Fifty years later, I feel I have recovered enough from the 1969 family holiday to venture forth once again, albeit in sunnier times and climes!

Caravan technology has moved on a lot in half a century, with almost everything on the market bristling with creature comforts such as Hot and Cold running water, Central heating, Double glazing and flushing loo, they are warm, extremely comfortable and a very pleasant place to be even when it does rain.

Cars too are very very different. A modern 1.0 litre supermini probably has more power than the Ford Zephyr 6 we used to have, with its 2.6 litre 6 cylinder engine, and so the options are highly promising for anybody wanting to dip their toes into towing.

We chose a Seat Ateca as our 'Tug' with all wheel drive and a 190hp TDi engine, not only plenty of power but good traction and stability too, all essential for our proposed travels around Europe. It's no coincidence the Ateca has won several Towcar of the year awards judging by our early forays around the South West.

On the towbar is our Bailey Pegasus 514, which weighs in at 1466kg fully laden, has an Al-Ko ATC stability system (anti-snake) which is also important as it's 24' long so probably could be the tail that wags the dog under some conditions!









On the roof are our Mountain bikes, so we can explore, and keep fit whilst sampling the local gastronomy, and in the boot, a 1.6 metre inflatable boat with a 4hp outboard so when we get to a nice beach, we can go and have some fun in the surf too.

Thats the plan, but will it work?

We are about to find out....