More Site Closures
After the trumpeting of a couple of new sites added to the network last year I've just spotted, hidden away at the bottom of a page in the latest edition of the club's magazine, that 2 sites have disappeared from the net work. There were both AS sites....Dolaucothi Estate CS, Pumsaint, LLanwrda, Carmarthenshire (owned by the N.T.) & Minnows CP, Tiverton, Devon.
The latter does appear to be still open, and it's pitch prices are only slightly higher this year than last.
On top of those 2 club sites the are 8 CLs that have closed and only 4 new ones.
Comments
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Nothing on earth would tempt us onto the new Scarborough site, or indeed the old one, but some will like them. Don’t know the new Dorset site at all. We came close to stopping at Minnows one time, we had booked a night, but had a horrendous journey, and it was obvious we wouldn’t make the 8pm deadline. Little sympathy when I phoned, so it was a case of ‘up yours’ and we stayed on a lovely little basic CL in Sampford Peverell. It was so nice, we stayed a week on the way back home!
I suspect we would have liked the NT site. Wasn’t another volunteer run NT site lost last year as well? Was it Houghton Mill or similar?
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As I understand it AS sites have to pay a not inconsiderable amount of money to be AS sites. Hardly surprising as it gives them a marketing opportunity to reach 450000 possible customers! I suspect there is also an element of having built up a loyal following from Club members that they feel comfortable going it alone and saving the fees. The National Trust seems to have been taking some of their sites back under the NT umbrella for years, remember Houghton Mill? I am not sure we should look at any AS sites and think they will be permanent members of the network. They will only remain as long as its a benefit to them, not us!
David
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We like Racecourse Sites, usually great value for money. Think they used to call Managed Under Contract (MUC) Sites.
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Houghton Mill has not been a club site for a few years now, millie would be able to tell us when it reverted to the N/T. The other N/T site that has been lost is Ilam Park near Ashborne Derbyshire but that's not been a club site since 2016/2017 and it's now an official car park I believe. I don't know if the Doloucothi Estate site has remained a site run by them.
Edit. Yes it is, open from 15th March-4th Nov. £18 pn pitch + 2 Adults with some discounts.
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/holidays/dolaucothi-caravan-park-wales#
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Seem to recall a few years ago the Club's banner was something like "200 Club Sites and 2500 Certificated sites to choose from"
Now it's proud to announce "Over 2000 sites to choose from"
The rate at which CL's are closing is quite alarming but hopefully this year, due to the increased Club pitch prices, many members will start using the CL network more and reverse the trend.
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More CL will leave and some will go it alone after they have they built up a customer base with the club.
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Whichever way you cut it, the network is shrinking.
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But the number of campsites isn't.
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AS sites come and go but to me they are not part of the clubs portfolio, although we did use one last year and were perfectly happy with it. To me they are a good suggestion if stuck but no more.
The clubs sites do seem to have reduced a bit since we joined and can be quite crowded so more are needed. The club have bought two in 2018 so it looks as though they are getting the message but time will tell.
CL's also come and go, and one months figures is not anything to go by. Some months have more new than old but basically the numbers will reflect the demand. If people use them they will flourish but if not they will go so any change in numbers probably reflects members use of them.
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Hi
Regarding CL's, a lot depends on how they are run. They are five van sites however popular
JK
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Burt most members will look on the web site and in the CC's Site Directory and those sites will no longer be there for them to choose from. New members will not even have the benefit of knowing of their existence
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CL's also come and go, and one months figures is not anything to go by. Some months have more new than old
Wildwood, there are very seldom a month when the number of new CLs exceeds, or even equals the number that have closed. There are about 85 less then there were 2 years ago. Now down to 2238 as of tonight.
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Is that a fact or just supposition, JVB?
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They are both in the the 2017/2018 SD. There had been no mention of them leaving the network before the notice in this month's magazine although it's obvious that they were no longer part of the network towards the end of the year and before the publication of the SD.
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A quick scan thro' my old SD show about 65 Non-Facility sites have closed + 3 this month, but I've not counted the number of CLs with EHU have have closed but it's definitely more than that.
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It that correct or just supposition
As far as I can tell, as I mark off all the sites that are listed both in the magazine and by Maddie in the list that she supplies. Just checked in the SD and there were about 164 with facilities that have closed, +5 in the Feb mag. There is no longer any indication of why they closed, as there used to be, ie gone commercial, sold, owners died etc.
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Well HO would obviously know but they are never going to come up the appropriate numbers....Non-Facilities and EHU sites Opened & Closed over any given period......if they can't know that then there's definitely something not right somewhere.
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JV, it’s a 'brave' person who disagrees with Nellie about CLs. His specialist subject would be CLs if he went on Mastermind - and I bet he’d have no passes. 😄
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Well maybe a couple of wrong answers but definitely no passes.
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😂😂😂
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No-one has mentioned Keilder yet.
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