caravan2

Caravan life was basic and I guess that my own enthusiasm for it was not necessarily shared. It wasn't much fun in the depths of winter, making visits to the outdoor toilet. It wasn't a lot of fun finding mildew on clothes, and oddly it never happened to mine.
It wasn't fun finding that the cats had left dead mice in the bed either, but those were probably the worst things.

It was nice to be woken by birdsong or by the same animals running over the metal roof, and it was lovely in early summer to be able to eat fresh fish almost daily.

We bought our first car that year - it was a fiat 500 and it cost 300 pounds. A tank full of petrol was about 3 pounds and it lasted a fortnight. The car was a necessity as the caravan was a good ten miles from the school. I took and passed my driving test in that little car and impressed the examiner with my double declutching that was essential when changing down. It took us many miles, mainly below 50mph but it was a freedom of sorts.

Ted's daughter, Samantha, has Down's syndrome, and we got to know her very well. She was, and still is a loving and caring human being and I always felt quite priviledged to have met her. While we were there in Ted's little corner of paradise, we always felt so welcome and like members of the family. Ted was a perfect gentleman and a great friend.

He would allow me to take the boat out by myself now and then, and I can recall balmy summer's days drifting alone on the tide and being so very content.

Eventually however it was time to move on and although I never felt that we could afford it, we bought our first house, a tiny terraced house back in the town, and that was to be home for the next five years.