Recent history

We, the present owners of this Eccles caravan, moved from the United States to Europe in the early 1970’s. One day, while taking a bicycle ride through the Dutch countryside, our attention was caught by an extravagant caravan the likes of which we had never seen.

It was owned by a former strong- man in the circus, Wim Truggelaar, who bought and sold vintage caravans: old-fashioned trailers, Gypsy wagons, circus caravans and so forth. The antique trailer which we admired stood in a field apart from the sales lot. This special one, the Eccles, was bought as a love gift for Wim’s wife (also a Traveller, who had worked in the Circus van Beveren as a tightrope walker).

She told us stories of escaping from the Nazis and going underground to help refugees flee by way of “life lines” to freedom in England. Her gold teeth flashing, she produced a letter of distinction from General Marshall thanking her for her efforts in the Second World War as well as a letter from Winston Churchill for her bravery.

The ex-strongman—since buying the Eccles and planning to fix it up for his lady—had suffered from multiple heart attacks and therefore never got around to restoring the old treasure.

It was apparent that this caravan was authentic and everything was original. After listening to several of his stories we decided to purchase the caravan, promising to fulfill their wish to restore the Eccles to its former glory.