CL Hardstandings
Would the Club consider improving its listing of hard standing pitches on CLs? I like to caravan as far as possible all year round, but some of the descriptions of CL hard standing facilites are vague to say the least. Perhaps when the Inspector has visited
and made his report, the Club website could progressively updated so that over time, the descriptions improve. There are many examples of good information, but also conversely, examples of where hard standing facilities are nothing more than a paving slab.
Comments
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The correct definition maybe should be " Can you enter the field and park your van while remaining on hard roads and hard standings". That is the sort of site I keep and want to visit, not park the van in the middle of a field on two slabs.
David www.perthshirecl.co.uk
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The correct definition maybe should be " Can you enter the field and park your van while remaining on hard roads and hard standings". That is the sort of site I keep and want to visit, not park the van in the middle of a field on two slabs.
David www.perthshirecl.co.uk
Same here, I hate it when you are expected to drive over grass to get to a H/S, what's the point. Some club sites are just as guilty though have been on a few that you have to do that.
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The correct definition maybe should be " Can you enter the field and park your van while remaining on hard roads and hard standings". That is the sort of site I keep and want to visit, not park the van in the middle of a field on two slabs.
David www.perthshirecl.co.uk
Time to update your website David,
Quote: our 2011 prices are £12 a night ...............
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Thanks DaveFL2, Time flies when you are having fun !!0 -
Our CL has hardstandings and we are open all year round.
To complicate the description of hard-standings, we have 'grassed hardstandings'. These hard-standings have a proper foundation but are subtly grassed-over to maintain the rural nature of the CL.
- These have a compacted-stone foundation.
- This is covered with a weed-proof membrane.
- We then covered the membrane with a purpose-made plastic mesh (40mm thick) called EcoGrid.
- We filled the EcoGrid with soil and sowed grass seed.
- As these blend-in with the rest of the grass, we mark the corners of the EcoGrid using 6 ft high bird-feeder hooks.Guests drive straight off our tarmac drive onto the hardstandings.
They work well - we had large triple-axle motor home using one this weekend.
As a further complication to the description, when the ground is dry and firm, we don't insist that guests use these hardstanding, and many guests prefer to site themselves on non-reinforced grass. Our CL is large enough to offer that element of choice.
Ian Kelly
01691 622951
Caravan@BirchHill.co.uk
www.BirchHill.co.ukBirch Hill Farm – a multi-award winning caravan site in the beautiful lake-lands of Shropshire - exclusively for members of the Caravan Club
Read the reviews - look at the photos.
Number 1398 in the 2015/16 Sites Directory
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It's a pity that CC don't use a similar method. Perhaps people wouldn't then be so paranoid about getting HS and there wouldn't be so much of a car park feel to club sites.
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If CL's become "all singing all dancing" camping sites, the beauty. of CL caravanning will be destroyed.
CL's are unique as they provide a natural environment in rural unspoilt pictuesque areas.
All that is required is a camping field . A water supply Somewhere to dump grey and black waste and five electric bollards.
Anybody wanting facilities blocks, cafes and tarmac all over the place should IMO leave CLs to those who enjoy country living in a natural environment and use club sites instead.
K
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I guess CL's are part way to supplying other needs than the basics as a continuing diversifying. On quite a lot of CL's I've used I've had-Eggs, sandwiches, fruit, scones, pies all supplied by the Owners & bought by me. Long may it continue as I see it as
a mutual benefit
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Our CL is on a very sandy free draining soil, even when there has been heavey rain it remains dry, there may be some run off to one corner, but that soon goes. I see no piont in putting in hard standings but some still instist , so an old paved track on
part of the site I now deem as a hard standing, it keeps the motorhomes happy even when they don't use it.0 -
Easiest way of finding out about hard standings if they are a definite need is to either phone and ask, or email and ask? We are happier on grass if we can get it, and weather isn't a problem. Not been an issue for us touring throughout last two Winters
thankfully.0 -
If CL's become "all singing all dancing" camping sites, the beauty. of CL caravanning will be destroyed.
CL's are unique as they provide a natural environment in rural unspoilt pictuesque areas.
All that is required is a camping field . A water supply Somewhere to dump grey and black waste and five electric bollards.
Anybody wanting facilities blocks, cafes and tarmac all over the place should IMO leave CLs to those who enjoy country living in a natural environment and use club sites instead.
K
The electric bollards are an optional extra not necessarily required.
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Our nearest two CLs (Dunallan and Gartfairn) are 'part hardstanding', with 3 and 2 hardstanding pitches respectively. Apart from peak times, it means you often have a choice so everyone is happy, including the farmers as they are less likely to need to
tow anyone out mid-winter!0 -
M/H like mine are notoriously difficult on Grass.The slightest gradiemt or wetness leads to spinning. with consequential damage to the site and likelyhood of getting stuck. Would not contemplate using grass Cl in winter and would always look for H/S as a
must.0 -
ours has 'traction control', a sort of electronic diff lock, so that you dont (generally) get the single wheel spinning, going nowhere, scenario.
having said that, if it looks at all dodgy, i almost always put the front wheels on ramps which point towards the direction i will want to go to get out....
this will give sufficient impetus to get the van rolling, and one this is happening, they can be gently coaxed along.....
weve been on many flat grass THS sites out of season and these havent proved a problem.....yet!
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We started off all grass and the first winter was a nightmare as we are on clay. The following Spring we installed three hardstandings (with a roadway to access them) and wow, the response was quite unexpected. Everyone who phoned/emailed to book wanted a hard standing to the point where I had to say we couldn't guarantee a caravan getting one if I then had a motorhome who would need it.
Fast forward another year and that Spring we decided to intall another two hardstandings simply because it was too much juggling about with only three and everyone wanting one. Since the installation of the last two we have never looked back and business increased enormously. I've never had anyone ask for a grass pitch. The same as I've probably had about two people in 3 years ask for a pitch without electric.
Following the hardstandings we decided to install WiFi because, again, so many visitors asked if we had it. Once that was up and running it also attracted more business.In my opinion, as an owner, in touch with some 50 other CL owners, the majority of members do want the added luxuries of hardstandings, EHU and WiFi etc and they are prepared to pay a realistic price for it.
Nicola
www.skybarnfarm.co.uk
Telephone: 01522 681218
Email: enquiries@skybarnfarm.co.uk
Site 1026, page 400 of the 2015/2016 Sites Directory
Read our many wonderful reviews!0 -
That's fine Nicola but I wonder how many of the 50 strong owners only Facebook group have basic CL's?
If it's not that many, then the opinions gained are not representative of the overall camping membership.
Having had to design a survey for a recent business degree I now realise how difficult it is to get representative samples to draw statisticlly valid conclusions. In fact it was one of the most difficult parts of my dissertation.
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If CL's become "all singing all dancing" camping sites, the beauty. of CL caravanning will be destroyed.
CL's are unique as they provide a natural environment in rural unspoilt pictuesque areas.
All that is required is a camping field . A water supply Somewhere to dump grey and black waste and five electric bollards.
Anybody wanting facilities blocks, cafes and tarmac all over the place should IMO leave CLs to those who enjoy country living in a natural environment and use club sites instead.
K
The electric bollards are an optional extra not necessarily required.
Agree, not necessarily required but in this day and age we wouldn't go anywhere without mains electric. Got to the age where creature comforts are important!
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I can fully understand open all year CLs opting for some form of H/s pitch, and given that there are lots more members swopping to MH's, then likely more and more all year visitors will request such. We know which of the CLs we use in Winter will have issues,
and carry our own track mats at all times. Funnily enough we have had more use of them in Summer!0 -
It never ceases to amaze me why some think that going without EHU means going without everyday creature comforts.
I am reluctant to use any CL outside the summer months unless they do have hardstandings. If the cost of offering these is the difference between operating profitable rather than at a loss then it has to be worth it. I know when I tried to book Skybarn it was full.
peedee
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In winter we also go for hard standing. In summer we vastly prefer grass. That's why I appreciate the choice on offer with CL's.
Don't ever need hook up because we have a solar panel and a Safefill system. Might qualify that statement by excepting Jan or Feb when you can go for a week without seeing anything other than a miserable dull day.
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On the BBC TV program "Click" about 2 weeks ago there was an interesting item about solar panel development. They estimate in 20 years they will take over and we won't be using fosil fuels at all. The current best panels are only about 20 percent efficient, panels of 35/40 percent efficiency are not too far off and battery storage of any excess electricity generated for the home is becoming a reality.
peedee
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Agree with that peedee. The American car company Tesla has patented new technology for storing energy from solar panels.
Currently a box about the size of a domestic fridge takes the place of a whole bank of batteries and is available now.
Costs are bound to come down over time.
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If CL's become "all singing all dancing" camping sites, the beauty. of CL caravanning will be destroyed.
CL's are unique as they provide a natural environment in rural unspoilt pictuesque areas.
All that is required is a camping field . A water supply Somewhere to dump grey and black waste and five electric bollards.
Anybody wanting facilities blocks, cafes and tarmac all over the place should IMO leave CLs to those who enjoy country living in a natural environment and use club sites instead.
K
The electric bollards are an optional extra not necessarily required.
Agree, not necessarily required but in this day and age we wouldn't go anywhere without mains electric. Got to the age where creature comforts are important!
Paul, doesnt your fridge, heating and hot water also run from gas?
wont your ipads, tablets and phones charge from a 12v socket?
wont the TV, lights and water pump all run from 12v, too?
you can do all this and pay a lot less for your pitch as youre not using the hook up.
our tv prgarams on 12v are just as bad as those watched on 230v
is an ipad charged from a 12v socket any less able to browse the net as one charged on the mains?
amazingly, those who use gas for their heating and hot water, can have an identical shower and be just as warm in their van as the folks next door who used a hook up.....the 'creature comforts' are exactly the same, hard to believe, i know...
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but I wonder how many of the 50 strong owners only Facebook group have basic CL's?
If it's not that many, then the opinions gained are not representative of the overall camping membership.
Having had to design a survey for a recent business degree I now realise how difficult it is to get representative samples to draw statisticlly valid conclusions. In fact it was one of the most difficult parts of my dissertation.
We have 9 caravan sites within our village 2 x C&CC 1 independent and 6 CL's these range in price from £10-£15 all have EHU but the ones that are consistently full year on year are the ones that offer full facilities, our CL has bookings for the next 3 years and waiting lists. When we first opened we just had EHU very few customers, we added toilet and showers and bookings increased and we were full, we now have the full monte and could fill our site 10 x over, i doubt there is any solar panel that could produce the amount of electricity that our campers use, although we do have panels on the house roof.
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but I wonder how many of the 50 strong owners only Facebook group have basic CL's?
If it's not that many, then the opinions gained are not representative of the overall camping membership.
Having had to design a survey for a recent business degree I now realise how difficult it is to get representative samples to draw statisticlly valid conclusions. In fact it was one of the most difficult parts of my dissertation.
We have 9 caravan sites within our village 2 x C&CC 1 independent and 6 CL's these range in price from £10-£15 all have EHU but the ones that are consistently full year on year are the ones that offer full facilities, our CL has bookings for the next 3 years
and waiting lists. When we first opened we just had EHU very few customers, we added toilet and showers and bookings increased and we were full, we now have the full monte and could fill our site 10 x over, i doubt there is any solar panel that could
produce the amount of electricity that our campers use, although we do have panels on the house roof.Well. our 120w panel seems to generate enough for us....
but what you possibly havent understood, is that folk dont use power directly from the panel....the panel charges the batteries and its the batteries that drive the appliances like water pump, tv, and charging for ipads/phones.
the sun is beefing up the batteries even when they are not being used....
the use/worth of onsite showers will always polarise opinion, some will troop to 'the block' in all winds and weathers, whereas others wount be dragged from their warm vans for all the tea in China
there was a post recently where the response to a site being upgraded to add toilets was 'great, we can use it now'...
well, of course, they could easily have used it before but chose to forgo the attraction of the site/area just because they would have had to use their own toilet.
perhaps, its the toilet-shy that are using your site...?
i just find it odd that folk go to shows like the NEC, spend all day admiring all the latest 'facilities' in the vans and then dont use them
perhaps we are more flexible than some in that we are equally happy on a site with 5-star facilities (not club sites) as we are in a field with a tap and CDP.....
its all about the location...
however, even though you investment wont have done anything to specifically attract us to your site, i wish you well.
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SpK. You assume that everyone has a caravan like yours. There are many with camper vans, small caravans without hot water or on board showers, trailer tents, and folding caravans. We don't all tow bungalows around.
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