Camperjam 2009
Weston Park, Shropshire
This was a great weekend, thanks to all the camperjam staff, see you next year. Here's some pic's of our time at camperjam and a blog of the weekend by campervanarmy member Alex (seamonsta)
Colin, Fiona and I met up near Davey’s place for the cruise down on Thursday 8th July. Two petrol powered Splits and an LPG fuelled Bay then hit the M74 at Abington and made good speed southwards, averaging close to the legal limit. Colin’s neat blue & white 15 window surprised me with its turn of speed on a stock 1600 with reduction boxes. The last time I’d attempted a quick run to Weston Park (for VW Action in 1993) when Eva was similarly equipped, I blew the engine by dropping a valve and arrived on the back of a recovery truck!
All was well until around Lockerbie, when something went BANG! My passenger windscreen had taken a hit from a piece of road debris and cracked into a million pieces. Luckily, it had strength enough to stick together ‘til Gretna services, where some gaffer tape courtesy of Davey was carefully applied to help prevent it collapsing completely. The blind spot caused by the lack of a screen wasn’t such a handicap, so we continued to our overnight stop near Lymm, near the Manchester Ship Canal, and just along from the M6 Thelwall Viaduct. Davey & I were glad to be parked up and able to enjoy a basic meal and few pints in a couple of local pubs. But it must be said that the Holly Bush Caravan Park is more of a travellers rest than a holiday site – so much so that Colin & Fiona spent the night in a comfy hotel on Fi’s insistence!
Gasure in Chester ( http://www.gasure.co.uk/index.htm ) was Friday’s first destination so that Davey could get his intermittently faulty LPG installation checked out. I tagged along as a potential customer for the good value gas conversions they do, and was well impressed with Steve Shaw’s knowledge and friendly advice. Definitely something to consider for the future! A full English breakfast at a roadside café was ideal sustenance for the day while Steve worked his magic, and by lunchtime we were CamperJam bound - Davey’s Bay running much better for it.
Weston Park, Shropshire was subtly throbbing with the sound of Vans when we arrived mid-afternoon. I say subtly, because the venue is pretty spacious and could swallow Vanfest whole! We eventually spotted our friends from the West of Scotland Club, and joined in with the ‘Campervanarmy’ troops ( http://www.campervanarmy.co.uk/ ) You quickly appreciate that every HQ needs a flagpole, and this was to be the last outing for my clunky collection of old gazebo poles. Three saltire flags in a steady breeze looked like they might break it, so plans were made for a replacement – after the priority of a new windscreen for Eva of course...
A quick search of the traders up and running by Friday evening failed to produce any front glass for a Split, but plenty of opportunities for Fiona to buy a pair of pink wellies for the odd muddy patch. We hit the main marquee bar and grabbed some seats for the entertainment – Sixty Stone Pig, a covers band well versed in current indie chart hits. Then Camper & Commercial Magazine editor Dave Eccles and his wife Cee even came over for a chat, enjoying the way their second CamperJam was taking shape.
I decided to have an early night for a change with an eye to parts shopping first thing Saturday. Still nothing screen-like on offer, except for some heavy duty clear polythene sheet from the carpet and cloth trim guys. This turned out to be a perfect temporary repair material. Ray helped me remove the broken glass leaving some of the seal rubber. By hacking a flag pole section into a strut and wedging it centrally into the old seal, it was a useful support for the flexible screen which was stuck to the frame with fresh gaffer tape. Not pretty, but waterproof enough as the odd downpour demonstrated!
Now if an immaculate pair of tinted front windows and seals for under £100 was one fantasy purchase, another piece of dream kit was actually on sale at the show. Red 9 Design had gone and built a replacement front Van axle with a height adjustable double wishbone suspension! It looked very well made as fitted to their Early Bay demo van, but there wasn’t exactly the chance to test drive it. At £1100 for the kit, I’d like to know just how much better the steering and handling would be before I committed. A Beetle kit is available too. One day...
Most of the trade stall area was dominated with Campervan lifestyle accessories (T-shirts, shoes, jewellery, flags, kites, hand carved mirror frames, etc...) with only Red 9, Schofield, SSVC and a couple of autojumblers catering for those who actually wanted to buy hardware for their Van. Complete used Van & Eriba Caravan combos, brand new Brazilian Bays, T5 Californians, interiors and awnings were all available, but for the average bargain parts hunter it wasn’t brilliant. Still, there was plenty to see and be entertained by. Druids Brew were playing to their devout followers and casual foot tappers day & night, organized activities for kids were in full swing, and the organic beers were flowing well in the late afternoon sunshine as a thousand barbies fired up around the field.
Back at Campervanarmy (Scotland) HQ, local produce from Ye Olde Weston Park Farm Shoppe was being washed down nicely with wine, toffee apple cider, Deuchars IPA, Millers MGD and Audreys FPB (fruit punch bucket!) as we prepared for an evening checking out the marquees again. The main one was packed with 70’s revivalists in car wash funky dress, and the annexe had budding DJ’s giving it a go. Afro wigs everywhere! This was a right laugh, and we weren’t sitting down for long as kids paying their tributes to the late King Michael of Pop took turns with old skool ravers, rockers and punks, but unfortunately we didn’t see any public burnings of Coldplay or Take That records!
Some of us were getting AFPB withdrawal symptoms after a while, or it may just have been the presence of the mad juggler whose particular set of skills maybe weren’t as strong as his cigarettes. So it was all back to my Khyam to shelter from the rain. As usual, someone nearby had to complain about the volume of house music pumping from Eva’s speakers. They said it just wasn’t loud enough! Oh well, time to test the new JVC head unit properly. Some stereos go up to ten – this one did eleven to midnight nicely...
Sunday had a few more activities to offer. Cooking Curry in a Camper sent a wave of wonderful smells around the arena, and I bet the food village picked up some extra trade from the instant hunger pangs! The Show’n’Shine had a healthy turnout, but showroom fresh customized T5 Motorhomes just don’t convey the passion of ownership quite like 40+ year old Vans in their polished finery or Rat-look individuality. Some interiors of all ages were still pretty awesome though!
A last tour of the stalls produced a replacement carbon fibre telescopic 9 metre flagpole for future events, and my old one was dismantled for the last time as we prepared to depart the Park. Colin & Fiona, Gerard & Jennifer, Alister, Stevie & the kids set off in their own directions, as the ‘Army regulars de-mobbed for a local site near the M6 and a welcome scrub-up. Pillaton Pools is a spacious open site with spotless facilities and several pools (for fishing more than swimming in) and one we should use again.
But we discovered that if you ever need to eat in nearby Penkridge, some places are more ‘starvery’ than carvery. Best avoid the Bridge Inn for rations then! Some of us just managed to get a soup of the day or the wrong starter, but when the rather clueless staff returned to our table every ten minutes to tell us some dish or other we’d ordered was ‘off’, it was eventually time to tell them their tactics were too. No bill was issued or expected after that fiasco! Most other pubs had finished serving grub by that time, but at least a tiny Chinese restaurant made us very welcome despite the lateness and had plenty of food to go round.
All in all, CamperJam ( http://www.camperjam.co.uk/ ) is a pretty big show as V-dub gatherings go, with the emphasis on celebrating the cult of the V-dub Camper with friends, family entertainment, music, quality beers & cider. It does it bloody brilliantly and I would defo go again – before it gets too massive anyway...
Cheers, Alex
Some more pic's of saturday night
Some pic's from the sunday night after show camp out. The weather was beautiful and Pillaton hall farm campsite was lovely.