Speed, excitement and burning rubber with Bailey Caravans and Wales Rally GB (part one)
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Team Caravan heads to Wales for a long weekend of sensational scenery and sideways action with Bailey and Wales Rally GB
We’re not exactly going incognito this weekend. Our Bailey outfit is arguably the most stand-out, ‘look-at-me’ rig ever to hit British roads, with enough motorsport graphics to make you seriously question its MIRO figure.
I’d bumped into old chum, Matt Neal (three-times British Touring Car Champion), at the October Caravan Show, and he’d offered to lend us his promotional outfit for a feature.
The sleek Honda Civic Touring towcar is stickered up to look like Matt’s Yuasa batteries-sponsored BTCC race car, but as his season is over, we decide to visit another all-action motorsport event – Wales Rally GB. What better way to combine high-speed racing antics with a bit of pleasant sightseeing, than a weekend in Cymru in a Bailey Pursuit 550-4 caravan?
Day 1 – picking up the caravan
We leave Peterborough at 6.30am and drive down to Honda’s Tech Centre near Slough to collect the rig. From there we head west on the M4, stopping off at the Bailey-flavoured Chipping Sodbury Caravans for a cup of tea and a chat with Ian and Jamie. There are plenty of caravans for sale here, with no dealer charge on new Baileys. The weather’s grim and with a good three hours towing ahead, we say our goodbyes and head up the M5.Our first stop is Lady Margaret’s Park, a delightful Caravan Club site in Chirk just over the Welsh Border. The site is ideally situated for the weekend’s antics, being a short drive to the main Rally Service Park in Deeside; right next to Chirk Castle for the Rally Fest on Saturday and only 50 minutes from Gartheiniog Forest where we’re going tomorrow morning for the start of the race.
Once the van is ensconced on one of site’s 103 pitches, we jump in the Honda and head north to Deeside, where we watch the ceremonial race start on a big screen and wait to see the cars returning to the Service Park.
The Service Park is free to enter, which is a far cry for Formula One’s overpriced tomfoolery. You can literally stand right next to the cars as they’re worked on and chat with the drivers. Just don’t get in the way.
These days, the top cars are all short-wheelbase hatchbacks: Fiesta RSs, Hyundai i20s, Citroën DS3s, JCW Minis and the all-conquering VW Polo WRC. Small they may be, but these ‘pocket-rockets’ pack 300bhp+ and astonishing 4WD grip that launches them to 60mph in three seconds… on gravel!
Further down the pecking order are Subarus, Mitsubishis and a whole host of cool historic rally cars, including Mk I and II Ford Escorts and the god-like Metro 6R4. It’s petrolhead heaven.
With an early start planned, we head back to Chirk and set the alarm for 5am.
Day 2 – grub's up, get packed, get out!
It’s a mild and damp autumn weekend, but the van is warm and cosy. With twin-single beds it’s ideal for a lads’ weekend away. Ben and I sleep soundly, but the alarm goes off all too soon. I make a rally breakfast (sausage sandwiches and a cafetiere of coffee), and for speed’s sake, we use the toasty facilities on site, which prove excellent (the second shower along in the men’s is best!).Within the hour the car is packed and we’re sweeping along empty Welsh roads as the gloom lifts and the sky brightens behind us. We’re heading for the forests of Gartheiniog via the A5, A495, A458 and the A470. The roads are good and we’re wondering if we should have stuck to our Plan A, of pitching in the forest at Gartheiniog overnight.
As we begin the drive up a forest track on slippery mud, the answer becomes clear. It might have been doable, but it would have been extremely stressful with steep drops at the side of the road, and the solo car weaving in the existing tyre tracks.
We keep climbing and pass miles of parked cars on the verges. Eventually we reach the end and are told where to park. “It’s forty-five minutes to the stage from here,” says a marshall. We have just 10 minutes until the start of the race.
“I can take you,” says a Welsh lad on a quad bike. “Your gear in the box and one on each side – it’ll cost you a tenner.” We obviously look desperate. Still, in five minutes flat we’re at the start line, just as the first car rolls up to the lights.
The sights, the sounds, the smells...
World Rally is an assault on the visual and aural senses. The lurid rally cars explode off the line in a hail of gravel and mud, tyres tearing at the track, fighting for grip.The top cars feature anti-lag technology designed to keep their turbos spinning between gear changes and on the overrun. Raw fuel is fed into the exhaust system, igniting due to the temperature and causing the engine to crackle and pop like a flatulent great-aunt. It sounds incredible.
Even on a forest track, with trees just feet away, the cars are passing us at 80-90mph. The forest is filled with thousands of spectators from all over the world, though the Czechs and the Irish seem to have turned the area around me into unofficial embassies. The atmosphere is brilliant.
After several hours and hundreds of photos, we walk back to the car, past lines of cars, vans and motorhomes; the occupants must have arrived last night, drunk beers around a campfire and let off fireworks! The race cars will be back later to repeat the stage, but we’re off sightseeing.
We drive down to Oswestry and visit the local Tourist Information Centre. A lovely lady called Sian, gives us the lowdown on the region and recommends the new Wilfred Owen Town Trail.
Renowned War Poet, Owen, was born in the town in 1893, and, 100 years after The Great War, a town walk has been created to celebrate his short life. The 90-120 minute walk around the town takes in the Cambrian Railway, the Tudor Llwyd Mansion, Wilfred Owen Green, the Town Museum, war memorials and much more.
Owen was tragically killed just a week before the end of the war. The terrible news was delivered to his family just as the town bells began to signal victory on Armistice Day. Oh the irony.
And now for something completely different!
From Oswestry, we head to the impressive Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a jaw-dropping feat of engineering by Thomas Telford. The imposing structure carries the Llangollen branch of the Shropshire Union Canal over the River Dee. At 307m long, it towers 37m above the river. That doesn’t sound much, but it’s enough to induce vertigo in those with a fear of heights (namely, me).The sky has cleared somewhat for the late afternoon, and the low, golden light slices through the clouds, illuminating the bridge beautifully as an elegant narrowboat slides by. A narrow walkway runs parallel to the waterway, which is contained in a long ‘tin’ gulley, just wide enough for one boat. The panoramic views are excellent, making it a great spot for keen snappers.
As the sun drops, we head back to Lady Margaret’s Park and Bailey’s cosy caravan. The Truma combi heater has been left on the ECO setting all day, so it’s pleasingly warm without costing the earth.
Anyway, with Chirk just a 15-minute walk from the site, it’s time to go and watch Scotland play Ireland at footie and grab an Indian meal for dinner. A quality end to a perfect day!
For more information on the next event, click over to the Wales Rally GB website. For part two of our Caravan magazine Bailey Wales Rally GB trip, click here.
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