Motorhome facilities and rules
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We use our outfit almost daily to go out, so it moves regularly. We can usually go three days with a water fill up, so that’s not an issue, we merely remember to call at a tap, usually on way in to pitch up for night. We have found a collapsible bucket (so useful for other things as well), hung on rear bumper bracket, with open tap, works great for us. Not a problem to take it and empty at nearest drain point. Quick and easy, and keeps grey tank fresher. On a lot of CLs, it is just emptied into hedgerow or bottom of a tree away from pitching areas. Only shower water, no pot wash water, I throw this separate into a drain. We learned very early not to become part of the departure merry go round on Club Sites. Works great for us, and, we don’t mind, or rather don’t find, the bit of exercise an issue.
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It's obviously horses for courses...one man's 'merry-go-round' is another man's 'water management circus'...
we're on a no facs club site and I'm just topping up daily as we are here for longer than our tanks can sustain...the tank will be full when we leave for our next site, no need to top up on entry nor to visit a tap at all for the five days we are there...
our washing up water goes straight into the site drain, keeps waste volume down....could always leave the waste tap open a bit and then it's no problem at all
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Which Site you on BB? We like the no facility ones. The MSP at Marazion is a difficult one for big MHs, and there were some whoppers when we were there, but they coped fine. Just waited until quiet time, usually evening, and drove over to refuel and dump. We watched a huge Burstner, size of a big coach, six wheeler, our last evening, as we were pitched up next to him. Carefully across grass, bit of manoeuvring and then fill and dump, carefully back onto his pitch. They were full timers, waiting pandemic out but enjoying themselves.
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We recently stayed at Northbrook Farm near Worthing and the MSP was a bit confusing as it was both MSP and normal Service point. There was no problem with parking there as the road was wide enough but it could cause some confusion that goes back to the OP. There was the normal drinking water and waste water taps but to the right was what appeared to be the notice indicated a motorhome service point. The only tap had a hose on it and was immediately above a grey water drain and the tap marked as such. I realised why some motorhomes were using the drinking water tap as the one supposedly dedicated to motorhomes looked a bit suspect and I imagine most would think it for flushing the waste tank. It is the only MSP like this I recall coming across on a CMC site.
David
PS you might want to right click on the picture and select open in a new tab to get a larger picture.
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We are actually on Northbrook Farm...the facs have (apparently) subsided and are out of use...hence no facs...
BTW...there is a caravan with a Smart car adjacent....Malcolm, perhaps?
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Probably doesn't need to go too often though...
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Those grey water drains are really confusing. Presumably the drain in the road is for emptying your tank. I think we would need to drive with the taps to our left to able to position our drain tap over it. Difficult if one way road or it will stop other vans going past.
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No, we only saw it move once, mind we were out a lot, and our last night was on pitch next to it. They had a big 4x4 with the outfit, I am guessing they were probably having three weeks on a Site and moving on. They didn’t bother anyone, as it was serviced in the evenings when most comings and going’s were quiet. What impressed us was how careful they were with grass. It had hydraulic suspension, so there appeared little weight on the wheels. Never seen an outfit as big on a Site like Marazion, more common up at Exeter. Must have been a tight squeeze through Goldsithney village close to Site.
Dont know Northbrook, somewhere SE I am guessing. Could well be Malc if so.
Edit, DK mentions Worthing, sorry I missed that😊0 -
The MSP at Barnard Castle is similar DK, next door to an SP. if you are on one of the pitches beyond this point on the Site, you have to go back out and through the barriers to fill and empty. Considering how recent BC Site is, this seems poorly considered to us. Confess we don’t know Site well, we only had the one night.
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As posted before
the waste outlets on most M/Cs is of very poor ,we over came the problem by removing the waste outlet tap and making it so much easier to empty by then getting some garden pond pump flexible pipe 2mtrs in our case and fitting it to the waste outlet then running it using plastic clips along the M/C skirt and refitting the waste tap on the end, which negated any of the "dance" to line up with the drain ,as we could stop near and just unclip the pipe and drop it in the drain,
As per most Yanky RVs
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We were three pitches in from the MSP at Northbrook Farm and I just reversed back to the point because otherwise I would have had to have driven out of the site and back in again. There seem to be quite a few Club sites where getting to the MSP is not straightforward!
David
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The only bad design I’ve seen is the bore of some waste pipes, they take an age to discharge ours is 40mm and empties quickly. The position on the vehicle does not really matter if the MHSP is of the grid type and designed correctly, ie not close to a wall and of adequate width to cope with an outlet on off or near side. Admittedly some CC discharge points are not easy to deal with without a flexible extension. However, that is because they are not proper MH service points, they are just back breaking steel covered holes. Given a properly designed MHSP we don’t even need to exit the vehicle and can dump / be on our way quickly, minimising any queuing. If I need to stop clear of a steel cover so I can lift it safely and attach the flexi hose, then everything takes that much longer. Hopefully they will very rapidly become a thing of the past. We have only stopped on 5 C&CC site so far but they have all had grids and they haven’t even got MH in their name.
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BB
The facility block was built on the cheap, they apparently used a concrete slab rather than proper foundations. The site is owned by Worthing Council and the Club lease it on a revolving short term basis so no hope of it being rebuilt. I had heard that the Council want to build houses on the front part of the site but were willing to sell the remainder of the site to the Club. Can't see anything on the planning portal so perhaps still at an early stage? So either another leased Club site that bites the dust or perhaps the opportunity to develop a small all year site with storage?
As you will know from your time there it is a site that welcomes an unusual collection of visitors
David
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We were at far end of BC near dog walk, so had to go out and in again. One we don’t bother with using is at YRP, there’s always a queue in the morning, and it blocks the road round the rear part of the Site. I am guessing it had to be there, as it’s up an incline near the rear pedestrian gate, probably so it doesn’t flood.
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It’s one of the last the Club built from scratch I think. Relatively speaking, baring in mind some of the Club Sites are many decades old, this is one of the newer offerings. Probably just before the big push on folks using more Motorhomes though. We were in our MH when we stayed, and it hadn’t been opened many years, so maybe first decade of millennium 🤔
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Clearly in this case they didn't do their homework!!! As I understand it the toilet block has been closed for at least 11 years. There is some evidence of subsidence at the Service Point opposite which has a crack down one wall.
David
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Ours is similar, comes out at rear as well, so a lot easier to line up. Or hang a bucket under😁
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The new tarmac around the drain is a give away that recent work has been done at that point...
surely, that was the time to extend the drain across the area with a grid giving simple access for MH irrespective of where their drain is sited.
hardly rocket science.
Our van has its waste outlet on the right, so with the one way system as it is, the van could be obstructing the single track road...again, with narrow roads, lass room to pass.
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But which side did you fit it?....offside or near side?
if one side, then you still have to get the van sited 'right'...
I can't imagine the hose you clipped up was switchable from one site to the other?
I have a screw on hose extension but poor siting of drains can still cause issues.
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Ive got plenty of metres of additional hose in the van but I don't want it under the van permanently as the majority of locations we use are properly designed and will accommodate near site, offside, central or rear sites outlets....
as Steve says, it really isn't difficult....we all (those who've used them) know what a proper design consists of...even the club posted a picture a few years back (sloping collection area with wide/slim drain across the MHSP area) yet ive never seen such a thing on a club site.
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They are few and far between, but I think I encountered one at Putts Corner recently? Might of dreamt it tho’ I think Abbey Wood might have one too?
A proper MH service point is a joy to use, but I guess retrofit is always going to be difficult for a variety of reasons depending on the site. I certainly don’t want to be carrying loads of additional pipework around when space is already at a premium in my PVC. What I do object to are the filthy, heavy concrete covers which, given the weight and contortions necessary to use, are a back injury waiting to happen. Caravanners increasingly have their fully serviced pitches, so to balance things up MHs need better service points.
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I've just used a very good MHSP. It had a central drain set in a very large dished concrete area with plenty of room and no problem to drain whether your emptying valve be left, right or centre or, like ours, at the rear. It would accommodate a huge RV without blocking the roadway.
It shows it can be done and that the problem lies with the club's MHSP design rather than the MHs themselves.
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I take it you mean the ones that have yet to be upgraded to the big drive over drains ,that on some sites that are not owened and also may have short leases is not going to happen
We did notice at Beechwood Grange site that although it has the big drive over grid type MC dump,several MCs owners were still using the lift up cover type
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Blimey I never realised there were so many issues with Motor Home /Campervans and water. some time ago there was a lot of ridicule about Aquaroll's, surely they are less trouble than the various methods people are readily describing they go to manage their stay at a site. Whether it be filling up or emptying water it does seem to me to be a bit of pain in the backside.
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Bucket, and Chuck it back when we had our camper van. Not many had bathrooms to be honest. That’s the difference. Ours certainly didn’t. It’s why we joined Club originally in the 1980’s, and so young😁 Rare to find anyone mid 20’s back then. Tiny sink, straight down to a bucket, bucket to nearest drain. It was strip wash on a basic Site, shower block on a Club site. We were viewed with deep suspicion, being young, travelling with a big Rottweiler, and not in a “proper” van. We still swear most of Site Staff back then had retired from Prison Service. Interrogation and demonstration every time we arrived on a Club Site. 😂 More McKays than Barrowclough’s, definitely🤣
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