Caravanner of the Year on BBC this April!
Comments
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And all discussing how bad COTY was. COTY was a blatant attempt to humiliate and belittle caravanners. Yes that does make good TV, but should it have been made?
Not all, there is some positive, if not much, positive criticism across the forums.
"The overwhelming sentiment on social media following the airing of the programme was positive, and we ranked fourth in Twitter trends on the night"
Trending on Twitter isn't necessarily a good thing....
i was following Twitter while it was on. It really wasn't kind
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Maybe next week we will have how to incinerate sausages, cremate chicken and set fire to the awning. Should learn a lot from that.
You've seen me cook on the Cadac then?
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Trending on Twitter isn't necessarily a good thing....
i was following Twitter while it was on. It really wasn't kind
Most of the negative comments I saw on Twitter were about the "personalities" competing in the competing in the competition, rather than caravanners in general?
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Sorry, Rochelle, you can't defend the undefendable. The membeship of the CC are not that gullible.
I don't think Rochelle wrote it, John. It's the Corporate Response and Rochelle is the messenger.
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Well I sat down to watch this full of hope , it took very little time for it to be dashed . Where on earth did you get the people for this dreadful offering ? It looked like carry on camping for bobble hatted fools . The judges were no better destroying their own caravan whilst treating like a farm tractor. If the aim was set back the views of non caravanners by 20 years well done . It reinforced many of these peoples views that we are all idiots who have little or no control of the units we drive . The vision of a man shouting at his 80 year old mother that it was her fault he jack knifed within 6 feet of a reverse whilst trying to run her over will stay with me for sometime . If this is the best of us god help all other road users ! Shame a possible good prog wasted . I will watch the next one but only so I can feel superior and shout abuse at the screen as its good therapy for me !!!!
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Well Well !! Surfer What else did you expect.From East Grinsted's "Ivory Towers". I received the same bogstandard letter, however signed byTina Macnaughton.Have you read the Warning ?? This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and may
also be privilegeid. If you are not the intended recipient you should not copy forward or use any part of it or disclose it's contents to any person.Hope you are ready for The Ivory Towers Mafia!!!0 -
Can only agree with many contributors. A judge who rips the back off his caravan, then checks awnings with a tape measure and looks for dust with white gloves. Oh and he's the top man? at the CC. Another judge who is amazed when a female can reverse
a Motor Home without stalling it!!. And don't forget the third judge who looks like she's going to a 1940's dance. Well done, you have managed to do more harm to caravanners in one hour than Jeremy Clarkson has done in 20 years.0 -
perhaps in the final there will be
Aqua roll racing
How many flags you can fly on one pole
And for the Moterhomers , how to do your back in lifting the waste water drain cover
Write your comments here...How about speed cycling around the toilet block , who can do the biggest snake down a motorway , driving the wrong way round the site at speed whilst mouthing off to the warden with extra points for how much dust you can cover
other people in ?0 -
Well Well !! Surfer What else did you expect.From East Grinsted's "Ivory Towers". I received the same bogstandard letter, however signed byTina Macnaughton.Have you read the Warning ?? This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and may
also be privilegeid. If you are not the intended recipient you should not copy forward or use any part of it or disclose it's contents to any person.Hope you are ready for The Ivory Towers Mafia!!!I just quoted the post that Rochelle raised on this thread so no issue there.
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Having just read the reply from head office to members emails all I can say is WHAT PLANET ARE THEY ON. Roll on the elections as I will be voting for the first time!!
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Clarkson for chairman ?
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Clarkson for chairman ?
Write your comments here...couldn't be any worse!
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Perhaps you should save your vote until the club publishes its yearly accounts and membership numbers, (I have no knowledge as to whether they publish membership totals, just guessing), if either decline due to COTY then yes, vote for a new board, but surely
if the finances and membership numbers are both increasing then this is a sign that the board are doing a good job?0 -
I have my doubts as to the veracity of the response. Had it been signed by Winston Smith, Ministry of Truth, Oceania, it may have been more beleivable.
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We folks I've just had a reply to my email to the club. You will of course form your own opinions regarding the reply!!
Thank you for your email. We appreciate you taking time to contact The Club and we have taken on board the points that you raise.
Reviews of the Caravanner of The Year programme in the national media have been, in the very large majority, positive. The amount of coverage that we have received equates to over 30 million of the general public having had the opportunity to see, hear
or read about The Caravan Club - this is unprecedented in The Club’s history. BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show presenter, Chris Evans, talked positively about the programme, two days in a row. The day after the programme he said ‘what a show… it was brilliant
last night… we’ve got another Bake Off on our hands’. The BBC One Show also invited participants, their vehicles and judges to be on the show where we took the opportunity to talk about the many benefits of our pastime and encouraged people to get out and
explore the great outdoors.
The overwhelming sentiment on social media following the airing of the programme was positive, and we ranked fourth in Twitter trends on the night. Many of our industry colleagues in caravan and motorhome manufacturing and retail have actively engaged
in supporting this initiative.
We appreciate your feedback and we are sorry you were disappointed with the programme.
Robyn Millward
Email Support Team
THE CARAVAN CLUB
East Grinstead House, East Grinstead0 -
Hi everyone,
I’ve had to remove a few posts in this thread due to the content contravening the Community Guidelines.
Could I remind everyone that swearing, insults, insulting personal comments and sharing of personal information are not permitted on Club Together, and further posts of this nature will be removed.
The important thing to remember is to try and keep discussions friendly and constructive and free from insults. I would appreciate if you could all keep the
Community Guidelines in mind when posting.Rochelle
Rochelle,
I think it would help reduce the strength of the comments, if someone from Head Office, preferably the Chairman or the DG, would make a statement addressing the members concerns. It is clear that this programme has caused embarrassment for many members to
the point you have closed the facebook page. Perhaps an apology, a reasoning and confirmation that members are not paying for the repairs would help.0 -
Rochelle,
Read with interest the clubs statement and can only conclude that the managements standard of largely positive is sadly lacking! I have read a number of reviews and all were less than complimentary. The Daily Mail (I'm not a subscriber) a large circulation
red top managed to give the programme 1 star out of 5 and said:A new cliche is born. We now have an expression that means something is even more boring than ‘watching paint dry’ or ‘watching grass grow’. The Beeb has invented a format that is literally as dull as watching a caravan reversing.
Caravanner Of The Year (BBC2) didn’t feature just one vehicle travelling slowly backwards. It showed us six of them. And they had to do it twice — once around a hay bale, and once around a tree. And then through a gate.
Moreover, this proved the most important part of the programme. It was billed as a contest between half a dozen couples, ardent caravanners all, to discover who was most at home with life as a holiday nomad.
They would be tested on their ability to thrive in a mobile cubicle, cooking on hobs and washing in buckets, while withstanding the worst of the British summer weather. Extra marks, we were promised, would be awarded for arcane caravan knowledge
and chintzy decor.But the producers had no idea how to evoke that atmosphere. They tried a cheesy soundtrack, the likes of Swinging Safari and Herb Alpert’s Spanish Flea. They invited each couple to give us a guided tour of their prized vans, with the camera zooming
in to capture every knick-knack and Formica surface.And there was plenty of Carry On Caravanning smut, as the contestants wrestled to pitch tented extensions to their living quarters. The campsite rang with fruity cries: ‘We’ve got an erection!’ ‘We’ll give it a bit of a tug!’ ‘We don’t do droopy!’
‘That’s a taut awning!’
But none of it worked. This was all as ill-judged as a barbecue weekend at Skegness in February.No one regretted it more than the chairman of the Caravan Club, Grenville Chamberlain, who tried to demonstrate the best way to tow a van up a muddy slope and ended up ripping the bumper off the back of his deluxe chalet-on-wheels. His pride and
glory was mangled — and it happened on TV. Never has a Caravan Club chairman looked so crestfallen.Well I'm still looking and the only positive thing I can see is the chairman looking crestfallen.
Incidentally what great timing for putting out this statement, just an hour before going home for the weekend
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My reply to Robyn:-
Dear Robyn,
thank you for your reply. I am assuming that you have had quite a few emails regarding this and that the reply is in general form. With respect to yourself, if this is what the management team of our club feels then I suggest to you that they are delusional.
Chris Evans is having a laugh at our expense as is the rest of the media. If you think that overwhelming sentiment on social media is positive then I strongly suggest that you start with your own website and read the 70 odd pages of overwhelming negative comments
from your own members. This is our club apparently. However it would seem that the views of the membership are irrelevant.
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There was a post much earlier in the thread saying it should have been called "Rallier of the Year". Having just perused the "Rallying" section of the site and the pdf download, I'm in total agreement.
http://www.caravanclub.co.uk/media/19286163/centreralliessupplement.pdf
I use the Club to stay on Club sites - you know what you'll get and it's all positive IMO, Green Flag, insuring the van, and Red Pennant. I'll continue to use the club for what is it, a business that provides me with excellent sites, insurance etc.
However, it does seem Rallying is a big part of the Club. I imagine as a member of the board, even at a local level, that rallies are a massive part of the membership for these people - they must get to attend many rallies? So, from the boards point of view,
maybe the programme aired is there view of what the Club is all about? Rallying with other members? For me, and maybe the majority of members?, that's not the case.But, and after a rather long , this is probably my point, I don't think "advertising" rallying on COTY is going to help the future of the club. The Rally at the beginning of the programme made the OH and I cringe, and seemed to be mainly the older generations
attending? This sort of thing isn't going to tempt young families who maybe currently have a tent to switch over to a van and join the Club. A programme showing "normal" life on site, or on a CL, or anywhere could maybe have done more to promote the club.Have a good weekend everybody, especially those lucky enough to be getting out in their van.
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