A couple of years ago while on holiday in France we needed somewhere to dry towels, swimming costumes and undies and as the site we were on had no conveniently located trees on which to rig a line, we ended up having to drape wet things over the backs of our chairs to dry. At some time in the past, I must have seen some sort of clothes line on a caravan so I decided to have a go at making my own.


What I needed was a system that a) would fold flat for storage, b) have sufficient capacity for drying the usual daily washing, c) not be so obtrusive as to risk being told off by site wardens or neighbours and d) be strong and relatively easy to make out of readily obtainable materials.

The solution appeared to be a pair of hinged softwood brackets that would hook into the van's rear moving handles and into which a length of line could be threaded.

I drew out a basic shape on cardboard and fiddled about until I had a suitable shape and then I cut the pieces out of pine. As you can see, the wood needed quite a bit of shaping with files and sandpaper to make it fit the internal contours of the handles and these had to be 'handed' left and right.



Once I'd got the shape right, I needed a means of fixing the folding parts so that they would fold flat when not in use but be solid when strung with the line.



At this point I was stumped until good old Rodders (crow) came to the rescue and suggested that I use a pair of hinges with removable pins. At that time I didn't know that such things were available and Rod's suggestion was exactly the solution that I'd been seeking. With the extension part fitted one way, the two pieces fold flat and with it reversed, the extension locks in place when the line is tensioned. Simple but very clever.



As the clothes line would be living outdoors while on site, the wood needed protecting so I gave it a coat of Ronseal cherry stain followed by two coats of yacht varnish.

Here's the finished item fitted on the back of the caravan.



And here it is in use at 'Le Moulin Fort', near Chenonceaux, France



Below is a cutting template that if printed A4 size will give an actual-size cutting pattern.



Over the past couple of years, the washing line has proved to be invaluable providing a convenient and discreet place to dry clothes irrespective of where we are parked.

Note: I have since seen some caravans in France with similar but non-jointed brackets fitted to the front and rear moving handles on the side opposite the door. These are simpler to produce and provide a much larger drying capacity along the whole length of the van. However, I think my own solution is more aesthetic and a better compromise, but then I would wouldn't I?