Once the tyres had been inflated (they miraculously still held air!) and the caravan was towed back to the farm we could properly assess what sort of state she was in.  Water had got in around the lights on the front. The wood and polystyrene insulation in the front panels was rotten and it all had to come out.  Sadly this meant taking out the fabulous cocktail cabinet but in the process we discovered the original, unused, awning!

Externally, we had to sand back to the aluminium (removing 60 years of grot).  Car body-filler was used to cover the air-gun holes.  Then we put on two undercoats and finished with a paint used on canal barges.

Meanwhile renovations were happening internally.  We kept the rear half of the caravan intact, making use of the handy storage and creating more by removing the cooker, fridge and shower.  A fantastic quality kitchen was scavenged from Trash Nothing.  We repurposed a few bits from a wrecked caravan (you can still see the keyhole of a wardrobe door that is now the cake counter!).

A lot of discussion was had about how and where to make the serving hatch.  Interestingly it ended up being at a height for Dad to serve from… (He’s ‘helped’ once since we opened but forgot his glasses so mostly just got in the way!)

Then a lot of maths was done to work out how to power an espresso machine, boiler, grinders and pumps when off-grid. Brew can now operate for at least three days on propane and leisure batteries without having to be charged up.  A very satisfying project and result for a semi-retired farmer and his mid-life crisis daughter!