This is one of many films made by Frederick Wilkinson, an amateur filmmaker who owned a baker shop in Ulvathorpe, near Wakefield. Frederick started filming at the end of the Second World War when he filmed the V.J Day Celebrations, Thanksgiving Day and the celebrations for victory in the Trinity Cup, all in Wakefield. Much of his filming was of family holidays, as in this film, but he also filmed motor sports events and an open day at the Hull Seamen's and General Orphanage in 1951 (it...

This is one of many films made by Frederick Wilkinson, an amateur filmmaker who owned a baker shop in Ulvathorpe, near Wakefield. Frederick started filming at the end of the Second World War when he filmed the V.J Day Celebrations, Thanksgiving Day and the celebrations for victory in the Trinity Cup, all in Wakefield. Much of his filming was of family holidays, as in this film, but he also filmed motor sports events and an open day at the Hull Seamen's and General Orphanage in 1951 (it is unclear why the different spelling of Ulrome is used in the film).  A similar film to this one, Caravanning in Yorkshire, made by Wilkinson the previous year, shows camping Whitby, Scarborough, Bridlington and Butlin’s Holiday Camp at Filey.

In the ten years between 1945 and 1955 Frederick made some 30 films. Unfortunately some of his earlier films have significantly deteriorated.   His hobby of making films was taken over by his son, Eric, who can be seen in this film as a teenager.  Frederick was keen on caravanning, as this film testifies. Not many would attempt the project of making one’s own caravan, but the world was a different place just after the Second World War, when people were more used to making things for themselves, and less concerned with how they looked. The word ‘caravan’ is derived from the Persian Karwan, and in its older usage it referred to parties of travellers in East and North Africa. Its more modern meaning as a single vehicle goes back to the 17th century to refer to a waggon with a canvas top for carrying goods or passengers on a regular service, taken over from the Elizabethan word for a stage waggon. In the early 19th century the word become used for the transportation of wild animals in circuses, and later for the early railway carriages. It is from this that we get the word ‘van’, shortened from ‘caravan’.

Although there are some early examples of travelling wagons functioning as furnished houses, the coming of the railways killed these off. In his splendid The History of the Caravan, Bill Whiteman, former Honorary Secretary and a Director of The Caravan Club, states that the first modern usage of the word is to be found in Dickens’ The Old Curiosity Shop,of 1840. He also notes that although caravans are mostly associated with gypsies, in fact gypsies used tents, and didn’t really come to use caravans until relatively recently: in the second half of the 19th century, beginning in the south of England.

The idea of the caravan as a pleasure vehicle grew with the popularity of writers who advocated the open air, such as Wordsworth, Whitman and Thoreau. The first known recreational caravanner was the writer Gordon Stables, later to be the first President of the Caravan Club, who built his purpose-built touring caravan, ‘Wanderer’, in about 1884. His first followers called themselves Gentleman Gypsies. Caravans soon flourished, with many different types. Few early caravans have survived: gypsies often burnt theirs with the death of the owner.

At first caravans were horse drawn, then come trailer caravans and some motor caravans, although these didn’t really take off until the 1950s. Between the wars many firms started manufacturing trailer and motor caravans, most notably Eccles and Riley. The technology and materials used after the end of WW2 advanced considerably, such as the use of aluminium for external panelling; although, presumably, this was not common enough for Frederick Wilkinson with his wooden Caravan. It was the post-war years of austerity that meant that making one's own caravan was not an unreasonable venture - and the end result in this instance is very professional looking.

Caravanning has been a pastime since the turn of the twentieth century. It mainly grew out of camping, with the Association of Cycle Campers being formed in 1901, and the Caravan Club in 1907. In 1921 a Caravan Group was formed as a section of the Camping Club. Other related activities also formed their own sections: such as cycling, canoeing, hiking, folk dancing and even an artist’s group. The Caravan Section became The British Caravanners Club in 1937. The Association of Cycle Campers went through various name changes before becoming The Camping and Caravanning Club in 1983. At about the time this film was made the Caravan Club had about 4,200 members with 13 Centres and Divisions. But this hardly reflects the growing attraction of caravanning in the 1940s and 50s – as testified in the BBC 4 programme Caravans: A British Love Affair, broadcast in 2009. And it is as popular as it has ever been, with current membership of the Caravan Club at 375,000.

There are several caravan parks near Ulrome, including Top View Caravan Park and Ulrome Sands, and The Camping and Caravanning Club has had a site here since 1938.  Although the Yorkshire coast south of Bridlington is less well-known than that to the north, it has long had its small holiday destinations, such as Hornsea and Withernsea. The area is off the usual beaten tourist route, and this may be the attraction for the many who keep the caravan sites open despite the threat from the severe erosion of the coast.


References

Hazel Constance, First in the field: a century of the Camping and Caravanning Club, Camping and Caravanning Club, 2001

Bill Whiteman, The History of the Caravan, Blandford Press, 1973.

The Caravan Club of Great Britain

Vintage Caravans