A Tale of 8 Caravans - Part 2 – The Sprite Alpine, aka Katie Caravan

Part 2 – The Sprite Alpine, aka Katie Caravan

On May 11 1983 we found Katie, a 12’ four or five berth made about 1978, in a run-down caravan dealer’s sandwiched between Gelderd Road in Leeds and the railway line.  She had been broken in to, and the original sink / hob unit stolen, but the dealer had fitted a nice new stainless steel one and was desperate to get rid before something else happened.  Ten days later we set off for our first trip in her – to Allerston again.

During June ’83 I fitted a gas/ 12V 1 cu ft fridge, and we also added new curtains and an offcut of the dining room carpet to cover the floor.  I think I must also have fitted the gas bottle locker and carried out some modifications to the electric water pump controls.

We had some wonderful holidays in her – a long tour to Broadway, St Agnes and back to Broadway in 1983 when it was so hot the fridge struggled on 12v and we had to sleep with doors and windows open (no flyscreens in those days). Later that year we revisited Leyburn.  In 1984 our main holiday was another trek to the southwest; Woodstock, Kimmeridge and back to Woodstock, and we also went to Low Manesty, twice to Allerston and to Southport in order to visit the Liverpool Garden Festival.

1985 saw us revisit Low Manesty, Leyburn and Allerston, spend a weekend at Sandringham and trek to Ilfracombe via Cirencester.  That was a very wet holiday; we had to be rescued on a farm trailer when our route back from a long walk proved to be flooded, and Cirencester site was closed due to waterlogging when we tried to stop on our way back. 1986 was Katie’s last year with us, but we made good use of her, visiting Allerston twice and Low Manesty before setting off on a midge-ridden tour of Scotland, staying at Edinburgh, Culloden, Morvich, Glencoe, Stirling and Hexham.  By now the growing kids and the van’s advancing age were making things uncomfortable, so it was time for a change – see Part 3.