CLUB CENTENARY SPECIAL
WINNING THE BATTLE
BY THE END OF THE 1930S THE CARAVAN CLUB FACED
DISSOLUTION, AND A DRAMATIC CHANGE OF FORTUNE
WAS NEEDED IF IT WAS TO SURVIVE WORLD WAR II
B
Y 1938, the Club was on the verge of
bankruptcy. But just as it seemed it
would be wound up, Bernard
Dolman saved it for a second time. You may
recall from last month’s instalment of the
Club’s history that Dolman, along with Mit
Harris, agreed to take over the running of
the organisation from founder J Harris
Stone in the mid-1930s, just when it looked
as though lack of interest and a shortage of
funds would result in its downfall.
This time around, Dolman was willing
to take over the Club’s shares rather than
see it go to the wall. He had sold his
publications business – including The
Caravan and Trailer magazine – to the
Link House Group, giving the Club an
opportunity to re-establish links with the
magazine which it had severed for political
reasons in 1937.
Link House didn’t want the Club to fall
into the hands of a rival magazine – namely
Caravan World – and considered it an
attractive proposition, even with debts and
falling membership. Caravan World was
soon to be bought by Link House too, and
together with The Caravan and Trailer,
merged into The Caravan.
Walter Isaac, the Chairman of Link
House, became the Club’s new Chairman,
while Bill Whiteman was appointed both
Editor Designate of The Caravan and Hon
Secretary of the Club, before a full-time
secretary was appointed in December
1938. Dolman was elected to the board.
This was the point the Club effectively
became two bodies – the Club Company,
or management side, which controlled
finance, staff and premises, and the Club
members’ side, which controlled policy,
admissions to membership and social
activities. Every penny of income was to be
spent on members’ interests.
A National Rally, which attracted 181
caravans and their occupants, was quickly
organised for 1938 in the grounds of
Warwick Castle. It was claimed to be the
largest rally ever held in the history of a
club in Britain. Competitions highlighting
areas of design, construction and
equipment where improvement was
needed were instigated at this event.
There were awards for chassis fittings,
food storage, water installations, heating
equipment, means of drying clothes,
crockery and cutlery storage, and design
for all-year use. There were also reversing
and braking competitions. You could say,
this was the forerunner to the Club’s
Design Awards of today.
ABOVE: Caravans
were used as first
aid posts during
World War II. In
charge above is
Mrs M Fowler, OBE,
Vice President of
the Club
DECEMBER 2006 THE CARAVAN CLUB MAGAZINE 33
SPECIAL CLUB CENTENARY
“...the Club played an important role in
helping the hundreds of people who were
forced to use caravans as emergency homes”
This attendance record would be beaten
the following year, as the National Rally
stopped off at the Solarium in Overstone,
near Northampton – some 201 outfits
pitched up. There were now seven Centres
in existence holding around 500 meets a
year between them.
Between 1938-40 there were various
developments that helped shape the
immediate future of the Club. There was a
successful attempt to obtain a certificate
of exemption from Public Health Act
restrictions; site standards were laid
down, and hundreds were inspected by
members; an association was formed with
the RAC; a code of conduct was adopted;
and the Club became a constituent body
of the National Caravan Council (NCC)
as a founder member.
When war broke out in 1939, Whiteman
was on his way north on a mission to reform
the North-Eastern Centre – the Club’s
oldest local Centre – and to form a Scottish
Centre. These developments would have to
wait until hostilities were over.
Link House moved its operation from
Grays Inn Road in London to Purley,
Surrey, and it became the national clearing
house for information and advice on
anything to do with caravans and trailers
during the war. As such, the Club played
an important role in helping the hundreds
of people who were forced to use caravans
as emergency homes.
With the country threatened with
invasion, caravans were prohibited in a
10-mile deep belt along the entire east
coast, and along the south coast as far west
as Bournemouth. The Daily Express
actually ran a scare story about caravans
being used by German spies!
The Club managed to obtain a ruling that
caravans need not be camouflaged and had
to defend touring caravans against the threat
of rates, which would be applied to the
landowner and would inevitably make
farmers reluctant to accept caravans onto
their land.
Just two rallies were held in 1940 – petrol
rationing ensured these were the last two
meets to be staged during the war years –
but despite this membership was at an
all-time high. The AGM of 1941 saw
membership at 1729; incredibly some 216
new members had joined since the outbreak
of hostilities.
The acquisition of campsites for
exclusive use by members of the Club was
discussed at the next board meeting in
October 1942, as was a Caravan Freedom
Fund – to fight restrictive legislation that
might affect Club members.
On 27 June 1945, the Scottish Caravan
Club became the Scottish Division of
The Caravan Club, and by 1947 Club
membership stood at 4200, with 13
Centres and Divisions. This year also saw
the Town & Country Planning Act come
into force. This permitted land to be used
for the ‘placing thereon of caravans and
tents for 28 days in any 12 months without
planning consent’.
Another important move for the Club
immediately after the war was
sponsorship of the Movable Dwelling
Conference 1947-49. Its report had a
profound effect for good on official
thinking on caravans, thanks to scores of
mayors, councillors and officials being
entertained at rallies and dinners.
The Club, and caravanning as a whole,
was to enter the 1950s in a much more
healthy state than could ever have been
imagined just a decade earlier.
The story of the Club is continued in the
January 2007 issue of the Magazine. This
article features excerpts from The History
of the Caravan Club 1907-2007, a special,
limited-edition book celebrating the Club’s
Centenary, priced at £24.99. For details on
how to order your copy, please see the
Centenary merchandise promotion on p78
of this issue of the Magazine.
Centenary events
Throughout 2007 the Club will be
staging special Centenary events.
Here is a taster…
17-25 February – Centenary Exhibition
at the National Boat, Caravan and
Leisure Show, NEC. You can see The
Wanderer in the flesh, and the winner
of the Club’s Caravan of the Future
competition will be unveiled
25-29 May – Centenary Year National
Rally, at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire
1 June – Centenary Ball at the
Grosvenor House Hotel in London
OPPOSITE PAGE
TOP: Members
settle down at the
National Rally at
Overstone Park,
Northamptonshire
in 1947 – the Club’s
40th anniversary
BOTTOM: Colonies
of caravan dwellers
were springing up
outside areas
affected by nightly
air raids and among
them were a
number of people
bombed out of
their homes. These
caravanners in
Hertfordshire had
their own women
roof-spotters and
Home Guard; here
with a youngster
keeping in step
THIS PAGE
TOP: Dr Leslie
Burgin, Minister
of Transport in
1938, enjoys the
caravanning
experience
BOTTOM: During
the National Rally
of 1947 at
Overstone,
Lord Ailesbury
(Club President,
right) presents a
prize to J R White
of the South
Western Centre
In addition, a range of special
memorabilia is available, further details
of which you can find in the Centenary
promotion on p78 of this issue.
TIME LINE
1938
1938
Autumn 1938
1939
1940
June 1941
August 1941
27 June 1945
1947
1947
The Caravan and Trailer
magazine is bought by
the Link House Group,
and the Club re-establishes
links with the publication
Some 181 outfits attend
the National Rally at
Warwick Castle – a record
attendance for a club
meet in Britain at the time
A rally in Southport
attracts 100 caravans
and a great deal of interest
from the non-caravanning
public and press
A record 201 outfits
turn up for the National
Rally near Northampton
Delamere Forest,
Cheshire and Cheddar in
Somerset are the last two
rally destinations during
the war years
Club membership stands
at 1729, with over 200
new members since the
outbreak of the war
The 100th edition of
The Caravan magazine
is issued
The Scottish Caravan
Club, which was founded
in 1936, becomes the
Scottish Division of
The Caravan Club
Membership stands
at a very healthy 4200
and the Club boasts
13 Centres and Divisions
Caravanners and the
Club benefit from the
Town & Country
Planning Act
34 THE CARAVAN CLUB MAGAZINE
www.caravanclub.co.uk
DECEMBER 2006 THE CARAVAN CLUB MAGAZINE 35