Tag: caravan equipment UK

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 21^st 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.

If you’re the proud owner of a campervan then no doubt one of the things you’ll love doing is hitting the open road and finding new places to park up and explore.

But navigating can be a challenge, which is why so many of us invest in sat navs to help us out and take the stress out of driving somewhere new. As motorhomes are larger than the average car, they can run into difficulties following directions that may lead them down narrow roads or under low bridges.

So Which? has reviewed the growing number of sat navs designed specifically for campervan and caravan owners.

Nine new models were put through their paces by the consumer rights organisation, from the most expensive options on the market to more budget products.

While the quality of the navigation is obviously the most important factor, many devices offer a host of additional features, from Bluetooth phone connectivity, to access to real-time traffic updates and speed camera databases.

The reviewer recommends thinking about what you need from your sat nav before investing, as well as reading its full reviews of all the models from well-known manufacturers such as TomTom, Garmin, Snooper and Mio to ensure you’re choosing the right sat nav for your needs that offers value for money.

However, while sat navs can be a great tool, it probably won’t hurt to have a physical map in your motorhome too. Earlier this year the Sun highlighted research showing that 85 per cent of those under 30 now use sat navs and would be lost without them.

What’s more, reliance on technology means that people are finding it more difficult to estimate journey times too.

Make sure you have all the motorhome and caravan equipment you need for UK driving by coming to us for your supplies.