CMC Hebden Bridge

As the sun rises over the trees welcome to a morning blog from CMC Hebden Bridge in Calderdale.

The site is a little gem hidden away by the side of the road up Cragg Vale ,we have visited before but it never disappoints as mainly it is usually child free as there is nothing here to entertain them,not even a toilet block to ride your bike/skateboard/hover board around.

There is an Airstream parked to the rear of us,I must say I can't see what all the fuss is about,just pop riveted aluminium at a premium price.

There are little dings all over it.

As we are only here for three nights,SWMBO has a function on Saturday afternoon,we have brought minimal gear,door canopy instead of the full canopy and no draughtskirt.

It makes a nice change sometimes to go lightweight and plus use the caravan shower and toilet which after all is what it was designed for.

Had a visit to Hebden Bridge yesterday to mix with the Bohemians,social workers and Guardian readers.

The Cadiz has behaved itself with nothing to report,this is proving to be a really good van compared to some of the horror stories you read about on forums.

As we are supposed to keep the locker and door seals well lubricated I have sent for some Armorall Silicone wipes off E-Bay which should make application a bit easier,will report back on their usefullness.

We only have a couple more trips planned for this year Hawes,and Chapel Lane for the NEC show as we are away in a cottage in November for a change ( best not to call it cottaging ).

So next stop Hawes.

Ian

Ferry Meadows

This is another live blog from CMC Ferry Meadows near Peterborough.

Ferry Meadows site is dived into two by Ham Lane which is the road into Nene Park a country park with lakes,a train and miles of walks and plenty of space.

The main site is on the left coming down Ham Lane and the smaller site on the right which has mainly,but not exclusively,grass pitches and an enormous childrens playground,we are on the main one.

The site is very large and well used which belies the fact that,whilst being up to the usual CMC standards in cleanliness,is a little frayed at the edges compared with some CMC sites,and boy do they like their signs and notices.


Had further trouble with the main door lock jamming on the Cadiz which I eventually sorted with a bit of lubrication but I can see it needing replacement in the future.


I was sick of losing the TV and soundbar remote controls so invested in a couple of these:-

Not only do they hold the remote controls they also hold a mobile phone as well which is especially handy as I have positioned them above the front spotlight with its USB connections I had fitted last year.

Available from E-Bay at about £1.50 each.


I often,well every time,have problems finding Astra 2 when setting up the satellite dish so invested in one of these :-

It is easy to use and is much better than the "lights and squawk" device on the back of the dish.

The strange thing is that the retailer ( Satellite Superstore ) says you don't need to enter Lat. and Long. when you shift to a different region,but twice now it has not picked up Astra 2 until I have done so,strange.

Will give it another go without on our next trip and report back.


Oh and my Tilley lamp won't work again,spent a fortune on bits and pieces for it and it is still buggered,but of course works perfectly when I try it at home,hmm..........

Ian

Shift of Focus ?

Just been browsing the Bailey site and was interested to see that the Unicorn has now been demoted from Bailey's flagship range to third in the pecking order behind the Pegasus Grande and the Alicanto Grande.

The Pegasus always came behind the Unicorn.

Bailey Range

I still tend to subscribe to the view that the Unicorn is under threat,after all what do car manufacturers do when they are running down a range ?

They bring out special editions,hence the Black Edition.


Just my thoughts of course but something that will be interesting to observe,makes a change from Brexit.

Ian

Unicorn Black Edition

With reference to two posts ago,the Unicorn Black Edition rather surprisingly is announced today which is rather quicker than I had envisaged.

I had presumed that what with the new Alicanto and Discovery any new Unicorn would be twelve months away.

The boys at Bailey have certainly been busy,but then again it is not really "new" just a revamped U4.

I wonder if they have put a window in the bathroom and got rid of that ridiculous washroom sink.

Bailey Unicorn Black Edition.


Dan Trudgian on his You Tube channel has given a brief run through of two models with centre bathrooms,not the Cadiz.

Looking at the photos on the Bailey site the interior of the Cadiz doesn't look a lot different to the previous model although I thought I saw a cupboard with a shelf just inside the door,presumably for a TV which I don't think was there in U4.

Bailey present it as a Limited Edition,how limited I don't know and if it is limited is there yet another 'standard edition' to follow at some time because as I said previously apart from some flashy graphics it doesn't look a lot different from U4.

The price is not as bad as I suggested at £25K plus that ridiculous hangover from the seventies,the "delivery charge",it's high time Bailey got rid of that and had OTR prices.

According to Bailey it should be at dealers from the end of September and will be at the NEC show.

Ian

CMC Scarborough West Ayton

Just returned from four nights at CMC Scarborough West Ayton with three grandchildren.

Now I have had a period lying down in a darkened room it's time to proceed.

We have visited this site many times before so no need to dwell on it apart from to say the wash blocks could do with updating but I think this is in the pipeline.


Well we had a few minor problems to contend with on this trip.

First off the smoke detector packed up,tried new battery but to no avail.

Ordered a replacement which arrived today but there are some things to be aware of.

The model supplied  as standard by Bailey is the Fire Angel SI-601 but according to Fire Angel this is now discontinued although strangely it is available on Prima Leisure for around £25.

Fire Angel say that the the ST-622 and the ST-620 will fit the original backplate so I ordered the ST-622 but even if it doesn't fit it is no big deal to swap the backplates over,hopefully.

I paid £11.29 off E-Bay but there are various prices and suppliers so you can take your pick.


Secondly the clock in the offside front corner stopped.

OK wants a new battery no problem.

Now I have removed this clock easily many times,but not this time,the little sod was determined it wasn't going to come out.

Eventually after pulling,prising and swearing the thing fell in to the void behind,anyway after fishing the bits out I eventually put it back together changed the battery,set the time and prised it back in although the hour hand is not quite correct it can stop where it is.

The only explanation for this removal difficulty is that it is now a bit warmer so the clock may have expanded a bit,only thing I can think of.

Incidentally I did price up a new one on Prima Leisure just in case and they are about £15.


Thirdly when we got back to storage the door lock jammed,anyway after a bit of fiddling SWMBO got it working again but I think this is going to give trouble in the future as it has been a bit sticky at times.

From Prima Leisure a new lock and keys is £86 but this is for two keys and nine lock barrels as if you want to keep the "one key fits all " feature then you have to change all the locks.

Hopefully will not have to go down that route.


Then the door key wouldn't retract into its holder and subsequent to me taking it to bits and the obligatory springs fell out it is now permanently open secured with tape,see above regarding a replacement.


The plate holder I affixed to the side of the plate storage cupboard came adrift so I removed it and it will be reafixed with Gorilla double sided tape.



When we were in Norfolk a neighbouring caravanner recommended a satellite finding device for the satellite dish so I will be purchasing one and will report back in a future blog as it not a task that I have taken easily to.


The LED light I purchased a bit back that fitted into the awning rail and I said that I was waiting for darker nights to prove its worth works very well.


Ian

CMC Norfolk Broads

Just returned from two weeks at CMC Norfolk Broads,and what a fortnight it was.

Excellent site and excellent weather,friendly fellow campers and two wins at the quiz night at the local pub,what else could anyone want ?

Visited Lowestoft,Gt.Yarmouth and to crown it all SWMBO treated us to a day boat on the Broads to celebrate our wedding anniversary.

As for the Cadiz,not a whisper ( apart from SWMBO blowing the microwave fuse ),unlike the chap next door to us who had water dripping from the Stargazer sunroof on a £30K Bucaneer,he was not best pleased.


I may have mentioned previously that we were having trouble with the Isabella Eclipse side panel adaptor.it would always end up with a bad kink in it.

Anyway after contacting Isabella and discussing the matter with Steve Biggs ( he of the You Tube videos ) it came to light that we were feeding the adaptor and side panel through the awning rail,no this is not how it goes.

It simply pegs straight down the side of the van.

So if you are having problems there you are,all is solved.

I did point out to Mr.Biggs that the instructions,such as they are,could point this out as it seems counter intuitive.



A while ago I purchased a new set of Tefal Ingenio saucepans which weren't cheap.

I found that the non-stick coating was getting scratched as the van jostled around as they nestle inside each other.

I had it suggested to me to try some pan protectors,like these from E-Bay :-

Pan Protectors

They are cheap and work very well .



Finally,whilst away I heard a whisper that may contradict my assumption on the fate of the Unicorn from a previous post.

I was told from a dealer via a third party that next year a Unicorn 5 will be introduced and that it will be unlike previous Unicorns,so much so that it will be known as the "Black Edition".

Now this may be gospel or it may be a load of hogwash,I just retell it for what it is worth.

So if you are thinking of swapping and there is no urgency it may be worthwhile hanging on,it just might be true.

Oh the other thing I was told is that it will be around £30K.

Ian

New Awning

With reference to the previous post Bailey,in the guise of Prima Leisure,has produced a  new wraparound awning for the aforementioned Discovery range:-

 Discovery Awning

It is certainly novel ,nice to see a bit of innovative design in the caravan world.


Ian