Artie is a 1972 Westfalia Camper - he is pretty much in original condition - I had to change the seat covers from ear-wax yellow to pink suedette though! Here are Grace and i enjoying a picnic in Artie. This was one of our first family outings after John and I met - happy memories.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I bought him in 2003, shortly after I moved to East Anglia. His predecessor, Buttercup ( an egg-yolk yellow camper) had sadly passed away. If I can find pictures of her and Nobby, my very first camper I'll put them up later... I was told that he was originally imported from the Westfalia factory into Saudi Arabia, which could explain why he has so little rust. He is pretty much stock and runs very well, thanks to the lovely HerrPixi. He is named after Artie Shaw the virtuoso clarinettist, who was my Father's favourite musician and one of my top ten instrumentalists too. My Dad was also called Arthur, so the van is partly named for him too. If I can insert a link, you can have a listen to some of Artie's swing sounds... http://www.artieshaw.com/ ooh hope that works!

Trips in Artie

One of my first trips away in him was to the Champagne region of France, with my Mum and my brother, Jon, his partner Ginette and my nephew Stanley, then aged about 6. My father had died in June and so we decided to spend some time together as a family and keep each others' spirits up.

Here are Mum, Ginette and Jon in a little restaurant, enjoying the ambiance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you imagine what health and safety and the food hygiene police would say about a kid wandering around a dining room, making friends with the clientele, in this country!! We loved it

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is my lovely nephew, Stanley tucking in to a monster of an ice cream.  

Just Kampers

That summer (2004) whilst idly surfing the internet, I discovered a site that sells everything I could possibly want for my beloved Artie. I clicked on the little button marked 'kamperchat forum' and opened up a whole new world!!

http://www.justkampers.com/  

Camper owners are some of the nicest people I have ever met. They know how to have a good time, whatever the weather and are always ready to offer help if you have a problem. My first and best buddy from JK has to be Jimbo. We met on the way to Brighton Breeze, a huge VW gathering, involving a London to Brighton run and a couple of nights camping.  

Here are Artie and his new friend, Mavis, parked up in South

London in readiness for the early morning run to

Brighton 

 

On the seafront at Brighton

 

That evening we camped at the racecourse - here is the lovely Bambi, outside Kackers van (Duncan)