Peter & Patricia Hammond

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They say travelling is good for the soul, but when Peter and Patricia Hammond bought their Wellhouse campervan, they had no idea how important it would become for their mental and physical wellbeing.

In the latest of our series on Wellhouse Owners, we talked to Patricia about their experiences with their new Wellhouse Leisure, Toyota Proace.

“Peter and I have always been pretty active people. We love going on adventures, not really knowing where we’ll end up and what’s around the next corner.

“That’s probably not unusual for campervan people, I think we all share that restlessness and the need to get out and do things.

“We had a couple of big motor homes before our Proace – a big twin axel Frankia and a Hobby Premium – it was great fun.

“But that all changed for us three years ago. Peter had been having trouble with his gall bladder and, after a few endoscopies, they told us they had found oesophagus cancer. It was a terrible time.

“He had the most horrendous surgery and we had a very tough time for a while,” she admitted.

“We bought the campervan from Wellhouse, not because it was a dream of ours, but as a necessity to keep travelling and do the things we’ve always done.”

After returning from a trip to Australia, they found an apartment in Otley, Yorkshire. Downsizing their bricks and mortar home necessitated a smaller mobile home, so they began looking around and came across Wellhouse.

“Our previous van was hardly getting used and when we moved house, we needed something smaller for the parking space, but we also wanted something we could use as a daily vehicle.

“We got the latest Proace and we picked-up on the last day of November 2019.

“I’ve had a few Toyotas and always loved them,” added Patricia. “I’ve always found them very reliable.

“I’m not a big fan of VWs. We’ve got a Crafter van where I work and we’ve had a lot of trouble with it. Plus, everyone seems to have VW campervan. I think campervans are about individuality and it seems the exact opposite when you by a VW campervan.

“This was one of the reasons we went to Wellhouse. We spent a while thinking about the right base van and we wanted it to be really individual to us. That was when David at Wellhouse really became involved and helped us choose the graphics on the side.

“He accommodated us brilliantly. He really knew his stuff and was straight down the line and knowledgeable. We felt very comfortable from the beginning.”

It has been more than just a replacement for their previous motorhomes. It has enabled Patricia (63) and Peter (73) to rekindle their love of adventure that was lost when Peter became ill.

“It has really helped our mental state. I’d say we’re both knocking on a bit, but it’s made us feel young again and that’s been really important for us.

“It’s much more convenient and helped us continue to do things we loved doing before; going on little adventures and spending weekends away, still enjoying all that life has to offer.

“We usually head North looking for adventure. We might not know where we’re going, but we know when we get there. We love the west coast of Scotland and heading up through the Ribble Valley.

“One of my greatest memories is heading up to Dumfries and Galloway. We’d got to the brow of a big hill and saw this beautiful vista stretching out in front of us. Suddenly, the Star Wars theme tune came on the radio and it was literally as though all the stars had aligned. It was as though we were exactly where we were supposed to be.”

Find out more information on our campervans here