Wales in the Swift Challenger Exclusive from Lowdhams

If you follow us closely on social media, you’ll have noticed we sometimes post a ‘Staff Spotlight’ – a vehicle highlighted by a member of our staff as something special. Within the last couple of weeks George, one of our Sales Executives, chose the Swift Challenger Exclusive – a caravan which features upgraded spec and our exclusive Xtra pack.
This special edition from the East Yorkshire manufacturer is only available from a small number of selected dealers and has proved to be very popular with Lowdhams customers. So, we thought we’d do something slightly different and ask one of them to take over this edition of our blog to talk about this terrific caravan! Over to you, Howard…

Hello, all! I’m delighted to have been asked by Lowdhams to talk about their most recent ‘Staff Spotlight’ vehicle – the Swift Challenger Exclusive. I was looking for a caravan from Lowdhams because in the last few years my wife Philippa and I happen to have found we’ve got some free time on our hands.
We spend some of that time travelling around – but, to be honest, we were both getting a bit bored of bed and breakfasts and hotels. Once or twice we’d even tried an Air B‘n’B – a fantastic idea but in the end not for us. We couldn’t shake that feeling that we were in someone else’s cottage, so we were walking on eggshells a bit! We wanted some place we could ‘call our own’, where we could kick back and relax properly, I suppose. A caravan ticked all of our boxes.
The Swift Challenger Exclusive Grande 560L is the model that most appealed to us from this range. It looks great, really crisp and clean on the exterior, with graphics that look cool without trying too hard –  but it was actually the interior that properly ‘sang to us’.
Once we were through the door the caravan immediately felt relaxing and spacious, with a very comfortable L-shaped lounge seating at the front, and a double bed in its own bedroom space at the back, so we could tell we’d be happy travelling about and staying several nights in it. Philippa particularly liked the exclusive Willow fabric scheme, it elevated the feel and comfort of the front lounge.
With a bit of effort that social area at the front, by the way, can be converted into a double or single bed – which is a very handy feature for when friends come with us, or we take our grandson Nicholas away. The 560L has all the amenities you need on your travels right there at your fingertips, kitchen and bathroom are both neatly organised and fitted, and there’s also plenty of storage.

We had a couple of very short overnighters in our new caravan just to ‘get us started’, but our third trip was ‘the big one’. We picked Wales for no other reason than it’s a decent distance for us to travel, not too close but not too far, and I have distant roots there. My ancestors from that fine place were from somewhere in the south, so we decided to head down around Cardiff and Newport area to put the Challenger through its paces. Happy to say Nicholas came with us. Returning the boy to the great land of his proud forefathers and all that, eh!?
First things first… At about seven-and-a-half metres long (25 feet, in old money) and 2.5 metres wide (8 feet) the Swift Challenger Exclusive Grande 560L is not an insignificant caravan when you’re out and about, navigating roads, junctions, corners, roundabouts and everything else. Towing anything does take a bit of getting used to, and you have to have your wits about you, but this was a pretty steady and manageable experience. Obviously, it’s crucial to be sensible and drive with responsibility to other road users, as all caravanners should.
Philippa had gone online and booked us a pitch on a caravan site in advance of our trip. We were based outside of a beautiful small town called Usk, in itself worth venturing into for the day – stunning river, beautiful riverbank park to sit in, a couple of decent pubs!
Usk is about 40 minutes north of Cardiff itself, so we were able to pitch up, unhitch and head off in our car to explore the city. This is the place we managed to take our grandson and (in his words) “blow his mind”. Job done and serious Grandad points achieved! He’s a big fan of Doctor Who, the science fiction thing on the TV (I do actually remember watching as a kid, myself). These days the BBC make it around Cardiff and in the last 20 years it’s become a big part of the city’s identity. It’s not uncommon to see the actors, the famous blue box and a few ugly monsters roaming the streets. We didn’t, this time, but we were able to take Nicholas to a few (his words) “iconic sites” he’d researched, where they’d done some filming! The spaciousness of the caravan being like Doctor Who’s TARDIS also became a bit of a running joke, by the way!

Other than its galactic connections, Cardiff is a beautiful city with a vibrant buzz about it as well as a comfortingly historic vibe. You’ll find plenty to see and do. We had a great couple of days there, travelling in twice from our caravan site. In the evenings, we took some food back to the caravan that we’d bought while out and about in Usk – some local produce which Philippa rustled up into a fantastic meal. The kitchen facility of this caravan is really good, with a thermostatic oven and grill (by Thetford), a microwave and a large fridge. There’s a decent amount of space for food prep and plenty of storage for all your kitchen bits and pieces. I liked the round metal sink – exactly what I’d like to stand looking at when I’m washing up at home, if I’m being honest!
The bathroom (or washroom, depending on what you want to call it) sort of splits the front of the caravan from the back, so it was accessible for Nicholas from his ‘lounge bedroom’ and Philippa and I had an ‘ensuite’ in our bedroom space at the back. There was also plenty of storage space in the bedroom, with a wardrobe either side of the bedhead.
I’d have to say that all of the features and facilities you’d want were available in the Swift Challenger Exclusive Grande 560L, and neither Nicholas, Philippa or myself ‘wanted’ for anything at all during our trip. There was even on board 4G Wi-Fi, which particularly suited Nicholas as he likes to play Fortnite on his phone! We all felt comfortable, and we could go about our holiday business without niggling little things obstructing the way we lived aboard the caravan.

We picked Lowdhams for our caravan due to the savings you can make there, great value which makes it really appealing, and there is also a really useful Lowdhams exclusive ‘pack’ featuring plenty of extras included with Swift caravans (which contains a heavy duty jockey wheel, the 4G Wi-Fi I mentioned earlier, a wireless phone charger, the fabric scheme, full diamond cut alloy wheels and an upgraded oven with cast iron frets and oven light!