Great job, DVLA
Over recent years I have read
a number of letters criticising
the DVLA. Fortunately, my
experience has been the
total op posite.
After applyingfor my driving
licencerenewal at 70 and
subsequent medical renewals
at 71, 72, 73 andnow 74 and
wishing to retain my 3,500kgto
7,500kg categori es, I applied 11
weeks before the renewal date.
Unfortunately, my
consultant’s secr etary failed
to provide the medical
information that the DVLA
required, despite se veral
requests from the DVLA and
myself, as wellas being aware
thatI was leaving forFrance in
two months’ time.
This resulted in the
DVLA telephoning me in the
anticipationthatmaybe I could
brin g some pressure to bear on
the consultant’s secretary.
However, she informedme
(with just amonth to g o) that
the consultant was un well.
The DVLA then contacted
my doctorwho completed the
forms. The DVLA telephoned
me again confirmi ng receipt
of the same and had marked
them urgent , my licencethen
arriving fourdays before Ileft
for France.
Steve HardingWild about camping
I ha ve MMMon subscription
as I enjoy all the usefultips
and reading ot her people’s
experiences, but I amnew to
the world of motorhomes (and
we loveit), ha ving recently
purchased anAuto-Trail
Apache 700SE.
My personal pr eferred
method of motorhoming is
wild camping (I apprecia te it
is only allowed in Scotland)
as I prefer the freedomthis
gives me. For this reason, themotorhome was fitted with
two 110Ahleisure batteries
(plus onespare), a 110Wsolar
panel (with a Volta three-stage
intellige nt 16A battery charger
and Fox-D1 battery display),
as wel l as a B2Bcharger
and 2.2kWh puresine wave
generator. Gas is provided
from a 13kg anda 6kgbottle
(twin 13kg justwon’t fit, so I’m
looking at upgrading the 6kg to
11kgwhen depleted).
In the April issue (p17)
Vincent Durkin and Gordon
Jackson madecomments about
an issue thatwas raised in
February(p14),HGV drivers are
not the same. I completely agree
with this init ial statement and
have the upmost respect for
these knights of the road.
However, I take exceptionto
some of the fo llowing remarks:
“A motorhome thatis not
willing to pay to stay on a
campsite for whatever reason.
“Motorhome owners canplan their leisurely jo urneys
and use anyof the thous ands of
campsit es in this country.
“I suspect the reasonHGVs
park in layb ys is due to the
lack of designated lorry parks,
not because they’re un willing
to pay.
“There are wild campers
who doact in what seemsto be
an antisocial way (like letting
their waste water drain onto
the road).”
I feel thatmotorhomers
are given a rough ti me. The
majority of motorhomers
do actually prefer tostay on
campsites with the obligatory
electrical hook-up points if not
fully serviced pitches, shower/
toilet bloc ks (preferably
heated) andprefe rably with
some formof internet. There
is, however, a small minor ity
who really like the freedom
of wild camping (and, as
such, arepassionate about
protecting the en vironment,Free PersonalisedYour choice of letters here