Pitching Instructions

Barsar

Has the club abandoned pitching guidelines? I've always been told quite firmly to reverse the van onto a pitch with the nearside corner next to the peg.

I'm currently at Malvern Hills and people are going freestyle with people seemingly pitching in any direction they want.  I wish I'd been told this when I arrived as I would have ignored what I thought was a rule in favour of a better view.

EasyT

You can go nose in or nose out as has long been the case on the vast majority of sites

Cornersteady

I'm not sure what you mean by any direction but on any club site (there are a few where this doesn't apply like Sandringham) you can either reverse in or go nose in to the peg.

Although it does also say if you want to pitch any other way please speak to the wardens.

Takethedogalong

And on some Sites you are encouraged to pitch sideways on😁 You will need to zoom in to read it....

 

Tinwheeler

Here you go - this is the general instruction.

I believe it appears on the reverse of all site plans as handed to arrivals.

Tinwheeler

Yep, been there, done that 😀

Barsar

That's what I was given when I arrived.  So I pitched as instructed. 

Tinwheeler

Did you read the print which gives an either/or choice regarding reversing or going forwards?

SeasideBill

Like Marazion?

eribaMotters

Barsar, this has been covered in discussions before and I've been on the receiving end of getting wound up about it.

"Guide" is the key word. Nose in or out are the preferred line as these mean you meet fire regulations distances for safe pitching. But you can ask the warden if it is possible for you to pitch across the pitch, something we have done on larger pitches with our small van.Sometimes we have been denied this request even though we would have been over 8 m from the next van.

 

Colin

Takethedogalong

👍It is indeed Marazion. (Best pitch on there as far as we are concerned).

Yellowcraig also has some “pitch sideways” pitches.

Barsar

As always I pitched as instructed and in accordance with the diagram on the site leaflet. I have never been told there was a choice. It has always sounded like an instruction. 

Barsar

For clarity I'm talking about towbar  facing the road or away. Not at 90deg. Apologies for not being clearer. 

SteveL

If that’s still the case at Sandringham they need to change the site leaflet, which shows either direction is OK. In most cases we end up nose in, as more pitches seem to slope up from the road than away. This normally means no ramps are required for levelling and on our van puts the door on the UK side. Although we are not really bothered which way it faces.

SteveL

It’s only in the last few years they have clarified it with a diagram on the site plan. However, when we first started caravanning some 16 years ago, we certainly put the van nose in occasionally. A distinct benefit of a power mover.

JVB66

There was a myth in the past that the estate insisted all LVs should reverse onto the peg,,it was just a myth that was perpetuated by some site staff

Tinwheeler

It’s the text that tells the full story and you’ve seen now that going forwards is fine and anything else needs to be checked with the warden. There are some exceptions, as TDA illustrated.

DavidKlyne

In recent years I don't think I have arrived at a CMC site where the correct pitching procedure has not be explained ad nauseam. Having said that, on the site we have just left a fellow motorhomer pitched perfectly to the peg, the only trouble was that it was the wrong side of the van It might have been a left hand drive van so to be charitable it may just have been confusion especially if the "drivers side"  was mentioned?

David

Cornersteady

Thank Steve it was that way a while back but maybe they have changed the rules (it was caravans), it was something to do with the lease or something like that?

Graydjames

Agreed, it is always explained on arrival even if you tactfully make it obvious that you are the most seasoned member ever. 

Despite this, I find it amazing how many people still get it wrong. Like in your example, at Ayr in September, one motorhome, British built, right-hand drive, had neatly parked perfectly with the rear corner adjacent to the peg. Trouble was it was the wrong corner. 

What gets my goat is that despite this "ad  nauseam" explanation of the pitching rules, incorrect pitching is then never, or at least very rarely, pointed out by the wardens and rectification requested. Also at Ayr, one caravanner, with two cars, spent an entire weekend on site (possibly more as it was still there when I left) with one of the cars parked, laterally, across the edge of the pitch with roughly one third of it on the road. Other outfits had a tight squeeze to get past. If he had pitched his van accurately to the peg, instead of it being a foot or two towards the middle of his van, he could have got a car either side (he did not have an awning).       

Barsar

I spoke to one of the very helpful wardens here at Malvern. It turns out you can pitch either way. Ie with towbar facing the road OR away from the road as long as you are in the middle of the pitch. This means that the diagram we are given is incorrect and so are the wardens who explain it.

Tinwheeler

Sorry but that guy is incorrect. The peg is there for a reason - to ensure spacing is maintained - and one of the appropriate corners must go to the peg as per the text in the diagram I posted. If middle of the pitch would do it, the peg would not be where it is. 

I think he needs to read the stuff he's handing out. Logic dictates that he cannot be the only person who is right while everyone else, including the written instruction, is wrong.

SteveL

Surely that’s what the diagram on the site plan shows. It’s just that if you go nose in you put the nearside (passenger side) to the peg and if you reverse in you put the offside (driver side). However, in each case the RV is to the right of the peg, not as in the case highlighted by DK, to the left. You certainly don’t totally ignore the peg and put it exactly in the middle, if that’s what you are implying.

Tinwheeler

I suspect that warden meant with a car one side of the van and the awning on the other but his use of the word "middle" suggests the peg is irrelevant which is not the case.

SteveL

I would think that to be the case, as I can’t see a warden generally advising to ignore the peg. Due to maintaining spacing, the last pitch we were on at Cirencester had a fairly tight space to the left of the peg, only just sufficient for a car. We went nose in peg to the nearside and had room for a mega awning. On extending our wind out, it didn’t come within a metre of the pitch edge. This is unfortunate for those with caravans, as it can make it very awkward fitting barrels and car in. However, if the RV was placed in the middle of the pitch, it would have been a metre or more off the peg and fire spacing would be compromised.

eribaMotters

So I'd never get away with this on a C&MC site then would I. Oh, to be on a French site.

 

Colin

JVB66

I think many are hoping the same    it would then allow us who have no interest in going out of this country more chance of getting a pitch on the very busy  sites in this country 

young thomas

I'm sure the peg is there somewhere...

MikeyA

As most pegs will be situated off-centre, I'm sure all he means is "pitch to the peg with a rear corner with the caravan to which ever side has the most space on the hardstanding".

MikeyA

No you wouldn't, washing hung on a line is frowned upon.

Tinwheeler

I don't think so. What you describe could result in the scenario DK described with the van on the wrong side of the peg.

When you join the club and see the pitches for real, all will become clear😁