Mini caravans and holiday lodges could be the answer to creating extra space at home. Cheaper than the average extension, requiring little more than a grassy garden or simple hardstanding, new launches at February’s Caravan, Camping and Motorhome Show provide ideas for homeowners wanting ad hoc bedroom accommodation, a place for children to play, or even a home office.
Mini caravans offer the best of both worlds: a spare room when needed and doubling as a tourer for trips away. New caravans launching from Somerset-based Pod weigh only 320kg, can be pulled by small cars, and are ideal as an extra bedroom in the garden. The Pod Nomad model is revealed in shiny retro chrome, and its sister model Impulse in a vintage eggshell blue. Creating a feature in the garden as well as providing practical space and holiday options, Nomad and Impulse are only 1.6 metres wide and easily manoeuvrable by hand. Pod caravans are big enough to include a full length double bed, a comfortable dining area and a galley kitchen.
Barefoot Caravans reveals its Naked Barefoot at the show. With Karndean grey oak floor and grey felt walls as standard, the ‘naked’ vehicle weighs 650kg and can be pushed and pulled by a single person on a flat surface. Starting from £14,995 including VAT, the Naked Barefoot is available in duck egg blue, cream and pale grey as standard, or for an additional £600 Barefoot will paint any flat colour of the owner’s choosing. Including a rechargeable leisure battery the Barefoot can also be connected to mains electricity and comes with 230v and USB sockets as standard. A modern twist on a shepherd’s hut, garden uses include a spare room, an artist’s studio or even a mobile cocktail bar!
If a stylish garden room is required, the innovative new four-bed S-Pod 4 from Swift will be on display at this month’s show.
Designed to provide hotel room chic, the S-Pod 4 builds on the success of the original S-Pod 2. A Swift optional plinth system provides a cost-saving alternative to a concrete hardstanding and is quick and easy to install with adjustable levelling. Measuring 5.33 metres long excluding towbar, with a width of 3.42m and maximum sloped roof height at 3.17m, the rigid pod with ten-year warranty on its galvanised chassis can be towed in or craned into position. Purchasers should take expert advice regarding planning permission, which may not always be required.
Starting from £25,155, the S-Pod 4 features a sofa that pulls down into a double bed, a fixed high-level bunk with removable ladder and an additional sofa that becomes a single bed with storage underneath. Accessed by double doors the S-Pod 4 includes a kitchen area, shower room, fridge and plenty of storage space.
The Camping, Caravan and Motorhome Show 2017, running from 21 to 26 February at Birmingham’s NEC, showcases more than 600 of the latest tourers, caravan holiday homes and motorhomes as well as camping gear, with ideas on how to spend leisure time from organisations such as The Woodland Trust, Visit Wales and Surf Snowdonia. Celebrities including Ben Fogle and Kate Humble present in the Discovery Theatre, with cooking demonstrations from celebrity chefs, plenty of free activities from climbing and artificial caving to a six-way trampoline in the Bounce Zone.
Advance ticket prices start from £7.00 per person and children 15 and under enter for free. Tickets are on sale now and can be ordered through the website: www.ccmshow.co.uk.
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