In the beginning!

I was reading in another Forum about someones first experiences when caravanning for the first time. He had apparently jumped in with both feet and had bought himself a brand new caravan and all the kit and as you would expect encountered a number of unexpected problems.  Luckily he had been wise enough to set off in company with another more experienced "buddy" so was not put off for life!

That story got me thinking about my own first experiences 40 years ago this year. In 1976 I was a relatively young Police Sergeant in Wincanton Somerset.  Like most of my colleagues in those days I was stoney broke, I was a Sergeant yet I had just discovered that the Milkman was earning more than me!

Anyway the immediate problem was how was i going to afford a Holiday for my young wife Paula, now referred to as the DCOS and our two very young Children. I then had the brilliant idea of buying a caravan & so I did!  It cost me £50 I think and it was a fairly elderly Sprite 400.  It had some damp which had rotted away the wall boaeds below the front window but I fixed that with some decorating filler so all was well.

We went off for our first trip to a site Nr Ilfracome in Devon. Of course those ealy vans had no toilets so I had bought a toilet tent and an elsan toilet.  The weather wasn't good and Paula wan't amused at having to use a tiny toilet tent in a gale.

But new caravanners today might be surprised to learn that in addition to no toilet we didnt have anything else either!  No running water you had to bring it all in in plasic bottles. No electricity so no lighting other than gas mantles. No heating and no oven. The van was infact nothing more than a solid walled tent!

but it did for us as long as we kept the nappy buckets outside!

The Sprite 400 was just about as basic as you could get, but it suited us for a couple of years or so, but in 1979 after the Police Service had a Royal Commission, and our pay was sorted, we saved up for a new van. An Abbey Durham. This one had a foot operated water pump so that you could get water into the van from a water carrier stored out side ( This was before the days of Aquarols etc)  No heating or water heating still though.         It also had a toilet Compartment.  No built in toilet, but it did mean that you could throw away the toilet tent and bring the Elsan inside.  Much better on a wet night!  Still no electricity though so the gas mantle still reigned supream!

The Abbey lasted us for many years as house buying became the top priority.  So it want until 1992 that we upgraded to a 7 year old Avondale Avocet. What luxury!  Mains electricity and hot water, better insulation, I could go on - but.......

Today in the Bluetooth age, Microwave ovens, proper wet heating systems, electric hotplates and Air conditioning. I dont think many of todays members could  even imagine what we thought was state of the art then!  The biggest problem then was finding out that you had run out of Gas mantles!

TF