One week and one day after leaving work – what better than a family day out. With lunch packed and coins for the pier amusements in good supply, we took a trip down memory lane, or rather the M23 to Brighton, and, as we did, so we joined the merry throng that was primarily VW and VW enthusiasts. Our destination, The “Brighton Breeze” (organised by The Split Screen Van Club).
Our car is not (at all) blessed with great acceleration, so imagine the excitement when we overtook Camper Vans of every hue, year and condition en-route. As we did so, we rang out hearty cheers, and waved frantically as we overtook some at high speed. Well, 50mph was quite fast enough in most cases. The vehicles that had pulled onto the hard shoulder with engine problems I guess weren’t so impressed at our enthusiasm. It was raining too, which may have dampened some spirits, but not ours!
On arrival at Brighton, we drove past a few spluttering machines and took our place in a free car park before starting our stroll amongst the now resting, and sometimes worn out vehicles. My camera was poised, the boys got ready to pose beside their favourite “Splitties”… Ah Camper Van heaven.
Overall we were mightily impressed by the exhibits. The immaculately restored and the customised were parked in close proximity to some of the more, how shall we say, forlorn looking specimens, still being lovingly attended to by their owners. It truly was a sight to behold, and a great display. Fortunately we were able to mark our visit by purchasing some suitable event memorabilia. I decided against buying a spare door panel, steering wheel, headlights and tool kits in favour of two t-shirts for Daddy and one for each of the boys. Mummy had a button badge or two. You must understand the family passion for VW nostalgia is shared by the whole family. Once we were done, we visited the pier, to shoot to smithereens some Dinosaurs, race the Gran Tourismo and eat some overpriced and heavily battered fish and chips to conclude our grand day out.
The only disappointment (if there was one), was that we didn’t end our day driving home in a Camper Van of our very own. Neither, it later occurred to me, would some of the exhibitors…
See also
Brighton Breeze 2009
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