Lockdown caravan of a gipsy at heart
DURING lockdown, my husband David built a traditional gipsy caravan in our front garden. It has attracted lots of attention from visitors to the country park where we live.
He’s always been fascinated by Romany culture, in particular gipsy caravans, or vardos as they are known, and their intricate artwork. Four generations back, his mother’s family were gipsies in France. They camped by the river Rhone, which is where our surname Parlett is believed to have come from. David decided he would take on the challenge of building his own caravan. His uncle Robert is a talented metal worker and he made the wheels, steering axle and hoops as a gift. They were collected from his home in Wales just before lockdown.
David has some experience in building, but is mainly self-taught. When it came to the gipsy caravan, he says he made a plan in his head and drew simple sketches so he could source and cost materials. Basically, he made it up as he went along!
He was working throughout lockdown delivering food parcels to people who were shielding, but once he got started on the caravan in his free time, he was keen to make progress. After a couple of weeks, the base was formed, the hoops were in place and it started to take shape. He managed to source canvas for the roof from a tent maker in Yorkshire, which cost £280 including a breathable membrane. Other than that, he spent just £600 on timber from a local supplier, paint and fixings from the stores B&M and B&Q, stencils for the artwork from Amazon and an old tattoo book for decorative ideas. For the interior, pine cladding was stained with dark varnish. The brass came from charity shops and an antique and craft centre, horseshoes from his great-uncle George and his nana’s china tea set has pride of place. Passers-by would watch David painting and perfecting the stencil and artwork. While the caravan is fully functional, for now it is a feature in our garden. It’s a man cave with a difference, but it also celebrates sentimental family values.
CAROLINE PARLETT, Linlithgow, West Lothian.