Nunnykirk club site
Comments
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We used Nunnykirk three times last year, and two the year before. Not everyone wants to pay big money and have every convenience you can think of when touring. If it goes it will be a very sad loss to us. But then so was Much Wenlock, so might Bromyard Downs if/when that goes.
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I made that comment in the context of losing all non facility sites which was what was implied. Pleased to read JVB's post about Bourton especially as it is unlikely to be upgraded.
FYI JVB on the Continent on unmanned sites, either a warden turns up once a day, usually in the early evening to collect daily payment or if it is unmanned there is usually a number to call for emergencies or enquiries.
peedee
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I made that comment in the context of losing all non facility sites which was what was implied. Pleased to read JVB's post about Bourton especially as it is unlikely to be upgraded.
FYI JVB on the Continent on unmanned sites, either a warden turns up once a day, usually in the early evening to collect daily payment or if it is unmanned there is usually a number to call for emergencies or enquiries.
peedee
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"There is not much evidence to support the idea of keeping it open I would suggest. Falling occupancy, hand to hand lease arrangements, no facilities and in the middle of nowhere! It would seem this sort of site has a pretty limited appeal to the majority of Club members?"
makes you wonder why anyone would put a campsite there in the first place....
some folk like 'in the middle of nowhere' (Dusty Springfield) which is usually on the way to 'somewhere'
"And members tend to use cc non facility sites as they appreciate cc staff being arround most of the time,"
..but when income is static and margins are tight, this is exacly where some unnecessary cost is going on this type of site....as I showed earlier, a bollard, a barrier and a waste borne can dispense with a warden couple....thays a fair slug of cash every year.
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MM
For sites to thrive they have to appeal to a broad spectrum of Club members, many of those want hardstandings and probably wouldn't go to a site with just grass pitches other than in the summer when there is a fair chance they might be dry.
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I just find it sad that a site so different as Nunnykirk is at such risk. Beloved indeed by a small minority, but certainly in our experience it is a quite diverse make up of the membership. certainly we saw families, solo's, couples, new vans, very old vans, camper vans and brand spanking new MHs.
Personally. I think the Club has made its mind up it will go. Profit margins come first, and if it isn't hitting its targets then bye bye. I hardly think it's well marketed, and the increase in price mentioned, if correct, is another nail in its coffin.
Annoying that it a member who has brought this out into the open, Its no wonder so much speculation goes on within the forum.
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I'm another that much prefers grass rather than gravel. In the past few years i've found i've been using CC&C sites more, mainly because of the more informal layout and the presence of a lot more grass.
The loss of Nunnykirk, and other sites like it, would be a detriment to the club in my opinion.
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I'm with W and MM....we like grass and don't like gravel, except in really poor conditions (but we usually take ourselves far away in winter time).
we also like the less formal layouts of CCC and increased number of pitch options.....grass, non-EHU etc....and even age concession...hence another reason we use cc sites less.
although we haven't used any CC no FACS sites yet, we did use one CCC site in Sussex(i think) Slindon...very nice and peaceful like a large CL...a totally different (and much nicer IMHO) ambience than a typical cc club site...
i realise that some want to continue the drive towards identikit sites (Lord knows, the gravel and one way road system already goes a long way to doing that) but it seems sad that something a bit different (nicer in a lot of folks opinion) might be allowed to slip away.
CC has a simple formula for generating more cash....put the prices up, which has been mentioned upthread, but it's also possible to reduce cost.
whats tricky is that the typical CC model is already pared down with only the minimum of staff (covering all site tasks) yet it is perfectly possible to run a small site unit without staff...it's done all over Europe on sites/aires where there are no toilets/showers to clean...ie a small no FACS site.
cc sites generally already have barriers, automated from the office or by entry/exit key fob, not a huge step (investment) to move to a pay for a card system and allow paying members to come and go as they please.
it may just be that by eliminating virtually all of the revenue cost from the model these sites could continue to exist as they are but even turn a small profit.
....and then I woke up.....
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cc sites generally already have barriers, automated from the office or by entry/exit key fob, not a huge step (investment) to move to a pay for a card system and allow paying members to come and go as they please.
I can't recall a single CC non facility with automated barrier BB and you have not visited any.
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I agree with your comments TDA and there are are other leasehold sites out there where facilities are in need of TLC. Maybe Nunnykirk is the one presenting the most challenging problems if it's under used. Increasing the prices doesn't offer an incentive to potential customers and less intake could justify closure.
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I do & make no apologies for stating so. Various club sites have gravel pitches that have merged together to form a huge 4/5/6 pitch area of the stuff ..... who can look at that & prefer its look to that of a large grassed area. Perhaps if there weren't as many hard standings and the pitches weren't crammed in as they are, there'd be more opportunity to juggle pegs about a bit to even out wear on the remaining grass pitches.
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I said 'cc sites generally'....and the ones that I have used (AFAICR) have barrier systems....easy to replicate at the sites that don't currently have them.
eg, Slinfold has a large opening gate..can be a supplementary barrier during the opening period and close the gates in the off season.
it really isn't that difficult to manage if costs are an issue and the desire to keep trading is there.
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it would be a significant cost, each members' card would have to be machine readable (bit like your debit card) even if it costs £1 per card?
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who can look at that & prefer its look to that of a large grassed area.
I can very easily. And it would appear many thousands as well. You are entitled to your opinion but just don't make it apply to everyone or even think it applies to everyone, what hubris
who can look on this and think it's better than a hard standing I mean look at that lovely gouged out tyre track, that pitch will soon be out of use and losing money.
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post edit, each card costs about £2.50, how many membership cards are there out there? Each member usually has two cards? 250,000 members...
Then the cost of getting them ready, then wouldn't it decease security on any site as any card would have access to all club sites? At the moment who goes on site is strictly controlled, or it is on the sites I go to.
So all this cost to save one site?
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According to a warden I spoke to, sites without a barrier are normally managed by a single couple who work only part of the day. If the wardens were not on duty new arrivals could not get in which is not feasible. On sites with a barrier and only two wardens they work all day seven days a week and get rest period when a relief warden comes in.
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but just don't make it apply to everyone or even think it applies to everyone
likewise with your hardstandings ..... and as posted , if club pitches weren't packed in as they are, there'd be the option of shifting the peg a few feet to allow the previous awning area of grass to be under the caravan.
The CL we stayed on recently had a an area where there's obviously been a ground sheet (not as obvious as the picture you conveniently found) but as there were no pegs we pitched away from it.
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As I've stated In the past few years i've found i've been using CC&C sites more, mainly because of the more informal layout and the presence of a lot more grass.
I recently stayed for 19 nights on a C&CC site with my awning and breathable ground sheet down for the duration. When everything was lifted ready for departure the grass was yellow, similar to the foreground of the photograph posted above and would have recovered after a few days sunshine on it, as i witnessed other pitches recover during my stay.
Maybe the CC&C have superior groundstaff?
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but I don't - I merely say I like HS but I don't expect others to agree, like you do (with all due respect)
And are they packed in? 3m between outfits seems pretty good to me.
And I didn't conveniently find that pic, I actually took it myself the first week on August on a very popular club site, goodness knows what that pitch is like now, if it is still in use?
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I don't expect you or anyone else to agree .... I just tell you what I think.
3 m between outfits? That's kind of skewing the figures as it's 3m between caravans/motorhomes which leaves a couple of feet of grass finger between pitches. Hence the uniform rows & rows of a club site.
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getting tickets ready? 250,000 of them? you cannot be serious
(apologies JPM)no, no-one would dream of doing that.
so, what do you think they actually do?
clue, it's what happens when you go into a barrier controlled car park.
the machine contains blank (cards) with a coded strip which is then programmed with your payment and your entitled services allowing you to securely enter and exit the site and to operate the water borne.
the machine then gives you that (your) ticket.....
this could easily check your membership number, booking, payment required, just like the warden does and then the barrier rises and away you go...
no warden reqd, no millions of pre printed tickets, costs reduced.
just this one piece of simple tried and tested technology to save all the sites in need of cost control.
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The site we are on numerous grass pitches are as corners picture, and just today ,talking to the warden it came up in the conversation, as he said the site is very busy and although the grass pitches are well spaced out (and they look very spacious )although they would like to move the pegs,it would mean having to close several before it could be done to maintain the recommended fire gaps
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'norm'....I bow to your wisdom
no idea at all what your post is trying to say.....use norm enter that....???
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