2016 

An email was sent spring 2016 to The UK Vardo Project (a waggon heritage initiative), with a view to sell the van as a restoration project and in turn preserve it.  Sadly, the owner of the project, Steve Bate, had recently received his devastating diagnosis of MND and although he wanted to see this waggon saved, he knew he would not be in a position to do so himself.  On receiving the email, he turned to me and asked if I would like to step in and restore it. I had seen pictures of it before in various publications (including Jean Westlakes’ ‘100 yr history’ book) and had fell for its charms then, as many before me had - of course I wanted to rescue it! This was a unique opportunity for me to acquire an old and rare Romany kite waggon and become a part of its colourful history and only its third owner.

 

The sale went through 18th October 2016 and the vardo was removed from its then spiritual home in the New Forest at Sandy Balls Holiday Park, after an extraordinary 94 years settled there making many fond memories for countless generations of holidaymakers.

 

Quite the sight was this faded but once noble wooden home whose large presence was made all the more imposing when strapped atop the flatbed of the transport that carried it into North Wales two days later.  All four wheels braced with big wooden discs, successfully employed in the safe removal and temporary resting place of the waggon into the workshops .

 

A quick inspection was made of the waggon’s condition on its delivery to assess any storage precautions we may need to take.  It was deemed fit to tarp with a need to repair/replace the front wheels at first chance.  For safety, the wooden discs would stay on until the removal of the wheels. We also noticed that some of the carvings appeared to be missing and so contacted Sandy Balls, who obligingly tracked down the relevant pieces and posted on a few weeks later.

 

  2017 

14th March.  The front wheels were taken to Phil Gregson, a wheelwright in Southport.  A full new wheel was needed for the offside and some new felloes to repair the nearside.  On their return early September, I primed, undercoated and glossed the new wheel, then spot primed the repaired one, before fitting them both back on the waggon.

 

  2019 

The progression of MND from first diagnosis was rapid. Steve fought it with much courage and humour. The waggons and their restorations were ‘his medicine’ but by the early summer he was finding it harder to come up to the workshops and see them.  In June, I left my position at the project and continued in a carer’s capacity to aid his wife with the 24hr care he had needed.

 

On August 4th, Steve lost his 3½ yr battle and passed away. That day, I lost a very close friend and mentor of 18 years.  I needed to take some time out to contemplate my next steps.

 

By September I had made the decision to stay part time at the cinema and to restore my waggon in memory of Steve and try to raise awareness of MND by means of a website. I would record the restoration and try to discover more about the waggon’s past. I just wanted to keep my mind occupied to help with the trauma of the past few years. Steve had always believed in me and the skills he had passed down, now was my chance to validate this belief.

 

My first step was to find a barn/workshop with an entrance high enough to accommodate the waggon’s ample proportions, in particular its height – from floor to roof it was 11ft 9”. I placed an ad on the notice board of my local supermarket and after a few weeks and some rejected offers (due to size) I managed to find a barn within a few miles of my home.  And auspiciously, in an area where my great grandfather had once lived and practiced as a wheelwright/coach builder.

 

The weather was of course overcast the day I came to secure the waggon and make ready for transport, with the heavens opening during the journey to its new location 23rd October.  Once there, however, we had to wait 4 days until the ground it needed to cross, to reach the barn, was less saturated. It took 5 people (and a landrover) to move and steer the iron tyres across the field and into its new home.

 

On Halloween’s eve I began my first archival steps by taking photographs and recording footage of the waggon before any restoration work had had chance to take place.

 

A week later I set to removing the moss from the roof so I could inspect its condition underneath, having already taken a look around the rest of the body and underworks.  I was now feeling slightly daunted by the task ahead.

 

There was other work to do also on the technical and social media side – first, I needed some small video cameras that recorded to SD cards. I set up a website and a new email account for the waggon.  From my website, I linked a 'just giving' page, for people to donate to MND.  My friend Sam helped with the social media side of things, setting up a new Facebook and Twitter account.  Lastly, I bought a diary, determined to write about my restoration experience.

 

All that was left to do now was research and restore the waggon.

 

 

  2020 

The restoration of the waggon officially began towards the end of January 2020.

 

I had been ill for a number of weeks as the new year was brought in and hadn’t been well enough to do anything until late in the month. At the time I thought it had just been a bad flu – I felt sapped of all energy, worse than I’d ever felt before. Everyone I had worked with at the cinema had been ill at some point over Christmas, complaining of the same draining feeling. In hindsight, I think, it was more than likely the beginnings of a soon to be worldwide pandemic,  Covid -19

 

From March of this year, inhabitants across the globe would find themselves in the grip of a life-threatening flu attacking the respiratory system with verocity,  in particular the vulnerable and elderly communities. These were unprecedented times and slowly but surely the systematic closing of borders between countries in a bid to stop the airbourne spread would take place. As the population intensely scrutinized the news each night,  watching in horror as the number of new cases increased at an alarming rate, overwhelming the hospitals and NHS.

  

An unusual phone call from our manager tells us not to come in to work, as the cinemas and theatres were being closed in a bid to keep the public safe.  There was a televised announcement from the UK Government for its people ‘to stay at home’, a phrase set to be adopted and repeated throughout the next few months, along with Chris Witty’s ‘next slide please’. There were daily updates from the government and ‘social distancing’ along with wearing a mask, and working from home became the norm.  The schools and universities along with the hospitality services were closed down and a nationwide ban for large groups of people to mix was set to be enforced. 

 

It felt like something from a movie and yes, I believe ‘Outbreak’ became no.1 film on the Netflix watch list!

 

So, after a very slow and hindered start to the restoration, the coronavirus stopped it dead.  By the last week of March, it was not possible to go to the barn at all and work on the waggon would not resume until May. Even then I had to take lots of precautions as restrictions laid out by the government would not be lifted for some time yet.

 

 

 

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