Just off the M40 in the heart of the UK and always popular. David has now retired and the site is under new ownership. Come along, meet members, have a weekend away, a burger on the Saturday night. There will be cake!
A great day out in the heart of England. Just a one day show but you can camp the night before and the night after.
From club member Charlie Wann:
My son learned this in Cubs, and he and my daughter make them whenever we go away in the campervan.
Ingredients
Pitta bread (2 per person)
Cheese
Tube of tomato purée
Ham, pineapple or other fillings
Method
Carefully slice open the pitta bread.
Squeeze in some tomato purée.
Add cheese and any other fillings.
Wrap in foil and cook on the BBQ or above a fire pit until cheese is melted and pitta is crispy (turn halfway through cooking).
Wait to cool slightly before eating!
Yes, it is that time again. Hurray! Finally, after the long winter in our non-mobile houses, we can get out our beloved vehicles.
Checklist
Hopefully you all followed the article Time for bed/ to help put your vehicle to bed for the winter. Now that spring is in the air and we are starting to think about getting out and communing in nature, this is a key time to get things ready.
Doors locks – there’s nothing more annoying than a failed lock. get it fixed now before the season really gets going. Door lock issues can be very straight forward but a simple lubrication can be key. Pun intended. A non residue lubricant is best to move the dirt away as WD40 can leave enough gunk to create issues. We favour silicon spray. A little into each lock.
Windscreen wipers – did they perish in the cold winter freezing them to the windscreen. Inspect and replace now.
Water – check the radiator if you have one. Ensure that the bottles that you emptied in the Autumn / fall have no mice, carefully hidden Christmas presents or mildew. Clean with a weak Milton solution if it is drinking water or food related.
Batteries – check the charge on each battery with a good meter. A flat battery can indicate an earth leak. A failed battery needs careful investigation.
Carburettor – Or equivalent. Check for good operation, no stuck flaps or other deterioration over winter. If you are a professional, this will be straight forward. If you are an amateur, a test drive very close to home will highlight problems! But only after the other checks.
Brakes – your vehicle should roll easily, otherwise this can indicate jammed brakes. Parking in gear for long periods of time can be better for your brake health than a jammed set of brakes. Check the brakes for operation. Check the brake fluid level. If it has been more than 5 years, change the brake fluid as it is hygroscopic and slurps up water incredibly quickly. Water is not a good fluid for applying the brake pads to the disks.
Seals – inspect all door seals for any signs of damage, water ingress or other problems and sort them out now. Glue any loose bits back down with the correct glue.
Windows – ensure that they all open and close fully. Or at least as fully as they did last year if applicable!
Ignition – Once you are feeling confident, get in to your pride and joy and turn on the ignition to number 2. Look at the lights on the dashboard. Check there ARE lights! Are they what you expect / are used to seeing? Have you got fuel (for those with a working fuel gauge)?
Crank it over – don’t expect it to start immediately but things should kick into life within a few seconds.
A little test drive on your driveway will allow you to test the brakes, maybe the steering and other important parts. Softly, softly.
Stay local, take your phone with you and warm clothing. Just in case!
Once you get home, assuming that you have a big smile on your face, make a list of snags, get indoors, put the kettle on and start planning for your summer.
Check out the events page and come and see us at a meeting soon!
Your neighbours will be jealous with this one!
Ingredients – Serves 2
1 pack of about 8 chicken drumsticks
2 green chillies
2 red chillies
2 tablespoons of Balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons of lemon juice / 1 lemon juiced
1 tablespoon of honey
Some dried mixed herbs
Yes, dried mixed herbs again – a staple in the camper van! Using a sharp knife, slice across the flesh of the chicken down to the bone to allow the spices to penetrate. Add all of the ingredients to a flat dish and get the drumsticks coated. Leave them to marinade for at least 30 minutes but overnight is even better. Wrap the drumsticks in foil but don’t stack them then either cook in a frying pan or on the BBQ tipping the leftover marinade from the dish over the top of them. Cook thoroughly! For adding wow factor, add a little lemon juice and some fresh green herbs on top as you serve them alongside crusty bread and salad. And a glass of something of course!
Some people like a TV in the camper van for those longer, darker evenings when there is no club marquee to sit and natter. Others like it for specific events such as Wimbledon (which we put on the club TV by the way).
Another option instead of the TV is to use a portable projector. James and Marina Reeves, part of our supportive management team introduced us at a recent event to the Anker Nebula capsule, miniature projector. Just 6 inches / 15 cm high, this little cylinder has a built in battery that lasts 1.5 hours in standard mode and up to 4 hours otherwise. At 200 ANSI lumens, it does really need a dark evening but can project an image from its tiny cylinder onto any flat surface – a 40 inch (1 metre) diagonal picture from 4 feet away (1.14m) up to a colossal 100 inch (2.5 metres) diagonal picture when the surface is 3 metres / 10 feet away. We tried it on a planked shed and it looked incredible.
You can stream anything from YouTube and Netflix, plug in a USB stick with movies on it, there is even a remote control!
The Anker Nebula retails around £320.
(or… How I tried to turn my T2 into a mobile Cathedral)
It happened in Oxford. Very fitting for the start of an ecclesiastical undertaking. My wife Lindsay and I had stopped for a weekend sojourn among the dreaming spires on our way to the Isle of Wight for a VWT2OC summer meet. It was June 2021.
Our recently acquired 1976 Devon Bay Conversion (affectionately known as “the camper”) had let us down twice: in the same place on the M65, trying to get to Orcaber Farm campsite at Settle (highly recommended btw). Brakes seized on all wheels. Turns out it was the servo, which our local champion “The Slambassador” duly replaced. So we were nervous of such a long journey from Liverpool, and split the route in two.
On the second night Lindsay had gone to the shower block and I was up in the roof space making the bed. And then all of a sudden I wasn’t. I was on the floor of the camper with halves of a broken bed in splinters around me. If it hadn’t been for the movable seat/storage cupboard directly underneath, our poor dog Toby would have been flattened. As it was, he stared at me in a mixture of shock and disappointment.
We slept on the rock’n’roll bed for the rest of the trip. Examination of the bed boards revealed that they were made from something similar to a pound shop picture frame stuffed with egg boxes and covered with hardboard. Hardly sufficient to support my ever increasing bulk and that of my not insignificant other. Small children perhaps, or Ken and Barbie, but not big kids. So, I went to our local timber merchant and had a couple of pieces of 18mm plywood cut to size. Not even the elephant in the room would be able to destroy that! And so it remained: strong and reliable, but also plain and wooden, until our first successful trip to Orcaber Farm.
We took the Settle to Carlisle railway, entertained on the way by a group of Dutch tourists who were slightly tipsy but great company. We decided to experience the atmosphere in the Cathedral to full effect by attending a short service with choir. And it was looking up at the awe-inspiring ceiling inside the Cathedral, as we listened to spiritually uplifting song, that I got the idea to paint our bedboards in the same pattern. Deep blue with golden heavenly bodies and red and white adornment. Eighteen months later, the job hadn’t started. Amazon were fresh out of tuits, round or otherwise. It was a project for the future.
And then I turned the telly on one day, happening to catch an episode of “George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces”. George was having a caravan bespoke built by a team of artisans and professionals, and guess what design he was planning for the ceiling? A facsimile of Carlisle cathedral! I had a Victor Meldrew moment, and then I was spurred into action.
There was half a tin of gloss (coincidentally called “Oxford Blue”) left from when I had repainted the front door, and a can of gold spray paint that had been buried for years somewhere in the shed. Armed with rolls of masking tape and some acrylic primer, I set about my grand design. Toby gave discerning looks and barks, and tried to put his own pawprint on proceedings while the paint was wet. Together we got the job done.
I haven’t dared to watch any more episodes of George Clarke. I’m sure his design will be more elaborate, more ornate and very much more expensive, and I’m not going to give him the opportunity to rub my nose in it. But I am very happy with the result, and hope you like it too. I’m thinking of turning the sink into a font next, and maybe the under-bed storage into a crypt. What do you reckon?
Well, what a time. For those of you who have not attended, why not? A great weekend of seeing some wonderful VWs and all sorts of modifications. Over 200 traders, plus people doing a little garage clearance. Plenty of bargains to be had, nice people to meet and the opportunity to put faces to, not only some of the names mentioned in this august publication, but also the dealers you are in contact with. Plus some wonderful scenery!
In short, three days of catching up and making wish lists. Or is it? (cue dramatic music) Well no, obvs! Despite it being a working showground some people were there 3 weeks before the opening day. Lots of jobs need doing. Firstly, we’re expecting something like a thousand people to camp. That includes tents, VWs, caravans, in fact anything you can think of including at least 2 tear-drop trailers! So we need electrical hook ups for some of those pitches, especially the disabled pitches. Then we need to mark out the rest of these fields, plus another 7 behind me.
Don’t think it’s all about the camping though! There are fences to build around the arena and staff only areas. Then there’s the traders’ areas. When we turned up there was about a week to go and there were already 4 or 5 club members there, plus Lynn and John the camping co-ordinators, actually they seemed to be everywhere 24/7!! I don’t know where they found the energy.
Sunday afternoon on of the hottest days of the year and we’re out on the fields marking out the first pitches. Gunther and family, denominated “The Northfield Crew”, where already working hard too having some 7/8 fields to cover. But as they’ve been coming here for 23 years (as I recall) they definitely know exactly what they’re doing, and novices like us will only slow them down!
Anyway, the next 5 days consist mainly of measuring 7m squares in the blazing sun. It didn’t take some of us long to go “continental” and start earlier, take a long lunch and get back at it in the late afternoon, and, in that heat putting up marquees meant working in the shade for about half an hour (such are the simple pleasures in life!)
This will become the traders’ area!
There was still loads of other stuff to do too, Laura was lucky enough to be given inside work that meant air con! Good but simple food was provided to the volunteers for three meals a day. But the most rewarding part of it all was watching it all come together!
The gates opened Friday morning and people came from ALL directions! Fields filled, families staked claims on adjacent pitches, but importantly, all fire roads were left clear despite our fears that some might become “private” gardens. One thing I noticed, that despite pitches being well marked, due to the heat people headed for shade whenever they could, including hiding the bus in the trees at the side of some of the roads!
The real benefit of all the hard work was being able to help people when difficulties raised their heads. As an example, Marina Reeves also volunteered, and she was approached by a lady and her young family who had found the pitch she had chosen was now next door to a group of young men being overly exuberant. Marina, having more knowledge of the site was able to swiftly find her a quieter pitch. This single act was enough to confirm the usefulness of volunteering and the benefits of marshalling.
I, too, was able to help later on when a chap approached me looking for a pitch. The field he was in had several “reserved” pitches in it and by quickly asking about I found not one but two pitches where all attendees were present but extra spaces where “baggsed”! When this was discovered, families involved were very helpful and apologetic about their oversight.
As I said earlier, the show itself was a great event, the traders seemed to have both enjoyed it and traded well, so it was worthwhile. The bands where great, at least two each night, plus the disco, VDub Radio, and fair adding to the atmosphere.
As Sunday evening approaches, everyone is packing up ready for the off, with most traders packed and leaving the site by 5pm. This means that the campers are also getting ready to depart by tea-time. So, by mid-morning we’re starting to pull up all the little pegs we so carefully hammered in! Winding up the tape that defined the edges and “no-go” areas, such as emergency gates that are closed.
We forget such things as the “fire stations” that need to be distributed and collected, the bins that were, pretty much, on every corner. Plus the marquees now need to come down and be packed away again! I can honestly say that while it was, at times, hard work it was also great fun. And personally, I found it quite a bonding experience. Would I do it again? At the drop of a hat!! Looking forward to next year, if Lynn will have me!!! and I hope to see some more of you there both as volunteers and on the club field!!
Editor Nick says – Thanks Bill for another great write up. Anyone who wants to attend Busfest during the build up week and work for their entry ticket, please contact Maggie on secretary@vwt2oc.co.uk who can pass your details to the Busfest team for inclusion in this year’s group.
On an unrelated note, at Busfest 2023 in the VWT2OC club field on Saturday evening, we were delighted to have our very own Lorna singing for us. Sadly, she was also talked into a duet with Editor Nick on the alternative lyrics to The Beatles’ “Help!”, dedicated to our wonderful Chairman and guru of all things mechanical, Mr Malcolm Marchbank. We hope that he is still talking to us after that.
We sang:
Help! I need a Malcolm
Help! Not just any Malcolm
Help! You know I need you Malcolm
Help!
When my van was younger, so much younger than today
She never needed anybody’s help in any way
But now these days are gone and we’re not so good at stuff
Now I find I’ve lost my mind, I’ve opened the engine door
Help me if you can, I’m feeling around
And I would appreciate you coming ’round
Help me get the circuit to hit ground
Won’t you please, please help me?
And now my van has changed in oh so many ways
My van it seems to vanish in the exhaust haze
But every now and then the steering is quite poor
I know that I just need you cos it’s never done that before
Help me if you can, I’m feeling around
And I would appreciate you coming ’round
Help me get the circuit to hit ground
Won’t you please, please help me?
When my van was younger, so much younger than today
She never needed anybody’s help in any way
But now these days are gone and we’re not so good at stuff
Now I find I’ve lost my mind, I’ve opened the engine door
Help me if you can, I’m feeling around
And I would appreciate you coming ’round
Help me get the circuit to hit ground
Won’t you please, please help me?
Help me, help me, oh no….
Wonderful smells and an easy dish
Ingredients per person
4oz dried pasta
1 onion
Some mushrooms
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
Dried mixed herbs
3 cloves of garlic
1 large sausage such as garlic sausage or venison or other strong flavour
Small glass of red wine
Oil or butter for frying
Cook the pasta and set to one side. Reuse the pan! Fry the onion until softened and starting to go translucent, then add the garlic, herbs, mushrooms and sausage. Cook all of this for 5 minutes stirring occasionally until nicely coloured. Add the remaining ingredients and cook for a few more minutes. Add the drained pasta to the pan.
Serve with crust bread and perhaps a glass or two of that red wine – it seems a shame to let the rest of it go to waste!
After purchasing our camper, who we have called Billy, during the Covid saga the idea was to go local for a few camps to see how we and Billy would go. Being complete novices with the campervan and camping scene, we are well out of our comfort zone. Billy has had a lot of work done but more of that later.
Well, having the invite from VWT2OC and a nice discount negotiated by Lorna, we decided to take the plunge and give it a go to Petruth Paddocks, after all the reviews were positive. A nice camp with people who have same interests (VW campers) would be a safer bet than other camps we looked at (in safe company) although a bit further than just local as we live in Tamworth Staffs.
With the help from Lorna and the VWT2OC committee we booked our pitch. After a week of deciding what we needed and a fair bit of shopping for our adventure we were set to go.
Having a few sleepless nights of how to manage the porta potty, the Elsan waste points and how the hook up works, we sorted just about everything we would need including the bus emergency breakdown kit. So much stuff, not much room.
Bus, camper, van now fully loaded (not sure the correct name to use) we were ready for an early start.
Friday morning 5.15 am and off we go. Me, Janet and Bella our Bichon on our way, M42 then M5.
Just a few miles on the M42 and it started to rain and rain and rain. Billy running just fine then just before a planned stop at Stentham, it had a little flutter/misfire on one cylinder for a few minutes, but felt like ages. My heart in my mouth hoping we weren’t going to break-down and Billy just perked up and started running OK again.
A quick stop for a loo break a coffee and a discussion, shall we turn around or carry on?
Carry on said Janet lets go for it. So off we go.
Traveling along and rain continues, the closer we got to Bristol the worse it was getting, so much rain.
Somerset within our reach and we got there early, very early. A drive to the camp to find it and see how we check in. “A bit early the young lady said”.
After a drive to Cheddar and find a car park, sat in the bus for a coffee and a bite to eat we ventured into Cheddar then to Petruth Paddocks at 2.00pm.
A quick camp induction from the young ladies in the office and the offer of “we will tow you out if you get stuck” was a bit of “oh dear is it that bad?”
Once directed and marshalled into our pitch we were greeted by Nick who welcomed us and gave us some great advice about the camp site and the VWT2OC activities.
A meet up at the local brewery to meet some of the VWT2OC members was a really nice tonic as being novices we were not sure what happens at a club camp. Introducing ourselves and meeting new people who made us very welcome was a bonus. Lorna told us that Nick is the club burger King and flips a good burger.
Well a few hours later, the smell of burger and onions was too tempting not to miss. Although the rain did put a bit of a damper on it.
Meeting Nick again on the grill and Val doing a great job on the onion pan the burgers were most welcome.
A chat to a few people during our camp was interesting and the bacon bap on Saturday morning was another bonus.
We had a good time, it was a pity there was so much rain but it has not put us off, we plan to do some more short stays but hopefully not in the rain.
So for our first venture it’s been a great experience, a bit of an eye opener to say the least, there are some things extra we need to bring especially a mat/grid for outside the bus as trying to get your wellies off without getting your socks all muddy is a trial in itself and maybe a small awning would make it a bit better.