At the Stroud meet I met Mr. and Mrs. J. I. Tanner, who are all-the-year-rounder’s of exceptional mobility. They do a towed mileage of more than 5,000 a year with their special Winchester. This is a most unusual van, with V's at both ends and what is probably the original of that type of lantern roof which opens out to full width over the end kitchen and toilet room.
The Tanners' Winchester was originally built for Air Vice-Marshal Iv. M. Leask. Mr. Tanner has made a few further improvements, such as moving the solid fuel stove from partly over the wheel arch down to floor level and fitting a hot water tank behind, and providing a full electric system, including a Hoover hand model vacuum cleaner, powered by a 24v. charger and batteries, or alternatively by transformer from mains.
For traction he uses an ex-Admiralty Ford V8 Radar van, and he reports that this ample power and wide choice of gear ratios enabled him to climb a hill of 1 in 4 at Dartmeet. His touring ground since the war has extended from Wigan to Land's End.
Mr. Tanner is a rolling stone and a practical man who can tackle anything from engineering to farming. He has knocked about the world and developed a disinclination to stay in any one place more than a few weeks. He first decided on a caravan life and then made himself a job to suit—as engineer advising on and installing agricultural machinery. Very fortunately for domestic harmony he has a wife whose tastes are similar, and their two cats have long since got used to wandering about the countryside and coming back to a roving home. They have a special trap door in the floor through which they can be put out, and at which they call when they wish to come in. When the time has come to move on, the cats are never missing, and they are always ready for a country stroll on their own or with their master and mistress.
Mr. and Mrs. Tanner have spent only one night in a house in the last eleven years. I hope to persuade them to tell some of their rich experiences for CARAVAN readers. I asked Mrs. Tanner whether she ever felt the loss of " roots ". She replied that firstly the Caravan Club gave them friends wherever they travelled, and secondly that what she enjoyed most of all in their caravan life was the making of new friends wherever they went. Many of them continued to correspond for years afterwards. Almost every­ body, she insisted, was friendly and decent at heart if you approached them in the right way. Real boors and crooks were very rare. And almost everybody had something interesting to talk about if encouraged.
It is not the first time that a caravan has been found a wonderful cementer of humanity.