# Relaxation for 2weeks from July 28th!!!



## jiffyman (May 11, 2005)

And I can't wait!!
Will be leaving Torbay early on the Thursday morning, travelling to Oxford with another Motorhoming friend, before heading to the Classic Camper Club National in Godmanchester, Cambs.
Will probably leave there on the Monday and travel back to Oxford to overnight on the tuesday. 
I'll then be floating the countryside, possibly along the South Coast until the friday when I'll be off to the Southern Mini Days at the Hop Farm in Kent.
Will probably leave there on the Monday morning and take two days travelling back to the Bay.
I can't wait as I need the rest!!  :lol: 

Would anyone have any details of sites, steam railways, nature reserves and other tourist attractions that could be visited between Oxford and Kent?

Will be good to give Buzz a good run!!!!!

Cheers for any advise, 
Glenn


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## Scotjimland (May 23, 2005)

Hi 
sounds like a lot of fun , have a look at Essex on your way to Kent ..

http://www.realessex.co.uk/article/articleview/61

Good Luck

Jim


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## 88741 (May 9, 2005)

Have a great trip :wink:


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## jiffyman (May 11, 2005)

Cheers for that.
I'll take loads of picture and post them in my album when i return!! 8)


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## bognormike (May 10, 2005)

ttry the bluebell railway at Horstead keynes - excellent well run railway. Good parking in upper yard for larger setups (no prblem with jiffyvan with height barriers?). You may also get an overnight there if you ask nicely


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## arrow2 (May 9, 2005)

And the Watercress line Alton - Alresford, Lovely old steam trains on a 10 mile route through beautiful countryside. Parking at both stations no problem.

Kevin


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

Didcot Railway Centre is worth a look:

http://www.didcotrailwaycentre.org.uk/

There is a huge car park nearby ( for the station) but I think it has height barriers. Best to ring up and ask the railway centre people first.

G


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## bognormike (May 10, 2005)

Didcot's OK but no real length of track to run trains on. You can park in the housing estate north of the railway & walk through (my son lives on the estate!) Access from either end (best past power station - follow signs to Didcot Town FC).


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## jiffyman (May 11, 2005)

Cheers for the help, i'm going to do my 'route' this week (hopefully) and list the places to visit along the way.

Getting Buzz ready, and after a bit of a kerfuffle, we have some new wheels!!!

What do you think??? (please don't ask which pram i nicked them off, i've had that already!!!) :wink:


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## johnsandywhite (May 9, 2005)

Hi *jiffyman*. I have pften wondered about your type of Motorhome. Do you get a lot of condensation? I looked at a few several years ago and that was one thing that made me think twice. :wink:


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## jiffyman (May 11, 2005)

Not alot of condensation, as yet. There are two roof vents, which we leave slightly open at night and there is also a Solar Vent above the cab which keeps a slight airation going all day, even on cloudy days.
We have had some water ingress during rainy days, but this is due to the window rubbers perishing etc, whilst it was stood up for two years.
This winter will see the interior ripped out completely and we will hose the body to see where the 'leaks' are coming from and seal them with fibreglass matting.

We have temporarily sealed a few places and marked them so far.

May do an online diary about Buzz as it is a little different!


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## jiffyman (May 11, 2005)

Just had a thought about the condensation, mine is different to the normal 'rascal/acty' demountables, as this one is solid mounted and is a through cab. This gives more space so may help to reduce condensation in ours.


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## jiffyman (May 11, 2005)

Well then, as you can see by my photo album, i've had an eventful 2weeks break, but thoroughly enjoyed it!

It started by travelling up to Oxford to stay overnight at a friends farm before heading up to Cambridge to the Classic Camper Club National Meeting.

This would be my first 'more than a weekend' test in Buzz, the Jiffy Romahome.
For those that are unaware, Buzz is a Mini based kit vehicle from the 1980's called a Jiffy, with a Romahome body grafted to the chassis!

We arrive at the 'site' which was an animal shelter in Godmanchester, near Cambridge,and the 'events field' was ours.
I was lucky enough to be able to use an EHU which was just right next to the 'van. The weekend was a good one with plenty of alcohol being consumed!

After this successful weekend we travelled back to the farm in Oxford for another nights stay.

The monday saw me heading off on my own, where i was originally going to stay around the area and visit Didcot Railway,but after helping to fit a kitchen sink, (in the cottage not the camper!) i decided to travel further afield to a site i had looked at in various site guides.
After a steady bimble along the A-roads, travelling around an average of 50mph,i arrived the the site late afternoon.

I had chosen Honeybridge Park from the free guide book from one of the magazines. This is a wonderful and quiet site in Horsham, West Sussex, just off the A24 at a place called Dial Post.

There were either grass or hard -standing pitchesto chose from and where-ever you were you weren't far for either of the well maintained, clean and tidy amenity blocks.

During my four night stay here, i travelled for a day out at the Bluebell Railway. What a fantastic day out!! Wanted to stay longer at this extremely well run Preserved Steam line, just brilliant.

Unfortunately before travelling up to this site i had noticed a slight 'lean' to the passengers side of Buzz, but with adjustable suspension i thought that during the evening sun i would attempt to adjust the height back up, thats where my first trouble was encountered!!!!!



(off to bed now as back to work tomorrow  , i'll complete this tomorrow evening for you!)


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## jiffyman (May 11, 2005)

(sorry for the delay in completing, but with the good weather here, i've been carrying out repairs!!)

So, anyway, i decided to lift the suspension to A, make the 'van more level and B, to adjust the lean to one side.

Having done the drivers side Buzz looked alot better sitting that little bit higher. Now for the passenger side! All adjusted up so started to lower the jack down but heard a nasty creaking sound!! Mmm, not good! Further investigation showed the top of the subframe had rotted and was lifting with the suspension cone!!

OK, what now then?? I decided the best thing to do weas to drop it back down to where it was before to relieve the pressure on the suspension, and rest the vehicle on the bump stops!! Yes, a bit of a bumpy ride but i'll survive!!

The Thursday saw a drive up to Reading to pick up my girlfriend and her daughter and on the way back the brakes were, lets say, slightly spongy!!

The following morning saw me travelling back up the road, about 10 miles of so, to a Halfords to collect some brake fluid, at least its easy enough to bleed the brakes!!!!  

Soi Mandy jumped in and as she made the first 'pump' on the pedal, oh dear, fluid jetting out of the brake pipe union on the metal pipe!! GREAT!
We were supposed to be driving to Kent later that day to Hop Farm to attend a Mini Show!!
Nothing for it, into the wallet for that little yellow card!!
Well unfortunately for me they cannot repair brake pipes roadside (or should i say 'pitchside')

The nearest AA 'transporter' was in Eastbourne so we packed up our bits and pieces and awaited his arrival.
Once he arrived he informed us that he would have to take us to their authorised AA repair centre, so off we set. At least we could get it fixed anyway!!

I could not believe my eyes when we arrived!!!!! Guess where the AA Centre was?? RIGHT SLAP BANG NEXT DOOR TO HALFORDS!!!!!!

So we waited nearly three hours to get taking somewhere i'd already driven to, TYPICAL!!

Well, Buzz was repaired and we made our way to Hop Farm and had a fantastic weekend there!!

We had to leave on the sunday evening as we were unable to stay there overnight to the monday so decided to head back to Honeybridge.

After a light evening meal, we decided to take a walk around the site with a glass of wine in hand.

Now I must admit that there were only a handful of motorhomes on this site and as we walked around, we noticed this lovely vehicle sat there then realised, YEAH!!!! My first PENNANT SPOT!!! 
But who was it?? The pennant tag was blank!!! (Tut tut!! :lol: )

After we had our breakfast and were all packed up ready to go, we decided to take a slow drive around the site to see if the occupants of the Pennant Clad van were around.

Yep, there they were, and what a wonderful warm welcome too!!
Barry and Sue, hello!!! 
We stayed there and had a good chat with them and showed them around Buzz before saying our goodbyes and heading to our next stop.

(Oh and Barry, thank you for your route tip, wonderful scenery!!)


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