We love you Bessy Blue
| It was a miserable February night when I first met Paul, however the night soon brightened up when he arrived at our house in a shiny brazilian bay conversion in the "relic" style. I was smitten as soon as I stepped inside and saw the interior layout and fittings. It also left a lasting impression with my four year old son who kept on asking when I was going to get one like it. |
| Following a trip down to Paul's premises and a further look at a couple of more conversions (including the tourer layout), I decided to arrange a test drive. I also started to think about the extras I might want if I bought one, such as the colour coded dash and stereo etc. The test drive clinched it....I had a smile on my face that was difficult to remove, and after some initial concerns over owning a LHD vehicle, they soon disappeared after a few miles. A deal was then done and I set about choosing the colour, which I had visualised all along (matching a colour I had used in part of my son's bedroom). To compliment the shade of blue I also opted for the blue Westfalia check material, it was a bit of a gamble as the sample swatch available wasn't very big and then to top it all, none was left in the UK at the time. However, a roll of material was flown in from the US and turned into some terrific interior covers – I'm now so glad I chose it as it looks great with the shade of blue of the van and is in-keeping with the design. All throughout the conversion, Paul would send me mobile and e-mail pictures of the various stages of the build, plus I went down to the premises a few times to see her take shape and get a few early pictures of my own. |
| Bessy Blue (as she was christened) arrived towards the end of April 2009. That weekend, we set off to the east coast to show her off to some friends, this was followed a week later by a trip to Birmingham, then onto Padstow in Cornwall, for a weeks' camping. The long trip and camping went great with the fittings performing well, I was especially pleased that I had opted for the 12v compressor fridge that could really cool things down.
Since her maiden camping trip in Cornwall, we have camped twice in the New Forest, the Norfolk coast and most recently, the south coast of Devon and we're now looking forward to a couple of weekends on the east coast. I still cannot stop smiling every time I'm behind the wheel, it gives me such a great feeling of nostalgia. And my son, well ... he just wants to be in her all the time! |
