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HISTORY YEAR
BY YEAR
Dorling Kindersley
ISBN 9781405367127
£30 hardback
Clive White finds some useful kit for caravanners
DOCK AROUND
THE CLOCK
THE CASE FOR
CHARGING
NEED MORE power for your iPhone 4?
An hour’s solar charge from the Eton
Mobius provides an extra 25min talk
time, 20min internet use, 35min video
playback or more than two hours’
audio playback. The Mobius, which
doubles as a phone case, can also be
charged via the included Micro-USB
cable and conveniently syncs with
iTunes. A standby switch controls
direct power transfer to the iPhone 4,
allowing the case to charge and store
energy, only dispensing power when
you need it. It features battery and
solar charge indicators, weighs
3.4oz and costs £69.95 from
nevada.co.uk or call 02392 313090.
HIDE WITH PRIDE
LEATHER UPHOLSTERY, clothing and
footwear will all benefit from Renapur’s
environmentally-friendly products.
Leather Cleaner (£12) is a nonaggressive, non-abrasive formula that
gently lifts accumulated dirt. Made
from plant extracts, pH neutral and
100% biodegradable, it can be diluted
up to 50 times with water. Meanwhile,
Leather Balsam’s natural ingredients,
including beeswax and jojoba oil, feed
and nourish to maintain or restore
leather’s suppleness, prevent cracking
and restore colour. It is easily absorbed
and a little goes a long way – a £12 pot
is said to contain enough for up to
15 car interior applications. See
renapur.com or call 0800 993 0130.
84 The Caravan Club Magazine
TURN YOUR iPod/iPhone into a bedside
alarm clock with the retro-styled Tick Tock
Dock alarm clock speaker system from
Edifier. Two 360° omni-directional full-range
speakers give a rich sound, controlled using
your iPod/iPhone for playlist navigation, FM
tuning and volume control. The pivoting dock
allows independent use of the clock, FM radio
or other audio sources via the auxiliary input.
It has five pre-set alarms, time synchronisation
with your iPhone, a selection of media options
and day-selective alarm for your weekend sleep
in. Available in black, silver and beige from
amazon.co.uk. SRP £59.99.
COMMON SENSORS
THE TA22 TPMS from TyrePal is an easy-to-fit and use tyre-pressure monitoring system
developed in response to feedback from customers. They requested a system that can be
used solely on the caravan, provides simplified warning data, enables simple fitting of
extra sensors (eg to a spare wheel), allows the easy addition of a signal booster
(if needed) and is affordable. Tyre pressures and temperatures are fully monitored
but the simplified display activates only when a problem occurs. The products start
from £125 with the TA22/2 two-wheel system. Four and six-sensor systems cost
£165 and £220 respectively with additional sensors costing £29 each and the
Signal Booster £39. Full details at
tyrepal.co.uk or call 01780 755490.
SQUEAKSPEAK
HOW ANNOYING is it when your vehicle
develops a squeak or rattle? Newgate
offers a range of speciality lubricants,
felt and rubber pads designed to deal
with all manner of noisy irritant, used by
manufacturers and the trade. They are
also available to individuals either
separately or as a kit (£119.40). Useful
separate items include the F-27 40ml
Felt Pen (£16.74), a dry-film lubricant for
plastic-on-plastic noises; UniFlor 8470
Squeaks & Rattles Oil 15ml Hypo-oiler
(£13.14) – a good general/multi-purpose
remedy for hard-to-reach areas which
has a wide temperature range and is
also useful for external applications;
and various self-adhesive backed
Automotive Felts & Foams (£29.40)
for internal/external use to help with
wind noise and even water ingress.
Full details at newgateonline.com or
call 01244 660771.
DRAUGHTS
IN CHECK
IF IT gets a bit breezy through the wheel
arches when you are sitting in the
awning, you probably need a Draught
Stoppa. Used in conjunction with an
awning skirt (not supplied), the
Draught Stoppa is shaped to fit most
single or twin-axle wheelarches
(£14.95 and £22.95 respectively plus
£4.95 p&p). The lightweight plastic
draught excluder fits any spoked or
pierced wheel and allows a hook-andloop strap to pass through it even with
various wheel locks fitted. Draught
Stoppa is non-marking and folds for
storage. See jaiddesigns.talktalk.net
or call 01454 323515.
This beautifullypresented book
somehow manages to
of
encapsulate the history
pages.
512
in
rld
wo
ed
ilis
the civ
e is the timeline
tur
fea
The outstanding
scribed as probably
that runs throughout. De
ever assembled”,
ve
“the most comprehensi
discoveries
and
nts
eve
jor
it highlights ma
through the millennia.
ll-illustrated miniIt is interspersed with we
l periods and important
features explaining centra
e ‘The Rise of the
lud
discoveries – subjects inc
Printing’, ‘The Story
of
ry
Sto
e
Roman Empire’, ‘Th
ace Race’ for example.
of Electricity’ and ‘The Sp
ded sections, care has
r-co
Split into eight colou
ievements and events
been taken to highlight ach
rldwide rather than
related to civilisations wo
ford University’s
Ox
As
st.
focusing on the We
foreword, “progress
David Parrott says in his
ial organisation and
and discovery, feats of soc
tus quo... are as likely to
sta
al
litic
challenges to a po
as in France or Spain.”
originate in India or Egypt
ectory’ at the back
‘dir
nt
Featuring an excelle
s as well as the dates of
covering rulers and leader
onceived book will be
key discoveries, this well-c
ents and parents when
par
nd
indispensable to gra
uring for help with their
the youngsters are clamo
history homework!
THE BOOK OF THE
STANDARD MOTOR
COMPANY
By Graham Robson
Veloce Publishing
ISBN 9781845843434
£35 hardback
Only those of us of
a certain age may
remember the Standard Motor Com
pany.
For many years it was one of the large
st and most
significant makers in Britain’s automot
ive industry,
yet nowadays Standard is largely forg
otten.
Once the biggest motor industry emp
loyer
in Coventry, it was one of the most impo
rtant
wartime manufacturers – it not only
built more
than 500,000 Ferguson tractors but
it also came
to rescue of Triumph in 1945.
Too little seems to have been written
about
Standard over the years, but now prol
ific
automotive writer and author Grah
am Robson
has put that to rights with this definitiv
e volume.
Tracing the company’s history from
its earliest
roots, Robson gives a thorough and
in-depth
account of not only vehicle producti
on but also
aero engine and aircraft manufacture
.
So how did this automotive giant fail
and
become overshadowed by its Trium
ph offshoot?
All is revealed in this detailed and prof
usely
illustrated account.
THE SECRET LIFE OF BL
ETCHLEY PARK
Sinclair McKay
Aurum Press
ISBN
9781845136338
£8.99 paperback
Many of us are
already aware of the
role played by the
codebreakers of
Bletchley Park during
the Second World
War – historian and
cryptoanalyst Sir Harry Hin
sley believed it
shortened the conflict by
at least two years.
But few realise just how eno
rmous the
operation at that country
house in
Buckinghamshire was, and
that working
alongside the likes of cel
ebrated boffins such
as Alan Turing and Dilly Kno
x, were thousands
of others who all played the
ir essential parts.
This book examines what
it was like to
work there – the long ho
urs, the conditions,
the socialising and the nee
d for absolute
secrecy. Featuring interv
iews with former
staff, this is the tale of the
unsung heroes
who kept their silence for
decades after the
war. Some of their recolle
ctions make for
touching reading. “What
I regretted was that
my father died long before
I could reveal
anything,” says Bletchley
veteran Sheila
Lawn. “I am so sorry my
father couldn’t
have... he would have bee
n so interested.”
Featuring a short black-and
-white
photography section, this
is a fascinating
snapshot of war-time his
tory.
COOL CARAVANNING
Caroline Mills
New Holland
ISBN 9781847735447
£14.99 paperback
We already know
caravanning’s cool, so
agrees.
it’s great when someone else
she is primarily
s
say
Author Caroline Mills
why we go camping –
for
s
son
rea
e
interested in “th
– Finchdale Abbey
location, location, location”
, for example, sits
ham
Dur
Caravan Park in County
ient ruins.
right next to mysterious anc
sites make the cut.
Several of The Caravan Club’s
managed by the
but
st
Tru
al
ion
Owned by the Nat
sque Houghton Mill in
Club, for example, is picture
of maintenance are
s
ard
Cambridgeshire (“stand
g immaculate”),
kin
loo
ays
alw
site
high, with the
ear
re ns high praise –
while Oaklea CL in Lincolnshi
a member [of the Club]
ing
om
“it would be worth bec
simply to visit here alone.”
s on hundreds of
Rather than providing snippet
in-depth feel for the
an
s
der
rea
s
locations, Mills give
them – Oaklea’s owners
sites and the people who run
described as “gentle,
are
le,
Piotr and Pam, for examp
whose characters and
laid-back and relaxed souls
den site.”
passions rub off on their gar
at the front detailing
list
the
is
A useful addition
ape lovers’,
sites that are good for ‘landsc
‘walkers’ etc.
’,
‘beachcombers’, ‘gourmets
November 2011 The Caravan Club Magazine 85