The story of our caravans.
April 2003 - Mark suggested we buy a touring caravan as the weather was getting nicer and it would be nice to go for weekends away with baby Anais. We went to take a look at Broad Lane Leisure and was 1, shocked at how nice but heavy modern caravans were and 2, how expensive they were! The dealer told us they had just had an older, lightweight caravan come in which wasn't on the forecourt yet, we went to take a look and fell in love with it. Caravan one bought there and then - a CRAFTMAN MIRACLE 194.
Random pictures from Google because I couldn't find any pictures that we had taken. I remember clearly the green opaque caravan window that gave a strange coloured hue in the bathroom. We loved the oven which meant we could cook proper dinners. The shower over the toilet was inconvenient as was the drop down sink over the toilet when we look back now. We loved the fact it made into two double beds - one at each end of the caravan. This also made it a twin dinette. It was such a versatile caravan. We had some good times in that caravan - Anais learned how to walk, cruising up and down the caravan holding onto the bunks for support.
The Craftsman Miracle 194 was stolen in June 2005 so we replaced it with a Stirling Europa 5 berth. We don't remember too much about this caravan and can't find any photos of it. We used it for a week in Devon and a weekend at Worcester before we realised it was full of damp. We returned it to the dealer for a refund in July 2005 and then didn't have a caravan for almost three years.
Our third caravan was bought in February 2008 when Roman was a baby. Mark had the week off work in February half term and was sorting the shed out and said we still had quite a few caravan items, what should we do with them. That got us onto thinking about buying another caravan. We went to Malco Caravans, which was down the road in Halesowen, saw the Swift Challenger 590SEL and bought it there and then. Here it is on the day we bought it.
We enjoyed holidays in this caravan to Devon, the Lake District (twice), Morecombe, LOTS of weeks at Chapel Lane (caravan club site in Wythall) where we stayed while Mark went to work and we had lots of weekends at Worcester.
Over the three years we owned it we had so many things go wrong with it -
* the awning rail leaked in causing damp
* the flue from the heater leaked water causing a damp ceiling and floor
* the oven refused to work
* the hob was temperamental
* the water heater leaked and was only safe to use on gas mode
* the filter housing broke and had to be replaced
* the jockey wheel had to be replaced
* it wasn't practical to shower the kids as the shower was over the toilet so everywhere got wet
* blow air heating had broken
* shower tap had to be replaced
* a hole had appeared in the back bumper
* March 2011 we purchased two new tyres for it
It leaked in along the awning rail when it rained. Mark went to extreme lengths to try and fix it so we could get more life out of the caravan. He took the awning rail off, sealed along the length of the caravan and then glued a sealant strip over the top.
We were enjoying our caravan holidays and loved the caravan, but not enjoying constantly doing repair jobs to the caravan while we were on holiday.
* the awning rail leaked in causing damp
* the flue from the heater leaked water causing a damp ceiling and floor
* the oven refused to work
* the hob was temperamental
* the water heater leaked and was only safe to use on gas mode
* the filter housing broke and had to be replaced
* the jockey wheel had to be replaced
* it wasn't practical to shower the kids as the shower was over the toilet so everywhere got wet
* blow air heating had broken
* shower tap had to be replaced
* a hole had appeared in the back bumper
* March 2011 we purchased two new tyres for it
It leaked in along the awning rail when it rained. Mark went to extreme lengths to try and fix it so we could get more life out of the caravan. He took the awning rail off, sealed along the length of the caravan and then glued a sealant strip over the top.
We were enjoying our caravan holidays and loved the caravan, but not enjoying constantly doing repair jobs to the caravan while we were on holiday.
Easter Sunday 2011, while we were staying in the caravan at Worcester, we took a drive to Stourport and drove past Chichester Caravans. We stopped to "take a look" not thinking we would come out with a new to us caravan let alone a brand new caravan! We saw the new range of Baileys - the Bailey Orion 440/4, fell in love with it and they let us buy the display model which we were allowed to pick up just FIVE DAYS LATER!
This is on the day we bought it.
Easter Sunday 2011, while we were staying in the caravan at Worcester, we took a drive to Stourport and drove past Chichester Caravans. We stopped to "take a look" not thinking we would come out with a new to us caravan let alone a brand new caravan! We saw the new range of Baileys - the Bailey Orion 440/4, fell in love with it and they let us buy the display model which we were allowed to pick up just FIVE DAYS LATER!
This is on the day we bought it.
So on the day of the Royal wedding in 2011, everyone was excited for an extra Bank Holiday Day off and we were excited to pick up our brand new caravan which we took to Worcester for the weekend. Since then we have had TEN YEARS good use out of it and still love it as much today as we did back then. We have made lots of good and funny memories at the caravan.
