So what is it?

I knew/know very little about these living vans before starting this journey. But like many old things, they are getting fewer and fewer and the more I learned, the more I wanted my own.

There seem to be a few classes of vans for living in, ploughing vans were lived in by those working the land with ploughs and other farm machinery (obviously) and moved from field to field/farm to farm? by migrant workers. The vans were made by the same manufacturers who made the ploughs and machinery - hence the Fowler van made by the Fowler company who made Fowler ploughs and machinery.

Along with the 'living vans' pulled by steam rollers for road making and repairs,  vans I've seen are predominately timber clad - both inside and out, with curved corrugated tin or iron roofs. Simply furnished inside, with a bed or two bunks at one end, and a woodburning stove at the other. They generally have a fold down table against one wall, and a cupboard or two. Some have storage boxes - both internally and externally - presumably the external

Shepherds huts are incredibly often seen as the latest garden accessory but originally a very simple tin roofed and tin sided van for the shepherd to live in, with a bunk built over lamb pens for orphan or weakly lambs to be housed in and fed by the shepherd at night. Shepherds huts seem to be considerably smaller - presumably pulled by much smaller tractors than the larger vans moved around by road rollers.

What I want to know is who made my van and where has it come from?

First find a carpenter

Not so easy as it sounds. In my fantasy world, my 21 year old son was going to embrace this project (as he had done a short carpentry course and worked in the building trade for some time) but as with all other matters parental, what I hope and dream for is often not reality.

After another false start, we got the van into a barn for the winter whilst I wondered what to do.

A neighbour recommended Laimis who had been working on various projects for him, and he agreed to come and see what he could do.

From Lithuania, his catch phrase, whenever I apologised for the task, is 'It's not a space ship'. Despite never having seen a living van before he is really enthusiastic about the van (and hard working).

Coming home -

photos to follow.

Getting this home would be an adventure, with hindsight I should have ensured it was better secured. Our transporter was embarassed by bits of timber flying off on the M3 whilst bringing it home

Found on ebay

We had been admiring these living vans at a country fair in Sussex and then started actively seeking one out, but not appreciated how sought after they are.

The first one on ebay I noticed sold before we'd had a chance to look at it, and then we went to the Cheffins vintage sale to bid on a beautiful Fowler van - but I couldn't get my hand in the air as it sold for so much.

And then this poor thing appeared on ebay

The side left exposed hadn't suffered too much but the side in the hedge was rotten all the way through.

The majority of the chassis had stayed dry



 What I presume are artillery wheels have replaced the original cast wheels

 And the interior and exterior had been painted and played with to hide the vans original purpose

On a whim

Just in case it's not apparent - this was on a whim!

Left in a hedge for we don't know how long - and repainted to look like a Gypsy Caravan this is really a turn of the century roadman's living van