Nervous about first weekend away... pitch fights
Ok, so I was reading a thread about how you obtain your pitch on a site and how there was etiquette to follow and realised that I have absolutely no idea how to get a pitch. Naively, I just thought you'd rock up to the site, be assigned a pitch & off you go, but apparently this is not the case. We have booked serviced pitches - how do I know where they are? How do I know if someone is on one, but just gone off site? I'm nervous about all this already, but now I'm terrified that we'll do something wrong & upset people & start a turf war.
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the warden will tell you where the serviced pitches are on the site plan that you'll be given on arrival. If a pitch is being used by someone that's gone off site they will (should) have left something on the pitch to signify that they are using it.
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I think you need to chill out a bit😁 Club Sites are very sedate places normally. You simply go into reception, let them know you are here and booked in. You pay, you wander around the site, either on foot, or usually in your outfit until you find a pitch you like. If it’s got something on it, (a caravan, a motorhome, or a sign saying “pitch in use”) then look for another. You usually get a site map on arrival, and if the site is busy, the staff will mark the empty pitches on your map for you if you ask. They will also help if you want a sunny pitch, a shady pitch, a pitch close to dog walk, a pitch close to loo block. Serviced pitches have particular coloured posts, so look for this. There aren’t usually as many, so you might just simply go to a certain area of the site. It’s so easy really.
You can look at Site maps for each Club Site online. Usually a link on right hand side of Site webpage. It will also explain the coloured posts much beloved of the Club. Have a browse either on this website, or through your handbook. It will tell you all you need to know.
You might get the odd selfish individual trying to “save” a pitch, but we have never seen it in 30 plus years touring. Up to you what to do about that, but it’s very rare. Look out for tell tale signs of anything that might “upset” you, on next pitch, such as a dog if you don’t like dogs, toys if you want peace and quiet, a flag flapping loudly if these annoy you, a TV in awning (🤷♀️). You will soon get used to things. Never seen a fight over a pitch, so don’t worry.
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Thanks for these replies. It's funny as my husband often tells me to chill out & not to worry. Hopefully we'll get used to it soon.
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If you have booked club sites, there is a map available on the 'Club Campsites' tab under 'Find a UK campsite', that will show you where the serviced pitches are before you go to give you an idea.
On arrival the wardens will give you a map with available pitches of the type you have booked. Mention you are a novice and they will be more than happy to assist you. If a pitch is in use by a motorhome or camper van there will be a sign, be that physical, or a chair, table, hook up cable left on the pitch to illustrate it is in use.
Conversely there may be a car, bicycle or something else 'reserving' an available pitch for mates who have not yet arrived. Check number plates correspond to pitched caravans on adjacent pitches. Found club council members are prolific offenders for doing that. Just be polite and ask them to move.
Once on pitch go back to the wardens and advise your pitch where they will mark it as occupied ad give you access keys / codes to facilities, gates, barriers if required.
Enjoy your trip and worry not about others
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What is posted on here (CT) and what happens in real life is, as been mentioned many times, just totally opposite, light years apart.
We are serial service pitch users and never experienced any issues. There are usually less SP and are all in one place and because they are so few and so popular there probably will be just one or two left for you to choose from and usually the wardens will indicate on your site leaflet which ones are free, then you can choose which better suits your preferences like closeness to whatever, trees, or which way the sun shines.
If you are still that worried perhaps arrive around mid afternoon, 2 to 3pm when it should be quieter.
PS - have you used a SP before?
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Thanks for this - no never used a SP before. Never owned a caravan before (not even picked her up yet!) , so totally novice. Lots of friends have advised us (so pipes and connectors purchased), but still nervous until we actually have done it for the first time. Any and all advice welcome.
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Down load the "site plan" on the site details page. You can see in advance where all the different types of pitches are and the services. This will help you on arrival even though most site managers will give you a site plan and hopefully mark off suitable pitches. Have a good time.
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No thanks for your reply - doesn't always happen!
As to SP the club hasn't or didn't have a standard and they are all different regarding connectors and where the drains are. It is getting better when they are replaced but some have taps in one corner, the left as you look at it, in a single bollard with EHU and tap, some share a bollard in the middle of two pitches with two taps and two EHU. When this happens you might need an extension for the blue water hose. Drains can be anywhere at the back, from either corner or the middle or even actually on the pitch behind and to the left of your caravan back wheel so having a good length of waste pipe is a good idea. We actually carry a few lengths of plastic rigid pipes used for house indoor plumbing. Look round when you get there and see what others are doing.
Any other questions please ask either on here or on site.
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‘Overthinking 101’ there ya go that’s the title of your book😂. If you look remotely lost/puzzled I’m sure you’ll get help, if not ask. . .I did on my first day at LV School👍🏻.
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If you've booked a serviced pitch, you'll be told that the pitch markers are red. In the majority of cases the site staff will give you a map with the pitches coloured correctly. There will be less red pitches generally. If you are very late in arriving you could well have the last red pitch. Sometimes the site staff will tell you which 'red' pitches are left. It will all be fine.....
David
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There really isn't anything to worry about, I would advise that you when you book in tell the warden its your first time so you're not sure what to do I'm sure they will be most helpful in explaining the procedures, its not as daunting as you imagine, have a lovely holiday and the freedom for many more.
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So I guess that I am worrying too much
from everything that you've all said! My husband is chilled out, so I think he must be the right one (this time!). I'll let you all know how it went (not for a couple of weeks though). Thanks everyone.0 -
Yes it would be good to hear back from you both.
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Evening and welcome
There's really nothing to get worked up over
. I'm a site manager with the club, we've had many new members and new vanners this and last year. We're well equipped to help out and give guidance where and when needed. As has been said above, just mention when you book in that you're new out and we'll be there for you. Just today, I spent a good couple of hours helping some new to our hobby folks getting their van set up.Ignore the wind up type posters
JK
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Pitch fight?
Challenge them to trial by combat!
No caravan pitched on it, first one on it wins.as above, the most you would get is a stern look and a harrumpf.
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We picked her up yesterday and towed back the 45 mins to storage. Everything went well with the journey - just took an age to remember what we needed to do when parking her up, especially the wheel locks! Only 2 weeks before our first weekend away (so 2 weeks of spending money I think!).
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What do we have to do for this? We switched a button off in the van that the handover guy told us to. The solar panel still has a green light on it. Should we have done something else?
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I think you're doing it but depends on the wattage of your SP. We find ours stay heathy enough without a SP certainly for a month or so and even in Winter we rarely go more than six weeks without a trip and there's been no problems. It's when you leave the caravan standing for two three months+ that might cause a problem.
Your caravan will have good heating and insulation so use it all year round
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Sorry that someone hasn’t given you better information. Basically, your alarm systems will use some of your battery charge whilst it in storage, so you will periodically need to check that battery is charging from solar panel. Obviously, sunshine levels could affect this, so it’s worth keeping an eye on.
We store our MH on our drive, it has a solar panel that keeps things ticking over nicely, but obviously, being at home, we can check it easily. You might need to go to your storage every now and then just to make sure things are ok.👍🙂
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We're back, no divorce either - or pitch fights!! Thanks to all the fabulous advice here, it went well & we met some lovely people - all of whom were willing to help us out. We do however have a shopping list of things to buy (including ear plugs - I had no idea how loud birds were at 4am). It also rained a tiny bit - we were convinced that something was going wrong with the van as we couldn't see any rain outside. Roll on 2 weeks time when we go to Bridlington for 2 nights.
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