Tag Archives: The Wanderer

Knaresborough CAMC site full to bursting.

22 Sunday Jul 2018

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Perhaps unsurprisingly due to the weather and coupled with The Wanderer on site bar and bistro, the Knaresborough Caravan and Motorhome Club site was packed.

Had a lovely weekend there and despite being full the wardens manage to present an immaculate site with that special Club “ordered calmness” which is such a distinctive and unique feature.

Christopher Macgowan

@motorhomenews

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Celebrating 130 years of The Wanderer.

08 Monday Jun 2015

Posted by in History

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The Caravan Club Celebrates 130 years since the First Tour of The Wanderer Caravan

 This June marks 130 years since the world’s first purpose-built leisure touring caravan, The Wanderer, took to the road on its maiden voyage. Twitter followers of The Caravan Club Collection, based at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, will be able to retrace the steps of The Wanderer online over the Summer months.

 Owned by popular Victorian Author, Dr William Gordon Stables, The Wanderer caravan travelled 1,400 miles during the Summer of 1885. It was towed by two horses from Twyford in Berkshire to Inverness, from where the caravan returned to London by rail before continuing its journey along the South Coast, reaching as far as Lymington in the New Forest.

 Highlights of this pioneering journey will be shared via The Caravan Club Collection’s Twitter account along with accompanying blogs. Details of the tour will be taken from Dr Gordon Stables’ account of his travels in his book The Cruise of the Land Yacht Wanderer, along with photographs and illustrations of the caravan which are on public display for the first time.

 This incredible caravan was bequeathed to The Caravan Club by the daughter of Dr William Gordon Stables in the 1960s, and can now be viewed by members staying at the Club Site at Broadway, Worcestershire, where it is on permanent display.

 “William Gordon Stables was a true adventurer, with a pioneering spirit and a genuine appreciation of the great outdoors and the benefits the natural world brings to mind and body,” explained Nick Lomas, Director General of The Caravan Club. “For many Club members this is still the essence of touring caravanning and the freedom that goes with it, so we are delighted to mark this anniversary and inspire others with that same spirit of adventure.”

 To keep up to date with this celebration of The Wanderer’s first journey, follow The Caravan Club Collection on Twitter @TheCCCollection or through the hashtag #Wanderer130. Followers will also be invited to share their own pictures of the towns, villages and landmarks which Gordon Stables visited en route.

Christopher Macgowan

@motorhomenews

The Wanderer at Broadway.

31 Thursday Oct 2013

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20131031-090819.jpg
Colin Elliott from the Caravan Club with The Wanderer at their site in Broadway.

The Wanderer is the oldest caravan in the world and was made in 1884 by Bristol Wagon Works Company for Dr William Gordon Stables and has travelled tens of thousands of miles in its lifetime. The Edwardian holiday home weighs two tonnes and is 30 foot long. It boasts a bookcase, china cabinet and musical instruments in its stunning interior. It can be pulled by two horses and first went on tour in 1885 and was last used in 1960. It will now be housed at the Caravan Club site in the Costwolds.

Beverley Larion from The Caravan Club said: “We would prefer to keep it at the Caravan Club rather than in a storage facility so our members can enjoy it. The Edwardian holiday home was made 128 years ago. It’s great for historians and enthusiasts to see this unique vehicle which was the first ever custom-built for leisure caravan”

The caravan was inspired by traditional horse-drawn Romany wagons and it was restored in the decade running up to the Caravan Club’s centenary in 2007. Described as a “shed on wheels”, it was used by former owner Dr Stables as he traveled on holiday pulled by two horses named Captain Corn-flower and Polly Pea-blossom.

Ms Larion added: “It’s the most beautiful display of craftsmanship internally.”

It was made in 1884 by Bristol Wagon Works Company for Dr William Gordon Stables [SWNS]

Gwilym Owen owns the Motor Museum where the Wanderer was previously stored. He said: “It’s had a little bit of modernisation over the years, such as new wheels and axle from a 1930’s Austin and a more modern hitch but everything else is basically the same as it was when constructed. It’s very much like a garden shed on wheels and I can imagine it was very cosy in its day, especially if you tried to fit more than one person inside it.”

SOURCE: DAILY EXPRESS.

Christopher Macgowan
@motorhomenews