I've just shrugged & suggested they either move over more or reverse to the nearest passing place ... it's worked so far.

Some drivers are just numpties .... I left St David's a few years back (the lanes to & from aren't exactly very wide) caravan in tow, & while waiting, in the wider part of the road, for car & caravan a little further up the road to pass an on coming bus, a numpty in a Range Rover decided to overtake me and become part of the problem.  Some people don't look much passed the end of their bonnet.

As you say, you have no experience. Something on a pivot point (tow ball) behaves entirely differently to four wheels at the corners. Hopefully this will help you decide if you meet a caravan coming the other way in your MH, and you see the sense of being the one who has the easiest reverse.

Fully agree with your comment ED. Seeing more than just a few feet in front of the bonnet can save a lot of grief. My OH has done an EFAD course (Emergency Fire Appliance Driver, think nee naa, nee nah at 70mph😱) He saved us from serious injury on Dartmoor one holiday. Fast road, hidden dip, standing traffic in dip. Quick reactions took us onto grass verge, while seconds later umpteen vehicles concertina crashed behind us, carnage. No one badly hurt, but lots of whiplash, banged heads, exploded airbags and written off vehicles. We got away with needing new brakes. Didn’t even spoil the holiday.

We’ve lived on a single track road for almost 25 years now and I can count on one hand the number of instances where people have acted like the one you came across. It was probably because they were incapable of reversing  well themselves. Reversing a sizeable caravan is far easier than reversing a smaller folding one so don’t question your ability. The shorter the trailer the more difficult it is to reverse it. 

I do recall an instance about 10 years ago when a guy refused to reverse about 5 metres to a passing place. Had he been towing I would happily have reversed the 100 metres around two corners to the nearest passing place behind me but on this instance I got out of the car, locked it and turned to walk back home. He soon found his reversing abilities!

Most people are fine.   There is always one sexist AH.  You have probably given him the only excitement he has had in months.  

First time out after look down we went to a small site the last mile was single track fortunately about 300yds from the turn in there were 3 caravan stationary.  The reason was a Dutch HGV that apparently run out of time on his tachograph and couldn’t move for the next 20 minutes that was interesting.   On a serious point it is actually easier to reverse a long trailer than a short one, I can these days get my 8m caravan to reverse in the general direction I want.  With my little trailer I use for taking rubbish to the tip I am hopeless.   This is because a small trailer reacts so much quicker

I was accused by a man who showed no willingness to reverse a small car a matter of feet, of "needing more practice, luv". The irony did not go unobserved. I would argue it's people like him who give men a bad name rather than people like me giving caravanners a bad name! ;-) Feel free to PM me if you feel you need to discuss further.