A PRESTIGIOUS caravan manufacturer based in Winchester is being celebrated in a new project.

Bertram Hutchings Caravans Ltd, later known as Winchester Caravans, is being remembered by the Caravan and Motorhome Club Collection, hosted at the National Motor Museum.

The collection is hosting a range of activities, which will be held throughout July and August, to remember the company. These include an exhibition and talk at Hampshire Record Office and family activity packs at selected club campsites across the county.

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Known as the “Rolls-Royce of caravans”, the Winchester Caravans works was located on Stockbridge Road. Spanning across five decades and two world wars, the business was one of the few to successfully produce a range of horse-drawn, motor and traveller caravans.

In 2015, a significant collection of photographs, ephemera and journals relating to the company was donated to the Caravan and Motorhome Club Collection. The collection has since been digitised, catalogued and researched in detail by a team of volunteers at the National Motor Museum.

Supported by a grant from the Hampshire Archives Trust, this project will be the first time that a significant collection of photographs, ephemera and journals relating to Winchester Caravans are shared publicly alongside their stories.

Senior curator of the Caravan and Motorhome Club Collection, Angela Willis, said: “The arrival of Bertram Hutchings’ collection at the Museum was a real career highlight. It is unusual for the era that such a stunning visual record of a caravan business was created, but for it to have survived to this day is truly remarkable. I am delighted that Bertram Hutchings’ story is returning to Winchester this summer, and we can celebrate his legacy on leisure travel.”

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Homes on Wheels – The Story of Winchester Caravans can be viewed at the Hampshire Record Office, on Sussex Street, from July 4 to August 31 during Record Office opening hours.

Angela Willis will also be delivering a talk on the history of the caravan holiday in Hampshire at the Record Office on Monday, August 7 from 6.30pm to 8.30pm. Prior to the talk, visitors will be able to view the exhibition.

To find out more and book tickets for the talk, visit the National Motor Museum website.