Last weekend we took our classic American Ford Econoline E350 motorhome out for her first stay overnight. As we had not tested any appliances we decided to go to a local campsite, just to test things and to see what the motorhome was like to sleep in.
The journey was fine, without issues, and the 5.8 litre 351cu V8 petrol engine performed perfectly.
We chose a local campsite called Syerscote Meadow at Haunton near to Tamworth in Staffordshire. This is a small family operated campsite with several grass and hardstanding pitches, but mainly hardstanding. We were allocated pitch number 1 after we told the site operators that we had an American RV to bring along.
Syerscote Meadow website: https://www.tamworthcaravanandcamping.com/
Pitch number 1 was certainly large enough to accommodate out RV. It is a grassed pitch, with its own 240v electricity point and a drinking water tap stand. The ground was reasonably level, albeit the grass was a little long and due for cutting.
There are two large wooden gates at the entrance to the site, which are closed when people are not coming and going with their vehicles. Access to the site from the road is good, with any sized vehicle or vehicle and trailer combination you may have.
A short walk along the lane outside brings you to a neighbouring campsite, Cleat Hill Farm. This site is operated by the same people as Syerscote Meadow. If you walk through the campsite, at the far left hand hedge you will find a break – go through here, step over the shallow ditch, climb the small hill and you will reach an irrigation reservoir.
You can enjoy a short but leisurely walk around the reservoir, which will take you around 10 minutes. We don’t believe there are any stocked fish in the reservoir.
Our test of the RV went well, with very few problems being highlighted. Problems we did encounter were;
1). The curtain between the cab and the accommodation fell down. This has now been resolved using a pair of clips and a block to prevent the rail from moving laterally.
2). The shower curtain was staying wet at the bottom after use, which we thought may ruin the curtain in time. We have now used an elastic tie to lift the curtain from the floor after it is used.
3). A small crack opened at the edge of the sink solid wooden worktop (we are not sure how long this has been there). This has now been heavily oiled. At the same time the small worktop in the other kitchen area was re-sanded and oiled.
4). The refrigerator was turned up too high (set at maximum), which froze the food we had in it. This has now been resolved by turning down the fridge to a low setting.
The LPG that came with the RV when we bought it last year, which may be 20+ years old, finally ran out whilst we were away, so now we need to find a filling station to replenish the tank with new gas.
Below is a video we made of our trip away.
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John & Samantha
Vintage RV Adventures 