Travel
Caravan Holidays
EmlAriany of us the word " caravan " matches romance, and the Sight of one, especially_ if it be of the brave old-fashioned sort (gay: paint without and bright brass within, a horse betWeen shafts and a lounging dog between wheels), will set minds travelling and our hearts jigging to the rhythm of that "'poetic guy," who was for ever longing " to go and see, to
and see, to go and see some more." The camping season is .nearly over now, and the roads. are brightened with the gay, vans of returning hop-pickers, "and the sqiiare bodies of little trailer vans. But even though the time for journeys May be passing, the season of maps approaches, and we, their slaves, will soon see firelight flickering on the green and brown patches of valleys and hills and on the little bliie serpents of rivers, while we retrace those ways we knoW and make plans for the future.
It' is not too early to begin to prepare for next year's camping holiday, especially if we are going to buy our. own van. Perhaps the best of these are the little light ones of three.2ply wood whose roofs can be wound down to car4evel and Whose legs screw up clear of the road. The empty shells of these can be bought for about sixty pounds and 'then fitted according to individual requirements : the smallest of thOi' are so light that they can be pulled by any good make of " baby " car, though the wise driver will take a tow-"rope 'so that he can beg emergency aid on very steep hills. Once a Van has been bought and equipped (and this can be dime quite easily for a hundred pounds), all future holidays will cost nothing beyond the price of food, petrol, and seven ahilfitigs a week for " rent."
.Ihave just returned from a Cornish holiday spent in a small van equipped for three people. _
,The journey from the Thames-side near Goring, where we bad camped for most of the spring, took a very short time. The van was towed by a ten-horse-power car which also took three passengers. The front seat was adjustable, so that, with..the back, it could be used as an extra bed. Our first halting-place was a glade near a stream -in theNew Forest. It is necessary to make application at the King's House in Lyndhurs fOr permission to ' camp on Forest, ground. A small fee is charged, and there are 'certain restrictions : dogs are not allowed and vans may not be left within a hundred yards of an enclosure. The finding of suitable pitches is the most serious problem of the caravanner, though the gregarious may be attracted by the many notices of " excellent camping grounds " on most main roads. Farmers usually charge a shilling a night or five shillings a week for permission to camp in a pasture field. It is allowable for vans to be pulled. on to the grass skirting public highways, provided that they do not interfere with traffic. At the end of two nights they are liable to be " moved on."
The journey from the Forest to Bodmin Moor, via Dorchester, Bridport, Exeter, and Okehampton, took one day. The average rate of progress was about twenty miles an hour. From Bodmin we went to a small fishing village about ten miles from St. Austell, and there stayed for three weeks. We camped in a field at the top of a cliff whose very precipitous path to the beach was a boon as it debarred all but the most agile from intruding on our particular bathing bay. We got dairy produce from our landlord farmer, and arranged for letters to be addressed to us at the post office in the village, where we also bought emergency provisions. We used clean petrol tins for our fresh-water supply. These we found invaluable on many occasions, as they made us independent of streams and near neighbours. We lived sumptuously at the rate of fifteen shillings per week per head. Cheese souffles, omelettes, bacon and eggs, and fish of all sorts were cooked on our two oil stoves.
On the return journey we camped again on Bodmin Moor, and from there varied our route by driving, in one day, through Honiton, Ilchester, and Wincanton, before pulling into an old Roman camp on Salisbury Plain for the night. The next day we ran through to Goring.
It is not, of course, necessary to buy a van in order to enjoy a camping holiday. Stationary ones or trailers may be hired for almost any sum from thirty shillings a week.
The lazy should be warned that the simple life is also a strenuous one. A good deal of time may have to be spent each day in fetching milk, collecting the mail, washing-up, cooking, and other domestic tasks. B. E. T.
[We publish on this page articles and notes which may help our readers in their plans for travel at home and abroad. They are written by correspondents who have visited the places described.' We shall be glad to answer queries arising out of the Travel articles published in our columns. Inquiries should be addressed to the Travel Manager, The SPECTATOR, 99 Gower Street, W .C. 1.—Ed. SPECTATOR.]
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