Explore this new-look website
Logging on to the new-look Explorer Group web site revealed it to be appealingly modern without being gimmicky, useful and easy to navigate. Contained in it are details of the group's current range of motorhomes and a preview of what's coming up in 2006.
Explorer Group has, for some time, had a policy of putting technical specification, dimensions and weights on its site and should be applauded for doing so. In addition, you can take a 360° virtual tour of all the 'van interiors. All very admirable but there's more. Owner handbooks from 2003 onwards are available as a free download. It is just the ticket for buyers of used Explorer 'vans with missing handbooks, or indeed for anybody wanting information on another make of 'van with similar equipment.
A break from motorcaravanning
For those who think that nothing ever seems to go wrong in magazine land, let me assure you it does… frequently.
Recently, while unloading our motorcaravan, I stumbled down a step onto newly-laid hardcore. Result: torn ligaments, a broken leg, injured pride and endless ragging from all and sundry. Still, only another six weeks and Bancroft will be back on the road again. Sadly, early symptoms of MUD (motorcaravanning use disorder) have already been noted.
Management (Flora) has banned me from emulating Jim, a former neighbour. After losing his left leg during WWII he started up his road haulage business with himself as sole driver. By using his walking stick on the clutch, Jim drove lorries with manual transmission for years. He reckoned that anybody worth their salt should be able to change gear without using the clutch anyway, by “balancing the revs with the correct road speed for the next gear”. How long Jim's gearboxes lasted, or how he got through medicals, is lost in the mists of time.
By the time the business was sold, he had 20 drivers, 15 lorries, two garages and a healthy bank balance. Today, many would have thought him irresponsible. Back then, we thought him a hero and admired his tenacity. Of course, driving a lorry with only one leg wasn't nearly as heroic as his previous employment… as a rear gunner in the RAF.
Licensed to thrill?
Got a new, pink, credit card-style photo driving licence yet? If you have moved house or changed your name, they are available free of charge on an exchange basis. The rest of you will have to cough up anything between £9 and £75 depending on how naughty you've been.
These cards are made from tough plastic so they won't get all tatty like the paper ones did. They also contain a photo and a signature, so they should be more difficult to forge.
So, there it is – a perfect replacement… except that the DVLA issues a large paper counterpart licence at the same time as the plastic one and you have to produce both when asked. You couldn't make it up, could you? Why bother to issue a replacement that isn't?
Of more concern is that on receiving their new licence some readers had noticed they had 'lost' their entitlement to drive certain groups of vehicles. Usually this has been Group C1 and/or C1E - both important to owners of 'vans over 3500kg in weight.
Assuming that the exchange licence was for reasons of a new name or address, removal of endorsements, or just because a new one was fancied, then this is probably a slip (for once, I'm not subscribing to the conspiracy theory). Of course, if you have reached 70 years
of age, or are declaring certain medical conditions, then the DVLA may well be entitled to take such action. Either way, do check that the groups you expect to have actually appear on any exchange licence and make sure that the licence covers you to drive the weight of motorcaravan you own. Contact DVLA if in doubt, I've always found it very helpful.
The full ramblings can be found in the January 2006 issue of Practical Motorhome
And finally...
Have a merry and relaxing Christmas - from all of the Bancroft Tribe.
Jack Bancroft |
