To cut a long and rather depressing story short, we couldn't get the original static because it was wedged so close to the previous owners house that the removals people couldn't remove it without bashing the life out of it and the house. So, heartbreaking as it was, we had to walk away from what would have been a perfectly good temporary home, knowing it was probably going to be chopped up and scrapped.
After this we could not get a static no matter how hard we tried. We searched all of the obvious places...Ebay, Gumtree and the local free ads. Nothing. These statics were in hot demand and were therefor going for drastically inflated prices.
In the meantime a local farmer was selling his old touring caravan. For the princely sum of £100 we could have a solid structure over our heads. A night spent watching lightening zig-zag in the sky through the tent canvas was enough to convince us all that it would be £100 well spent.
So, the following weekend the purchase was made and we became the owners of The Cavalier. Solid, dependable and - most importantly - dry on the inside. We had the makings of a home. It was small but had two sets of bunk beds as well as a double bed, and came with an awning so we had extra storage.
Amazingly, despite being thirty five years old, The Cavalier was in excellent working order, and now I could add Grill to my means of cooking. Two hobs and a Grill...I felt like I had arrived.
The following week it poured and we all grinned at each other, smug and snug in our new caravan we looked out at the grey sky and cosied up with books and board games.
We even had electric as we'd purchased a couple of car batteries from a scrap yard and had charged these on the generator. Although the lights were rarely used due it being midSummer and so barely getting dark, it was nice to occasionally have the radio on.
The biggest difference was sleeping. To be out of tents and raised up off the floor. That first night I slept solidly for eight hours. Not once did I wake with aching limbs or a sore back as I so often did in the tent.
Now I knew we would be able to cope come what may. We were warm and very dry, if a little cramped at times.
