My husband and I decided to retire when he was 50 and I was 48! We gave away all of our furniture to our customers at Hotwell’s Post Office. My mother very kindly stored our pictures, glassware and Wedgwood items. Our daughter guarded the piano!
We bought a sports-coach which had as its previous owner Kenny Roberts (then the motor-bike racing champion!) The coach was very luxurious, it even had a large bath. In two days we decided that it was too large to park easily and only did 7 miles to the gallon.
We returned it to the garage and ordered a Hi-Lo. When travelling this was the same height as a car, but by touching a button the roof rose to a normal caravan height. To tow it, we bought a Ford Granada. Another mistake! The Hi-Lo was too heavy for that car which quickly began to crack between the front and back seats! The garage decided that a Daimler was solid enough to do the job, so we bought one. Finally we set off for France!
Another problem, we didn’t know how to reverse the Hi-Lo. We phoned “Brian Brothers”, but they didn’t know either. The Hi-Lo was American, and we were the first people in England to buy one! Luckily Ron was a very skilled driver. His father owned Feltham’s Coaches, and at the age of 9 Ron had been driving them around their large garage. However, we found ourselves in some tricky situations! Imagine the length of a huge caravan plus a Daimler.
We didn't move around much. When we found a site that we really liked we stayed there for months on end. It was much more convenient than having a motor home because we had a car to use. It also meant that we made many French friends in each region that we parked.
We spent six months in Frejus in the south of France before hearing that one of our godsons, aged thirteen, had been killed in a traffic accident. Immediately we drove back to Bristol! We parked behind a garden centre in Yate. The weather was terrible, deep snow and bitterly cold. What a contrast to Frejus. Even our wine froze in the bottle!
We were always very impetuous, so the day after the funeral we went to an estate agent and in half an hour had signed to buy a lovely flat in Clifton overlooking the Downs. Having moved in, we thought we had better earn some money!
We read an advert asking for couples to run camp-sites in France. The holiday company was called “Eurovacs” which later became “Haven Holidays”. This was a great adventure. Everyone arrived ready to have a lovely time, so of course we had a wonderful time too.
I’ll continue this “saga” next month ... I hope you all have an enjoyable June!
Esmé
We bought a sports-coach which had as its previous owner Kenny Roberts (then the motor-bike racing champion!) The coach was very luxurious, it even had a large bath. In two days we decided that it was too large to park easily and only did 7 miles to the gallon.
We returned it to the garage and ordered a Hi-Lo. When travelling this was the same height as a car, but by touching a button the roof rose to a normal caravan height. To tow it, we bought a Ford Granada. Another mistake! The Hi-Lo was too heavy for that car which quickly began to crack between the front and back seats! The garage decided that a Daimler was solid enough to do the job, so we bought one. Finally we set off for France!
Another problem, we didn’t know how to reverse the Hi-Lo. We phoned “Brian Brothers”, but they didn’t know either. The Hi-Lo was American, and we were the first people in England to buy one! Luckily Ron was a very skilled driver. His father owned Feltham’s Coaches, and at the age of 9 Ron had been driving them around their large garage. However, we found ourselves in some tricky situations! Imagine the length of a huge caravan plus a Daimler.
We didn't move around much. When we found a site that we really liked we stayed there for months on end. It was much more convenient than having a motor home because we had a car to use. It also meant that we made many French friends in each region that we parked.
We spent six months in Frejus in the south of France before hearing that one of our godsons, aged thirteen, had been killed in a traffic accident. Immediately we drove back to Bristol! We parked behind a garden centre in Yate. The weather was terrible, deep snow and bitterly cold. What a contrast to Frejus. Even our wine froze in the bottle!
We were always very impetuous, so the day after the funeral we went to an estate agent and in half an hour had signed to buy a lovely flat in Clifton overlooking the Downs. Having moved in, we thought we had better earn some money!
We read an advert asking for couples to run camp-sites in France. The holiday company was called “Eurovacs” which later became “Haven Holidays”. This was a great adventure. Everyone arrived ready to have a lovely time, so of course we had a wonderful time too.
I’ll continue this “saga” next month ... I hope you all have an enjoyable June!
Esmé
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