ON SITE INSIGHTS TALK

Reader team member Patrick Jones advises the best ways to travel through Wales in a large motorhome

£40 a pair from one national retailer. My local accessory shop in Peterborough will make them for £17 a pair. Don’t forget you’ll need to show your V5C to the person making your new plates, too.” Gentleman Jack Bancroft

SWITCH OVER NOT YET COMPLETE In the Workshop pages of your June 2012 issue, which focus on digital TV, the digital switchover is described as ‘recently completed’.

The beautiful journey from my home in Pembrokeshire to North Wales, or vice versa, can be a very daunting one when driving a big ’van on narrow roads which are always very busy with lorries, buses and caravans. The high rock face on one side of the road and the sheer drop on the other calls for constant concentration.

The high rock face on one side of the road and the sheer drop on the other calls for constant concentration

However, the North East doesn’t fully switch-over to digital until September 12, 2012, which is the switch-over day for the three northern transmitters: Bilsdale (North Yorks and Teesside), Pontop Pike (Durham, Tyne & Wear, south Northumberland)

Our Jeremiah runs the rule over the stunning,

slide-out Doubleback camper – see his video review here! www.youtube.com/pmotorhome

Watching TV in the north-east? Switch over takes place in September and Chatton (north Northumberland). Those expecting Freeview in this corner of the world will have to wait for a few months yet. Adrian Christer Via email

NEW ADDRESS FOR A T OWNERS CLUB Could you please publish the new contact details for the

Auto-Trail Owners Club. Any interested readers can get in touch with the club by writing to The Auto-Trail Owners’ Club, 207 Leigh Road, Wimborne BH21 2BU, or by calling 01202 889 923 or via email at oc.secretary@gmail. com. You can also visit the website, at www.atoc.info. Sally Boswell, Club Secretary Via email

A rush of adrenaline is inevitable when you encounter a bus going around a corner that is barely wide enough for a car. The worst part of the route is the A between Machynlleth and Dolgellau.

The drive over the mountains past Cader Idris offers superb views but the narrow road from the Towyn turn-off to Machynlleth is particularly difficult. I tend to avoid it these days.

Just south of Dolgellau, I suggest you take the A / A to Machynlleth. It may be six miles further but it’s safe and a breathtaking drive. From the Cross Foxes pub the road climbs and then plunges spectacularly down the valley to Mallwyd. Machynlleth greets you with a huge, flat car park, complete with a super toilet block. Furthermore, ’vans can park overnight free of charge, courtesy of Powys County Council.

OUR NIGHTSTOP NETWORK We’ve teamed up with the Motor Caravanners’ Club to offer you locations where you can stay overnight in your ’van. It’s safe, legal and you don’t need to be a member of any club.

■ The Blue Bell Inn Spalding, Lincs PE SN Tel ■ The Castle Inn Okehampton, Devon EX BH Tel ■ The Crown Inn Cerney Wick, Cirencester GL QH Tel ■ Elton Farm Littledean Road, Newnham-onSevern GL JU Tel ■ The Halfway House Inn St Jidgey, Cornwall PL RE Tel ■ The Hawthorn Roundthorn Road, Oldham OL LN Tel ■ The New Inn Hotel Clifford Chambers,

Stratford-upon-Avon CV HR Tel ■ The Old Barn Inn Swansea SA PX Tel ■ The Old Hall Hotel Norwich Road, CaisterOn-Sea, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk NR JL Tel ■ The Penrhiwgaled Arms Llandysul, Ceredigion SA LN Tel ■ Riverside Guest House Llanegryn Street, Abergynolwyn, Wales LL YR Tel ■ The Riverside Hotel Station Road, Surfleet Spalding, Lincs PE DG Tel

■ The Seaview Hotel Fishguard SA PL Tel ■ The Seven Wives Ramsey Road, St Ives Huntingdon PE RF Tel ■ The Ship Inn Cliff Road, Sewerby, Bridlington YO EW Tel ■ South Moor Farm Dalby Forest Drive, Langdale End, Scarborough YO LW Tel . ■ The Tarrington Arms Tarrington, Hereford HR HX Tel ■ The Great Danes Country Inn Old Hall Lane, Beachamwell, Norfolk PE BG Tel

■ Pickering Antique Centre Southgate, North Yorks YO BL Tel ■ The Horse and Hound Country Inn Bonchester Bridge, Hawick TD JN Tel ■ Home Mead Staple Fitzpaine, Taunton, Somerset TA SP Tel ■ The Thelbridge Cross Inn Thelbridge, Crediton, Devon EX SQ Tel ■ The Waggon Inn Higham Dykes, Northumberland NE DH Tel ■ The William IV Inn 8 Alrewas, Burton-onTrent, Staffordshire DE AN Tel

12 | July 2012 | www.practicalmotorhome.com paper crowns. You can find out more about the attempt by visiting www.thefriendlyclub.co.uk 110

C&CC sites across the UK will take part in a new Guinness World Record on June , for the most number of people wearing

Holiday hotshots Share your happy holiday moments with us

We snapped this ga gg le during a v isit to We ald and Do wnland mus eum in Si ngleton. M. Jones We took this picture of pretty Chesil Beach during a tour to Dorset. Chrissie Atkins

Yo u c an wa tch the fishermen bring in the da ily catch at Bridport harbo ur . Sa lly Dunne

The open-air Minack theatr e is built on a ro cky ou tcr op ov erlooking Po rthcurno Bay in Co rnw all. What a view! Betty Smith

We took this lo ve ly pi ctur e of Co rf e Ca stle in Dorset, on ou r to ur of the beautiful sou th coast last summer . Ka therine Pa lmer

STAR PICTURE

Paul & Alison win four great motorhome guide books

We we re de lighted when we fo und this pi ctur es que spo t ov erlooking the cr eek during a sunny we ek end in Mar ch on Hayling Island. Pa ul and Alison Milton

Email your pictures with the stories behind them ( words, plus name, address and contacts) to hotshots@practicalmotorhome.com. The best picture we publish will win All the Aires guides to France, and Spain & Portugal, and Go Motorhoming and Campervanning, plus Sea View Camping Britain from Vicarious Books, www.vicarious-shop. co.uk, . For competition terms and conditions, see p .

www.practicalmotorhome. com/forum Have your say at... From our FORUM at... say your Have j ISLAND HOPPING Sue W said… We’re thinking of going to Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily and then back to Genova this June. Is it necessary to pre-book the ferries or can you get tickets when you are ready to leave the island? Bonfire boy said… We had planned this trip for late August/September. Our plan was go from Dover to Nice, then over to Corsica. There are plenty of ferries and there are some very good discounts for early bookings. You can’t pre-book the Corsica to Sardinia ferry, though. We had also planned to go from Sardinia to Sicily, but only two ferries travel per week – even in high season.

j VAN SECURITY AlanRobins said… We have a Fiat Ducato-based ’van and were wandering what additional security devices we could add to the cab doors to help improve the basic security. Gudrun’s Dad said… In our early days we had a chain linking the driver and passenger doors. I felt this was a bit dangerous if we needed to get out quickly, though, so we now use a panic alarm with the pin attached to one door and the body to the other.

j GAS BOTTLE SIZE SuenDave said… I read an article claiming that a motorhome was not allowed to take a kg gas bottle on a ferry crossing to France – apparently kg was the largest size permitted. Is anyone aware of the current regulations on Eurotunnel? Tony Jones said… Every carrier makes its own rules on this – you need to check with the firm you’re planning to travel with. More usually, they stipulate only one bottle rather than a specific size limit.

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