I’m sure I’ve written about rust in the past. But when you’re daft enough to buy an old van, that’s what you get.
So, a few years ago, we had a scrape.
And then we opened a bar, so we didn’t check on the van often enough. The cover had blown off that particular corner in a storm and the damaged bit was exposed for a few months.
Which resulted in.
It looks bad, but it was a lot worse. Fortunately, panels are available.
Needs a bit of work, but …
It’s already fading away into the past, although it was only a couple of weeks ago.
The van coped really well with the distance, and the travelling between towns. Only a couple of things broke.
Our first stop, at Banham, involved a most pleasant afternoon with old friends (from the northeast).
Our stay in Banham was something of an accident; we’d not realised that we’d stayed at the same place a decade or so earlier. After a couple of days, we moved on.
I’d never been to Great Yarmouth before; I found, as I’d been advised, that it resembles Blackpool.
Gorleston was much nicer, although the dog enjoyed the beach at both places. We did manage to find some pretty cool bars, particularly the Tombstone brewery and Thirsty Crow.
On the return trip, there was the compulsory stay in Peterborough.
I’d never been to Bakewell before, or (until a couple of years ago) know about the Peakender beer festival. I really wanted to go last year, but knew it wouldn’t be wise to leave the bar for four days in our first year (I’d already done that for Glastonbury).
So, this year, we made the decision to go as a team and close the bar. We didn’t regret it for a second.
The festival was more than a beer thing, there was music and a lovely vibe about the place. It was dog friendly and we even found a nearby stream for the hound.
The Thornbridge brewery tap room was a must at the close of the festival, as was some time in the town itself.
And we were so pleased that the van only smoked a little bit and just one bit fell off.
I’m currently watching the Quatermass Xperiment (1955) on TV.
AKA the creeping unknown.
As a young child, I found this film pretty scary. Following the return of a space ship to Earth, with its nose buried deep in the ground, the experts arrived at the crash site.
As a young child, I wouldn’t have known what a VW T2 was, even though I had one of those German police VW car and van models.
So I wouldn’t have noticed that the experts had arrived in a T2 split screen.
One unusual thing about the van was the radio set in the engine compartment!
So we now have two VW vans. It’d be good if the new one lasts as long as its older brother.
Sanding and Kurust and Waxoyl happened today.
We finally made time to tackle the steps and wheel arches. Everything’s sanded and treated, ready for priming (when there’s time).
However, the pub has once more taken over my life. Still, was nice to stop off at the pub for a (not so) quick one.
The winter hasn’t been kind to the van.
The rust was there when we bought the van, almost a couple of years ago. But, inevitably, it’s now burst through the paint. There are some other, less obvious, patches too.
Time to order some paint.
On our fourth attempt this year, we managed to get away in the van for a couple of days. The van didn’t even break down.
We didn’t want to risk too long a distance after the van’s recent major surgery, so decided on Whitby.
We stayed there last year, but that was pre-van. Since we now have a hound, the bikes remained at home, although we took the same route along the cinder path.
To be honest, it was good to get away with the dog; she probably spends too much of her life in a pub, so the break will have been good for her.
We also took her to Whitby Brewery.
Since it was just down the road and, now important to us, is dog friendly, we drove to Robin Hood’s Bay. Where we found a pretty cool Transporter.
The hound was keen to demonstrate her hole digging prowess.
Today, before heading home, we stopped off at Scarborough.
And now we’re home. Work tomorrow. but, since the weather’s nice, there’s time for a beer in the garden.
We’ve swapped the car for the van this week. Despite the fact that it’s so expensive to run, we’re enjoying using the van every day.
