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A FORMER EDITOR of Practical Caravan once told me ‘it’s always sunny in Caravan Land’. Well, it wasn’t last week.

 

I was up at the MIRA proving ground near Nuneaton for the annual Towcar Awards test week. Normally we have fantastic weather, but this year our luck ran out.

 

For those of us lucky enough to be doing the driving, we simply turned on the wipers and moved a bit more quickly from car to car. The volunteers from The Camping and Caravanning Club had a much harder time.

 

In case you don’t know, the Towcar Awards is a joint venture between Practical Caravan, What Car? and The Camping and Caravanning Club. As well as two or three judges, the club also sends a small army of volunteers to load and unload the caravans so they’re all weighted to 85% of the car’s kerbweight.

 

This year, the volunteers — most of whom are retired — spent several days stood outside in the rain, all for the benefit of their fellow club members. Everyone of them was in a sunny mood, however black the skies.

 

The absolute stars of the week were Jean Brown and Pauline Rook, who regularly left the shelter of the tea van to keep the drivers and volunteers fuelled on tea, coffee and chocolate.

 

Well done and thank you to everyone who helped out last week. Look out for the results in mid-June.