Rolls-Royce of caravans celebrated

Caravanning fans of the golden oldies will be able to step back in time to pretty much where it all began, with a special celebration of one of the UK’s most prestigious manufacturers of holiday caravans.

A range of activities including an exhibition and talks will take place in the English county of Hampshire during July and August, putting the spotlight on Bertram Hutchings Caravans Ltd (later known as Winchester Caravans) which built its first caravan more than 100 years ago.

Known as ‘The Rolls-Royce of Caravans’, the Winchester Caravans works was located on Stockbridge Road in the Hampshire city. Spanning across five decades and transcending two World Wars, the business was one of the few to successfully produce a range of horse-drawn, motor and trailer caravans.

Born in Winchester in 1887, Bertram Hutchings opened the city’s first health food shop in 1910, and his interest in a healthy lifestyle and outdoor living quickly led to the foundation of his caravan building enterprise in 1912.

As a member of the Royal Photographic Society, Hutchings’ historic photos include images of his many caravan designs taken at locations across Hampshire, and in 2015 a significant collection of the old photographs, ephemera and journals relating to Winchester Caravans was donated to the UK-based Caravan and Motorhome Club Collection.

According to an article in the February 1936 edition of The Caravan magazine (and reproduced on the RVhistory.com website,) Bertram Hutchings said he was "bitten with the caravan craze" in 1911.

Not unlike some of today's monster-vans he said his first two-berth horse-drawn caravan, constructed of "tongued-and-grooved pine boards with the framing outside", was "big and cumbersome... (and) needed two powerful horses to draw it...".

Run in partnership with the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu which has a significant caravan collection itself,

"It is unusual for the era that such a stunning visual record of a caravan business was created, but for it to have survived to this day is truly remarkable," explained Senior Curator of the Caravan and Motorhome Club Collection, Angela Willis.

"I am delighted that Bertram Hutchings’ story is returning to Winchester this summer, and we can celebrate his legacy on leisure travel."

Meanwhile, if you fancy owning a 'modern' horse-drawn type timber trailer in the style of one of the very early Bertram Hutchings caravans, there's one currently for sale in Queensland, priced at $55,000.