The 15th International Portafold & Ansfold Gathering) (i.e. 2024)

Our annual gathering will be returning to the Newbury Retrofestival.

So put the dates 9th, 10th & 11th of August 2024 in your diary now and get those dates booked off work early.

Show Address: Newbury Showground, Priors Court, Hermitage, Thatcham, West Berkshire, RG18 9QZ

Don't book direct with the show organisers it will cost you more money, just contact me (07771544419) to get your pitch saved.

It's almost finished!

Any questions about maintenance or the restoration of your Portafold or Ansfold.
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Ambubird
Posts: 25
Joined: Sun, 04 Sep 2011, 12:14 pm
Location: Swindon, Wilts.

It's almost finished!

Post by Ambubird » Thu, 02 Aug 2012, 9:24 pm

Well, having seen a portafold at Blenheim Palace car show last August bank holiday & instantly loving it we set about trying to find one.
Months later we won our Portafold "Leaky" (more on that later! :roll: ) & set off to deepest darkest Wales to pick it up.
This is how it looked when we got it home!
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The cushions were not original & didn't fit in. It had been used by it's previous owner towed behind a trike.
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Now the bit that will horrify Mathew!! :oops: I decided the original lining had to come out. It was badly torn & missing in a few places, mouldy & stained.

It was pretty scary once removed! What had I done?
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So after months of stripping glue, filling holes & cracks & eventually painting in a Yacht paint we began to see light at the end of the tunnel!

Having spent ages on here researching we decided that the van should be relined to prevent condensation. We sourced something called Veltrim, which comes in loads of colours & stretches in all directions. This was a difficult job having never done anything like this before.
We're really pleased with the results. There are a few wrinkles but it looks pretty good & is really cosy!
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And with the bed made up. We use the whole 6ft x 8ft area as my other half is 6'4" & the dog insists on sleeping between us!
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Ambubird
Posts: 25
Joined: Sun, 04 Sep 2011, 12:14 pm
Location: Swindon, Wilts.

Re: It's almost finished!

Post by Ambubird » Thu, 02 Aug 2012, 9:57 pm

Back to Leaky Portafold!
Our first trip out towing with our VW Splitty was a trip to West Wales. The weather forecast hadn't been great but we decided to to go for it anyway!
This is us packed & ready to go (raining already!)
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It towed like a dream, we hardly knew it was there & didn't appear to affect fuel consumption at all. Very impressed!

We got to our campsite & it was blowing a gale. We were quite exposed & couldn't even attempt to get our event shelter up without blowing away.
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It rained horizontally all night, the wind blew the rain in through every gap we had & I spent hours listening to the rain dripping in on my lovely new cushions, bedding & our clothes!

Obviously our seals need to be done pretty quick!
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This one was pretty obvious! But we also had rain come in at the front end up under the lid when towing & also along the shelf where I can't see any holes.
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My friend came to rescue us as by now there was a river running through the campsite & at least an inch of standing water even though we were at the top of a hill!

We went back to her house & arrived in glorious sunshine. We dried out quickly & enjoyed a stay in her garden!
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So, in conclusion, a few things still to be sorted but all in all we love Leaky!!

Hope to see some of you next weekend down in Wareham!
Debbie, Paul (Rosie dog) & Leaky! :)

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bigbird
Posts: 172
Joined: Thu, 11 Sep 2008, 3:36 pm
Location: Ryde, Isle of Wight

Re: It's almost finished!

Post by bigbird » Fri, 03 Aug 2012, 11:20 am

She looks great, we're taking our behind our T4 to Vdub fest on the Island today, her first outing this year, bless, she'll attract a bit of attention, she always does!! :D
Harley Davidson 1340, Smartcar, 1969 MKIII Triumph Spitfire, Matilda the Portafold and Marvin the Combi Camp...

Ambubird
Posts: 25
Joined: Sun, 04 Sep 2011, 12:14 pm
Location: Swindon, Wilts.

Re: It's almost finished!

Post by Ambubird » Sun, 05 Aug 2012, 5:09 pm

Thanks for your nice comments!
Hope you had a fab weekend & the weather held off! 8)
We love ourT4!

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