Lee and his son Charlie have done an amazing job of restoring this beautiful 1960's Bailey Maestro T (I will add all the links to Lee's channel will be at the bottom.)
She really was a show stopper, and looked fantastic! I was very lucky to be given a look around, so keep an eye out for a little video about her coming soon.
So wonderful to see another 1960's van ready to get back out on adventures!
He has very cleverly hidden away any modern tech to truly show her as she would be been fresh from the factory.
Bailey re-built the interior furniture, keeping the original laches and door handles. Amazing the gentleman who re-built the furniture worked on the original Maestro caravans and still works for the factory!
The wonderful Simon from Bailey give me the guided tour:
Having followed Lee on his restoration I was so excited to see her and she didn't disappoint. She truly is a beautiful caravan.
My very first Caravan, Camping & Motorhome show and wow, there was so much to see!!
I was blown away by just how much there is to see and do while at the show. It really would be a fab day out for the whole family. My busy mini people stayed at home this time as it was my first one. It would have been hard to see as much as I did if I had taken them with me - Lots of chasing after them am sure. Having said that, there was so much for the children to do I know they would have had an amazing time.
There was no way I could get round the whole show in one day, I had a big list of things I wanted to see and didn't miss too many.
Being a retro gal, Gladys was pretty much top of my list and she didn't disappoint!!
Click here for a blog all to her self!
The thing I was looking forward to the most was our met up.
I meet so many wonderful people, and here are just a few of us.
There really is a wonderful little family on YouTube full of amazing channels. I was gutted to miss out on quite a few wonderful people I was hoping to meet, but I will at the next one!
I was very excited to look round an Airstream, a vintage Airstream is one of my dreams. I adore that they have changed very little on the outside since the 1950's! Well, I mean they are beautiful why would you change them.
I 1950's Airstream in a beautiful meadow of wild flowers......one can dream!
Everywhere you looked there was something to see, I love these little mini caravans. They where taking round to dealers, to show off the new models. They where easier for the sales man to show, and tow around the UK showing them off! There are still a few around, I know my mini people would have been very, very excited to see a mini size caravan! (I don't think that chain would have held them back!)
Another stand high on my list was Swift, and their Sprites! As am sure you know, we have a 1966 Sprite Alpine, and as they are still being sold today I was looking forward to a look round.
Another wonderful thing about going to this show, is you get to look around all the accessories. Seeing a product in real life, and getting some show bargains! I was very good and didn't spend lots but I warn you, people did leave having brought a new caravan after just looking at accessories ;)
Huge thank you to Gorilla Super Glue!! Knowing I was going to be on my feet all day, I wanted to wear my Great Grandmother's 1970's shoes. They are so nice to wear, and very comfy. The cobbler had given up on them, telling me that the glue wasn't going to cut it any more on these very old shoes.....They are heading for 50 years old but one of my favourite pares of shoes so I was very upset to have been told that. Well, enter stage left a huge Gorilla and his Super Glue! A whole day of walking, and they are still stuck perfectly!
My mini people may have missed out on the show but thanks to Whale, they had a little goodie bag each! They where extremely excited by the balloons and took their mini Whales to school this morning to show everyone!
I highly recommend visiting this show, so much to see, so much to keep little people entertained! Wonderful and very much looking forward to the October show!
You may have heard or already doing....rocks. I have been meaning to get on the rocks bandwagon for ages and my 3 year old finding one on our way back to the car from baby group was the jump I needed!
She was so excited!
This rock has been traveling since 2014!!
That was it, I was hooked, well we all where!
So what is it with the rocks?
Paint a rock, hid a rock, find a rock!
They will most likely have something written on the back like 'post a photo to hidden rocks on facebook.' Most places have a local group as well, so you can join and leave rocks for friends to find ;) My 7 year old, has left a few love ones for the girl he wants to marry....
You don't have to paint them, you could put on stickers, draw with permanent pens, all sort of things!
Its a very cheap amazing thing to do with mini people but what I love is all generations are getting involved.
I have really started to get into and think about what am going to come up with next!
These where are first batch!
Its been such a fun thing to do, one day we take all the ones we have painted to hid, find a few new ones people have left and then bring home some plain rocks to paint. Then the next day start all over again!
Its kept all the little people very busy and learning!
You can tell its a while since I have drawn a mermaid!
Here is one of mine 'LOVE NEVER FAILS' I have been doing a few bible quotes. I love that they are not just this fun little thing for kids but also you don't know who may pick up that stone, just at the point they really need to hear that.
They love to make them, but I loved how they where so great about leaving there creation they had spent so long making as a gift to someone they may never meet! Even our youngest got it, a few she didn't want to leave behind but she was so fab at walking away, while our 5 year old shouted bye rock!
We stopped for a little treat of some crisps, it was quite along walk!
Me and Bear worked together to make lots of dinosaurs. There was a real dinosaur theme going on that day!
Lots of dinosaurs!
This is some of tomorrows batch! Cant wait to hid these!
Wanna give it ago, paint a rock and go hid it :) keep a look out for them!
You can look up on Facebook for your local group, you can also join some of these Hidden Rocks or Painted Rocks!!!.
Back at some point in her past, our Sprite Alpine had been insulated underneath on the outside.
Before I could really start to list the jobs which needed doing and make a plan. I needed to get all this off, so I could check what was going on underneath it all.
This is the water pump from the kitchen, I had to unscrew it to get the carpet out.
The first and most important job was to get her breathing again. That means stripping out anything which was keeping the damp trapped in the van. So out first was the wet carpet and I was so excited to the lino! Check out my little video below of finding lino -
Then the next job, after the carpet and getting all the seating/mattresses up and away from bases. (Helping the air to move around the van.) Was the insulation.....
Trapped between the fiberglass and the plastic was lots of water...a lot of the fiberglass insulation was black with rot....
Getting it off meant that I could check the flooring, get to the chassis. Which I want to rub down and paint.
I could also see what on earth had been wired in.....
There is a lot going on under there, they have pumped in the porta-potty, a water pump for the kitchen, a lot of wires just hanging loose not attached to anything and interesting things going on with the gas pipes...
There is just the middle section to go now, and am very happy to see, so far there is not much damage!!
Here is my little video about removing the insulation.
There is a heck of a lot to do!! I mean a lot.....not one to waste time I got her clean the day after we brought her home and then cracked on with getting her sorted..
First job was to get her breathing again, am sure a lot of the water is just condensation building up and not leaks. I needed to clean her out as much as possible so the damp wasn't just holding in the van. That meant getting the wet carpet out of the caravan! Yay I found lino which confirmed her age as 1966!
There is a huge list, removing the 1970/80 oven, fixing the running gear/checking brakes etc, fixing the electrics, fixing the road electrics and marker lights, painting her a frame and chassis.
Painting the outside (want to return her to her original colours) sorting the awning rail and resealing, fixing any damaged panels inside, remaking curtains (finding good period matching fabric) removing the port-potty plumbing and rebuilding the bathroom...cleaning the seating, finding a step, checking gas lights.....oh my goodness....I have to get this all done by May around three busy mini people.....wish me luck!
Getting the kitchen cupboard out of the van toward on made it a much easier job!
About time for a mini update!!
As you can see, am trying to not panic about how much work there is to get done!!
Lights
At some point, am thinking 1970's 12v lights where added to the Alpine. But the wiring was messy and wasn't hidden very well. So I thought best to remove and if I wanted to refit the lights and re-do the wiring. That said, the gas lights are really well placed and I only think at this point I will wire back in the kitchen light. Here is a little update on her Lights and Skylight!
Next her A- Frame
Am not the worlds most erm, clean painter! Painting the a-frame and legs makes such a huge difference to how the van looks! Sun is out, coffee in hand, lets do this!
Am not one to left the dust settle, I had a moment so got straight on with starting to clear out the caravan.
She is damp, with pools of water, the smell is very over-welling when you step into the van. She has been sitting unused for 20 years!!!
This is not the correct oven, and from a later date. We are hoping to replace the old 2 hob and grill, this may not work as the door is missing and lots of things changed for this oven....
This is a much later carpet, not the right colour for her yellow seating. Even if I loved it, its still got to come out as its wet, and holding in a lot of damp.
I need to find a place to store these, as they are wet and have mold growing on them! I need to steam clean or jet wash but we just down have the warm weather at the moment....
We found some 1970/80's towing mirrors which will match our tow car perfectly.
There are lots of helpful items still in the van, a spare wheel, awning, aqua roll etc. Am not sure the battery will live, after 20 years.....
Finding lino, yay!! Am so happy to find her lino hidden away, Daisy has nothing original in her at all so this feels extra amazing to find.
One of the old owners has banged in nails through the lino :( but am hoping once removed and cleaned these wont be that noticeable. They have also done something underneath outside....which am a bit worried about but I was on a time limit today so that will have to wait!
The most important thing today while the sun was out, was to get rid of the carpet, and get some air moving in there again. I even locked my self out of the van, so I feel a change of locks coming on.....
