33' "caravan" (house trailer) - Botesdale, Suffolk, UK - 1952
(image map - move cursor over)
(1998 Snappy 3.0 capture with 8-mm camcorder from 127 negative on light box)
The trailer was rented for the sum of £5 (then £1 = $ 2.82 US) a week.
It was placed on the site for us and removed (in two pieces) after we had
vacated it.
This is looking east (note the chimney pot on the house across the street
to the left and the weather vane to the right). We were able to get electric
power from the pole right there (though it had to be stepped down to 110-v
from 220-v and the 50-Hz [cps then] didn't do well with our US phonograph
turntable speed!) Gas mantle lights were used before that was connected.
One time something boiled over on the electric stove and the circuit
breaker didn't act quickly enough - blowing up the kwhr-meter on the outside
pole! The 1949 Stewart-Warner AM-FM-Phono console unit was heavily used to
listen to the medium-wave AFN AM broadcasts from West Germany in the evenings
with Hit Parade, Dragnet, Ozzie and Harriet, etc. Some daytime mw stations
from France were noted, but I wasn't into DXing yet :< (In fact, I was very
puzzled that the radio listings in the newspaper had two BBC's.)
Running water was obtained from installing a long, burried line running
off to the right to the main street. We were not so lucky with any sewage
connection though!
The leftmost window is over the kitchen sink, the middle two windows are
for the main room, and the other one for one bedroom. My room had windows on
the right end and the other side (as well as that separate door!)
This all survived that Jan 1953 North Sea Storm winds (though the shelter
from that hedge looks less than I'd thought at the time!). My Mom's main
worry was that some roofing tile/slate might come flying and slice right thru
those rather flimsy trailer walls. Some of the other smaller units in a park
closer to the base did flip over.
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Created: December 12, 2001
Updated: December 15, 2001
The trailer was rented for the sum of £5 (then £1 = $ 2.82 US) a week. It was placed on the site for us and removed (in two pieces) after we had vacated it. This is looking east (note the chimney pot on the house across the street to the left and the weather vane to the right). We were able to get electric power from the pole right there (though it had to be stepped down to 110-v from 220-v and the 50-Hz [cps then] didn't do well with our US phonograph turntable speed!) Gas mantle lights were used before that was connected. One time something boiled over on the electric stove and the circuit breaker didn't act quickly enough - blowing up the kwhr-meter on the outside pole! The 1949 Stewart-Warner AM-FM-Phono console unit was heavily used to listen to the medium-wave AFN AM broadcasts from West Germany in the evenings with Hit Parade, Dragnet, Ozzie and Harriet, etc. Some daytime mw stations from France were noted, but I wasn't into DXing yet :< (In fact, I was very puzzled that the radio listings in the newspaper had two BBC's.) Running water was obtained from installing a long, burried line running off to the right to the main street. We were not so lucky with any sewage connection though! The leftmost window is over the kitchen sink, the middle two windows are for the main room, and the other one for one bedroom. My room had windows on the right end and the other side (as well as that separate door!) This all survived that Jan 1953 North Sea Storm winds (though the shelter from that hedge looks less than I'd thought at the time!). My Mom's main worry was that some roofing tile/slate might come flying and slice right thru those rather flimsy trailer walls. Some of the other smaller units in a park closer to the base did flip over.