A study found that 69% of Brits have plans to take their yearly summer holiday right here on British soil. Here’s what beautiful Cornwall has to offer!
Category: News
All the news articles from Leisure Plus Direct Camping and Caravan blog
A lovely hot Easter weekend at The Oast House CL (The home of Leisure Plus Direct)
We had a full Easter weekend at our Caravan and Motorhome CL site here at Leisure Plus Direct. Our campers visited our shop and bought fresh water hoses, mains cables, chairs, toilet chemical and a host of other items. Thank you all for your visit and as a new CL site we look forward to meeting a greeting a lot more of you here. Lots of walks and places to visit.
Twice As Many Brits Would Cut Back On Food Rather Than Holidays
Research showed almost twice as many Brits say they would rather cut back on food if they needed to save money rather than their holidays.
FIAMMA IMPROVE THE CARAVANSTORE for 2019. NOW WITH 2.5M DEPTH THE NEW CARAVANSTORE XL
For 2019 Fiamma have changed the depth of their Caravanstore increasing the depth on the 2.80m, 3.10m, 3.60m, 4.10m, 4.40m, 5.00m and the 5.50m from 2.25m to the new XL depth of 2.50m.
This will bring Fiamma‘s roll out canopy into line with the competition.
They are giving a new XL centre rafter with all awnings with a depth of 4.10 and upwards. Plus the awnings of 5.00m and 5.50m will also include a Fiamma Caravanstore Support leg.
Fiamma will be offering a range of options for the NEW XL Caravanstore. These being a complete Privacy Room CS Light XL, Options in the range of Front and Side panels which can be sold individually. Plus Fiamma Caravanstore Rafter XL, Fiamma Caravanstore Tie Down Kit S, Patio Mat, and other options
The Caravanstore XL Range is now availalble from Leisure Plus Direct to order. Any questions please feel free to telephone on any of our numbers, you can email or use or question and answer service on the web page.
We hope we can be of assistance to you in 2019
3 Ancient Sites Around The UK To Discover
If you’re keen to explore the more mystical side of the UK, take a look at our blog to find a few top tips for ancient sites to visit this year.
Have You Heard Of Bikepacking?
Bikepacking involves hopping on your bicycle and taking everything you need for a short camping adventure with you.
Thule add to their Motorhome bike rack range with another “Black”
Another new for 2019 Thule have added to the current Thule Ducato XT Elite “Black”.
Their latest model now to incorporate the Matt Black finish for the caravan / motorhome market they have introduced the Thule Matt Black Excellent Rack. It is currently only being produced in the Standard version and is now available to Pre Order in the Matt Black finish (302033)
There is also the option to purchase the extra third rail (302034) in Black plus the 4th rail also in the matt black finish (302035)
Orders for these items are being taken now and will be available from the end of January. Order early to ensure that you are one of the very first to obtain this very exciting addition
A Whole Century Of Towing Caravans!
If you’re old hat when it comes to touring the UK in your trusty caravan, no doubt the name Eccles is a familiar one to you. The manufacturer was actually the main pioneer of caravan evolution and had a huge part to play in establishing the idea of caravanning as a respectable and affordable pastime.
As explained in Caravans – The Illustrated History 1919-1959, it all began back in 1913 when one Bill Riley, along with his son and the family gardener, started to experiment with the chassis of a Talbot car. Fast forward in time and Riley had eventually succeeded in building his very first motor caravan, albeit with a somewhat primitive design that looked rather like a baker’s van.
After the first world war came to an end and Bill Riley junior was back home from the front (having picked up lots of engineering experience during his time in the Armed Forces), he spotted an ad for local haulage firm The Eccles Transport Company, which was looking for investment to help them expand.
Resources were pooled and both Rileys became directors of the company, keeping the name of Eccles. On March 21st 1919, the trading name was changed to Eccles Motor Transport, based at Gosta Green in Birmingham.
The company struggled at first, thanks to old contracts from the war coming to an end, which inspired Bill Riley senior to revive his original idea for the motor caravan. However, his son was disinclined to go in this direction, believing that trailer vans were the more obvious choice for future investment, with his war experiences showing him just how easily trailer ambulances could be towed.
Eventually, he was given the go-ahead by his father to build a trailer car-drawn caravan, while Bill Riley senior focused on building another version of his motor caravan. The first two completed by the company were shown at a garage located near the Motor Show in 1919 – with one of them being purchased by none other than the Dowager Viscountess Rhondda, a sale that proved to be the turning point for Eccles Motor Transport.
So there you have it! We’re now celebrating an impressive 100 years of towing caravans by car. The first Eccles trailer caravans were built on a separate chassis with pneumatic tyres on detachable wheels, needing to be light enough to be towed by a vehicle of 12hp… and it’s certainly interesting to see just how far we’ve come where caravan design is concerned.
Now, we take caravan touring for granted but back then, no doubt, being able to pack all your stuff up and whisk the family off for a staycation must have been very exciting and really quite novel. And caravan holidays are proving more popular by the day, with 2019 hotly tipped to be a stellar year for caravan tourism… so where will you be going to this year?
Do you need to new UK caravan equipment? Get in touch with us today.
Thule introduce the NEW Thule 6300 awning for 2019
- The New and innovative Thule 6300 is finally here after 2 years in Research and Development
This new Thule 6300 awning was based on the very populare Thule 6200 awning. Using the philosophy “If it aint broke dont fix it” Thule looked at the awning and have made some slight cosmetic changes and improved other items inside of the case. Slightly more streamlined and dynamic to help it stand out from any competition. It has incorporated some of the features of the latest Thule 5200 awning. Those being the integrated arms. These are an optional extra used to assist in strengthening the tension arms, thereby giving more tension to the canvas when you give a slight tension on the awning fabric with a turn of the winder handle.
So when the awning is wound out to its fullest depth, these tension arms can be inserted (Thule number 302095) against the ratchet mechanism on the 6300 arm and the other end is located into the front lead rail. You then turn back the awning material with only a very small turn of the winder handle securing the Tension Arms into their location. This not only strengthens the spring arms it also increases the wind resistance. Offering more resistance against any front wind.
Another new addition for the Thule 6300 is the option to add a motor as a retro fit. This is the same motor that Thule now use on the very highly popluar Thule 5200 only adds a further 1kg to the awning weight and 3cm to its overall length. In the event of a loss of power there is an option for the manual winder to be used should this need ever arise.
Another improvement for the Thule 6300 is the LED lighting system There is a LED Mounting rail (Thule number 301664) This rail enables you to mount the LED strip under the case plus have the option to attach a tent onto the side of this new awning.
For the Thule 6300 awnings with a longer length of 3.75m and longer Thule have added the option to fit the third leg (Thule number 306778)
All in all this truly is a great awning for 2019 and beyond. Please enquire re availability and brackets