MMM – September 2019

September 2019outandaboutlive.co.uk 125

beneath the nearside seat) andyou
havetwo flat, comfortable singlebeds,
each1.90m long and 62cmwide. And
the aisl e allows easy access to the
toilet facilities at the rear, without
disturbing the ot her bed occupant.

SHORT ’VAN, BIG GALLEY
A bonus of this layo ut, even in a
compact van,is the space left for the
kitchen and washro om. The offside
galley has room not only for aproper
cooker with three burners and agrill/
oven un der a glass lid, but also a large
stainless-steel sink with draining
board – a rare and welcome feature,
though, ideally, we’d havethe dr ainer
to your r ight, bowl to the left, as most
Seve ls stand high to the back on their
suspension. Increasing the already
adequate worktop is a wa ll-mounted,
hinged surface which dropsacross
the ais le.

Storage includes two high-level

cupboards (one boxed-out for cups

and bowls, butthis does waste

precious space) and three in the unit

itself, plus a small cutlery dr awer and,

at the rear, avertical box (for small

umbrellas?). The three-way, 85-litre

fridge opposite, below the wardrobe,

has a removable freeze r compartment

and there’s a mains/12Vsocket under

the rear end of the worktop, with

space for the kettle adjacent.

All good? Nearly, butthe main

cupboard in the unit is hinged

to the fr ont, so, if the drop-down

surface is deployed,the cupboard is

inaccessible –that could be remedied

by re-hanging the d oor. We foundthe

high-level cup boards somewhat small

and the long shel f im mediatel y below,

whilst looking good, is deceiving,

being tooshallow, and obstructed by

the many large plastic fixing blocks

inside. So, it’s frustratin gly difficult to

find things to fit – ourlittle tea-caddy,

for instance, wastoo large.

INSIDE OUT

The wa shro om has the excellent

Thetfo rd bench toilet with it s own

flush-tank, adecent-sized basin setin

a shel f with cupboard below, and the

shower tray formsthe floor, draining

to the fr ont. There’s a mirror-doored

wall-cupboard, toothbrush mug, soap-

holder andtowel ring,and the swiv el

tap doubles as the sho werhead. The

undersl ung fresh water tank holds a

fairly modest 66 litres, so showering

needs to be frugal and you’ll have

a clin gy curtain tocontend with.

Our main concern, though, wasthe

restrictedspace f or removing the large

(and heavy when full) toilet c assette

internally in to the aisle. Despite

requiring another hole in the ’van’s

side, we’d prefer anexternal do or.+

The raised floor on the offside works better than small floor plinths on the nearside