THERE are all sorts of motorhomes on the market - but there's nothing quite like the monster that Doug Hodgson has made his own.
For even the most plush film star-style trailer pales alongside his head-turning behemoth - a customised flour tanker complete with loo, stereo and colour TV.
The vehicle started life as an A-series ERF bulk flour tanker which for 27 years, from 1967 to 1994, operated from a mill at Stockport.
Mr Hodgson spotted her for sale in a magazine and, after years of having to shell out for B&B accommodation when taking his other vintage vehicle, a restored recovery truck, to rallies, immediately spotted her potential for conversion.
Now, despite having two million miles on the clock, it takes he and his wife, Glynis, from their home in Stillington, near Easingwold, North Yorkshire, to shows all over the country.
Yesterday, it was one of the star attractions at the Vintage Working Weekend at Hornby Castle Park, near Hackforth, near Bedale, North Yorkshire.
Mr Hodgson, who is 59 and semi-retired, has transformed the tank into smart living accommodation, complete with carpets, fitted kitchen, beds, vanity unit and mod-cons such as a power shower.
The project took six months to complete and Mr Hodgson had to rely on his ingenuity to overcome some problems.
"I wanted to have sources of natural light - so I cut the centres out of the old loading hatches and replaced them with glass domes from old washing machine doors found at the local tip," he said.
The job was never an easy or clean one. When he first cut into the tank, he had to scrape away three hundredweight of flour.
"My wife declined the offer of the flour for baking - but the birds enjoyed it for many a meal," he said.
At the flour mill, the tanker was called Silkworm after an old stagecoach that served the silk towns of Lancashire in the 17th Century and Mr Hodgson, a one-time lorry driver turned car dealer, has kept the name.
However, there is still one touch he wants to add to Silkworm before he can think of her as complete.
"We have a heating system on board, but my wife says the nights are getting chilly and it needs central heating - so I'm on the lookout for something now," he said.
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