(^60)
VWBUS T4&5+
http://www.vwbusmagazine.com
Sometime contributors Martin and Yolanda
Hampshire took their striking T4 to Porthcawl
last year for one of the most unusual festivals
out there
L
ike most VW groups, the
Oxfordshire Transporters
group is a great source of
advice, friendship and ideas
for your next venture often
these come pre-tried and tested.
It was during a meet that we got
chatting to fellow members Paul
and Carol, who were telling us that
each year they visit Porthcawl in
South Wales for the weekend long
Elvis festival. Now, we’re not big
Elvis fans, but it sounded fun and
as luck would have it there was
a program on BBC1 the following
week all about the festival. If you’re
not familiar with it try Googling it, it
has to be seen to be believed! Well,
that was it, my wife Yolanda was
hooked. She suggested, or maybe
that should read demanded, that we
go there to celebrate her birthday
the following September. Within
minutes she’d booked the campsite,
this turned out to be a good moveMartin and Yolanda HampshireElvis
Has Left The Camper
as they get booked almost a year
in advance! It seems The King
still has plenty of UK devotees...
We set off after work on the
Thursday evening, arriving at
our campsite for our pre-agreed
late entry at 8pm. The site called
Brodawel Camping & Touring
Park had very friendly and
accommodating owners, at just
fifteen minutes off the M4, it’s very
easy to get to and with booking
available by phone only, gives a
nice personal touch. Although not
the most modern, it has all that
you need, it was clean and tidy
with plenty of hot water. We did
no more than put the van on to our
pitch, before heading off down a
dark country lane for a ten-minute
walk to one of the three charming
pubs in the village of Nottage for
our evening meal. After a relaxing
set up on the Friday morning, we
jumped on our bikes and headedoff to Porthcawl, a ten to fifteen-
minute ride or a half an hour’s
reasonable walk, if you prefer.
What greeted us is difficult to put
into words! Every shop (including
the shoe shop!) pub, café, chippy
and ice-cream parlour was laid out
as a tribute to Elvis, with associated
memorabilia. Porthcawl has a
pedestrianised main street and the
main sea front road is also closed
off for the weekend. It needed to be
with 35,000+ plus Elvis fans, not
to mention a fair few actual Elvis’
in attendance over the weekend!
We walked along the front to the
Coney Beach Amusement Park
and Parade, before heading in to
the ‘Hi Tide Inn, Bar and Function
Rooms’. This is where our Elvis
weekend really got going with
one Elvis Tribute Act (or ETA
as we came to understand they
were called) after another, after
another, after another and so on.
This went on in both large lounges,
as well as two external venues
from 11am until 11pm. There was
also a market selling every type of
Elvis related paraphernalia that
you could possibly imagine and
a few more that you wouldn’t!Lifestyle