Sunday waffle As sunday is eat n chill day i have decided to post up a sunday waffle , pontification on the forum that will hopefully provoke some thought . When i bought my first van in 1978 it has to be said they were popular and quite highly thought of but we seemed to be in the minority not the majority , in fact they were a little too pricey for my mates , and probably a little inpractical as a every day ride , so even though everyone loved em , they just would'nt part with their hard earned and actually buy , these days there seems more vw bays on the road than when they were new , they appear to go faster too . Everyone wanted to loan ours though , my family were always asking and so were some of my mates , no chance , my family are rubbish drivers and no way was i letting mates sleep in my bed , so me n Lou used it and that was that , it was our escape vehicle the smile machine and we used it to escape our high pressure jobs , we used it to relax and the way we did it was by taking the slow road and taking the slow road slowly . The most times we used it was for weekends or unplanned days out that turned into nights out at a beach.beauty spot etc , longer breaks were usually confined to the normal fortnight off work etc . We loved the new forest and St ive's in cornwall , neither were as easy to get to as today cos there was'nt such good roads and could involve a nights stop over depending on progress and how many interesting things we stopped to look at on the way , but it never mattered , traffic jams equated to cup of tea time and a stop at a beauty spot or attraction which usually meant chatting to someone about the van and prolonging our journey . We just picked a road and headed down it for our weekend breaks , no planning , no destination nothing , we just went , tea bags milk n water a box of cornflakes and the hope of finding a chippy at some point , we usually did . Nowadays we get the impression that days out are planned with military precision and having kids ourselves means we sometimes have to as well , people go to Cornwall in a few hours and everyone in a camper seems to pass my truck like i'm in reverse !. I reckon a lot of vw camper people are missing the point , to me its not about getting there , its always been about the journey to it and the people and places we meet on our way , you can miss so much with our fast roads that bypass most of the old towns and attractions that our lovely country has to offer . How many of us these days stop and take in the views , stop to have a look about a village en route , just chill and enjoy a stroll about , not many , we pick our destination type it into the sat nav and hammer it hell for leather , when we get to our chosen destination we mostly do take in the sites and attractions , but we miss so much on the way . Its great having fast easy roads , especially for me as a lorry driver , but even then i miss roadside cafe's and helping people who might have broken down or the brunette with short skirt cruising slowly by in her mx5 , i know , i'm older now but i always enjoyed taking the quieter roads , not only because they were peaceful and scenic ,they were and are full of surprises , life and communitys that once thrived on these routes may have up sticked and moved closer to civilisation but a lot of the buildings and history are still there , people are still there and life goes on , mostly at a quieter pace and with dignity . When was the last time you stopped mid journey to your chosen holiday desination and spent half a day meandering around a old village or something equally mundane ?. Its a bit like life really our attitude to hols , we race to the destination without enjoying the journey !.
Well said. My parents used to own a 100yr old farm about 150 miles from our house. Non-functioning of course. It was just for weekend holidays and partying. !00 acres frozen in time. I sure miss it. I grew up vacationing there often until it sold just a couple years ago. Some weekends we were pressed for time due to scheduling problems and had to drive for three hours like we were at war with the road and other drivers, all just to shave off 20-odd minutes. But the weekends when we all had the full four days were the best. We would always go off the motorway onto 2-way winding roads. There were antique stores, flea markets, barn sales, fruit stands, etc,... By the time we got to the farm it was anybody's guess what we had picked up along the way. A vintage radio, Amish breads and pies and a basket of the best peaches you ever tasted, still warm from the sun, who knows. But although that always took at least twice as long, it seemed faster than the stressful war driving and made the entire weekend seem longer and richer. What really surprises me is that when we take the long slow scenic roads without stopping, it really is only a few minutes longer than the motorway. Minutes. I think my comfort and sanity are worth a few extra minutes.
I remember the days of delivery driving before satnavs. Having to take a bag laden with maps as you weren't sure where you were going to be sent. Then having to pull over regularly to check your location and where to go.
The sat navs are good no doubt , but have you ever thought about just heading out somewhere no maps just following your nose and driving where the mood takes , stop where you like,maybe sleep and use the sat nav to get home - eventually ?. ???
Sounds like a plan, i shall go and work out a route and book the camping spots right now, along with deciding exactly where i will be stopping and at exactly what time i shall get there. Have i missed the point ? Good and wise words Mr poptop
Is'nt that strange how Gypsy life is changing , i'm not gonna say i agree with flouting planning laws but feel sorry for them in a way , their age old tradition of moving on is made impossible by local town councils , they're then forced to resort to buying thier own land in the vain hope of keeping their ways alive and then they get hammered by councils and planners again , catch 22 . Mind you if the tinkers did'nt rob anything that was'nt nailed down then gypsys would'nt have such a bad name , one of my great grandads was a Bargee in the black country , he and his family hauled timber and steel from the black country to london all week living aboard the barge and looking after the horses , they were classed as water gypsys , he was a proud man and stealing was not a thing he would tolerate .
Worked with travelers, shared park ups with traverlers back in the day and the issues are complex. Travelers are by far the most discriminated ethnic group in Europe. There are many factions with complex histories and tradition. In my view the travelers just don't get the chance to adjust to the way things are now. There used to be a network of park ups all over the country linked to agriculture and seasonal work. That's all changed now and travelers have tried to preserve a network of pitches by buying land which hasn't worked out. There used to be an obligation on councils to provide piches, you'll know them, they're on the land under motorways and next to refuse sites where nothing else goes. Big big subject, I've met some great stand up people amongst English and Irish travellers and plenty of complete head bangers. Much like any other group of people really!
One of my recurring day dreams is to buy a gypsy caravan like Toad of toad hall had and spend the summer exploring our highways and byways - " here today in next week tomorrow " i think he said that about motorcars but i think it fits the gypsy life better !.
