Etiquette
I had a bit of a clash with a MoHomer on a club site recently and wondered what others think - some things are in the rules but some come under Etiquette I think. My problem was that I was on a hard standing pitch with space for Awning which I wasn't using. I arrived on site after a long journey not long after 1pm and had lunch and then a snooze. Jerked awake by the crunching of stones on my hard standing about a foot from where I was lying - in full view. Turned out to be a couple who had decided to change their pitch after connecting up to another not far away pitch. He left wife to bag his place and went to collect MoHo, some shouted instructions from her. Then he took the short cut back to collect his EHU cable! I tapped on the window and said "get off my pitch". A short while later I filled up the Aqua roll at the SP just by his pitch. He was there outside and I said quite calmly "would you really be happy if I walked over your pitch to get back to my caravan?" "I don't think I would mind but I won't walk over yours again" "thank you I replied" politely. Wondering if I had become another grumpy old woman I asked the Warden. Her response was "Absolutely not acceptable - it's etiquette and he should know that!". I remember people complaining about children invading pitches but not an adult? He could have avoided getting his shoes quite so wet by going past my car - but within a few inches of my caravan I didn't like it was only a few yards round the road to his new pitch. In past times that would have set my dogs off but current dog doesn't bark very often.
So what else is etiquette but not in the rules?
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Etiquette is mostly these days in the past with some members
A couple this last weekend on the pitch behind us were quite put out when I asked them why they needed to save about three steps by walking about a foot behind our PVC to go to the ablutions block
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JVB perhaps it's time we all re-read the rules that Tinwheeler has shown us! Thank you Tinny I am glad it's in the rules and not just a nebulous piece of etiquette! Sometimes I think I get a little over sensitive being a lone woman caravanning. Hopefully some people will read this discussion - I am an optimist too
As an aside these neighbours left and when I came to disconnect my TV aerial I noticed he had left the cover on his aerial bollard up in the air - is it really so difficult to shut the flap to stop the rain getting in? I'm not perfect but I do try to respect Club property and other's privacy.
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So they use/abuse CLs I suppose? There is more space so less likelihood of pitch and privacy invasion. I use both but if behaviour deteriorates on Club sites I may move over to more CLs. One thing stopping me is fear of not finding CLs which is probably daft but I am a bit paranoid about getting lost towing a caravan - quite happy to get lost in the car!
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I have had similar happen in recent times. I can forgive those newbies who may not know any better but then there are the others. It’s those that clearly don’t care that are the issue. Not knowing which they are I try to help their understand by a friendly chat rather than a curt chastise. It’s then their response which tends to establish which of the two groups they belong to. Etiquette works both ways, I guess it is earned as well as learned.
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Also had it happen a few times over the years. Malvern particularly stands out, the layout lends itself to folk cutting between pitches, which is fine if they stick to the grass divide, but not when they walk under your roll out awning.😡 The frequency has certainly increased since we have switched to a MH, less on the pitch I guess, but it still does not excuse it. We avoid, where we can, likely cut through pitches, a hedge behind is always good.
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You're right about the use of a MH, Steve...
If a caravanner has the usual array of kit on a pitch, car/van/awning/windbreak barrels etc, etc theres not much of an inviting access way through that lot...
With a smallish MH and no other kit, other than chairs, our pitches tend to have a lot of open (and inviting) space.
however, without being territorial, the space is ours and we would rather that folk respected that, but some folk just can't walk the long way around anything and a sparsely populated pitch is a good target for a short cut over one covered in kit.
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I’ve posted on here before about the woman who constantly felt the need to save herself 20 steps to squeeze past the side of our caravan walking on our pitch to get to the shower block. Once she squeezed past while I was at the window washing up but by the time I could get out to speak to her she had always disappeared around the corner. OH put the water container there, she still squeezed past. This is while everyone else walked around. Then he put the lead across the bit where she came, resting on something, she came to a full stop then and did have to walk around.
On our static site the ‘old’ caravanners know the etiquette. But someone walked over our neighbours plot and when challenged by them said, ‘you don’t own the pitch’, our neighbour then pointed out exactly how much he paid for the pitch in rent each year! One of our lovely neighbours has a slight mobility problem, no one ever minds her cutting across.
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My standard response to anybody walking across my pitch is that I've paid for exclusive use of the pitch for the period of my stay so, unless you want to share my expenses, then walk round.
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Maybe it’s an age/experience thing but it would enter our heads to “cut across” another occupied pitch.
Our worst experiences, and repeatedly, are on a club rally held at a commercial site but, often, the people doing it are club members who one would have hoped would know better.
We have even had people walk between us, sitting out, and our awning!
Whilst irritating the site design does nothing to discourage this with long rows of back to back pitches with just a flat marker set in the ground to give an indication of the pitch limits.
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The problem with etiquette breakers, if that is the right term, is that they are probably oblivious to it but it is the receiver of the broken etiquette that gets the stress and upset. We once pitched opposite the toilet block at LMP and we had a whole stream of people walking through the trees behind us and across our pitch to get to the toilet block. I soon learnt why the pitch was free!!! When I had a longer motorhome I sometimes had to pull into the pitch opposite in order reverse onto my pitch. I was always careful how I did it. There are really only two options, confront the offenders (yet more stress) or take a more sanguine approach to things? I try to do the latter but it doesn't always work
David
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Hi David, Following “advice” that I should learn to ignore it my approach is very similarish to yours but, rather than being more sanguine, it’s more red wine!
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Maybe that's Sangria
David
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Pandy is another site that we see members walking across or between pitches to get to the toilet block, was there last month and witnessed a couple walk across the hard standings between cars and caravans.
At broadway there was lady in a motorhome who walked her dog along the back of other pitches between chairs etc, she actually walked the dog across a hard standing past the open door of a T5 and let the dog go to the toilet, the couple were at the sinks at the time.
As a rule we always try to get a pitch with no cut through for jay-walkers.
Rules are rules and benefit everybody, unfortunately they are not available in 'Janet n John' format for the hard of thinking.
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May have thought of that rather more apt response had I reduced my intake!
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We adopted a totally stress free option……..avoid Club Sites that are prone to,it, and use a CL. It rarely happens on CLs.
I always enjoyed tying up our three terriers when we arrived on a Club Site. Thankfully not yappers, so they simply quietly loved any trespassers, tangled them in tie ups and they rarely tried it again. Even funnier if they had muddy paws. 🤣
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I hate yapping dogs as well to be honest. We always have a good look at what is on a neighbouring pitch. But we digress……..🙂
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A couple of winters ago there was another site occupant who repeatedly squeezed between the caraven and the Land Rover, which was parked across the caravan door to lessen the icy blast when going out. I had resolved to have a word with him about potentially sctatching the caravan or Land Rover, so when my girlfriend told me he was approaching I opened the door to pop out. He was closer than I thought and he met the door before me. So blood and bad words from him, but action was not repeated - at least on that stay.
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I’d bet that was a deisel leak from the filter, this was a regular failure on Fiats. We witnessed two occasions where the AA were called out to this issue. One driver lost a whole tank of fuel along the journey to site only to see that there was a problem when the trail around site that lead to his pitch was pointed out to him. I guess they and their pets vacated the van whilst the repair was made. Stressful times for all but the staff were very understanding!
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As far as I’m aware, you can use the grass surrounding your pitch for sitting out, driers and other temporary items, including dogs. Just be aware of a request to remove when not ‘using’ or when grass cutting/site management is planned. Of course in doing so, us reasonable folk would not impinge on the comfort or safety of our neighbours would we!
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Exactly, people pay for a pitch and that's what they get and expect people to respect that. As for the grass area between pitches I understand it to be also used by your neighbour. As for any grass area behind the pitch, well it ain't yours and only if not keeping a respectful distance would I become Mr Grumpy.
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