Steamer Quay refurb removal of non EHU pitches
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It would suit us very well indeed. Even when we had a caravan we preferred to leave the car st the site where possible. Now with a MH and only stopping a few days at each site doubly so. Even when we have visited places with adequate parking we prefer to leave it on site if there is suitable public transport and let someone else do the driving.
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I just hope that folks who do visit use lots of the lovely, small independent businesses, and do their food shopping there, as well as buying from the great craft and artisan shops. It’s what Totnes is all about. The Castle is well worth a visit, nice spot for a picnic.
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I suspect it will become much like Hillhead which is vastly overpriced in the peak season
I though Hillhead was very popular in peak season. If that is the case it can hardly be overpriced. As will be the case at SQ if they still manage to fill it. One may consider it expensive but if the market will stand it, I wouldn’t expect the CC to do anything else.
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You talk about the club not asking what asking the paying customer wants or what they would like to see.
But of course they do exactly that and you hit the nail on the head, the paying customer. No one will be forced to pay the going rate but many will choose to do so.
The club will look on sites where there are service pitches and note they are the first to go, people seem quite happy to pay the extra £5 or so per night. I was on one site in the first week of the season and there were more outfits on SP than standard pitches and by a very significant margin as SP were almost full with two spare pitches out of 38 while they were only 32 outfits on standard pitches out of 111, what does that tell the club
As for refurbishments I've been on a number of toilet blocks that have been refurbished over the last few years and it is most certainly not just a lick of paint as the entire area is remodelled with new flooring, tiles, and basins, toilets and showers.
Overpriced? how can it be if people are willing to pay at Hillhead and other such sites and again club prices are still middle of the road. Far more expensive places, and far cheaper one too.
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It will just become another Club Site standard model. Appealing to the demographic it suits. It’s simply another one of the more unusual models (mainly no facility) that the Club is happy to lose. In this instance, it’s location close to Totnes town centre makes it viable for upgrade and the full “Club cloning” model, so it will remain on the network. At the more usual Club price.
Visitors to Totnes will need to do their homework. Unlike York, or Warwick, it has steep hills. The South Devon Railway connects with other nice places to visit from Totnes.
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I suspect that Morrisons will be as far as some get in their cars!
As for the small facilities block it was re-furbed not long ago so I presume it will not be luxurious. By the way I see Bingham Grange is going to get an "Experience Freedom Village" in it's revamp so I'm not sure if much of this relates to the average van owner who just wants a decent pitch at a decent price.2 -
I'm not sure if much of this relates to the average van owner who just wants a decent pitch at a decent price.
I think defining the average van owner an almost impossible task. The average on CT being almost certainly different to the average for all CAMC users.
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Personally I feel value for money is a decent pitch and price. The proposed plans will make the pitches very expensive and less attractive, presumably just wide enough for a van and car so quite cramped. There are some poor quality tarmac pitches there already only separated from the local road by a low wall. There are houses and a veterinary practice adjoining the site with a boat club over the road. It's in the thick of it so to speak and can be noisy from outside antics in the summer but it's been a green oasis up to now. However if people want high prices and less of a peaceful atmosphere I presume this will suit them.
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We stayed for a few days at CAMC Ramslade about 6 years back and took a trip over to Totnes. It was June, but the town was really busy. Car parks were very full, and when we did find a space we discovered it was so narrow, and other cars were so badly parked, that we could not open the car doors to get out of the car!
So we gave up, had a slow drive up the main street, and then headed to Morrisons for our shopping.
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However the area south from the Mersey has lost, or will have, at least 3 club sites at least, either CC or C&CC, in the last few years. It would be good if new ones could be introduced in those counties.
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A pity you didn’t drive a couple of miles out of Totnes to Darlington Hall, strolled in the gardens and woodland, and had lunch in the White Hart bar restaurant which is incorporated in the medieval hall itself. It beats Morrisons.
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All of that is of course in your opinion brue, others may and probably will feel differently, as they wouldn’t consider a non EHU pitch decent what ever the price. You say that it can be noisy from outside influences, yet seem to think it will become less of a peaceful atmosphere due to the addition of 3 extra pitches. Or are you suggesting that the demographic it will attract are likely to be more rowdy?
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Hi,
As a caravanner from Yorkshire we have plenty of sites within a reasonable distance, some easy to access, some with facilities and some without, some dearer than others, my point is that whatever the club does to try and improve they cannot please everyone, as members we have the choice to do what we want or go where we want.
We as caravanners tend to use sites near towns or villages and then walk or use public services the car is ideally a tool to get us to our destination.
Yes it can be frustrating if the club makes changes or closes a site but I'm sure they do it for the benefit of us all, my opinion is that the club still offers good value for money with the site standards they offer.
Maybe try a large commercial site then have a rethink of what you get from the club.
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"Maybe try a large commercial site then have a rethink of what you get from the club."
im sure very many are (or will be) doing just that for the coming season and beyond...
we always use commercials for our New Year break, this year are heading to a site with a fully serviced hard standing, free wifi and on the doorstep (walking distance) of a large town and a few mins bus ride to an adjacent city. really useful during 'celebrations'.
at £30 a night (just £25 for a non serviced HS) seems to me to be 'value for money, a decent pitch and price'.
The nearest open Club site (one that also gives walking distance to a town) is £46.20 a night for a serviced pitch and £41.30 for a HS.
At 50% extra, chargeable wifi and a £50 odd membership fee, perhaps it is time for that 'rethink of what you get from the club'?
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Obviously we've all got opinions Steve and I am suggesting the site will be very different if the plans for change are accepted however I'm not suggesting anything whatsoever about the demographic usage. As a user of the site and also nearby Hillhead it's been good to have the choice between the two different types of site. I will miss the simplicity of Steamer Quay and I have noted other users feel the same.
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Brue, agreed.
it's not as if folk are asking for a new more simple, less is more site within the portfolio, it's already there.
folk seem to be saying (will the club listen?) that this type of site is slowly (but very surely) being eradicating from the club network and, while a refurb/update might be good, why change the whole character of the place?
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Some want Steamer Quay to stay with toilets but no electricity, and some want Stover (all of ten miles away) to stay with electricity but no toilets. Some just complain about any sort of change.
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We would have used SQ as it was, we won’t consider it as it is going to be. Day trip for us.
Fighting the traffic around that area to get out further is a consideration for us as well. we know the area fairly well. Hot days, we head onto Dartmoor for a swim, and to get away from the crowds. Totnes was super busy five years ago when we were last there, it will be loads worse now after the pandemic, much like the rest of Devon and Cornwall.
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The council want to encourage all year tourism and only awarded the lease to the Club on the condition the site was developed and complied, so it is unlikely they will remain all grass. It is possible that with the Longmarsh car park providing for motorhomes, the SQ target visitors will be caravans and motorhomes wanting a longer stay.
peedee
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Some simply want variety and choice EuroT, but the Club isn’t into choices. It’s driving ethos is fill the coffers via its wealthy core Membership, and that needs keeping them rolling by minimising effort, ensuring all comforts are at the flick of a switch, super flat, no grass involved. If I was being really cynical, I would take “camping” to its ultimate end game and lay on a driver and set up service. Except the Club have gone a stage further, and are using Glamping Pods. Future proofing, indeed.
I was personally told to use CLs if I wanted anything more basic when I raised the question of more basic camp sites.
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But how many folk YT?
That's the real question, are you basing it on the handful that are posting on here, perhaps 10? And it's not all one way as you would like to suggest. There are just as many folk posting to say it should be changed and welcome the changes.
As to type of site being eradicated (which you've used twice) again, same question for you where is the evidence for that? And if you're aduling to the character (again) being changed you've the only one I recall who posts that the club is losing sites with interesting or slightly quirky elements .
So who should the club to then? Well I would imagine that they will listen to the local council as they and the club want to keep the site open to boost visitors all year round? And that is why it is being changed remember.
The club might want to 'listen' or look how popular current types of sites with HS and SP are now, and so perhaps giving them some idea this is what people want, and how popular the club site will be when re-developed? No one in this thread has denied it won't be popular have they?
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But what you appear to be saying as fact is that the unnamed site you've chosen is just as good as the club site somewhere else nearby. I'm sure it is for you but it may not be for anyone else? Perhaps to others the club is worth far all the extra, I don't know as I don't know what two sites you're talking about? You also don't mention and T&C.
Rethink ? Well perhaps people do and then keep choosing the club, why else would club occupancy be so good, or showing as so good for next summer with deposits and these expensive prices? It cannot be people just going there for the first time? or it is a case that club sites are only full because people don't know there's better out there ?
Rethink ? Are club sites the most expensive sites out there as you appear to keep suggesting? Your Concierge Camping site that you have praised as being what the club should be like in the past is £72 per night at present for a 'standard' pitch while the higher end pitch is, well full this week, but £105 per night next so I assume it's much higher than that now?
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Yep, a night on the MH provision would suit us as well, probably out of main season. Like you, we would visit Totnes via other methods as well, scenic railway from Buckfastleigh.
We don’t tend to stop in towns anyway, much prefer peace and quiet, so Stover or Exeter Racecourse suit us fine when open. Better with a dog as well.
As for changing nature of Club Sites….. we have used two only in 2022. FM before the prices rocketed skywards, back in March. Then an overnight decision to use Clumber Park for three nights to watch Tour of Britain. That was the most expensive stay we have ever had on a Club Site. Nice, but at those prices, only if we were desperate for a break, it being our local Site. Those three nights cost us around same as 9 nights away touring in Scotland.
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I don't disagree with that TDA, it's fair assessment.
A wealthy core membership might be stretching it a bit, I see it as those being willing to pay the prices the club's set as they see that as value for money and not necessary wealthy, although a look round any site may make it look like that.
And this core membership isn't all the 'older generation' (you didn't say they were thankfully), in summer there are plenty of young families who also like having all the comforts that they have at home.
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