Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Travelmaster]

I lived in a 12ft Bluebird caravan until I was 2yrs old (1962) and my sister arrived, then my Dad purchased a brand new 27ft 1962 Travelmaster Trident Caravan 10332 (I've kept the receipt from my Dad's purchase agreement, with these details on it.)It was 27ft long, 8ft high and 10ft wide. It had a livingroom area, a kitchen area and two bedrooms.
The four of us lived in this caravan until 1976 when we were housed by the council owing to a motorway bypass being built on the land where we lived. By this time the windows were sealed with putty because Dad said they'd fall out if opened! Our caravan had a bay window at one end above the tow bar, and a curved seating area inside it.
There was a double bed which folded flat into the wall and at night could pull down out of two wooden doors in to the livingroom area. There was a wooden frame two seater settee and two chairs, and a built in coal fire with a water tank against the back.We burned 'Rexco' smokeless fuel.
When the tank was filled with a hosepipe from the standpipe in the front garden, the fire heated the water, so we had hot water from the tap at the sink in the kitchen area.
There was a calor gas stove with two burners in the kitchen for cooking. A gas cylinder stood beneath it. There was a 'back' door on one side of our caravan and our 'front' door on the other side, further up. We had metal steps beneath our doors.Our caravan was chained down at the corners and had large wooden bricks under it for support.
There were two bedrooms at the other end, approx 5ft 6ins x 4ft, which my sister and myself had. Our beds were 2ft wide, just mattresses on top of a wooden storage area with a hardboard lid. We had small wardrobes at the ends beside the beds. Just outside our bedrooms was a small cupboard for the chemical toilet.
When the coal fire eventually burned the wall of the water tank after about ten years, we had to rely on two Aladdin paraffin heaters for warmth and to dry our washing in wet weather.Foods which didn't keep were kept on the floor on an air vent to keep cool.
Lighting was by gas lamps positioned near the ceiling at the top of the walls, but we rarely used them, and then only for ten mins at a time, because they burned the ceiling. My Dad got an Aladdin paraffin lamp which gave off 120 candle power and stood on our table. It was our sole source of light until we got electricity in about 1973, and then we had a neon strip light in the kitchen.
Life for my poor Mum was quite tough. She washed our clothes by hand and squeezed them through a mangle. She had to walk to the shops about a mile away almost daily for foods which would go off, and she had to dig a hole in the ground to empty our chemical toilet each week, which had 'Racasan' blue fluid in.
There were four other caravans along the drive where we lived, on a privately owned strip of land. Each had a front and back garden. A river ran along the back and there was a large field at the front. Our landlords lived in a bungalow at the end.
I've never adjusted to living in a house. I was traumatised at the time, being nearly 16 when we moved. I had nightmares about trying to get back to the caravan and never being able to. I missed the soothing sound of the rain drumming on the roof and pink birds feet on the skylights! I missed the comforting swaying when it was windy and our caravan rocked, and I resented having to go up and down a staircase! Most scary was the thought of all the bricks and mortar suspended above my head! For me house is just a place to stay, but not my home.
Does anyone on this forum have a Travelmaster, or used to have one, or do they know of one? (Just for a trip down memory lane.) I haven't any place to keep a caravan at present, but I can remember it like yesterday.

[Rick]

Welcome to the forum Travelmaster, and thanks for your reminiscences - hopefully one or more of the caravan crew will chime in here shortly

cheers, Rick
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[cobber]

G'day Travelmaster,

You sure have a heap of memories there, and I'm pleased you can look back on them with pleasure..... good thing Dad updated to 27 footer though.
I smiled when I read of you feeling nervous about all the bricks and mortar suspended above your head, that last paragraph is a beauty.
I feel deprived having lived in a house all my life .

Cobber.

[Travelmaster]

Thanks Cobber.
Sometimes I think it would have been easier if I had grown up in a house. I got called 'Gippo' at school due to living in a caravan, and found it hard to fit in. I don't know anyone else who grew up in a caravan.
My husband tells me caravans are just sheds, (only when he's trying to wind me up!)
I am hoping someone here on this site will have some knowledge or even a pic of the model of caravan I grew up in.That would be really brill!
It would be lovely to get in contact with another person who actually knows about the model of caravan I remember.
I was considering buying a caravan once, just to spend weekends in, but I couldn't find anywhere to keep it at the time, so I didn't buy it.
I examined the seams and window frames and looked at it closely. It was in quite good condition and reasonably priced.
I don't know what model it was, but it had a bay window across the tow bar end and was similar in size to my original home.
When I looked in the bay window, I felt such a longing, I was hooked! But I had to be realistic, I had no where for it to go, so I did the sensible thing and said No.
Thanks for the posting!

[Brian M]

Travelmaster

From my classic caravan photo collection I thought these might be of interest, even though they might not show exactly the model you lived in.

















And this final pic should appeal to the 2CV owners on here!


_________________
Brian
1970 Volvo Amazon and 1978 Safari 15-4 Caravan
Classic Safari Forum: www.classicsafaris.co.uk

[Travelmaster]

Thanks very much Brian, I love these pictures.
The top one most reminds me of my old home, even though it's not the same model, but the lawn and the trees make me think of where we lived.

The b & w interior pics look similar to how our living room was, although not exactly the same. Where the sofa is was where my parents bed would have been, stored behind two doors ion the wall.

The furniture looks almost the same, wooden framed with cushions on stretched springs. It was supplied with the caravan at the time. The coal fire is also similar, but the doorway behind it is not. Ours was more open there, with the kitchen area behind it, almost open-plan.
Its very kind of you to post these pics, Thanks very much.

[madaboutcaravans]

hi travelmaster,we have just acquired a 1964(ish) 16ft 4 berth travelmaster texan tourer.we are trying to find out some info about her since there seems to be none out there.loved your memoires and i cant believe a 2cv could pull that monster,we have the pull down bed also which strangely enough was what attracted us to her .we would be glad to hear from you or anyone who has one or has an opinion on them.i will upload some pics tonight so people can see her,cheers to all

[Travelmaster]

Thanks for your posting about your 1964 Travelmaster Texan caravan.
I put that in Google and there was a site about classic and retro caravans which had some lovely pics of this caravan there. From the outside it, the Travelmaster Texan looked very much like the caravan I grew up in, but in miniature. The inside looked different. Good luck finding out more info.
I haven't visited this site for a long time now, so sorry for the delay in answering! Best wishes.

[moggy]

Hi Travelmaster ,I read with great interest your article and like yourself i lived for quite some time in a caravan as a child.I actually own two bluebird sunparlours 16 footers a mk1 and mk11, 1958 and the other 1963.I too am very nostalgic about my childhood and the time we lived in my parents caravans. I am the man who took the photo of the first travelmaster as kindly shown to you by brian m. I used to have a static on the same site and if you wish i could tell you were it is ,Having read your trip down memory lane it brought many happy memories for which i thank you .I am thinking about parting with the 1958 MK 1 bluebird as it is in need of restoration but complete and original apart from needing a new a frame welding on the front,Once again thanks for the memories Travelmaster.

[Travelmaster]

Thanks for your posting, it is lovely to hear from someone else who remembers feeling at home in a caravan.
Neither myself nor my husband can drive, we don't have any transport so there's no point in knowing where the site is with your caravans on, but it's very kind of you to offer.
Even if I could visit, it would only make me upset and nostalgic and pine for what I can't have.
I can't buy a caravan at the moment, and we don't even have a back garden or a driveway to put one on. There's no where here to put one.
I don't have any memories of living in the Bluebird, only what my Mum told me. I think it was very small and it must have been very hard for her.
Perhaps you could post some pics of your Bluebirds on this site?
Best wishes from Travelmaster.

[moggy]

Hi, Travelmaster if you look on the topics on your left on page 1 you will see a topic entitled BLUEBIRDS click on that and you will see my bluebirds,Regards Moggy

[Travelmaster]

Thanks Moggy. I have checked out your Bluebird pics. Here are some pics I am posting of my caravan with me and my sister when we were little. I am aged about ten, standing in the doorway.

[yorkshireretro]

Thank you for sharing your memories, I really enjoyed reading your post and seeing the pics