Now I understand the booking frenzy!
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car on one, and caravan on the other. Of course you'll have to get there early to get a pitches next to each other.
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As I mentioned in my first post I have 'unusual' circumstances insofar that I'll be accompanied by a friend who isn't (yet) accustomed to the motorhome life or basic CLs - not to put too finer detail on the implications, so the quality of CAMC sites is important to maintain harmony and a willingness to repeat the adventure
As the saying goes Love, love changes everything.
However I am very surprised to see that it can even change touring habits from over there to over here
BTW - are caravans more romantic than MHs? I think they are but discuss.
(Spriddler - apologies if this friendship is not of a 'romantic' nature)
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We have had very little problem in booking sites over the years and almost none this, but we do not use the honeypot ones. There is a definite shortage of club sites in many areas though and if the membership level is to be maintained I think more are essential.
The only slight problem we have had this year was to try and book Buxton at relatively short notice. We did however get in at Blackshaw Moor and possibly did better there in the end.
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Corners....
[As the saying goes Love, love changes everything.]
(Spriddler - apologies if this friendship is not of a 'romantic' nature) ]Ahem, it's a possibility
Not to get too personal but we re-met a month ago (sadly at a mutual pal's funeral) after living in Cologne together for four years over twenty years ago whilst I worked there, and before she became a brown bread and sandals veggie. I understand and appreciate her commitment to the environment and animal welfare but it does make eating out a bit of a challenge to find a menu which appeals to us both. Especially as I'm a bit of a fish and seafood devotee (hence the appeal of France). Researching restos on the IOW before going over we saw several websites where they claimed to be 'Vegetarian Friendly' which seemed to us almost like saying 'Dogs Welcome'. How we laughed.
We recently stayed a few days in a boutique hotel on the Isle of Wight after she commented at the funeral that she wanted to visit Ventnor Botanical gardens and I'd long wanted to see the donkey in the well wheel at Carisbrooke castle (No, I really did. It wasn't just an aspirationally wicked excuse
) but I really dislike even posh plastic hotels where you have to comply, be organised, have breakfast by 9.30 and you know that almost everyone is being paid to be 'nice' to you.It takes all sorts!
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As said check uk campsites.co.uk where you can filter to your requirements/needs & read reviews of the campsites. Maybe a THS or Rally might work for you over a week-end if you don’t find anything else. Whatever you decide best of luck & hope your ‘Life Style’ change of touring with a friend works out for you both.
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Their website looks just the ticket. I'll see if I can organise something. No pressure on you though; I'll take it at website value.
Tks takethedogalong, I'll look at Fakenham Racecourse too as it's the North Norfolk I'd like to visit (esp. Scolt Head and The Wash nature reserves).
I'm playing it carefully this time as the second time I took my friend out (at Whitsun) on my 27 foot sailing boat (to the Channel Islands) it blew ol' boots and tipped with rain for 4 days. It took the rest of the summer before I could tempt her on it again (for just 1 hour across the Solent!).
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I hope you dont have to pay for both
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Spriddler , if Cherry Hinton is fully booked phone Highfield Farm Touring Park over the other side of Cambridge. Even if Cherry Hinton has vacancies phone Highfield Farm just the same - it's altogether more pleasant, spacious, clean, well run and with impeccable standards.
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Sounds good, best of luck
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Thanks Brue, Corners and others.
To wrap up, we abandoned a m/home trip as organising a gentle relaxing tour in the U.K. was becoming just too stressful! We've learned a lesson that next year we'll need to give ourselves more time to book.
We ended up booking a traditional barge on the Llangollen canal.
I had previously tried to book CLs and in spite of many professional years' experience using hard copy and internet sources as a researcher and information provider I find the CL search and book system extremely poor. If I put in the (exact) name of the CL either it is not recognised or a list of several CLs drop down but it isn't there. If after searching for Club sites the software seems reluctant to recognise that I have ticked 'CLs' and continues to display Club sites (even after 'Refreshing' the screen) and there are too many glitches/anomalies to detail here.
The other difficulty with booking a tour with say five CLs is that one invariably has to leave an answerphone message and wait for a call back which means that it could take days to complete the bookings, since one can't safely book the second stop until the first one is confirmed. It's also unhelpful that so few put up a photo or two which means that I have to use Google Earth and/or Streetview to get an idea of the location and surroundings.
I fully appreciate that most CL owners have other things to do than sit by the phone and this emphasises the need to start planning well in advance of the tour.
I'm learning!
Thanks again.
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We too had a similar epiphany when we got our first caravan seven years ago. We live in East Anglia, and thought for our first trip we would try Sandringham-this was November! but booked up for the weekend. We soon realised that the idea of a spontaneous booking on Thursday for the weekend was a non-starter.
But Spriddler, we can recommend Brick Kilns www.old-brick-kilns.co.uk which is equidistant between Fakenham and Holt.
We are fortunate that we found Barleywood six years ago so are able to book well ahead now we have our foot in the door....!
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Thanks Anglian. I don't feel so foolish now, since you as a local also experienced that awakening. It seems as others have said, partly due to the relative paucity (and popularity) of sites in E Anglia.
Thanks for the link to Brick Kilns. I've had a look at their website and added it to my list of sites (with the other suggestions in this thread) for a future and less hastily conceived trip.
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