The new Swift Challenger Sport 554 touring caravan.

It’s the end of the Autumn school term and the caravan sites seem to have been busy, with touring caravans and motorhomes (plus of course, the weather was generally good too).

I was down in my favourite haunt – North Wales, a superb place to use either a motorhome or tourer. I still discover roads that I haven’t been down. I also visited some new dealers and found some caravan nostaglia.

While away I have been testing a new Swift Challenger Sport 554, the fixed bed end washroom caravan model.

Treat no trick. Marquis has already scored sales success with its Majestic 165 special edition.

I’m writing this just before Halloween itself, but I’ve already had my fill of treats and tricks. The big treat was using a Marquis Majestic 165 motorhome for a cunningly conceived Halloween road trip of scary hotspots in the Bath area – staying at Newton Mill Caravan Park (two nights, and perfectly placed for exploring Bath itself) and Brokerswood (one, but a simply super forest-based site that children will adore). The itinerary for this was courtesy of the new Bristol-based dealership, Family Travel Centre, whose suggestions had included Lacock Abbey, Dyrham Park, Prior Park and Brokerswood itself for all kinds of Halloween goings-on. Plus they had plenty more spooky ideas under their wizards’ hats…

Teddy Bear - an entertaining addition to my postcard collection.

So Kath and I woke up in Burton Bradstock on day 2 of our mini campervan adventure. Sadly we had failed to find any milk the previous day for our morning tea so
preparations for the day began earlier than normal.

We de-popped the pop top and ventured out into the big wide world of the campsite to find the teeth brushing facilities.

Bathroom facilities on a campsite seem to be very sociable places so it wasn’t a surprise when a stranger decided to strike up conversation about the weather.

Dining out at West Witterings in the Chichester district of West Sussex.

So in the summer my mate Kath and I, and of course Gene (my campervan)– couldn’t leave her behind, went on a spontaneous adventure to Dorset to escape the influx of Brighton tourists.

Our first stop was not really out of choice but desperate need caused by drinking lots of water in the hot August sunshine.

We swiftly swooped into West Witterings and made use of what it had to offer, as well as a toilet, by going for a dip followed by a classy campervan picnic of pitta, tomatoes, ham, cheese and crisps all freshly sourced from my roof garden – well, the tomatoes were anyway.