Dandy Wannabes?

Hi Dandy campers.
Apart from school outings . My first camping experience was at paington Devon. Five lads two borrowed scout tents and one mark 1 Ford Cortina. A wonderful week , scrumpy and hangovers.
I was sold on the camping , I have camped ever since .
We have a Cabanon Antigua for car camping and a selection of tents for motorcycle camping, including a nice Dutch 3man cotton dome/tunnel.
I still camp easter to october but my OH is getting less fond of the bike and prefers car camping. The Cabanon takes a bit of drying out and a TT would be worse.
I was aware that Dandys existed but I don't think I had ever seen one nor did I know they are PVC.
A google search for a suitable F/C brought up a Dandy .OMG an answer to a prayer , it seemed to good to be true . After reading as much about them as possible Gill and I travelled down to Rivadandy to check them out .
Wonderful , what a fantastic idea . Why on earth do people buy cotton campers.
At the moment we are trying to buy a suitable Dandy at a suitable price.
If we get one in time for Hogmanay we'll be at Tibbie Shiels by St Mary's Loch . I'm sure Al and Marieterase will let me camp by the loch in a Dandy .
We are both realy looking forward to joining you all at a rally or a meet.
A couple of Wannabes
Dusty&Gill

Hello and welcome Dustindusty  

Camping under canvas is lovely and we enjoy getting away in our little Cabanon Pacific when the weather is fine but you can't beat the practicality of the Dandy for the British climate.

Good luck in your search - it shouldn't take long to find the one that's right for you. Have you decided on which model you prefer as yet?

Strange post this.
This thread had disappeared (we don't quite know why) So I was going to repost the first two posts but it would have shown myself as the author.
Upon posting this the first two posts "miraculously" reappeared. I'm leaving a post here incase deleting my post removes the first two here.

Is that understood? I'm glad if you understand because I don't understand what happened!

If you fancy winter camping I'd tend to hold out for a winterised Dandy with a Riviera heater and insulated walls. Though any Dandy will be warmer than a tent.
M/C camping is never as enjoyable for the pillion as they miss out on the ride. Or does Gill have a bike as well?
Missed the bit about

If we get one in time for Hogmanay we'll be at Tibbie Shiels by St Mary's Loch . I'm sure Al and Marieterase will let me camp by the loch in a Dandy .

Should the reference to Al and Marieterase be obvious to even the terminally dim?

If your from Carlisle do you know has anything been done to re site the Border City Steam Fair? That is such a loss it was a brilliant show.

What sort of Dandy do you think you want?

Hello and  Dustindusty

Welcome to the world of PVC.  

As Mr Itch has said what size Dandy are you in search of?

Hi and Welcome to the Dandy Campers  hope you find your Dandy in time for Hogmanay  

Hi all,
I must have spent half the day looking for my post . Sure it was in the 'say hi' topic. Thought I was having yet another senior moment lol.
Lets see now , Gill [my good lady] says that she would be happy with any Dandy and will leave the choice entirely up to me ,BUT, Gill also stated that she thought a designer would be a good one to go for!!!
Funnily enough, I see her point [again].
Gill has this idea that she's going to fill it with grand children,,,,,Not a cat in hell's chance. Snuggly warm in a camper is a privelage , not a rite, The little darlings will have to serve their time in a pup tent for a decade or two first lol.
I've no idea about the steam gathering. the last one that I attended was at Kendal.
Still getting the hang of the site , mostly on the phone, a bit awkward at best .
Alister and Marieterese run Tibbie Shiels hotel/pub at Saint Mary's Loch. A lovely place to camp [tents only]. We're there several times a year [campfires allowed].
At the moment I'm hogging the PC in the drivers rest room so,,,,,
Chat later, Dusty x

Do have a look if you see any Discoverys. They are the same as the Designer but have a bench instead of the two separate seats.
Love the look of the campsite but not sure I could afford the supplementary costs of only drinking alcohol bought there.
They do list caravans on their website but not sure how they could be positioned if vehicles aren't allowed on the camping field.

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Also a bit puzzled that the bar is not open to non residents Mon to Thurs. Think you might have to go to get a sense of things.

  to the forum

How would they police the intake of the illicit liquor?!? Do they do raids into one's Dandy!

What a gorgeous looking site. Why can't we have one like that near Bristol? When I saw the Loch I wondered if you can sail there and yes you can. The boats in the pics with the coloured sails are Topper dinghies, so called because you can put 'em on top the car. They only weigh 35kg but are great fun.

Tibbie Shiel's hotel and campsite is primarily for tents, The bar is open to hotel and campsite residents during the week and all comers on a weekend .
Alister does allow the odd motorhome in the carpark and on the very top of the campfield .The ground at Tibbie's is between Saint Mary's loch and the Loch of the Lowes .It's only a few feet above the water table . Cars and caravans would churn the ground up too much . so,,,,, strictly by appointment.
I have organised several motorcycle gatherings there [internet group]
Saturday nights are live music nights . The Houseband consists of Alister , Marie-Therese ,plus world famous guitarist Frank Usher, yeah, It really is Frank Usher, and other local celebrities Mostly folk , country, sixties music.
Tibbie's is a business , the booze rule is to provide a bit of extra income and to discourage people from using it as a party site. I usually buy a few cans from the bar to supplement a medicinal bottle that I keep in mi panniers lol.
Hopefully I can talk him into a Dandy rally .

A question, Gill is very much a summer camper . Do you have many loan Dandy Campers at meets or would I be a bit of a spare wheel if I came on my own ?
  Tried to post a pic ; no luck . Grandchild required lol
Dusty x

To be honest we are not the best of group camp organisers.
I don't know if that is a sad thing because we are just not organised enough or we generally can't be bothered conversely it could be good because it means we are individualistic.
Any event that is being organised and you are more than welcome to attend as a couple, as yourself with the Dandy or self/couple on bike with tent.
I'd suggest trying the Dandy out yourself to get things sussed. Then the combination of raised comfortable beds and heating can be used to affect the non camping partner.
Hope you are reading through as many threads as possible but the first winter camping goodies are bungee straps to hold the roof edges down and a storm strap for the awning.

Nope we aren't good at organising meets but when we do manage to sort something out we have a lovely time ........ well I know I do  When we do manage to sort out a meet, we then don't organise anything  but we go with how people feel at the time at the last meet we managed to get to a little chapel ..... most of us did because we decided there and then to jump in the cars and go, we had a bbq where people brought there own meat and chucked it on the bbq's we'd lit ...... doesn't sound great but the bbq things worked for us as a group for a while now and everyone gets to eat what they want or do their own thing. Mostly the evenings are the time when (and only if you want to) we all take our beverages and chairs to wherever the campfire is situated and enjoy chatting, Jakes singing and having a laugh.  We had a boules tournament but it was that last minute that we had to use torches to see the boules in the end.  Your welcome to join us when we do get together even as a loan camper, we do have some who camp alone

The Dustindusty photos.
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Nice Cover

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This Must Be The End Without The Bent Steadies!

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Nice Curtains, Shelf And Roof Liner

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Posh Four Burner Hob

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Who Stole The Wardrobe?

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Ermmm.  


Mr Itch, I think you will find those are Coastman's pictures, not Dustindusty's.


Dustindusty is still searching for his Dandy, although he probably wouldn't say no to that one.

Mmm , that'll do nicely lol. A very generous xmas prezzie indeed  

Senior moment.

Excited at the prospect of seeing Slade (minus Noddy + Jim Lea) and Sweet (minus quite a bit) this evening.

Surprisingly good they were.

Got one post with problems mixed up with another. D'oh!