caravans

When we first came to stay in May of 2014, it was with my little silver teardrop caravan. The first challenge was to get it in the garden. Between us, we had to pull it past the sheds over the grass and into the orchard. I'm not as strong as Robert and wasn’t really much help at all. In the end he used baler twine to help pull it into place.

.I stayed on my own in the caravan for a couple of weeks so I could really get to know the land and have some quiet time there. Before Robert left me there he built three things to make the stay more comfortable; a compost toilet, some steps and a setup for collecting spring water.

First he made the compost toilet with a wooden frame and some corrugated metal, with a piece of canvas wrapped around it. The toilet was a metal barrel with a hole cut out of the top with a wooden seat stuck on top of that. If you don’t know already, when you use a compost toilet it is a quite different from a toilet that most people have in their houses. After using it you need to add a handful or two of sawdust . This helps to keep it mostly smell free. We keep a bucket with a lid beside the toilet for the sawdust in and a toilet roll in a plastic bag to keep it dry. When the barrel is nearly full it can be emptied into a compost heap.

The next thing Rob sorted out was the spring, where beautifully clean water flowed straight out of the ground. He dug a pipe into the earth to direct the water into a container which he had sunk into the ground below. To keep creatures from falling in he put a metal lid on top. I have to say that spring water is extremely cold, I hadn't realised quite how cold until I tried washing my hair from the spring with a jug. Once I had started I had to finish…quite a challenge!

Next, Rob built the steps as I needed to get over the bank to collect water from the spring, also they made it easier for me to go for walks in the lumpy field. Up until then it had been an awkward climb especially carrying two large heavy containers of water. The steps were made of wood and filled in with stones.

So, I was left all alone and could spend my time exactly as I pleased, I went for walks, took lots of photographs, sat in the sun and drew in my sketchbook, I tried identifying wildflowers learningwhich ones were edible, read books, ate and slept…it was glorious. At that time nine black Shetland ponies, owned by a local family roamed free on the land.Every time I went for a walk, I found them in a different spot.

. I washed my clothes and crockery in the stream at the bottom of the hill, it was a world away from my usual life and I loved it.

 Not long after we brought a second caravan over to use as a kitchen and dining room.

Let me tell you a little more about Robert's caravan as it is the one we have used the most. He got it in 2013 from his friend 'Milk Dave' for a pound. Dave and his partner Janet had lived in it while building their own straw bale home. It was a very well used static caravan.

Robert wanted to be able to take it on the road with his tractor, but it was too wide to be legal. Being practical and creative, he decided to dismantle it completely and rebuild it to be narrower.

He carefully took it apart, saving everything useful—metal walls, wooden frames, polystyrene insulation, kitchen units, the shower, and even screws—all of which formed an enormous pile in the barn.

We planned the rebuild by sketching ideas and making a polystyrene model, inspired by canal boat layouts. The final design had a bedroom at one end, a kitchen and sitting room at the other, and a bathroom with a small corridor in between.

One important thing was to make the caravan well-insulated, so it would stay warm in winter and cool in summer. Most caravans have little insulation, as they’re designed for summer use. Since Robert was a farmer with a flock of sheep, we used their unwashed fleeces as insulation. He modified the metal base of the caravan to the correct width, then built a wooden frame for the floor, which we stuffed with wool. He added floorboards, including a trapdoor leading to a cellar where are now stored dry food, cans, and cooking pans. To complete the build, Robert added the shower unit from the original caravan and constructed the new walls and roof around it.

We visited a wood yard to choose materials for the kitchen worktops, as well as a table and shelves. We chose some beautiful wavy-edged wood, thinking it would be much nicer than having straight lines everywhere.

We also bought two round windows—one for the bedroom and the other for the bathroom. Our friends Ross and Cheryl, who had almost joined us in living here, generously gave us a wood burner they no longer needed. Robert installed it on a piece of stone.

Moving the caravan into place

Some months later after a great deal of creative welding, woodworking, plumbing and electrical work, there was a whole new upcycled caravan. Rob towed it from Rodney Stoke to the field very early one morning and then positioned it in the field.

An advantage to living in a caravan is that there are very low fuel bills. We have two solar panels which give us enough electricity for what we need most of the time. There is a backup petrol generator for anything that needs a lot of power like a blender, or for when the sky has been overcast for a few days. Water is pumped through pipes from a 200 gallon container at the spring, to a barrel behind the caravan, by another generator. There is a small gas boiler to heat the water, and a small gas fridge.