Shropshire

Took the van on a small 235 mile trip to Newcastle-under-Clun in Shropshire

Van was well behaved and we had no issues.

Only thing of note was that I had to use second gear on on particularly long steep hill!

Since we went the van has passed its MOT - few advisories but nothing major

This winter or sooner I will do a full service - I think the fuel filters are poor ....

Off to South Yorkshire in two weeks!

Internal Blinds fixed

I We noticed that the internal blinds are slow to rewind and do not in some cases fully rewind

So having taken them off the van, time to investigate.

At each end of the blind are two screws - remove them to allow the caps to come off

Look inside with a torch to see which end is active - there is a metal rod trapped in the end cap, and which is non active - the roller is just allowed to spin freely

The above image shows the inactive end.

The active end is sprung - keep hold of it to maintain tension!

Keeping the tension on, wind the end to tighten the spring back to allow the blind to fully return.

Secure the active end back on the end cap, and screw the two grub screws back in. 

Then reattach the non active end and insert the two grgrub screws

It's that simple - though you do need some spare hands - kindly supplied by my dad in these images.

To refit the blinds reassemble them as a whole on your table - uses string to keep the frames straight and that makes it easier to line everything up on the runners. Once refitted cut and remove the string

Security....

So we decided that we needed some kind of wheel clamp

Had a good look around and weighed up the options - being honest a visible deterrent is what was needed - so the 40 quid model from Argos has been bought and fitted - actually very pleased with it - good fit on the front wheel.

Been out today and ran the engine for half an hour and had a good look around - love our van :)

Gas gas gas

So I said to Hanna that we should get our spare gas cylinder refilled at the camp site

Unfortunately they do not keep 15 kg in stock..... 

No worries - will sort it next week

WRONG

now getting a replacement 7kg as that ran out....

Rear seat belts

When we bought HG we wanted to fit rear seat belts, and soon realised tht keeping assorted ankle biters nailed into their seats would help our sanity while driving...

I bought some brand new lap belts - I got the longest I could find for 24 quid each. I went to my local garage - Cunninghams in Hempnall, and asked them to fit some angle iron work

Once the mounts were in, then the seat bases were cut with a drill and dremel to allow the straps to be passed through

then the belts were secured and revealed over the rear seat cushions

Very pleased with the result!

The charge from the garage for fitting the bracket was around 150 quid - so around 250 quid all in

Polstead Camping and Caravanning Club Camp Site

Well, our second adventure was to the Camping and Caravan Club site at Polstead near Sudbury in Suffolk.

This is around 50 miles from us, so having intended to leave at 1000 I was pleased to be on the road for 1130.... Using the new twatnav - a tomtom start 25e we were making great time
Untill Needham Lake, near Needham Market.
Something made me stop at the bridge... like the fact the van was not going to fit through.... so... brought the traffic to a stop, and reversed up the road and turned round... continued swearing at the twatnav un til we got to Stowmarket - I bought some road maps there to aid future planning !
So - then set off via some roads with out bridges...
We are in Constable country, and it certainly is pretty.
The campsite is lovely - Mein Hosts were attentive, and very helpful. The toilet/showers were brilliant - very clean, very well presented and definitely 5 star.
We wandered to the nearby pub - literally a 5 minute walk away - shame they were just about to close for a two hour break! (Words like bugger were used....)

Anyway, back to the campsite - and heating turned on.
(Would you believe that the heating works better when the gas is turned on?? just fancy that!)

So, now settling in for an evening involving a new film, beefburgers and nibbles

In short - worth a vist - yes - have added the location to the twatnav memory

Some Pictures

These are the original images from the advert that made us look at HG

Its worth noting that the wood is - Wood - NOT MDF or Veneer :)

Doesn't look that big.....