Bailey Pursuit 570-6
Tested by Simon Strang Price £16,499 Berths 6 MIRO 1276kg Payload 174kg MTPLM 1450kg
IN A NUTSHELL First-timers get to grips with our six-berth
After two successful family forays on behalf of Practical Motorhome, I decided that the time had come for me to venture into the world of caravans.
After an hour’s practice at Practical Caravan’s top-secret storage depot, I found myself really appreciating the 1450kg responsibility behind the Ford Galaxy long-termer the team had graciously arranged.
Attaching the van was a doddle, but I wondered how much trickier this would have been without the use of the brilliant reversing camera – with which I was never more than two inches from the target.
Next stop Cornwall
Like last year, we took aim for Hendra Holiday Park, near Newquay, in Cornwall. We chose this venue for its plentiful selection of child distractions, its excellent and clean facilities, and its close proximity to many of Cornwall’s more compelling days out. We were also able to explore these more extensively, now that we could unhook the car from the caravan.
This year, our two favourite destinations were the beautiful Bedruthan Steps, adjoining the National Trust Carnewas Tea Rooms (great chocolate cake), and the ATV Centre in Truro – scene of my son’s first attempt at motorised competitive driving.
The staff at the centre were hugely accommodating – for a very reasonable price, this was an excellent and memorable day out for all the family.
The caravan itself was, for us at least, a real revelation. We have learned through bitter experience that space is key and that putting away the beds in a motorhome is crucial to peace in our time (and our neighbours’).
So having to take down only the one bed – which doubles as the sitting room – each day saved considerable time every morning. The bed itself was large enough, but I did find it to be fairly lumpy. On the other hand, the lounge area was very comfortable and on the one rainy day during our week away, we managed to squeeze in a whole movie on the PS4 that we’d rigged up.
The kids loved the built-in bunk beds, and the table on the opposite side of the van doubled as a breakfast base and colouring-in station – manna from heaven for a six-year-old.
Storage, too, was something we much appreciated after two motorhome trips. Packing and unpacking were both much easier and we found that we needed to be considerably less selective about which toys would have to be left behind.
The wardrobe hanging space was a little lacking in, well, space, but using and living in the caravan was a breeze. And although the shower was both warm and powerful, the extent and length of female hair in our family ensured it was demoted to a back-up facility.
The heating controls were simple to use and the fridge and cooker were all perfectly suitable for our needs.
In fact, the entire experience was problem-free. That being said (and it may be a subliminal recollection), it did feel as if there was more preparation involved in caravanning as opposed to touring in a motorhome. Perhaps it was the necessarily more involving driving experience, the comical complexity of getting the caravan onto our drive, or just that I worried about flattening other road and site users a bit more than I normally do?