No smoke without salmon
Those readers fortunate enough to have been motorcaravanning in the beautiful countryside between the Severn & Wye rivers might already be familiar with the Severn & Wye Smokery. This family-run business is an epicure’s delight. It used to sell mostly locally-caught wild salmon, some of which had been cured in the adjoining smoke-house.
But as Severn & Wye’s reputation for supplying fabulous fish began to spread, the business expanded. It now includes a delicatessen to cater for the increased demand for fish and to satisfy the constant requests for other locally made produce such as meat dishes and ready-to-eat quiches.
All smoked produce is prepared by experts. They use oak chips and shavings from barrels previously used to store whisky and calvados, to impart a wonderful taste and a tempting aroma.
The Severn & Wye Smokery is on the main A48 Chepstow to Gloucester road, just north of Newnham. The postal address is Chaxhill, but this is one of those ’blink-and-you’ll-miss-it’ places, so keep your eyes peeled for the statue of an angler on the roof of the building. There is plenty of space in which to park and manoeuvre a motorhome. A mail order service is also available. Just phone 01452 760190 or send an email to sales@severnandwye.co.uk.
However, I must issue a stern warning: stopping off at the Severn & Wye Smokery has, over the years, had a negative effect on my waistline. And it could happen to you. But what the heck – you only live once!
Bargain Bedford
At the moment, my favourite Practical Motorhome staff van has got to be Andy McPhee’s old Auto-Sleeper Bedford CF. It might not be the newest or the fanciest in the line-up, but it has one big advantage over the other motorhomes: affordability. Even the most financially embarrassed reader could afford this particular carriage.
Daily transport, picnics, weekends and holidays away could be yours, and all for the same price of a routine service on some of the rolling gin-palaces I often see while I’m out on my travels.
What’s more, I’ll let you into a little secret: no matter how much the on-site neighbours have paid for their van, they still get the same weather and will only experience the same facilities that a site has to offer as those in cheaper vans. That moorland walk won’t be any better just because they’ve spent a hundred grand on a flashy motorhome. That’s one of the advantages of this hobby:
you don’t need a fat wallet or a bulging purse to enjoy it.
Fans of the CF might like to log on to the following websites featuring CF motorcaravans and their owners. The first can be found at http://nurdposse.mine.nu/bed.html. The text
is all in German, but the site features pictures of a
Dutch-owned 1977 Executive high-top that bears more than a passing resemblance to the Canterbury Sunhome.
The second website, this time at www.bedford-cf.co.uk (back to English again) features a British-owned Pioneer coachbuilt. This is a real enthusiast’s site with loads of useful info including where to get spares and some useful advice on running the CF.
See you in Court
That’s Earls Court m’lud…
For new recruits to the hobby, Earls Court is a London exhibition hall and the venue for the ever-popular Caravan and Outdoor Leisure Show, which is held in November. Every year, more and more motorcaravan manufacturers have a stand, so it’s definitely worth going along to this year’s show which takes place between 2-7 November.
The exhibition hall has recently changed hands as part of a £245m deal involving the sale of both Earls Court and Olympia. The new joint owners are St James Capital and Nomura International, and it is reassuring to hear of their ambitious plans for improving the sites and of their commitment to providing first-class facilities for future exhibition visitors.
Andrew Morris, the former chief executive of Earls Court and the Olympia Group,
is back in the hot seat and hopes to turn Earls Court into a business worth more than
a billion pounds. Good for him… See you there!
An Elegant exit
Now we come to our regular look at motorcaravans which deserved to make it but failed to achieve the popularity
they deserved.
This is a strange one. The massive Italian CI group cannot build budget overcab motorhomes quickly enough to satisfy the almost insatiable demand for its products in Europe. Yet in the late 1990s, when they applied the same design priorities and manufacturing techniques
to an A-class motorhome, it failed to achieve popularity anywhere in Europe. I thought it would have been a sure-fire hit among British buyers,
but it wasn’t, and although
CI did manage to sell a few over here, they soon slipped from view altogether.
I reviewed one back in 1999 and the model I tested seemed to be well put-together, superbly insulated, practical, and with a standard specification that knocked the equivalent German products into a cocked hat. The basic Elegant included a 2.8TD motor, right-hand drive, two cab doors, an oven, grill, and large fridge, blown-air heating, and a washroom that was
light years ahead of its rivals. Not only that, but at a fiver less than £35,000, the Elegant was substantially cheaper than the competition.
More ways to extend a family
Last month, I wrote about canvas annexes (both tents and awnings) together with our own solution to the problem of occasionally needing more space, when friends and family accompany us, without the need to change to a bigger van.
Our solution is to tow an old touring caravan: the sort that can be picked up for a few hundred pounds. But if you
are not happy towing a full-size caravan, how about a trailer tent or a folding caravan?
My company (Fen Leisure Services) used to rent out a couple of Danish built Combi-Camp trailer tents, for this purpose.
A small, easily-erected trailer tent such as the Combi-Camp has many advantages. For example, they can just be unhitched and pushed into position if you don’t feel confident about reversing a motorcaravan with a trailer attached. They can also be stored inside a standard-height garage – often on their side
so that a car can continue to
be accommodated. And they can be towed by any motor-
home with an engine size of 1200cc or more, providing
it has a towbar. I’ll give you some more suggestions for temporary extensions to
the motorhome’s living area next month. l–
Happy motorcaravanning!
Gentleman Jack Bancroft |
