Booking pitches
Comments
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Corners, I can see for myself whether there is a HS empty that I would prefer rather than some other one, and I can only say what I have experienced........a free choice of empty HSs in the area that has been suggested, having said we would prefer to be close to the facilities.
There has always been plenty of choice, probably because we try to avoid busy holiday periods, we arrived at one site this year on the day it opened and had the choice of the whole site bar one pitch that was booked as a seasonal.
As we spend most of the day out and about, even if we had no choice it would not bother us anyway.
brue....we have also seen the walkie-talkies in use, makes sense, especially on larger sites.
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We used the Lincolnshire site during the trial, at that time we had a MH and was grateful that we were able to book a H/S, even more so when we arrived as the grass was very soft due to a period of heavy rain days before our arrival.
Why the CAMC did not take the trial forward is, I think, always going to be a mystery, however I think we all have our own ideas why
We have used more C&CC sites since then. At one time we were not aware that you could book a h/s with them and were 'put off' joining by comments on CT, about the draconian ways they run their sites. Thankfully one or two folk posted that nowadays it was much more relaxed, so we gave it a go. It is now our go to when looking for a site during grass season. Although we now have a caravan so the 'soft grass' is less of an issue.
We used Malvern C&CC site recently, which is right next door to the C&MC site. The price difference was around £9 a night between the 2 clubs. But thats another thread. We had a choice of either type of pitch and was 'shown 'around the site by a very nice man on a cycle. He pointed out various pitches to us and explained that some might be quieter than others and than some might not get a good tv signal, he also pointed out which pitches were better for early/late sun.
I know that most folk can work all the above out for themselves, however it was nice to be told all this before 'choosing' a pitch. It all felt rather relaxed and pleasant, no mad dash to arrive at opening time (we couldn't anyway) no driving round and round looking for that 'special' pitch trying to dodge others doing the same.
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lVive la Difference ! But not for me, much prefer choosing from the empty pitches available. Tried the C&CC for 2 years as well as the CMC, but next year wont be renewing the C&CC. Also will be glad when grass pitches on CMC sites are phased out, some sites though, my local site St Davids in Pembrokeshire being one, has NO hardstandings ? which is a bit strange as the ground is quite soft and prone to mud. Bad news for FWD Motorhomes. Come on CMC upgrade it.
Otherwise happy with the CMC setup as it is,
no deposit booking, single nights bookable and choose your OWN pitch. Yes.
To the OP. most Grass pitches are closed during the low winter season in my experience.
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Also will be glad when grass pitches on CMC sites are phased out,
Its called camping, can remember many an evening sat out on the grass with a group of other campers just enjoying the evening sun with a glass of whatever takes your fancy, maybe playing a board game of sorts, who wants to sit in a car park, which sites are rapidly becoming, with people huddled in doors watching telly. A lot of commercial sites have a mixture of chuckies for your caravan/MH with a reasonable amount of grass where you can sit out. I have always said that you get more of a community spirit on sites that have a mixture of tents/caravans/MH's.
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St Davids in Pembrokeshire being one, has NO hardstandings ? which is a bit strange as the ground is quite soft and prone to mud. Bad news for FWD Motorhomes. Come on CMC upgrade it.
It is not up to The Caravan Club whether they can install hard standings when a site is leased, or there is a covenant covering the use, or it would be against local or National Park planning policies. Just be glad that there is a site there at all. Many would not be given permission now as a new application.
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There seems to be a lot that some members do not "understand" of how sites work and are maintained but after years of seeing from the wardens eye view, (although most are now retired) of what is involved, and have also seen how much extra space is needed when "converting" pitches to hardstands,
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Perhaps what JVB means is that when a hardstanding is created it is made to the same size as a grass pitch but what also happens is a grass area is also provided in addition so all those extra strips of grass (which wouldn't be there if the sites was all grass) all add up to perhaps a fewer number of pitches? If my theory is correct it would also explain why I always feel crowded when on a site with all grass pitches.
David
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As I normally bend a couple of steel awning pegs on hardstanding pitches I've grown quite fond of grass ones...
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As I said St Davids is my 'local' site, 8 miles away, so we don't stay there, not in the last few years anyway. There is a large Commercial 'semi- static' site less than half a mile away, so although it is in the National Park I doubt that 'planning' is the problem, this is also another site that would benefit from 'Christmas opening' until January. As there is lots going on in St Davids over Christmas and plenty to do in the area. But not of course with only Grass pitches , i last checked the site in February and the pitches were VERY soft. luckily I was walking around not driving. Needs Hardstandings.
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I used to like Grass pitches too until my Vauxhall Cavalier towing my Elddis Gulfstream (1994) got terribly bogged down in the Club New Forest site before even getting to our pitch, and we had to be towed off. Since then we have changed to motorhomes and have seen many get themselves stuck or nearly stuck on grass pitches, either by sinking overnight or just a too heavy right foot.
Hardstandings should be the 'norm' by now. its nearly 2020 for goodness sake.
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Possibly.
However, how big is a pitch.........say 8 metres wide for a decent pitch? Some of the newer hardstandings are larger.
Assuming the usual lay out of car/van/awning, with an 8 metre wide pitch, be it HS or grass, you will still need roughly another 3 metres of space between them to maintain the awning to next door car spacing, so the same space used whatever the surface.
Some HSs are wider, some grass fingers are much less than 3 metres, it will depend on what the Club decides on, but perfectly possible to fit a HS into the same space as a grass pitch if you want to.
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If the grass pitches are around an existing road network and you want to maintain them in a good condition by rotating them, I would have thought they would take a lot more space than HS.
However, at sites like Malvern where many are in a centre area. Replacing them with HS would require more roads which would certainly eat up the available space.
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Kjell, im guessing the grass fingers are 'cosmetic' and are left in place otherwise site would, literally, become a sea of gravel.
i agree, there is no difference in pitch size required, certainly for us, whether parked on grass or gravel, but if the pitch has to accommodate a car, a caravan, barrels and an awning all on gravel, thats a lot of gravel.
you can see why some think they look like car parks.
we were on a grass pitch this week, during the recent storm. loads of rain but with well draining sandy soil, pitches remained bone dry.
to replicate this in poor draining areas will require proper drainage, but even gravel pitches need to be drained properly if the undersoil is clay.
agree with steve, converting an enclosed grass area to HS assumes new HS access roads which will reduce pitch numbers....and provide another race track
and, judging by the number of 'ensconsed' hippy type, rainbow coloured caravans alonside the A39 in Glastonbury, planning permission is the last thing thats needed to set up a campsite...it even has a name.
im surprised they havent put in their own HS....
i wonder if they take ACSI.
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I saw them last week BB. I had to go to Glastonbury to visit a print works. But we digress.
There are CAMC sites which will never have hardstandings due to planning, AONB restrictions etc and leases. I would hate to see St Agnes Beacon covered in gravel squares! Many CLs are just grass too. I think we're talking about booking the type of pitch you want and it works well with other organisations. I can't see a problem as long as the pitch types are priced to attract all users.
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I think the latest pitch sizes are 11mtrs? and when looking round the sites if a EHU has "spare" sockets it will probably be because a pitch has been "lost" because of the latest safety breaks or hardstands have been installed needing more ground than grass pitches,next weekiwill be given some more info
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i agree, this weekmwe had a choice of std sized grass pitch no ehu, std grass with ehu, XL sized with EHU or Euro pitch with water/wast on the pitch.
as we were only there four days so no water requirement (had sufficient on board) nor waste (dumped later) we joined our pals on the ehu grass pitches which were in pretty good nick TBH.
i think they had 10 nights for £109..
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When we visited White Water Park, a much nicer site than I imagined it would be, we had a serviced pitch and it seemed massive. Front to back it must have been 9 metres and across probably 11 metres as there would Have been plenty of room for car/caravan/awning with room to spare. Rather than separate them with grass they have used hedges which is nice as it give addition privacy and also breaks up the gravel.
David
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Whitewater has not long since been revamped David, I agree its a nice site.
We have used it for many years now.
The serviced pitches there used to be under a lot of big trees, if you were at the back it could feel a bit gloomy. Since the revamp its much better and with the hedges as you say it brakes up the pitches and is more attractive. The whole site looks much better nowadays.
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It is not so much a case of them allocating you a pitch as them telling you which ones are not available - too short; too narrow; needed for disabled; no EHU (if wanted); EHU (if not wanted); needed for jumbo tent; too much slope; no TV signal (if required); and probably some more.
The scope for getting it wrong is immense, so the help of the wardens is much appreciated. In many years I have never arrived and found that there was only one pitch availble to me. Same service for tents, trailer caravans, motor caravans, camping trailers, pushbikes and hikers.
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With the weather right now, we are very glad to be on a HS, even though we are on a CL! I think we have had about 18 hours of continuous rain.
A little off topic maybe, but we also like to be sure we will get a HS when we book a CL. When searching, we tick HS, but a site will come up even if it only has one HS, and often the number of HSs is not stated, and the photos, when there are some, may not show the whole area.
Sometimes the reviews will give more info, but at this time of year we just would not use a site of any type where we were not guaranteed a HS.
Would possibly risk it in summer, but even then if there are 2 or more sites to choose from, the one that we can be sure will give us a HS would get our booking.
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I think one of the best sites we have used for pitch size is Silverbank at Banchory, Huge hardstandings and pretty wide grass fingers too, even a few hedges, but only a few.
The only downside is the lack of footpaths across the central grassed areas, both to the service points and from the far side of the site to the facilities block
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I hope it's not whinging, some of us are waiting to hear what CAMC are planning in their changes to booking procedures, this has been stated by the club. I hope the "improvements" are in line with other organisations who offer systems which some of us already enjoy. We'll have to wait and see I think?
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