Pitching

24

Comments

  • Tinwheeler
    Tinwheeler Forum Participant Posts: 23,149 ✭✭✭
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    edited April 2019 #32

    You’ve not yet learned to choose your pitch with different criteria in mind, Steve.

    Never choose the row in the open nearest the facilities. Remember they’re behind you looking for a way through. 😀

    PS. On the other hand, you’re doing others a favour by letting the pitch crossers use yours and saving other folk getting up tight. 👍🏻

  • young thomas
    young thomas Club Member Posts: 11,357 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited April 2019 #33

    Steve, I'm glad to see you understood the gist of my post...smile..and you're probably already enjoying the simplicity of touring (and pitching) with your new van. 

    yes, a single unit on a pitch generally feels like there's loads of room to move .....and to site the machine gun turretwink to deal with those who can't see where tey are going...

    whilst, like others, we are often out and about (generally making use of the relatively short time we spend on each site in the uk) I've seen many a crowded pitch, car, van, awning just about fitting on the pitch and there's nowhere for folk to sit outside when they want to put their feet and enjoy some sunshine...

  • Metheven
    Metheven Club Member Posts: 3,987 ✭✭✭
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    edited April 2019 #34

    I've seen many a crowded pitch, car, van, awning just about fitting on the pitch and there's nowhere for folk to sit outside when they want to put their feet and enjoy some sunshine...

    That's what that green strip of land is for, communal sun bathing.... isn't it, and pegging down the storm strapsinnocent

  • young thomas
    young thomas Club Member Posts: 11,357 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited April 2019 #35

    David's post is wholly relevant as the OP won't get the club to change (does it ever?) to assist with his 'request'

    but there are other places that will accommodate this layout (and other combinations)...

    davids information just gives the op a few (relevant) clues as to where...

    id second Davids view for those who find this whole concept not to their liking...

    as always, there is another way.....its just that some don't like what that other way is.....

     

  • Lunarcpl
    Lunarcpl Forum Participant Posts: 47
    edited April 2019 #36

    Well no because their car would be parked in that space.

    I knew when I posted this that people would struggle to understand the concept. All I am saying is that to me it makes  far more sense to have all elements to one side of the caravan. The van would be in exactly the same position, with the legal spacing maintained. Then the only reason one would have to encroach on your neighbour's side would be to access waste, and replenish water etc. 

     

  • Tinwheeler
    Tinwheeler Forum Participant Posts: 23,149 ✭✭✭
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    edited April 2019 #37

    "Well no because their car would be parked in that space."

    No, because their car would be parked at least 3m from your awning with the current method of pitching. If your car was parked beside your awning in the model you prefer, it would be tight to your awning in order to remain on your pitch. It would leave you next to no space outside your awning window but perhaps that suits you.

    And I’m not the one struggling to understand the concept!

  • Navigateur
    Navigateur Club Member Posts: 3,880 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited April 2019 #38

    their car would be parked in that space.

    Of course!  And when they opened the door it could bang against my caravan instead of their own.  Eh - no thanks!

  • Tinwheeler
    Tinwheeler Forum Participant Posts: 23,149 ✭✭✭
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    edited April 2019 #39

    Incidentally, Lunarcpl, someone was not pitched correctly at Tewkesbury for the situation you describe to have occurred. There should always be a minimum of 3m between awnings/cars.

    "On the Tewksbury site we could barely get our car between our neighbour's awning and our van."

  • EasyT
    EasyT Forum Participant Posts: 16,194
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    edited April 2019 #40

     

    David's post is wholly relevant as the OP won't get the club to change (does it ever?) to assist with his 'request'

    THanks for the insight BB

    but there are other places that will accommodate this layout (and other combinations)...

    Where might these places be BB

    davids information just gives the op a few (relevant) clues as to where...

    Where BB?

    id second Davids view for those who find this whole concept not to their liking...

    What view was that BB - was it that there is a Nirvanah where all is ideal? If so then where BB

    as always, there is another way.....its just that some don't like what that other way is.....

    What is the other way Oh Wise one? 

  • DavidKlyne
    DavidKlyne Club Member Posts: 13,867 ✭✭✭
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    edited April 2019 #41

    Lunarcpl

    If it's any comfort to you, as a motorhomer, I tend to agree with you. For my motorhome to be parked in the middle of the pitch seems a waste of space to me. Caravanners might have a totally different perspective on this and I know many do. Personally I prefer the privacy offered by spacing of your suggestion. It would be interesting to know why the Club have settled on the current configuration.

    Despite the protestations to the contrary it is pointless to try and introduce what happens in other countries especially as what is often quoted is not universal. Some sites you are told how to pitch and some sites you are actual pitched by the staff, certainly true of a couple of sites I have used in Germany. Most of all we have to ask ourselves whether we would want the rather laissez-faire attitude to pitching which is allowed on many continental sites with little regard for safe distances between units. Lost count of the times I have been pitched no more than a metre from the next unit because of the tendency to park across the pitch !

    David

  • moulesy
    moulesy Forum Participant Posts: 9,402 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited April 2019 #42

    "Despite the protestations to the contrary it is pointless to try and introduce what happens in other countries especially as what is often quoted is not universal. Some sites you are told how to pitch and some sites you are actual pitched by the staff, certainly true of a couple of sites I have used in Germany. Most of all we have to ask ourselves whether we would want the rather laissez-faire attitude to pitching which is allowed on many continental sites with little regard for safe distances between units. Lost count of the times I have been pitched no more than a metre from the next unit because of the tendency to park across the pitch !"

     

    Good post, David, and of course, regardless of what some would have us believe, there are examples which can always be quoted to suit a particular view. But although we don't have any recent experience of staying on sites in Europe, and I'm sure some are the paragons of excellence portrayed, I'm always reminded, when this subject comes up, of the one we walked through on the shores of Lake Garda a few years back where, without any great effort you could lean out of your van window to shake hands with the next door neighbour, and with just a little more effort, lean over and give his wife a kiss goodnight! laughing

  • eurortraveller
    eurortraveller Club Member Posts: 6,830 ✭✭✭
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    edited April 2019 #43

    I don't like being told what to do or how to do it, so I simply avoid Club sites. They won't change. 

  • moulesy
    moulesy Forum Participant Posts: 9,402 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited April 2019 #44

    Fair enough, et. Better than using them anyway and continually griping about them! wink

  • Navigateur
    Navigateur Club Member Posts: 3,880 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited April 2019 #45

    you could lean out of your van window to shake hands with the next door neighbour

    "Hey, Fritz, pass the fire extinguisher, quick!"

  • SteveL
    SteveL Club Member Posts: 12,311 ✭✭✭
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    edited April 2019 #46

    You are correct TW. Although I know what Lunarcpl is referring to, some of the grass pitches are extremely tight. We had a service pitch which was very generous, however, on the opposite site of the road were grass awning pitches. Looking at them, the spacing looked the minimum possible. Everything worked fine as long as folk pitched to the peg and parked the car fairly tight to the van. The site was almost full in August and with a few minor discrepancies in pitching, plus a wide awning, there ended up being a couple of pitches that would have been unusable except by a MH, which is what inserted itself in one, the other remaining empty.

    In my opinion they are not fit for purpose as full  awning pitches

  • Navigateur
    Navigateur Club Member Posts: 3,880 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited April 2019 #47

    I can't quite get my brain around this awning/non-awning thing. 

    If sites are laid out so that ALL caravans, whatever the designation of pitch type, are at a minimum of six meters apart, and within that six meters gap, half is allotted to the pitch on one side for an awning and half to the pitch on the other side for a vehicle, what happens to the three meters beside a "non-awning" pitch that might be expected to accomodate an awning?

    It makes sens to me it the non-awning pitch is at the end of a row with a hedge/wall/road/building in the !awning space" but not when there are multipe non-awning pitches in a row.

  • mickysf
    mickysf Forum Participant Posts: 6,474 ✭✭✭
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    edited April 2019 #48

    What is there to get one's head around? The 6&3 rules apply to all pitches, both yours and adjacent pitches and even those pitches on sites which were laid out decades ago when units and peripherals were much smaller. 

  • Tinwheeler
    Tinwheeler Forum Participant Posts: 23,149 ✭✭✭
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    edited April 2019 #49

    That 6m space is not allocated to the two pitches on a 3m each basis, Nav, as there has to be a minimum of 3m between the awning and vehicle. 

  • Lunarcpl
    Lunarcpl Forum Participant Posts: 47
    edited April 2019 #50

    Thank you David for your balanced and fair response,  but I have to correct you on your assumption that we are motorhome owners, Infact we have a Lunar Conquest caravan.

    I am disappointed but not surprised by the replies to my post. We returned to the CMHC last year as we planned a tour of Norfolk in the summer and wanted to stay at CL's,  witch we thoroughly enjoyed. 

    We were indeed motorhome owners in the past and for one year we joined what was then the Caravan Club. It only took us one season to realise that the CC was not for us, mainly because of the sort of thing that I have experienced by posting this, what I thought was a very reasonable point. So far, our limeted experiences of club sites hasn't been positive,  our fellow campers have,  to our mind been standoffish, suspicious, and unit snobs. With seasonal pitch renters seeming to think that they have some sort of elevated status. This attitude seems to be mirrored by members on here.

    We have two more CMHC bookings in the pipeline, both in Cornwall, one a club site, and one a CL, so it will be interesting to see how we get on.

    One point that I must make though, and that we have found the attitude of site wardens, and CL owners to be the exact opposite of most of the members that we have encountered. We have found all the staff that we have met to be friendly, and helpful. 

    We will probably remain members of the club, just because of the CL network,  other then that we will use our old haunts where safety rules are applied,  but other then that, people are friendly and welcoming. 

  • SteveL
    SteveL Club Member Posts: 12,311 ✭✭✭
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    edited April 2019 #51

    Clearly if there was a minimum 6 metres between the gravel of adjacent HS pitches, both side to side and behind. It should be possible to pitch how you like within your square of gravel. However, even where the CAMC have started with a blank canvas, like the new area at Bridlington, it's still pitching to the peg.

    It does look fairly roomy, so might be possible for free expression and still maintain spacing. However, I suspect it might cause confusion now folk are used to lining up on the peg.😉

  • Tinwheeler
    Tinwheeler Forum Participant Posts: 23,149 ✭✭✭
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    edited April 2019 #52

    I don’t quite see what the problem is with people having a different view to your own, Lunarcpl. This is a forum where issues are discussed and various views expressed so I’m surprised you are disillusioned in some way.

    What have you experienced in this thread other than discovering people don’t necessarily share your opinion? If someone had been rude or disrespectful, it would have been dealt with by a moderator. It’s human nature that opinions will differ and you really shouldn’t feel it’s something personal.

  • brue
    brue Forum Participant Posts: 21,176 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited April 2019 #53

    Lunarcpl, Ah now we've got to the underlying reasons behind your OP, your feelings towards fellow vanners, "standoffish, suspicious, unit snobs." And I'm sorry, it is not "mirrored" by members on here because unlike you we don't call fellow members by these names. 

    But what has that to do with a tight pitch and being close but not dangerously close to your neighbour?

    You could try some more sites, CAMC has sites with hedges between pitches, sites with pitches at different angles, sites divided into small enclaves. Your experience at Tewkesbury which has just been re-furbished and the landscaping is new will not reflect experiences on every site. 

    PS I don't know what a unit snob is and I don't really want to know. But I do know safety rules are applied on CAMC sites.

  • Tinwheeler
    Tinwheeler Forum Participant Posts: 23,149 ✭✭✭
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    edited April 2019 #54

    Well spotted, Brue. Not too clever of the OP to insult fellow members on this forum, is it?

  • Lunarcpl
    Lunarcpl Forum Participant Posts: 47
    edited April 2019 #55

    I would like to know what sites you visit,  because so far we haven't yet visited a site with three meters between our awning and our neighbour's car, I refer you back to the comment I made about the Tewksbury site. 

    We have recently visited  the crossways site in Dorset, and we both agreed that had the site been full and our pitch was the only one available, with the layout the way it was we wouldnt have been able to park our car in the designated space.

  • moulesy
    moulesy Forum Participant Posts: 9,402 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited April 2019 #56

    "So far, our limeted experiences of club sites hasn't been positive,  our fellow campers have,  to our mind been standoffish, suspicious, and unit snobs. With seasonal pitch renters seeming to think that they have some sort of elevated status. This attitude seems to be mirrored by members on here."

    Well I'm sorry lunarcpl, but I think that says more about you than fellow members, either on site or on this forum.

    As you say, you only have limited experience of club sites so why not try a couple more. As you've used Tewkesbury, I'm guessing you're from reasonably close to that area so why not give Cirencester Park a go? It'll still have the same pitching rules of course, but is a more mature site than the newly redeveloped Tewkesbury - lots of mature trees separating the site into different areas, lovely walk through to the park and on into the town, lots of nice villages within a short driving distance and, best of all, for what you seem to be looking for, loads of friendly, sociable fellow members (at least when we were there last week). Go on, what have you got to lose? smile

    PS - what exactly is a "unit snob"?

  • Tinwheeler
    Tinwheeler Forum Participant Posts: 23,149 ✭✭✭
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    edited April 2019 #57

    I don’t owe you any details but I can assure you I have visited many, many sites and never witnessed the breach of pitching regs.

    Why have you not reported this safety hazard to head office?

  • Lunarcpl
    Lunarcpl Forum Participant Posts: 47
    edited April 2019 #58

    Yes exactly 12 posts removed, and one of them with five likes,  and that is before I made the "standoffish" comment, so you cant blame that.

    Going back to my OP. I asked if someone could explain the rashinal behind the current way of pitching, thats all. I did not expect the barrage of criticism,  some so bad that the mods deemed it necessary to remove. My subsequent comments were in reply to the rabid responses that I have received.  Do all new members receive the same treatment. 

  • moulesy
    moulesy Forum Participant Posts: 9,402 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited April 2019 #59

    "Yes exactly 12 posts removed, and one of them with five likes,  and that is before I made the "standoffish" comment, so you cant blame that."

    I think if you'd been around on the forum long enough, you'd realise why the first post was removed and that subsequent ones were a reaction to that, lunarcpl. I suspect none of them were "rabid responses" directed towards you. And very little to do with members on club sites! smile

  • Tinwheeler
    Tinwheeler Forum Participant Posts: 23,149 ✭✭✭
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    edited April 2019 #60

    The deletions were not directly related to your opening post and the comments were only loosely related to pitching. All caused by one person dragging the topic off course. Therefore, they were not criticism or directed at you. They were unconnected with your question. You really should stop taking everything so personally.

    Clearly no one can explain the rationale behind the club's decision on pitching and, indeed, why should we be in the know any more than you? I can see no criticism of you or rabid responses and, frankly, I find your use of such terms unnecessary.

    New member? You’ve been back about 18 months now but, if I may say so, you don’t seem happy in this club.

     

     

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
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    edited April 2019 #61

    We have been members for more than 50yrs and I do not think of more than  couple of times that the recomended spacings on club sites have been compromised and that was with other members not thinking that spacing was an issue ,we have been on numerous commercial sites both in the UK and in other country's  where we considered that the pitches were a "bit tight," the only site in the uk  that we have visited that the club owns  and is/was unsafe with spacing of pitches is Bingham Grange but i understand is getting improved over the next couple of years