A Chance Encounter

After an excellent lunch in Shrewsbury with some good friends, we were driving home to Telford past Salop Leisure when Gill suggested we pop in. We’d visited a few weeks before without seeing anything we fancied but as we had no plans for the afternoon we parked up and wandered in.

Salop Leisure deal primarily with caravans but they also sell statics and lodges. In one corner of their huge display area sit ten to fifteen motorhomes at any one time.  They are agents for Swift and Bessacarr but we quickly passed the shiny new (expensive!) models and headed for the nearly new vans.

We spotted a 2014 Peugeot-based Auto-Sleeper with no price in the window. As we hadn’t seen it before we stepped inside for a nosey. And that was all it took. We instantly felt at home in a bright airy lounge with two comfy looking settees opposite each other. The kitchen seemed extremely well equipped with a full size oven and hob, a large fridge with separate freezer compartment, and flip-up counter tops to increase worktop space. There was a French bed next to a well-appointed bathroom but as we looked around and took note of the two TV’s and satellite box, the heated towel rails and premium cab – we realised this was going to be well outside our budget.

A cheery voice asked if we minded a visitor and we were joined by George who asked if he could help. The vehicle had just come in so facts and figures weren’t readily available other than the price – which as suspected, was way beyond our means. That didn’t seem to worry George too much and we whiled away a good part of that afternoon just chatting and exploring what we were looking for in a motorhome before heading home thoughtfully.

We spent many days researching Auto-Sleepers as a company, and the Broadway FB model in particular, to find that it’s a popular model from a well-respected British company. The only downside to this particular van is its small payload. It is so well equipped that it is near its weight limit with full tanks and two passengers. This can be overcome however – see later posts – so despite continuing to look at other models, we felt that this was the one and we’d have to find the cash somehow.

Without going into all the details George was more than happy to negotiate, so after much wheeling & dealing we placed a deposit on Vince. I’d seen Virgin Media’s vans running round with names like Vincent van Rouge so blatantly stole the idea to call him Vincent van Gone…!

We join him for our handover on December 1st when we’ll stay over at Salop Leisure’s tiny campsite for two nights. So excited!

We’ll update you soon with photos and our first impressions of life in a motorhome 🙂

 

About Ken Tomlinson 217 Articles
Semi-retired biker, blogger and world’s best grandad. Doesn’t take life too seriously. Discovered motorhoming in 2015, sold up and downsized to fund more travels. Now with added Yorkshire.

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