Sites without a toilet block
Comments
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WTG, that booking system is grand, but there are only a limited number of CLs that are members of the group. There are also a few other CLs that have their own booking systems but it does mean searching for them.
Mnl, there are also a number of other smallish commercial sites that I know of which do not have toilet blocks, should you be interested.
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Personally what TDA posted upthread certainly applies. We didn't want sites without toilets/shower blocks and when first joined we were caught out in the planning stage a few times and yes perhaps this is what the OP is asking for.
I tried to apply the filters on the booking system but while you can filter for sites with toilets you can't filter for sites without them? Unless I'm not doing it right?
It might be useful to have such a filter?
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Requiring a hardstanding for his motorhome might be a reason Steve books well in advance but CLs typically are either grass or hardstanding - OK I accept there will be some which have both.
As we have a caravan and book late, we will have an idea of the expected weather and may well choose a site that only has grass, as that is our preferred type when the weather is dry and the ground is firm. We tend to pitch in an orientation decided by the view/sun and not by any area of stone.
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Thanks Burt for your explanation it helps, but I'm not sure Steve does? He might but I don't know but could be why he uses CLs with HS?
As you say we are all different and have differing needs and preferences hence I never try and ask/guess why people book/pitch/use one type of site over another, too many variables.
You can also pitch in a way to suit views (if there are any of course) and sun on a number of sites and definitely on club sites, I do the same.
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Obviously on a Club site you will only have two ways of pitching - either In or Out and this may not give you the orientation you desire but you may well have a number of choices of pitch which can give you the ideal orientation.
However on a "hardstanding" CL you will have a limited choice and these may well have the same orientation. A grass pitch will have no limitations ( except possibly slope).
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Ok yes, but doesn't the sun move around quite a lot, and even more so in summer, so even if you're orientated one way on your limitless grass CL unless you're moving your caravan about a lot in one day it won't make that much difference and only be really aligned with your preference for a few hours at best?
I go for sun in the evening on the awning side and front of the caravan and never been disappointed even on a limited orientation club site.
Off topic now, apologies as I'm quite sure that's not the reason for the OP wanting club sites with facilities or not?
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The OP hasn’t said anything of the sort to be honest. Merely asked for a list of no facility Club Sites😁 We love the no facility sites because when there were more of them, they were unique. Think Nunnykirk, no other Club Site like it👍
As for folks wanting more (based on memories of yesteryear maybe), some managed with very basic outfits all those years ago, we certainly did, so nowadays with all the swish kit inside, life is a doddle. I respect the choices of others though, not everyone wants a cheap option.
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Red Kite (along with Nellie) provided all the information the OP requires in the very first response to the OP. It is all in the handbook. Perhaps not high tech enough for many, but that graph between pages 33 and 39 in the new Handbook lists all the facilities available at Club Sites. In alphabetical order, reads across each entry, and no trying to log on, navigate this at times abysmal website, just an easy peasy at a glance reference tool. 👍 Book can also be used to level up a table, so is multifunctional🤣
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The OP asked for a list of sites without facilities still not sure why.
We have stayed at Cae Mawr for a week and Heben bridge for quite a few weekends thoroughly enjoyed them we just used our on board facilities as this is what all modern vans seem to have apart from the smaller type van conversions maybe this is a factor from the OP.
PS how did people manage on sites through the restricted lockdown period with either no facilities or minimal usage just a thought.
Final.point yes they are usually a bit cheaper.
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I am not quite sure why people are getting so exercised as to why the OP made their request? I am sure they have reasons and have already thanked those who have provided that information. Why on earth speculate as to the motives for asking? Had they wanted different information no doubt they would have asked a different or additional question.
David
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I do agree it is upto the OP as to what they post but with limited knowledge as to their requirements I am not speculating I just felt like my contribution may help them, if they choose to use it or not.
I feel this is what others have also tried to do.
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I can see some of you are keen to know why I asked for the list of sites with no toilet block. It's simply down to the cost. We are retired and have always stayed on full facility sites and enjoyed using the showers etc. However with the cost of living increases starting to bite we still want to tour and will use our onboard facilities at the sites nellie provided and CL's.
Happy New Year to you all.
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Since Covid, we have used a couple of sites without a toilet block, and have realised we can cope without these facilities. Toilet blocks are now not a necessity for us.... personally, I'd rather spend the money on full serviced pitches (I can leave the wastemaster and aquaroll at home). Really enjoyed our visits to Englethwaite Hall and Hebden Bridge...
David
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Happy New Year to you as well😁 Take a look at the “Small Private Sites” thread, which is a sticky in this section. It was started a few years ago, and lots of folks have added favourite suggestions to it, including myself and Nellie. Some of these are excellent value for money, many are ex CLs that have outgrown the Club, and might just give you some further options. Have a good 2023👍
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It will be interesting to see what effect, if any, the rising cost of living has on occupancy rates.
as above with the OP, some are moving to cheaper club sites, some to commercials and small private sites, many will turn to CLs/CS/THS sites...
Some of the pressure on the household budget is from 'indirect' everyday price increases, some of which can't really be avoided, but some like CAMC site price increases, directly affect the ability to tour...
price will become a more prominent ingredient in the decision to tour and for how long.
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price will become a more prominent ingredient in the decision to tour and for how long.
It may well do for those like us who spend 100 days plus touring. However, I’m not convinced it will to the large numbers in work who only do 2 / 4 weeks and the odd weekend.
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We did not get a caravan until I was 52, having previously tented. Having gone to the expense of getting a suitable tow car, caravan and organising storage, I not sure the cost of pitches would put me off. Typically while working we managed 42 nights away, so £840 at £20 a night, £1680 at £40. Even the higher figure isn’t a major sum when you consider the cost of owning a caravan and suitable towing vehicle. I think that is far more likely to be the determining factor.
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I think the OP might be pleasantly surprised by the Club's non facility sites if he has not used any of them before. Prices vary but they are pretty good value. They are quite different from CL's because you always have site staff available most of the day and usually company as well. A few of them also have easy access to towns and villages either on foot or by public transport.
David
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We have owned a caravan for over 45 years, while we were working cost wasn't a factor.
Now we are retired one has to take these things into account. We are comfortable financially but that doesn't mean that we just pay up whatever the price.
It's a fact club prices are now expensive and for some it will mean they will have to make decisions about what they consider too much. For some they will sell up, for others they will cut back on number of nights away. Others will look elsewhere.
We quite like non facility sites and CLs, so much so that I wish all sites were non facility.
We first started out in a van with no electric or 12v just a gas light. Cold water foot pump to the kitchen sink. We are not alone in that many on here can relate back to those days.
When sites started putting in facility blocks and heating them it was a pleasure to use them. However now that vans have all modern day facilities on board we no longer need them, we have paid vast sums of money for our vans to be equipped this way why not use it.
Someone mentioned Covid, how did folk manage to tour when the blocks were closed, easy use your own.
Long may the non facility sites stay open.
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If you were starting out now and in your current position of being retired then maybe, but if you were starting out now with the pay you were on back then scaled up for now would there be that much of a difference? Would it still put you off? You have to compare like with like.
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I think that it is natural for people who have been members of the club for a long time to reflect back to when they started this hobby as TG has done above, but nothing in this world stays still. So put yourself in the position of the many thousands who have recently taken up touring, the majority of their units will have heating, toilets, showers, solar, TV's, WiFi and other mod cons and they will see the facilities of club sites and todays Club prices as their baseline and not the prices of 5 or 10 years ago. I expect that those who remain members as long as some of you have will be saying in 20 years time remember back when we started the average price for a pitch was £30.
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I don't view club prices as an extravagance in any way.
People keep saying they are yet there also posts about cruises, long trips aboard with or without an outfit ... so I think it is not being expensive in the traditional sense of the word but rather people see better value in spending their money elsewhere on whatever type of site, holiday they like and that is how it should be?
Personally club site holidays are now the cheapest of my holidays per night by a long way. We're doing more holiday 'cottages' and all inclusive trips abroad trips, we've got several planned this year and the first one is now just six weeks away!
If we were just doing only caravan holiday for the same length of time we'd be saving quite a bit.
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For me (I am comfortably off) it is not about costs, its about why should I be paying for facilities I do not need. I can and do take other forms of holiday and if I am on a cruise or staying in a hotel, you do not take your facilities with you and rightly so you pay to use theirs. This is not so with modern vans which are fully self contained and you take your facilities with you. In many cases all that is required is a safe pitch, nothing else.
As I have said elsewhere, with the recent increases it is becoming harder to justify paying for facilities I do not need.
peedee
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Yes you keep posting this but are you being forced to justify to anyone or even forced to use club sites that offer you things you don't want? It does sound that way PD?
You have said there are better and cheaper sites out there so use them? What's to think about?
I've stopped using Sainburys and use Aldi now as it gives me better and if not as good value and quality. But I don't go on Sainbury's website (if they had one) to say so and how I can't justify using them anymore?
(Apologies to Mousley for borrowing his original analogy)
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The main problem for us is, as TG has said, that when one retires one often has to reign in spending a bit, or even a lot, look at what one has put by, and decide whether one can reasonably supplement regular spending from savings, or whether these need to be allocated to capital purchases/home upgrades/etc, or even whether savings need to be increased to cover future costs.
We have used a fair bit from savings lately on 2 bathroom refurbishments and a new boiler, and as everything in the house was/is now 34 years old, there will no doubt be a few other things that will need to be replaced in the next few years.
The huge increase in the cost of gas and electricity is something nobody, working or retired, will have planned for, or indeed the present rate of inflation.
And, of course, cars/caravans/MHs do not last forever and cost a lot to replace, and prices of all these have certainly risen a lot since I retired! Our present van is 15 years old and the equivalent model, probably with a lot of unnecessary features, costs over twice what we paid back in 2008, so we will not be replacing it, just keeping it going for as long as we can.
Our tow car is only 5 years old, so hopefully has many years of service left. When we bought it, which was not in our original financial plan, it made a bit of a hole in the savings, so we have been replacing the money from income, leaving less for other things, such as holidays. £30+ every night for a site is certainly out of question now as far as we are concerned.
Like TG, for a few years now we have been using, and enjoying, CLs and a few no facility Club sites, and also some CCC sites when the age related discount is available. That way we can use the caravan for long enough each year to justify the cost of insuring and servicing it.
Not complaining, just being realistic, and financially cautious.
We now have our daughter and family using our caravan for an additional few weeks in school holidays. They consider it an "inexpensive holiday" as they are not paying for anything other than site fees and a contribution to the cost of us towing and siting the van for them.
It would not be inexpensive if they had first had to buy the van, and a suitable tow car, and then get maybe only 6-8 weeks use per year.
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I expect that those who remain members as long as some of you have will be saying in 20 years time remember back when we started the average price for a pitch was £30.
Yes fully agree with that.It's been happening every year since I've been on CT with people posting how 'expensive' club are becoming for them.
When I first started with the club in 1999 petrol was about 55p a litre - ah the good old days!
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