Pop-up City campsite: High-flying caravan spotted in the skies of St Paul’s
A high-flying caravan has been spotted in the skies of London by St Paul’s Cathedral. The caravan was being carefully craned onto the roof terrace at One New Change to create a temporary pop-up campsite in the City.
It was a PR stunt to highlight the boom in staycations and caravan sales during the Covid pandemic.
Caravan sales are booming, with one manufacturer, Bailey of Bristol, telling Morning Wire it has seen demand jump by 15 per cent and motorhomes by 30 per cent, with a remarkable rise in younger buyers.
Moreover, the UK’s Caravan and Motorhome Club said it had one of its busiest years as its one million members this month.
Pop-up City campsite
Craning the caravan onto the rooftop required the expertise of highly-experienced crane operators used to lifting heavy items in confined spaces, and had required several months of planning.
Preparations included arranging temporary road closures and closely monitoring weather forecasts, organisers told Morning Wire over the weekend.
The caravan became the centrepiece for a party at the pop-up City campsite attended by celebrities, Olympians, Paralympians, athletes and media guests to celebrate enjoying the great outdoors, staycations and caravanning.
They enjoyed stunning views across London as the sun set, and had the opportunity to stay overnight in the caravan.
Celebrities attending the event included: Matt Allwright, Gary Mabbutt MBE, Peter Shilton OBE, Tony Cottee, Mallory Franklin, Emma Wiggs MBE, Rowland Rivron, Andy Torbet, Julie Peasgood, Debbie Arnold and Dee Anderson.
“Craning the caravan onto a London rooftop has been a great way to celebrate an exceptionally busy and challenging year,” said Nick Howard, managing director of Bailey of Bristol.
“We love doing events like this to challenge people’s perceptions of caravan holidays. Previously, we’ve towed caravans across Australia, done a winter trip above the Arctic Circle to see Santa in Lapland, and seen 21 countries in 21 days on an epic road trip to Istanbul and back!”, Howard added.