Yearning for an awning

Back in April, Bailey of Bristol, who specialise in both caravans and motorhomes loaned us an Alliance 70-6 motorhome.

With its inbuilt sat-nav, Truma 100w solar panel and 160 BHP Peugeot engine, the Bailey Alliance is a cut above the other motorhomes at the more affordable end of the market.

There is another great feature as well… a wind out ‘canopy’ or ‘box’ awning.

Having one of these brings two big benefits; we get sun or rain protection and all for minimum effort. In addition, it allows us the option of attaching an air awning to the box mechanism. Like half a tent!

Surely, motorhomes are for touring. Why go through all the grief of putting an awning up if you want to hit the road the next morning? Because much like tents, awnings have come a long way since the rods and steel pole era. Our brand-new Prima awning is inflatable. No poles, just a pump, a few pegs and it is up. If there are two of you on the job, it will take 10 minutes. Tops.

On our first day at the Caravan and Motorhome Club’s beautiful Incleboro Fields site in North Norfolk, we had no plans to drive anywhere. Having hooked up and set up camp, we set off on a glorious coastal hike southeast towards the quirky delights of Cromer. We were on the hunt for fresh crab and we were not disappointed.

Taking our dressed crab back to the campsite, we whipped up a crab linguine in the spacious Alliance 70-6. A great van, on a lovely site, drinking a fine local ale all in the warmth and comfort of our Prima awning. As the last of the sun disappeared, we made our plans for our second day.

The next morning, we took a 45-minute walk north-west along the coast to the pretty town of Sheringham. There we indulged in some more fresh crab. This time in sandwich form, bought from a charming fish kiosk at the bottom of the high street. After munching that on Sheringham’s stony beach and watching the waves of the North Sea crash and toss the variety of boats and dinghies about, we headed back to the campsite to say our goodbyes to Incleboro Fields and the extremely hospitable Caravan and Motorhome Club wardens. What a great job they do.

This time the awning took us 15 minutes to pack away (allowing a little more time to squeeze out all the air and neatly fold it all away) and we were off to explore further north along the Norfolk coastline.

A proper afternoon touring, we took in Welbourne, Salthouse, Blakeney and Stiffkey before stopping for a ham sandwich (in the van, of course) just along from Wells-Next-The-Sea. There are so many beautiful villages along this coastal road, typified by their distinctive flint cottages and proximity to that famous stretch of sea.

Eventually we arrived at the grounds of Holkham Hall. Despite being one of North Norfolk’s most popular tourist spots, we easily found a spot to park the motorhome. We spent the afternoon walking around the vast lake, incredible woodland and its very own Holkham Church.

So do we recommend North Norfolk and Incleboro Fields campsite? Oh, yes.

The Bailey Alliance 70-6 is a great motorhome as well. Our Bailey Advance 76-4 was in for a service and we were very happy to give Bailey’s latest range of vans a road test. We may be changing motorhomes soon and it is safe to say that Mel has her eyes on an Alliance Motorhome!

As for the Prima awning? What an addition. It was just so easy to put up. Why would you not want one?

Click here to watch our North Norfolk exploits…