CLs - The jewel in the CC's crown
Imo, Cl's are a huge asset for CC customers. Most are in lovely rural locations and make an excellent base to tour the surrounding area.
K 
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Have you been on a Marketing course K, getting some practise in on a captive audience?
They are though, certainly!
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Ah, charm offensive course!
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My gripe is that you have to pay £48 /year in order to use (privately owned) CL's! You will note that I am NOT a CC member. (I am a member of the 'other' club and don't value any of the other 'benefits' I might gain by joining).
Now, a 'restricted membership' which simply gave one the ability to use CLs really would appeal. I wonder if anyone has actually done the (commercial) sums?
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CL's / CS's jewel in the crown for both clubs
, that's all I use now ,(and rallies,THS from other club) well worth the membership
fee from both clubs. Just got back from a 3 night February midweek break, did not have EHU used gas / 12v, so a cheaper rate and the site to ourselves, good location and near a cycle path.
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CL's / CS's jewel in the crown for both clubs
, that's all I use now ,(and rallies,THS from other club) well worth the membership
fee from both clubs. Just got back from a 3 night February midweek break, did not have EHU used gas / 12v, so a cheaper rate and the site to ourselves, good location and near a cycle path.That looks lovely Chris, where was that ?
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I know many members value them a great deal but I am concerned that neither club values them anything like as much.
I despair at the unbalance in their loss from the system relative to the addition. Much I suspect is loss from the ageing of the owners but feel the legislation limiting to 5 units (caravans and motor homes) itself brings no incentive for the network to grow new blood.
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Yes Cls are great and we use them in preference. Just a word of warning to CL wners-you are in many cases pricing yourselves out. No need for all singing all dancing. Also make sure your prices are up to date. No excuse for websites to be out of date. Nothing
will deter revisits than to find the prices exceed those quoted0 -
I don't think CLs are the jewels in the crown at all. I haven't been to many but honestly they weren't jewels at all. They were fields, and nothing to be proud of at all.
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Then I'm sorry Eurotraveler, but you obviously havent tried the right CL's. The ones that I use all have grass maintained at the correct length, all have EHU's and several have taps to each pitch thus allowing permanently connected water supplies. All for an average nightly cost of about £13.
I recommend that next time you want to use one, check it out first using Google Earth. That saves disapointment!
TF
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CL's / CS's jewel in the crown for both clubs
, that's all I use now ,(and rallies,THS from other club) well worth the membership
fee from both clubs. Just got back from a 3 night February midweek break, did not have EHU used gas / 12v, so a cheaper rate and the site to ourselves, good location and near a cycle path.That looks lovely Chris, where was that ?
Write your comments here...
C&CC
Newlands Farm, Riccall, on A19 4 mile north of Selby.0 -
Have to agree with TF euro traveller, there are some really lovely CLs. Sometimes location is almost everything if you like CLs, and in Summer, nothing can beat having a well cut meadow with wonderful views to yourself with just the wildlife sharing it.
No need for much else in that instance! Likewise, there are a lot of really lovely well thought out garden type CLs nowadays as well, some with a lot more than what you might need! Part of their charm and attraction is the sheer diversity.0 -
Thanks Tigerfish, I appreciate your reply. My CL days were before Google Earth and before reviews and photos on line. I tried a dozen or so, maybe twenty, and there were some shockers. I gave them up.
And Chris Rogers photo on here is better than those were, but to me is just a field. I don't want to sit in a field.
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On the other side of the coin club sites are akin to pitching up on a huge asphalt car park. To us its getting close to nature and enjoying unbroken views of the countryside.. But each to its own, as along as we enjoy ourselves thats the object of choosing
to go caravanning.0 -
Yes Cls are great and we use them in preference. Just a word of warning to CL wners-you are in many cases pricing yourselves out. No need for all singing all dancing. Also make sure your prices are up to date. No excuse for websites to be out of date. Nothing will deter revisits than to find the prices exceed those quoted
We tend to use the main sites, but if we were to use a CL it would be the all singing variety and I am sure we are not alone. If it has similar facilities to a CC site, I am not sure why one should expect it to be a great deal cheaper. You are after all paying for location and exclusivity.
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Thanks Tigerfish, I appreciate your reply. My CL days were before Google Earth and before reviews and photos on line. I tried a dozen or so, maybe twenty, and there were some shockers. I gave them up.
And Chris Rogers photo on here is better than those were, but to me is just a field. I don't want to sit in a field.
Well a field is certainly better than a car park, like some of the caravan club sites we've stopped on!!
Edit...Sorry chatterbox, just noticed your post, after I'd sent this reply.
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Another vote in favour of the CL - we have used Club sites and they do serve a purpose but I would rather have 5 vans in a field with water, waste and electrics and with views of fields, livestock and sounds of birdsong than dozens of vans in rows and rows.
Yes the facilities are usually very good, the grass immaculate and the pitching posts gleaming but in my humble opinion, they are regimented, one up from car parks and one looks very much like another.0 -
Yes Cls are great and we use them in preference. Just a word of warning to CL wners-you are in many cases pricing yourselves out. No need for all singing all dancing. Also make sure your prices are up to date. No excuse for websites to be out of date. Nothing
will deter revisits than to find the prices exceed those quotedWe tend to use the main sites, but if we were to use a CL it would be the all singing variety and I am sure we are not alone. If it has similar facilities to a CC site, I am not sure why one should expect it to be a great deal cheaper. You are after all
paying for location and exclusivity.I don't even expect similar facilities for a non cheaper price as I think that I am paying for the exclusivity of staying with just four other vans rather than one hundred or so on a car park. The only thing I do expect is only five vans on a site as that
is what I am paying for.0 -
Although we have enjoyed stays at Chatsworth and Rosedale Abbey ( just a large CL in my opinion!), we just don't like the regimented rows of caravans in the car park environment that seems to be the norm for most Club sites. We have stayed at some wonderful
CLs (and CS's) and if it wasn't for these, I doubt I would bother with either Club membership. Our favourite is at an equestrian centre, set in an orchard with a stream running along the bottom - beautiful views in all directions, peace and tranquility - and,
oh - a very smart toilet and shower block as an added bonus. This is what we enjoy about caravanning but a good job that everyone doesn't feel the same - otherwise we wouldn't be able to get on these sites!0 -
We are at a CL at the mo , we have only used club sites twice in 15 years , I have stayed on dairy farms , hill farms wiv lambs everywhere , we love the peace and quiet as this weekend we are the only ones here , we are happy without electric hook up sad
to see so many closing , so come on campers keep support ing them .0 -
I don't see it as an 'either/or'. Sometimes my very definition of happiness is 'sitting in a field', but sometimes I want full facilities. This summer we will be on a club site for a few days, followed by a festival for four nights, followed by various CLs,
a commercial and another club site. I love the choice, diversity and freedom of caravanning. We have stayed on some great CLs and some great Club Sites.0 -
I suspect CLs are mainly jewels in the crown for the tugger with a 4x4! For a motorhome owner there are many things to be wary of, not least the prospects of getting stuck in a muddy field. Then there are the questions of access and isolation. Many times
I look at an OS map and decided that CL is not for me. I sometimes wonder who decides that a CL is suitable for motorhome owners or not?peedee
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Peedee - having pulled our friends (in a motorhome) off muddy or even just wet fields twice in the last few months, I have to agree. They have now moved back to tugging - not because of that though - they just wanted more space.
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Yes Cls are great and we use them in preference. Just a word of warning to CL wners-you are in many cases pricing yourselves out. No need for all singing all dancing. Also make sure your prices are up to date. No excuse for websites to be out of date. Nothing
will deter revisits than to find the prices exceed those quotedWe tend to use the main sites, but if we were to use a CL it would be the all singing variety and I am sure we are not alone. If it has similar facilities to a CC site, I am not sure why one should expect it to be a great deal cheaper. You are after all
paying for location and exclusivity.the problem, Steve, is economics....
with only five vans in a site, its hard for a CL owner to make a return on any investment in showers and toilets without ramping up prices....
for those that wish to 'glamp' with shower blocks, toilets ehu, etc (what next, a shop, playground.....) there are many club sites that offer these at the appropriate price levels....
a countryside cl offering 'location' as its no1 asset need not tart it up into something its not....a full fat campsite....hence the exemption from planning..any more and you have to scratch 'location' from that asset list as the site would not be able to
exist...five vans, nice location, owner costs at a minimum, CL visitors enjoyment at a maximum.....
simple, cheap, good value.
...not just small 'club' sites.....please not.
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Yes Cls are great and we use them in preference. Just a word of warning to CL wners-you are in many cases pricing yourselves out. No need for all singing all dancing. Also make sure your prices are up to date. No excuse for websites to be out of date. Nothing will deter revisits than to find the prices exceed those quoted
We tend to use the main sites, but if we were to use a CL it would be the all singing variety and I am sure we are not alone. If it has similar facilities to a CC site, I am not sure why one should expect it to be a great deal cheaper. You are after all paying for location and exclusivity.
the problem, Steve, is economics....
with only five vans in a site, its hard for a CL owner to make a return on any investment in showers and toilets without ramping up prices....
for those that wish to 'glamp' with shower blocks, toilets ehu, etc (what next, a shop, playground.....) there are many club sites that offer these at the appropriate price levels....
a countryside cl offering 'location' as its no1 asset need not tart it up into something its not....a full fat campsite....hence the exemption from planning..any more and you have to scratch 'location' from that asset list as the site would not be able to exist.
..five vans, nice location, owner costs at a minimum, CL visitors enjoyment at a maximum.....
simple, cheap, good value.
...not just small 'club' sites.....please not.
We go to Cirencester Park quite a lot. I just did a search on the new app and there are 6 CL's with hardstanding, EHU and shower / toilet within 25 miles and 11 within 30 miles. This works out at just under 10% of available CL's with these facilities. We would certainly give consideration to staying on one of these, and would not mind paying as much as we do at Cirencester Park. As you say it is economics, it all depends how many feel as we do. Clearly if there are enough, more CL's are likely to go this route.
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Peedee, I know what you mean, and despite what you say its not just Motorhomes that suffer. I once booked into a CL not far from Salcombe in Devon. On arrival I found the entrance very difficult with a long van, but once in I quickly realised that due to the narrowness of the access lane there was little chance of me getting out again without damage! Sadly I was proved right! The site was in a lovely area, but was really only suitable for small MH's and short two berth caravans. It should have made that clear!
That episode taught me to always check the proposed site out on Google Earth. It has saved me making a similar mistake on a couple of occasions since!
TF
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As someone who mainly uses CLs and CSs they are the “jewel in the crown” for me.
I also choose CL sites that have a shower and toilet and am prepared to pay a little extra for the privilege. We all have differing needs and tastes and it is not helpful for other members to look down on or mock other members for wanting some facilities
on a CL site. After all some of us have small basic units while others have large units with all mod con’s.By reading the revues first and using Google maps I have been very happy with the sites chosen so far.
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As someone who mainly uses CLs and CSs they are the “jewel in the crown” for me.
I also choose CL sites that have a shower and toilet and am prepared to pay a little extra for the privilege. We all have differing needs and tastes and it is not helpful for other members to look down on or mock other members for wanting some facilities
on a CL site. After all some of us have small basic units while others have large units with all mod con’s.By reading the revues first and using Google maps I have been very happy with the sites chosen so far.
...perfectly valid point, but i dont think anyone was mocking anything, merely pointing out the any site (cl or otherwise) that incpvests in ifrasteucture will want to redeem that outlay, and with only five vans to charge for per night, thats goint to take
an awfully long time without significantly hiking prices.as well as cls offering a far more diverse set of locations than club sites, they also offer those who find club site prices a little 'hot', the chance to continue touring at a manageable price.
ive got no problem with cls having a shower block, however i wouldnt want this to become the norm as would the price to support the investment.
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As someone who mainly uses CLs and CSs they are the “jewel in the crown” for me.
I also choose CL sites that have a shower and toilet and am prepared to pay a little extra for the privilege. We all have differing needs and tastes and it is not helpful for other members to look down on or mock other members for wanting some facilities
on a CL site. After all some of us have small basic units while others have large units with all mod con’s.By reading the revues first and using Google maps I have been very happy with the sites chosen so far.
Here here!! Not every one has full facilities built into their caravan!!
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