Inconsiderate Ralliers
Not having ever attended a rally as they don't appeal to us (preferring to do our own thing), we had the unfortunate experience of sharing a normally quiet CL with a rally over the bank holiday weekend.
We arrived on the Friday when most of the rallier had already arrived and set up in the adjacent field to the CL with two marques joined together. The owner had forgotten to let us know the rally was occurring and apologised to us on arrival - we had booked a year in advance so it wasn't really her fault). She told us that they wouldn't be any bother and that they would have a get-together in their marquees, and possibly a game of bingo on an evening but shouldn't really disturb us. What a mistake - Friday night, all quiet, no problems. Saturday, saw all the ralliers trekking down to the marquee around 7-7.30pm. Then the PA system started. Four hours of rowdy karaoke singing, noise which carried right across the CL field which was only metres away. Two of the vans on here had small children so god knows if they got any sleep at all. We were the farthest away but it was so loud we couldn't hear our tv. (Not to mention the bad singing!) Adjacent to the marquee was the CL owners stables housing 3 horses - I'm surprised they weren't traumatised.
Sunday - all quiet on the field until again 7 - 7.30pm, when the PA system was tested - for an external singer whose voice was so piercing it was unbelievable. This singing which also involved cheering and clapping continued on until 11.20pm - again so loud we couldn't here our tv (or ourselves think and no chance of an early night even though we were tired out after a long day walking the moors).
Monday we thought there would be some respite and maybe they'd be going home, we were there for 10 days so looking forward to some quiet - but no, after lunch the PA system fires up again 'afternoon everyone!' We were going out, so off we went. Fortunately when we returned the majority of vans including on of the marquees had gone although some stayed on till Wednesday (generator noise this time).
We really are not the miserable type and we embrace everyone on the site as a rule (we're actually very sociable), but for us our weekend was ruined and we would certainly not use a CL who was hosting a rally in the future and the experience does not encourage us to join one ourselves. The CL owner was very apologetic and had been assured by the ralliers that they had approached all of the vans on th CL field. Not true - we were not approached at all and neither were our neighbours who were also unhappy with the situation and as this was their first visit to a normally quiet CL, were slightly put off for future visits.
Is it not the norm for rally organisers to at least warn the other users of potential noise and possibly invite people to join them - we're not saying we would intrude on their party BUT the option would have been nice, as would an apology.
Another thing is the amount of rubbish they left the poor CL owner. Her bottle bin was completely full, with an additional huge bag full off bottles/cans. The main bin had to be stamped on to enable more rubbish to be put in.
Someone please let me know that this is not the norm for rallies.