A first time for everything
Hazel was always horrified by the idea of attending an owners’ club meet-up, until she stumbled upon a newly formed Facebook group for Duetto owners…
When the weather turns wintry, we often call it ‘Hull Fair Weather’. This is because it’s the time of year when the biggest travelling fair in Europe descends on our nearest city. However, I no longer feel the need to scare myself silly whizzing around on the Waltzers or perched precariously on the Big Wheel. And, of course, I wouldn’t dream of taking a dog on a fairground ride. So, what on earth were we doing with our dog in a tiny compartment, swaying in the wind, high above Matlock Bath in the Derbyshire Peak District?
Visiting the Heights of Abraham by cable car had seemed like a good idea, until we stepped into moving compartment. ‘There’s no seatbelts!’ I panicked, ‘And what if the door doesn’t close?’ OK, I admit it, I am a scaredycat when it comes to new experiences. Actually, the ride was fine, giving great views over the surrounding countryside, although I wasn’t so keen on the bit where it paused and just, well, swayed. It was certainly easier than climbing up the hill, like the Victorians did.
A head for heights
The Heights of Abraham has been a visitor attraction since the early nineteenth century. It was named after an eighteenth century battle between British and French forces in Canada, which took place at a site notable for its high cliffs. The cliffs near Matlock are on the side of the 338-metre Masson Hill, which rises up from the River Derwent opposite High Tor, a 205-metre limestone crag.
In addition to woodland walks, viewpoints, gardens and adventure playgrounds, the site has two show caverns to explore, along with exhibitions, a fossil factory and audio-visual presentations. As we couldn’t take our dog into the caverns or the exhibitions, we followed a woodland walk that took
us past some metallic cows and the Victoria Prospect Tower to Tinker’s Shaft. This viewing platform is positioned above a vertical shaft that leads down to a labyrinth of lead mines. The industrial heritage of the area was explained on a series of interpretative boards that also told us about the geology of the area, its fauna and flora. After exploring for a while, we returned to the upper cable car station and floated effortlessly back down the hill.
Group therapy
The Victorian spa resort of Matlock Bath itself seemed like an attractive place, on the banks of the River Derwent. We were passing through on our way to Carsington Fields, about 10 miles further on, near Ashbourne. This had been chosen as a venue for a meet-up of Auto-sleeper Duetto owners. Now, I’ve never really fancied attending any sort of rally. When my husband’s midlife crisis led to us acquiring an old MG, I dismissed with horror the thought of meeting up with other MG owners. But it was different with the campervan.
It began a couple of years ago, when we were camping at Castlerigg Farm near Keswick in the Lake District. We noticed that the doppelgänger of our 1998 campervan was parked further along the field. When we fell into conversation with its lovely owners, Karen and Craig, we discovered the existence of a group on Facebook, with about 50 members. A year later, it had over 250.
Joining the group has turned out to be a really positive experience, sharing tips as well as the ups and downs of driving an old ’van. We discovered, for example, that the large and small tabletops can be fitted on either end of the support pole, making a free-standing table that can be used outside. Ingenious! New owners always have questions about how everything works, especially as not every secondhand campervan comes with a manual. Questions range from ‘What’s this switch for?’ to ‘How do you make up the double bed?’ Members are extremely supportive, however silly the question may seem to more seasoned campervanners. By reading each other’s posts, we have discovered some great campsites, and sympathised with members’ mishaps and catastrophes. We love our campervan, but older Transits are rather prone to rust. Sometimes, they need welding to keep them on the road, though at least spare parts are easy to obtain and not too expensive. We replaced our engine with a secondhand one a while back, and major welding was needed to get through the MOT.
Having said that, it is the perfect campervan for us. The only way it could be improved for me would be if it had air-conditioning in the cab, a reversing camera and a more powerful engine to get it up hills with less complaining.
The bed is huge, taking up the full width of the ’van, so there is ample room for us and our dog, Tommy, who always seems to end up in between us, despite starting the night on the passenger seat. We have carried a tandem fishing kayak in the central aisle, and the washroom doubles up as storage for my husband’s excessively large collection of fishing tackle, as well as our windbreak, barbecue, folding chairs and tables. The kitchen has an oven as well as a hob, a three-way fridge, a sink with drainer and a long worktop. Although the campervan is only 5.5 metres long, it’s definitely big enough for us.
In short, we are big fans of the Auto-sleeper Duetto, and we had now made contact with fellow enthusiasts. Obviously, the next step was to arrange a rendezvous. With members of the group scattered throughout the British Isles, from St Ives in Cornwall to Inverness in the Highlands of Scotland, it would have been impossible to find somewhere to suit everyone. The Derbyshire site was chosen as being reasonably central for our first get-together. Judy, the owner of Carsington Fields, was incredibly helpful, jiggling things around so that everyone could have a hardstanding pitch on what was forecast to be a wet weekend. She even took orders for takeaways on both the Friday and Saturday evenings.
An impressive sight
In the end, 13 ’vans were able to make it. We rarely see another Auto-sleeper Duetto, so it was slightly surreal to see so many in one place. The Duetto was in production from 1994 to 2007, and various vintages were represented at the campsite.
We gradually became acquainted with the other owners, starting with our neighbours and with those we encountered on the way to and from the shower block. Then, on Saturday morning, a group of us met up to walk to Carsington Water. I had packed no fewer than three maps of the Peak District but was dismayed to find that not one of them showed Carsington Water. This reservoir was created in 1994 and my Ordnance Survey maps were clearly somewhat older. The fact that one of them cost only £1.20 was a bit of a clue as to its age!
Walking is one of the best ways to get to know people, and their dogs. Different groups formed and split up.
Some went slower, some faster, some turned back, and others walked further. The rain had stopped, and yachts were now bobbing about on the lake. We found the visitor centre, and explored its shops and cafés, before heading for the pub at Knockerdown. This was to be as far as we would go, although it is possible to walk right around the lake, a distance of some eight or nine miles. I had bought a glow-in-the-dark lead for our dog at the visitor centre, but we were back well before dark.
Once night fell, we gathered in the barn, which Judy, the owner, had kindly opened up for us and even furnished with some tables. Perched on camping chairs and next to farm machinery, we chatted over drinks and the Indian takeaway, which Judy collected for us. It was the ideal opportunity to share our campervanning tales, as well as picking up some helpful hints.
Before setting off at Sunday lunchtime, we moved some of the campervans so that we could take a photograph of them all lined up together. It was an impressive sight!