Campsites closing at the end of the 2024 season
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but what does the likes on Nunnykirk need? Just a warden, bins emptying and grass cutting. Surely that’s not that expensive?
And people to go to it to pay for all that? If they don't, and they're not, then it's all a loss.
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The caravan club used to be run by caravan people for caravan club members,sadly we are now getting in new "experts" who have never seen a caravan and are only interest in MONEY and not the views of the people who pay them ! remember its our money.
It seems that the not for profit ethos is out the window and spending the MEMBERS money on vanity projects is now very much to the fore,how can they justify spending millions on new sites at the expense of the older sites.
The club seem determined to turn perfectly good touring sites into holiday camps with sheds and tents everywhere,this is not the club i joined over twenty years ago,i now only use my membership to access CL Sites.
CL sites only charge you for the pitch including two people the club charge for the pitch and one person so unless you want to leave your wife,partner,girlfriend at home its double the price just to stand on the same piece of grass.
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Correct, it is not the club you joined 20 years ago but the world is not the same as 20 years ago either. CAMC has moved with the times by embracing the motorhomers amongst us (although we were always welcome), introducing camping pods and cabins, and modern technology. OK, CAMC is far from perfect but it has made the effort to keep up to date and attempted to attract younger members who are the future of caravanning.
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and not the views of the people who pay them ! remember its our money.
Well actually they certainly are, and not just views but in hard currency. People are not going to basic sites with no toilets, showers, EHU... they will note what is popular and what isn't.
I've been a member for 25 years and even back then it wasn't all grass back then but even then I always chose hardstanding, and a few years later service pitches came.
But you've found a perfect solution for you, you use Cls.
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"CL sites only charge you for the pitch including two people the club charge for the pitch and one person so unless you want to leave your wife,partner,girlfriend at home its double the price just to stand on the same piece of grass."
It's only double the per person charge for two people, not double the whole price. That’s because people use water and facilities etc. CLs choose their own pricing system but often work out more expensive for a solo camper that a club site due to their pricing structure.
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Part of the purpose (the primary purpose) of the club is to enable its members to enjoy all the beautiful areas of our country. This may mean that some sites in more remote, or less fashionable, areas will fail to make a profit but they are a vital part of the network all the same.
If it is the lack of a toilet block that is causing people to stay away, the idea must surely be to add one, rather than close the site down. There are already huge holes in the Club Sites network, now we have even more, it feels that the Club has lost its way.How many more quiet and ideally located sites will be deemed surplus to requirements next year and the year after?
Aside from tourers, some of these sites have seasonal pitches and are in areas of high demand or where there is no other alternative, the only viable option for those no longer able to book a SP as a result of this decision is to sell their caravan, it is a terrible move by the CAMC “business”.
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Thought this was a club not a money making company. If a site is failing surly they should be looking as to why and try improve it . Is this the start closing sites as what sites are they opening. It’s like the recycling idea of having central bin collection less for wardens to do so is the next step to get away from assistant wardens
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Frankly I’m not surprised the Club is closing underperforming and unprofitable sites. That’s sensible business practice. It can be compared with M&S which is in the middle of a similar programme, but as fast as they close stores like that they open new ones.
Now the Club tells me they are also doing that, and that here in Devon and Cornwall members now have Carnon Downs and Dornafield - but, but, but those are not new sites. They were there for years under previous ownership - well liked, well regarded and well reviewed - and some reports are even saying they were rather nicer then than now. And if some members didn’t use them then that was probably narrow minded prejudice at that time - “Oh we never go to commercial sites, but we will go there now because they are Club sites”
So all the Club has done is change the label at the gate. M&S is opening really new stores in new locations, but is the Club opening really new sites in new locations? Or just buying existing ones?
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It's always unpopular when sites are closed and probably a bit of a blow when several are announced at the same time as per Rowena's post. It's understandable for people to be upset but I think some have to put away the rose coloured spectacles. There are so many things to be considered. If the site is not owned by the Club and held on a lease, which many are, it is the length of that lease that determines whether any investment in better facilities will be recouped. The word profit has been mentioned but the Club has no shareholders to pay and any surplus is put back into the Club and Site network. Some suggest that these sites should be subsidised, the only problem with that in order to pay for that subsidy the prices of more popular sites have to increase and given the price pressures all sites are under it seems an unlikely course of action. Our hobby is changing and we may have been blindsided by that because it's probably in the early stages of change. It's just been announced that another well known caravan dealer has gone into administration with a loss of 63 jobs, how many more? In ten years time I suspect the club will look a bit different to it is now.
David
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Or perhaps the Clachan site?
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More than likely with the much more expensive Maragowan just 1 mile away.
I will be sad to see Dockray Meadow close, it is the site we like in the lakes. Much quieter than all the other lake sites.
Of course they are going to close it, its non facility and the others are more expensive so the club have to fill them. Well they wont with me as I will not be pushed into using something I don't want.
Every time we have been to Dockray the site has been almost full, with quite a few seasonal pitches. Yet the club say folk don't want non facilities, really. We use mainly non facility sites, we like them as do many others.
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I’m not aware of C&CC having any similar small non-facility sites. However, they have lost a few franchised sites recently.
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Where we live there was a fleet of mini buses run by the local bus company that did short trip between all the 'villages' in Washington going through the town centre. They were a feature of the town of many years.
About a year ago they were stopped due to very low usage, as my neighbour said 'I've never used one but it's a shame they are going'. Very similar to what is being posted here.
These sites account for less than 1% of all club pitches and I suspect there are CLs near to them?
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Chens
The Camping and Caravanning Club have recently lost to their network of sites,Oldbury Hill in Kent, Adgestone on the Isle Of Wight,Oxford ,had to pull out of Folkstone due to on going ground conditions,Umberleigh I am sure there is more ,but haven't got handbook to check,pulled out of all of their franchised sites,split from the Camping in the Forest chain,no oversea's section ,no winter rally's. ect
Oxford was the surprise to me,yes it was a city centre site,but so easy to get around.
They have added two though,remodernised both Braithwaite Village in the Lake District and Nottingham.
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Lots of theories being put forward regarding these closures. Mine is consistency. Unfortunately over the past few months I have been on a number of CAMC sites. They were all the same. Perhaps the sites being closed don't fit the mold. Judging by the descriptions I've read they are the ones that are different and possibly more interesting, even quirky.
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We drove past Ladycross back in April, it’s still there. I wonder how safe North York Moors site will be in next few years, with the two sites at Scarborough and Bridlington within 25 miles. Again, we much prefer it to Cayton Bay. Both the Scarborough sites are South of the town, so NYM is much closer to Whitby. It might sound isolated, but the big P&R makes Whitby an easy visit from there. As does the big Abbey car park at the South sides the River Esk. There was 20 years between my two visits, and I didn’t see any obvious signs of any recent investment.
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I posted a link to this thread on one of the Facebook Groups, over 200 comments so far!
David
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I think the writing was on the wall for these non facility sites when the club removed the USP of fixed Price for all of them. Once the bean counters started to charge per person and locality then they became more expensive than local CLs/CSs.
I shall miss them though. They were all quite unique in their own way and I well remember having difficulty in booking the site at Much Wenlock.
Not sure that redevelopment costs would have come into the equation as alluded to by DK as most of these sites were low maintenance compared to full fat sites. That was the beauty of them.
I wonder how long they'll persist with those that are left?
I also wonder when/if the club will close down "proper" sites that are underperforming. I was greatly surprised to find the Chester site less than 1/3rd full in July when I stopped for 1 night the other week. If it hadn't of been for Scottish school hols it would have been even less.
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I’m always sorry to learn the club periodically closes sites.
Ive not visited the sites mentioned apart from Nunnykirk and we spent a most enjoyable ten days there at the back end of 2021 at the start of September of that year. I realise there are lots of people wanting a toilet block and that’s not there at Nunnykirk so it was no hardship for us to use our own facilities.
But reducing numbers at the sites mentioned forcing closure? Can’t say I’m surprised that Nunnykirk is closing because when we stayed there, our caravan and one other were the only ones. In fact, for the last four days of our stay, we were the only ones on site!
Sorry to see it go but that site, like all the others has overheads that can only be recouped if sufficient numbers of people use it. All in all, it’s a lovely site in a gorgeous setting so it’s sad it will soon be no more - unless TCCC take it on?
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I spent a couple of nights at Chapel Lane midweek in September a few years ago. Big site and four wardens in residence - looking after 8 caravans on site. Even my limited business experience could see there was a potential financial black hole because of staffing costs.
The Club has a residential staffing model that I have never seen in any of the ten other countries I have toured with a caravan. Everywhere else employs day time, part time staff as and only when they are needed.
so I am not surprised the current managers at head office are now grappling with costs.
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These sites account for less than 1% of all club pitches and I suspect there are CLs near to them?
It appears, looking in the Site Directory, and from memory, that there are in fact few CLs close to most of those Club sites. As LLM says it is their differences from the standard car park format of many of the larger full facility sites that make them much more pleasant to stay on in my opinion. We will greatly miss having the ability of using those sites, all of which we have used in the past. Some are regularly saying that the club membership is all inclusive, which it obviously isn't in this case. What they mean is that it only applies to those with deep pockets.
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This is a very much off the wall idea and I'm not sure how it could be worked but rather than closing these small sites, could the club not instigate a system similar to what the YHA used to do many years ago? And that was as part of your stay you had to carry out a menial task. This could be helping to empty the rubbish bins keep the grounds tidy etc . It would just be for , say, an hour on one day of a stay and would be completely voluntary, no compulsion.
I know that there will be screams of HEALTH AND SAFETY and INSURANCE but in that respect I think the world has gone slightly mad. Where there is a will there is a way. Local councils wouldn't, at one time, allow "the public" to help keep parks etc tidy by litter picking. Now many of them not only applaud the public's involvement but also supply the necessary equipment. I, for one, would be quite happy to give an hour of my time, especially if I was on the site for a few days if it meant that these non-carpark sites could remain open.
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Of these I have only stayed at Gwern y Bwlch which I think was something really special with hardstanding and hookup. Whenever we go to Wales we can go go this way for the peace of the location. We only need hardstanding and hookup with our motorhome. I think the Club has made some errors with pricing as even for us as a couple private adult only sites and CLs are now preferable. We will maintain our membership for access to CLs and some Clubsitezout of season. Bristol and Crystal Palace losing without replacements are also a great loss
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Well that's your view of course not a fact but it is certainly the case NTF that the club are all inclusive, and your use of deep pockets appears to imply club sites are some sort of luxury item that only a few can afford but let me inject some reality here.
A few sites with pools, bars, or close to a city will naturally have higher costs but a for standard site (I've looked at ten sites I've used) with a HS and for a couple comes in about £33-£39 in July and August while off peak from September onwards it's £30 - £35. I always think of Ferry meadows as a 'standard' site and that tops at £33 in peak at the moment. One of my favorite sites Garlieston where we stayed last August is £33 peak but drops to £24 (which some CLs go to I believe) off peak. So really deep pockets - really in my view no.
And of course what people mean is they'd rather spend the money somewhere else and not that they really can't afford club sites or need deep pockets. As I've posted if someone has an outfit already with all the extra money needed for insurance, MOTs, fuel... well you know the rest.
They may well indeed be more pleasant to stay on for you but the facts are very few find that and hence the reason given for closure. If they popular and paid their way they wouldn't be.
Some people join the club to use CLs - win these closures won't bother them?
Others join to use club sites, I can't get my head around if they then find they then need deep pockets, (actually why didn't they check before joining?) why do they stay members of the club? The re-rejoining rate is the highest ever and after all there are are cheaper and better sites out there? Membership of the club is not something that people have to do. But once joined anyone can access the services and club sites inclusively.
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