Standardising arrival/departure times
We left Bridport Bingham Grange site at 11 am this morning as this is the time stated we had to leave (no mention of this when booking, on confirmation email or on website), we haven't got a problem with this at all BUT the earliest arrival time for Sidmouth Putts Corner, our next site is 1pm, the journey takes approx 50 mins. We looked on Google street view and saw 3 possible layby stops to allow us to park up and wait, however all 3 were full. We tried to call ahead to Putts Corner for advice but no answer, not the wardens fault they were obviously doing the toilet block cleans. Needless to say we had no option but to carry on to Putts Corner, arriving at 12.15pm (we are towing a long car and caravan outfit). When we arrived we were 8th in the queue and a twin axle caravan was attempting to leave at 12.20 pm, this caused a bit of mayhem but we duly booked in and gave our apologies to the very helpful wardens for our early arrival, giving our reasons why, which he said happens a lot.
Why on earth don't the club simply standardise arrival and departure times across the whole network to make things easier. 11am off, 12pm on or 12pm off, 1pm. This would negate the difficulty we had today and then everyone would know exactly what they were doing. Granted, you will still get ridiculously self important people who feel they are entitled to arrive early but surely this would go someway to improving the situation we had today and/or state not only the arrival times on the website but also the departure times. What are your thoughts ??
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The 1pm arrival time was brought in this year due to covid, presumably to give wardens more time to clean and prepare pitches. Previously, the general changeover time was 1200 with a few exceptions.
I doubt anyone knows yet what will happen next year so I suggest we wait and see before attempting to pressurise the club or jumping to any conclusions.
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I think I’d expect things to be a bit upside down this year and I assume the Bingham wardens couldn't extend your leaving time in view of your circumstances
I would have attempted to kill an hour in Morrisons in Bridport or Tesco at Honiton if their car parks weren't too full.
Unfortunately, the Donkey Sanctuary is closed or that would have suited as it has a huge car park.
Having said that, the club really should make such times clear on the website and booking confirmation.
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I just wonder if Crookie asked the wardens at BG if they could possibly delay their departure, explaining that they could not get onto PC till 1:00?
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I don't think standardizing the times of arrival and departure would help that much. Should the departure time be 11am and the arrival time be standardized as 1pm, you yould sill have the same problem between Bridport and Putts Corner.
Different sites have different sets of parameters, including the size of the site, the number of wardens, the approach roads, location in the country, popularity, etc., so perhaps there is something to be said for more diverse timings?
David
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Standardising arrivals would be good. I have had to double check arrival times recently, it is confusing if some are 12pm and 1pm. I know there are places like Edinburgh and Coniston which operate much earlier arrivals.
It won't make any difference if you have a short distance to go between sites, we've moved a 15 minute distance so that's just a case of planning ahead.
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That's where we just need to take some initiative in these challenging times, 'it's good to talk, as they say, just phone ahead. When things get 'back' to some normality then hopefully life will be less problematical. In the mean time just expect a little confusion! It is part of the new norm I believe!
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I take it that when you "advised" the site staff at BG of your next stop arrival times they were adamant you left at 1100?
With the covid 19 situation at this time nunerous site have had the arrival times amended to give staff more time to get sites ready for members
Even in,normal times some sites need diferent times for arrival and departure times because of access or leases
The information at this time is available on the clubs Covid website
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Putting aside for the moment the current situation re later arrival times we do often find it inconvenient to arrive on site as late as 1.00pm. We might decide to have a few days at sites like Moreton in Marsh or Peterborough which are only about 50 miles from where we live which means we have to delay leaving home until quite late when we just want to get on with it! Likewise if moving between sites which are less than an hour apart it can also be difficult. Probably easier with a motorhome slightly easier because we can get into a parking area which would be more difficult for a car and caravan. Even supermarkets are not always the answer as they are designed for cars not longer combinations. Probably many would hate the idea but I would prefer 11.00am leaving and 12 midday arrival but that won't suit others.
David
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Sites are just somewhere to sleep for us. So we tend to roll in around 7.55pm, and will be up and off out somewhere by 10.30am next morning.
(Our booked cottage is proving interesting. Booked via a letting agency, because of C19, it’s no arrivals before 7pm, depart by 9am. I have been in touch with owner direct, spoke to her. There’s no one in night prior to our arrival, so even with deep cleaning, she says we can get in much earlier if we want to, probably around 3pm. Cottage will have been aired, cleaned and stood empty for almost 24 hours, so we will go with that. (As guests depart at 9am, cottage is aired for three hours before cleaning team goes in at 12 noon. They blitz the place, it’s left to air again until next guests arrive. Guests have to bag up and seal bedding and towels used prior to leaving, empty own waste bins, cutlery and crockery etc into dishwasher, etc...) I am guessing all this is part of Covid Secure guidance issued to cottage letting agencies/owners. Posted for info, as I know others are using cottages like us.)
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Apart from 'long holidays', we tend to go out on a Sunday and come home on Wednesday or Thursday. On a Sunday, being a church organist, we never leave home before midday, so arrival time isn't usually a problem for us... Even when we go on long holidays, we usually travel quite a distance between sites, so arrival time is still not a big issue. So much so, that frequently, we are in that situation where when we arrive at a site, we end up by getting the last serviced pitch.....
This does have at least one advantage. We know which pitch to go for, and we don't get the 'tour of the site' looking for a pitch. Secondly, because we know the pitch, we don't have the walk back to the office to collect the gate key and to tell them what pitch we are on.... 😀
David
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Why not scrap all arrival times?
You can arrive anytime tween 9am & 4pm (wardens lunch allowing)
If you arrive early then the downside will less pitch choice but you'll get an extra day.
Last year we traveled through the night from NW England to Godrevy in Cornwall, we got to Godrevy at 9:30 and waited until 11:50am to book in. I was furious when I got to Godrevy to find 6 vans had already been booked in. My idea would eliminate this and level out the times people arrive thus stopping queues at reception
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Fatbelly, there are family owned sites in Cornwall where the proprietors are happy to allow that when they know that other visitors will be leaving very early. It can be negotiated .
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Great idea but better still if you arrive at 9am then you have to be off by 9am next day/departure day, similarly if you arrive at 4pm you can stay till 4pm so everyone gets a full 24 hours or number of days, of course you an leave earlier if you want.
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And then, of course, I can see a lot of folk waiting for departures, particularly if many on said day were leaving late in the day. Also folk just tipping up early and hanging around for that favourite pitch.
Nah, keep as is, it does work when folk use common sense and the vast majority of us do. Why let the minority rule?
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When some friends of ours were running Clumber Park ,one day bookings for Saturdays were quite a problem, as they would expect to arrive (what time does office open?) when off peak it was quite usual for the members to be allowed to stay untill 1600 hrs , many complaints from members who came fridays,so the site staff were "advised" to tell members that 1200 was the earliest arr time
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