Just scrap all the rules
Whilst away for a couple of weeks at two different club sites I came to the conclusion that we may as well do away with club rules. They obviously don’t apply to those who aren’t bothered about things which may be seen by others to be anti-social, are of common courtesy to others or are, indeed, plain common sense. Most rules are based around these elements so those of us that follow them are also probably the ones who care about our fellow caravanners and who do possess a bit of common sense and are in no need of ‘rules’.
Speeding on site is one which many of us have witnessed but there were two examples of really excessive speed with caravans in tow. The first must have been doing a minimum of 20mph past the toilet block and approaching a blind bend. The roadway is supposed to be one way but not everyone seemed to obey this, especially kids on bikes, but that is another story. As the outfit got to the bend it had to brake hard and stop very suddenly, I believe, because another outfit was just manoeuvring onto the pitch just around the blind corner.
The second example was a guy who came to the pitch opposite us, during the 12 noon mad free for all of new arrivals, only to find that another outfit was just backing onto it. He had to wait for a couple of minutes before he could get past but then raced off at great speed, probably in a bit of a huff that someone had beaten him to the pitch that he wanted.
On the toilet block are two signs advising that cycling, skateboarding and the use of scooters was not allowed in the vicinity of the block. The signs obviously didn’t apply to a family pitched near to the block as their 4 children were continually riding their bikes and scooters around the area. On one occasion one of the children even asked me to move my Wastemaster as she couldn’t ride past ! On other occasions the same children raced around the roadways in both directions, oblivious to the one way system and, on a couple of occasions two of the older lads were brandishing snooker cues like lances. (Who takes snooker cues to a caravan site ?) One of the lads did come a cropper when he fell off his bike larking around outside the toilet block. Thankfully all he sustained was a grazed leg and elbow and a small graze to his face. Will he, (and his parents), learn? I somehow doubt it.
The pitch opposite us presented a short cut to the toilet block saving all of about twenty paces if going the ‘correct’ way along the roadway. Several people used this short cut route but, because of a piece of fencing it meant that they were obliged to walk on the chippings of the hard standing, about a foot away from the front of the awning of the caravan that was using the pitch. On one occasion I saw one guy deliberately looking through the windows of the awning as he walked past it. How would they like this intrusion into their privacy I wonder?
Is it just me or do others also consider it to be a total waste of electricity to have a halogen heater in an awning, burning for hours on end when no-one is actually using the awning? Two sets of caravanners opposite us during the second week both had these heaters. One set used to sit outside the awning, not in it, enjoying a late afternoon drink but with the awning door fully open and the heater blazing away. The other one used to come back from a day out, switch on the heater and then go about whatever they needed to do but leaving the awning door wide open. The heater was obviously on for hours going by the bright orange glow coming from the awning as it got dark, but there was almost never anyone apparently in there. The argument would probably be “ I’ve paid for the electric so I’ll use it” but can they not see that all this will do, apart from any ‘green’ issues, is help put up pitch prices for next year.
Just as a final point, does anyone know if, when they book in, non members using a site are presented with the set of rules that we, as members, are supposed to abide by?