C2C - The End

On the Saturday morning I moved on from the site to an Essex marina for a river festival. I was sleeping on a yacht rather than in the camper van but I was then due to drive home on the Monday.

Unfortunately a family emergency meant an urgent return home on the Sunday which brought proceedings to a premature end for us, and meant a bit of rushing around to and from hospitals. Hopefully all is sorted now though and I can still get away on the next trip very soon.

Apart from the problem with the mains electric, and the improvements I still want to make to the 12v side, the camper behaved well. Storage is an issue, but it's manageable. I'll have another run through what I'm carrying and decide if there's anything I can leave out.

I was pleased with the driving of the Berlingo, it cruises happily at 70 so is a bit quicker than the Daihatsu. I also did a check on the fuel consumption over the holiday, is was about 37.7mpg including a mixture of long and short runs, that's around 15% better than the Daihatsu which will help with holiday costs.

Bluebells in Steam - C2C Day 7

The Bluebell Railway is one of the first, and most famous, heritage railways having opened way back in 1960 (before I was born!) We've never holidayed in the area so this was my first visit.

Overall it's probably much like most railways I visit. It was busy, partly due to a large holiday party for which several coaches were reserved. For some reason the railway is based at Sheffield Park when in truth Horsted Keynes (apparently pronounced as canes not keens) would have been a better location.

The train journey from Sheffield Park to East Grinstead doesn't have all that much to recommend it, although you do go from East to West just after setting off as you cross the Greenwich Meridian but that's about as exciting as it gets!

One plus point is that you are allowed to wander round the engine sheds, the contrast of locos in both size and condition is incredible. There are tiny tank engines in good condition right up to a 9F (about as big as general use locos got in the UK) in need of a lot of restoration.

It's understandable that the bulk of their repair and restoration efforts have to go on locos that will be useful to them, but that does mean that older, less efficient, tank engines are being neglected.

The catering was less successful, they may have been caught out by numbers but by the time I got in to the buffet there was a very limited choice of sandwiches available and I'd already decide I didn't want a hot meal.

Horsted Keynes is probably the most famous station on the heritage railways, and has featured in many films and TV series (I think it's Platform 2 that's regularly seen in Downtown). To get off the train there would have left me a 2 1/2 hour wait for the next service so I decided to drive up to get some photos and try the advertised buffet there instead. The guide leaflet didn't mention this is only open on weekends! As it happened they were doing some maintenance work so had turned the coffee machine on, at least I got something to drink.

The carriage works at HK have a good viewing gallery so you can see the work being carried out, I wish more railways would provide this level of access. The handrail across one part is made up of the different woods they use in the restoration work, with a note about how and where they fit in, an excellent idea.

There​ was also a demonstration panel and description of scumbling (artificially decorating cheap wood to look like something more expensive). This was a common technique in railways, canal boat decoration and domestic settings, our grandpa grained the interior doors in the house. Some years ago we were lucky to have a tour of the "hidden" parts of Bristol Temple Meads station including the GWR Boardroom. This had recently been restored, with scumbled panelling which, according to the tour guide, "Only 7 people in the country can do!" We called her out on this, saying there are plenty of people, including the boat painter who'd recently finished our pews at church. "Oh but this is grade 2 listed" she said. We pointed out the church is  grade 2* (but didn't say there'd been quite a debate on how glossy the finish should be).

Still being in need of sustenance, and the 'van stocks being deliberately run down, I did pick up a nice fresh sandwich in the village shop then found a quiet car park to sit and eat it in. Had I been thinking I'd have headed back to a cafe near the caravan site as I've got a voucher for a free cheese toastie, it's an advertising trick to get you to buy their cheese, but I didn't think of it at the time.

Tomorrow it's through the Dartford Tunnel to the marina in Essex for the river festival, it'll be a lot easier in 20 years or so when they build the next bridge a few miles downstream of the existing crossing but for now it means tackling the M25 unfortunately.

Moving On - C2C Day 6

Today saw a change of caravan site as I make my way vaguely in the direction of Essex for the weekend. One of the major reasons for changing to campervans was the fact I can easily move on and visit attractions on the way, in this case that was Amberley Working Museum.

By comparison to Beamish, etc. it's quite a small place (still 36 acres) with a bit of a mixture of exhibits. Being mid-week, and with a heavy reliance on volunteers, not everything was open of course. It would have been great to see the bodger and other greenwood crafts at work.

The people who were about were pleasant and chatty though, and I enjoyed the visit. The site is an old chalk pit, mainly used for lime production, so the first activity of the day was to take a ride up the quarry line behind a small Hunslet narrow gauge diesel. The "toast rack" coaches (so called because that's what they resemble) came from a closed railway on the Isle of Man. One of the unlabeled exhibits at the top is a semi-derelict standard gauge tank engine. I did look to see if it was a Peckett, it could be but no maker's plates were in evidence.

After lunch, the Ham, Chicken and Leek pie was delicious but it was all cold, I decided I'd seen everything. I then made the mistake of going in to Horsham as I needed a few supplies. Having just about negotiated my way in to the car park (and had a panic when around three floors up there was a sign saying the height restriction above level 3 was even lower, it turned out that three floors up is level 1, go figure) I wandered round what is supposed to be a nice market town. I could literally have been anywhere in the country.

Without the aid of the SatNav though I found Sainsbugs and got the necessaries, mainly bread rolls or no breakfast butties. It was only a few miles further to the caravan site at Slinfold. I did wonder if I'd gone wrong as the site is a fair way up a narrow lane. It's one of the smaller sites in the Club network, and is run by volunteer wardens. Due to size and spacing issues I was allocated a pitch, that's fine with me, on this site it makes little difference. A while later while sitting in the 'van reading and relaxing one of the wardens did come up and asked if I wanted to borrow a chair to sit out! I thanked her but said I do actually have one. I was actually quite happy in the shade with a breeze cooking through the open doors, still it was really thoughtful.

The pub is only about a half mile walk away, I was in two minds about eating there (although I'd also got a salad in the fridge), however the chef didn't turn up. They're supposed to serve food from six, it was nearer seven thirty when they started taking orders. I decided not to bother but might come back tomorrow.

Subs and Bangs - C2C Day 5

To get maximum value out of the Naval Museum ticket I spent today at the Submarine Museum then Explosion - the Museum of Naval Ordinance, both on the Gosport side of the river.

It was all a lot quieter and less frantic than the main Dockyard museums, but interesting. The highlight of the Sub museum is the guided "tour" of HMS Alliance. It's not really a tour as you just walk from end to end, but then that's about how much space there is. I found it very interesting but really can't conceive how people spent so much time in such a cramped space.

That said, Holland 1 (the Navy's first sub) and X24, a WW II Midget Sub are much smaller still. The former was, at one time, largely cosmetically restored but when the repairs deteriorated it was returned to "as found" condition. You can get inside, and again there's very little space (I had to collapse the walking pole!)

Having had a good look round, including the displays of artefacts which most people seemed to ignore, and had a coffee and piece of cake, I drove back in land a bit to "Explosion". I was somewhat put off this due to the name, I find museums that have become "experiences" often aren't very good. To be fair this one is. There are a lot of items that would go bang ranging from early canons and mortars through naval guns to nuclear and conventional missiles. Some of the modern presentation works ok, but the AV display that's the centrepiece of this wasn't working.

I think neither museum would necessarily justify the entry fee on its own (it's about £15 for a single attraction compared to the £38 for everything for a year), but as part of the overall museum experience they are worth visiting.

I called in to Wickham, the nearest town to the caravan site, on the way back. Another nice little place for a wander, and there was a temptation to head back for dinner but I've overdone the walking a bit and it's nearly 3 miles each way. I can't be bothered to drive so I wish I'd brought the ebike.

Tomorrow I leave this site to go further inland towards Essex. The next one is no facilities so I'll have to see how I get on, not that it should be a problem but having site toilets, washing up areas, etc. does make life in a small campervan that bit easier.

Musings - C2C Day 4 1/2

While sat sitting here with a cold beer watching the world go by I've come to some conclusions about the new campervan.

On the positive side:

Having a seat long enough to stretch out on while reading, drinking, etc. is a huge gain. It was probably the single biggest issue with the previous Daihatsu 'van.

The compressor coolbox, despite being expensive, is great. Apart from being much better insulated anyway it is so much more efficient than the thermoelectric ones, and much quieter. I left it running on the leisure battery the last couple of days while out without it draining the battery (it's got a variable voltage cutout, even at the highest setting it hasn't triggered). Having nicely chilled beer is a real bonus.

The LED lights I added are near perfect. The bright strip light is great for when sorting things, cooking, tidying, etc. but too much when relaxing. The warm white SMD tape however is just right of an evening when reading and boozing.

The throw I bought from Dunelm for the seat is great. The cream leatherette looks ok but you don't half stick to it wearing shorts in warm weather!

The downsides:

Obviously the mains electric not working is a nuisance. It's not a huge issue to sort I don't think, I suspect a wire has come loose. As the 12v also needs improvement I'll sort both together.

The curtains aren't great. A couple of extra press studs will help, and I think I can live with them.

Storage space is an issue. It's just about adequate for a week away. I think a roof box is on the shopping list.

Normal Day - C2C Day 4

Well it was a normal day for me, I visited a heritage railway!

This time it was the Mid Hants Railway, better known as The Watercress Line. The first puzzle of the day is what's happened to the camera battery I charged up yesterday. It's not in the camera bag or the charger, and I can't find it anywhere else. As they only go in an elastic pocket on the front of the bag I can only assume it fell out at some point. No point worrying about it, I've got two more it's just a nuisance as I'll have to make sure both are charged overnight.

The railway itself is similar to many, they do at least open the buffet well before the first train so I had a mug of coffee. You get an all day ticket so, starting from Alresford I went up to Alton, back to Ropley, up to Alton again and finally back to Alresford.

The reason for that is the main engineering sheds are at Ropley. They have a well marked heritage trail which takes you up past the sidings and there are viewing platforms for both the engine and carriage workshops. They are one of the railways that repair and restore engines for other owners, to raise funds, as well as their own work. The sandwich I had from the shop there was slightly disappointing, in date (just) but certainly not freshly made.

The loco for the day was a common or garden Black Five (an LMS one, not a 5MT), this seems to be their main loco as it's powerful enough to haul a decent size train up the 1:60 gradient to Medstead and Four Marks station but small enough to be reasonably economical. You can tell when it's pulling up the hill from the exhaust beat.

There​ was an issue on the final journey back from Alton, the loco stopped on the run around loop for a long time, then still had to go all the way back past the signal box (a good 100 yards beyond the points) before coming forward to pick up the carriages. It turned out to be a signalling problem, the run right back was probably required before the system would unlock the points again.

I ended the afternoon with a wander round Alresford, restocking the meat supplies (minted lamb burgers for tea, sausage for breakfast) and doing a bit of other shopping. All in all a thoroughly enjoyable day.

In the Navy - C2C Day 3

Well in the Naval Dockyards anyway! One of the main aims of the trip was to visit Portsmouth, it's over 25 years since I last went, and a lot has changed.

After a few minutes wait to get in (under the watchful eyes of two Heckler and Koch armed Police) I paid the rather hefty £36 entry fee. The ticket is valid for a year and covers a lot though. The first shed I visited is a working repair area. They're working on various, mainly wooden, vessels with much of the work being by apprentices under supervision. We did wonder whether a couple of small boats were really being restored rather than rebuilt when they were mostly new timber (the answer is yes, as long as something is retained of the original).

The Victory now doesn't have guided tours, which does mean you don't have to book a time slot. I'm afraid the recorded audio guide is no substitute for me. I was very impressed with the way you're guided round the ship with no huge signs saying, "This Way!" A few other attractions could learn from this. I was reasonably quick, I've seen it before and I was trying to keep ahead of the crowds that had boarded just behind me.

Last time I was there the Mary Rose was in the early stages of preservation with little supporting display. That's fair enough, but all I can say now is wow! The new visitor centre is fantastic, with good interpretation and the artefacts cleverly displayed. You make your way through the "decks" with the opposite side to the ship being used to display the items as if they were on board. Mostly you're viewing the ship through glass but one level (accessed through airlocks) is open.

A couple of things that impressed me here, one is that photography (non-flash of course) is actively encouraged, with a few specific "good places" marked. Another was the provision of lightweight folding stools that you could carry around and return at the end. I could have done with those later in the day! I finished up in the tea shop for a coffee and scone (butter so no argument about which way round to put the Jan and cream).

From there I visited the Monitor Ship M33, these were relatively unimportant and not expected to last long so weren't named. It was basically built as a floating gun platform for the Dardanelles​campaign, shallow drafted but with a second hand 6" gun at bow and stern  - these were so powerful that only one could be fired at a time, if fired as a broadside they'd capsize the ship, fired fore and aft together they'd crush it. They were designed to fire in support of land infantry, not to fight other vessels.

M33 was used at Gallipoli, I'm not a fan of video interpretations but this one was very moving, giving a feel of the real horror of one of this country's military failures. No blame on the ship,  in one 36 hour period they fired over 300 shells from the forward gun and at full rate could fire 10 shots a minute. The mechanism for closing and locking the breach at the rear is so intricate you can really believe this, although I suspect a good few fingers were lost when the loader wasn't quite quick enough. M33 was quickly known as a "lucky ship". Over the years it took 4 direct hits and survived, although the lack of any armour may have helped (shells went straight through without exploding).

I wandered through the museum itself and a couple of other smaller exhibitions before tackling the Warrior. That really could have done with the Victory approach to guide you round the ship as I'm sure there were parts I didn't find! They're currently working on a major restoration project as unfortunately water has come through the bulwarks​ and damaged the metal framing underneath. Modern materials are having to be used to make a visual repair that's not entirely historically​ accurate but should be long lasting. Using modern steels, replacing some wood with metal and rot resistant hardwood will make a huge difference to the long term life of the ship.

The final exhibition was about the Battle of Jutland. Although both sides claimed victory in this, the Pools Panel would have rated it a score draw, the Navy say it won us WW1. Its a difficult claim to assess but it did mean that the German High Seas Fleet returned to port and didn't venture out again until they mutinied and surrendered. The fleet was late scuppered at Scapa Flow. The was a lot of damage to the ships sunk at Jutland caused by commercial interests as the steel is free of nuclear radiation contaminants*, I believe the fleet at Scapa Flow is still being cut up for this but the ships from the battle are, in theory, protected by international treaties. As designated war graves British divers and companies are forbidden by law to damage them but there is no actual law covering others in international waters.

*Steel produced since Hiroshima/Nagasaki and the extensive testing of the 50s is contaminated and not suitable for use in various instruments.

After all that I decided I could either have lunch on site, probably adding another couple of £s to the car park bill or head off. I couldn't continue walking much longer. As it was a pay-on-the-way-back car park I didn't hang about and forgot to set up the SatNav. I swear the route I took, by accident, was a lot shorter and quicker than the way TomTom took me this morning! I'd got food to use up so a cheese roll and pie, eaten at a picnic area in the Bere Forest, sufficed.

I've still got more to do on the Dockyard ticket, there's certainly the Submarine Museum at Gosport so I may do that on Wednesday. Tomorrow it's back to the railways.

Give me Power - C2C Day 2

It looks like you'll have to do without photos this trip on the blog, network connectivity just isn't good enough.

Day 2 started with a lovely breakfast at the boatyard (which was near Chichester by the way, I forgot to say that earlier) before I drove inland to Hollycombe Steam Collection. It's a slightly odd place with a mixture of railway, farm and fairground steam. I did have a couple of train rides, on the miniature Garden Railway and the narrow gauge Quarry Line.

Other highlights included a double acting beam engine from a farm power plant and the fairground organ. It's well worth a visit I think. It was also their Miniature Steam day, in other words they'd invited people with models of traction engines, etc. to come along and drive up and down! The engineering on many of these is fantastic.

Having had a decent day I headed back towards the coast to the CMC site Rookesbury Park site North of Fareham. Booking in went as smoothly as usual, I get little hassle from the wardens as the quickly realise I know what I'm doing. Setting up I hit the first snag with the new camper. In all the work on the 12v systems I didn't actually get round to testing the mains. Plugged in on site to find the socket doesn't work. Power is getting in as the trip test works and I've checked the immediately​ accessible things so that'll have to wait. It makes charging things slightly more complicated but the main use would have been for the coolbox. I'm really pleased with the compressor coolbox, it would have been a real problem without the mains trying to keep a thermoelectric one cool.

First Night - C2C Day 1

Yesterday was the first day of my Coast to Coast trip (I'm starting at a boatyard on the South Coast and ending at one on the East Coast). It was also the first night away in the new campervan.

I must admit the Berlingo is a much better motorway driver than the Daihatsu was and I had a good trip down to the boatyard, via a farm so for a few bits I'd forgotten. The test of the day was fairly boring, just eating, drinking and talking! The party was to celebrate James the Red Engine, nothing to do with Thomas, but a shiny new red Beta diesel in a boat, well it was a good excuse.

Setting the 'van up for the night is easy enough, a bit quicker than the old one, but the bed is much more comfortable. It's nice to have a flat, reasonably wide, bed for a change. The only thing I would like is curtains that keep more light out but it's not such a problem that I'll change them. I might get the press stud kit out though and secure the tie backs, considering he'd gone fairly mad securing the curtains that seems a bit of an omission.

I'll report more over the next few days as I get used to things. First signs are positive though.

Table D'hote or Let There be Light

It's been a fairy busy week with lots of goodies arriving, and hence needing fitting.

The table components were delivered in the middle of the week, and duly fitted. I'll set it up and take a photo some time but suffice to say it works OK. I'd hoped it would fit down behind the units inside the tailgate but the fittings are just too wide so it's been added to the end of the seat with the bed extension. That does mean that if the toilet is stowed as well the front seat is too far forward to be used. That's not a problem, I probably only carry a passenger a few times a year and it would only be the work of moments to move the table and board to the floor temporarily.

The single biggest issue with the conversion was the lack of any lighting. In itself it's not a huge issues, there are plenty of LED battery lanterns available but I decided I wanted a more permanent solution. I decided to order the same LED light as I'd used in the previous campervan. They're effective, but a bit stark so I wanted an alternative for when I'm relaxing. The solution to that was a warm white LED strip. I wasn't entirely sure where I'd use it but thought I'd get it and see.

I'd already ascertained that it was possible to remove the trim where necessary to feed power cables to the roof, and it quickly became apparent that the light would fit above the unit facing forward and the LED strip would go just inside the tailgate facing backwards - that may seem odd but it means you get a soft indirect light.  It took a bit of work with the fishing rods to complete the wiring but I got there. The light is screwed on but the LED strip is self-adhesive.

The two photos show the lights on, and also the new wiring. There was very little 12v wiring in place, and I wasn't entirely happy with it, so I decided it would be improved. Normally I'd have kept everything inside the cupboards but the back of the unit isn't actually visible unless the tailgate is open so it made more sense to fit things there and keep them accessible. It's only a temporary setup at the moment. The choc-block will be replaced with proper distribution fittings. The converter had a liking for 30A fuses which I'm not happy with as some of the wiring isn't going to take that current if a short occurs so there'll be a fuse box with appropriate protection.

I've moved the 12v "lighter" socket to the front of the unit which seems far more sensible than on the worktop. Also visible in the pictures is the kitchen roll holder that filled the hole. It's probably overkill but never mind.

The other main job, given that I'm away soon, was to work out where the heck I was going to stow all the kit. The essentials have all gone in, just, with a bit of creative effort. It's left one space in the seat locker free, apart from the sleeping bag, for clothes and incidentals. The toilet, bin (an Ikea one I bought for the previous camper and couldn't fit it) and fridge (a Waeco compressor coolbox, expensive but much better than the thermo-electric ones) fill the floor space behind the front seats. I'm happy with that, it would be largely dead space anyway.

There were a few final tweaks just to finish off. I had to pull the radio out to fit the aerial adapter for if I ever do listen to analogue, unlikely but might as well have it working. While I had it out I plugged the original back in and made sure it was switched off before removing it again. That means the car clock works properly. I should have got this right first time having had the same issue on a previous Citroen. I've fitted a new phone holder as well, and run the cable for the dash cam. The latter was a cheap Aldi purchase and I'm really not sure if it'll get much use but I'll give it a go to try and enhance the website and blog. 

Slowly but Surely...

I've managed to get some of the jobs done this weekend, but by no means as much as I'd have liked.

I did a little bit of shopping Saturday, but had to revert back to the web for some things. I believe I've solved the problem of the table, but more on that when the fittings arrive. The major purchases are coming in slowly, I ordered a set of fitted window blinds which, after a false start with not understanding what all the fittings were for, are now in place. They will help reduce sun glare and keep temperatures down a bit but, whilst they're far from opaque, the main purpose is to reduce the feeling of sitting in a goldfish bowl.

I wasn't happy with where he'd placed a 12v socket on top of the worktop so decided to move it. I came up with a cunning plan to fill the hole, a length of wardrobe rail and fitting - I now have a built in kitchen roll holder! This was on the jobs list for the previous campervan so made sense.

The double socket mains outlet continues to frustrate. I've found the proper long M3.5 machine screws that I have in stock from when I fitted the mains on Dai, so I can replace the forced in woodscrews but I've found there just isn't quite enough space to get a plastic patress box in instead of the metal one and the existing metal one has been damaged. It's not a huge problem overall.

The New Camper

On the day I took my previous campervan in to the garage for it's MOT I noticed that Chapel Motorhomes had just listed a Citroen Berlingo single berth conversion on their website. I looked at their two berth conversion a few years ago, which was OK but not right for me. I've been looking at the market for a while considering whether to change or not, but had just about decided not to. That changed when the Daihatsu failed its MOT with emissions problems. It was one of those things that could be very simple to sort or I could spend a lot of time and money and still not resolve it.
Initially I intended to have a trip down to have a look, and phoned to arrange this, but further thinking made me decide to take a bit of a gamble and buy it sight unseen. I'd checked the history online and everything checked out OK, and the company has been around a while with no bad reports, so I was happy to go for it. If I hadn't there's a chance I would have lost the opportunity and I couldn't find anything much else suitable.

Overall this camper was a little older than I wanted but I just didn't have time to keep looking or to buy a vehicle and get it converted so I considered it fate that this one came available on the very day I needed one. Finance, insurance, etc. were easily sorted and my brother offered to take me down to fetch it. I'll admit first impressions were slightly disappointing. Some of the interior is a bit more worn than the mileage would have suggested (I'm not suggesting anything untoward, someone had rough hands!) That feeling passed though by the time I got it home. It drives really well, especially as it has the 1.6 high power petrol engine.

There are a few, resolvable, issues with the conversion. The table is really too big, especially when you add the leg and its tripod base. I'm guessing it's the same as the one for the two berth conversion. There is also nowhere sensible to store it without taking up much of the seat locker space. I've got a couple of options to resolve this, the simplest being to leave it at home! There was a similar storage issue with the board that makes up the bed to full length, but I found a simple solution to that. A bit of work with some strapping and fittings mean it now stores at the end of the seat until needed. It does slightly obstruct the underfloor storage compartment that's there but I'll only use that for rarely needed items.

The biggest flaw in the conversion is the lack of an interior light. My original thought was to manage with the vehicle interior lights in the short term, possibly with LED bulbs, but these only work with the ignition on so that's not viable. It's an odd omission considering there is a leisure battery fitted but it won't take too much sorting. An LED strip light is on order and I've got a cunning plan for some mood lighting.

I did have one serious problem on the run home. I'd taken a couple of CDs to listen to, then found there was a radio-cassette fitted! I spent a fair bit of the weekend replacing this with the Kenwood DAB radio retrieved from the previous camper. That's all working (eventually, I had to run a separate ignition switched feed) but there may now be an issue with the original clock display. \it's working but seems reluctant to let me reset the time and has locked up a couple of times. It needs sorting somehow. There will be a little bit more wiring to do - at the moment the radio only works when the ignition is on, I'll add a switch as I did previously so it can be used when I'm camping.

The final job of the weekend was spending lots of money! I'll describe the individual items as they arrive and are fitted.