CLs and more!
I have over the last few weeks compiled a list of all the sites in this country, ie England, Scotland and Wales, that I can remember we have stayed on during the 45+ yrs of caravanning. I can recall a total of the 505 sites, CLs, CSs, CC, C&CC and commercial/forestry sites, although there will certainly be more that I have forgotten. Out of that total we have used 318 CLs, and of those 236 are still in the current Site Directory, so just over 10%.
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Brilliant record Nellie👏👏 You have certainly given us some decent ideas for stays. We must be around 100 I reckon now, but our problem is, we like some so much we tend to go back. In a good year (unlike this one☹️) we would expect to try out between 6-8 new CLs, but we have discovered the Britstops and Aires this last couple of years, so that means we haven’t been using quite as many. Once we get back out, hoping to build on our CL usage a bit more.
It’s nice to see some of the more modern CLs, but some of the very old ones remain our favourites. They tend to be nicely landscaped and matured. Let’s hope some of the new ones are around long enough to mature like this, there are still a lot leaving the network. 13 gone this month, to only 3 new ones.
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Long ago we were two families in a farm field with two caravans and seven young children. There no facilities. It rained continuously. The intention was to stay for a week but after four days we decided to give up.
I was sent to empty a toilet and found a rectangular steel cover over a pit in the corner of the field. The steel cover was wet, mosey and dirty, but I prised it up and peered below. The pit was large, of unknown depth, full of sewage and terrifying - falling in would have meant immediate death.
I didn’t fall in but the heavy, wet steel cover slipped out of my hands and fell perfectly neatly and diagonally into the pit and disappeared
We quickly decided that CLs of that sort were not for us and that we could afford better. Our lives moved on.
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We couldn't match anything on that scale Nellie as we only bought a van when we retired, years of watching and visiting family and friends with vans hadn't tempted us...ham salads and flying lettuce in fields on blustery days didn't appeal much.
However we've overcome all that and like TDA we're branching out to more individual places with the safety of the more conventional sites to compliment them.We didn't start out with either club but later joined both to add more strings to our bow. We have returned to some favourite places a lot but the desire to see over the next hill keeps us on the move too.
I've kept a small note book of site names and dates, yours would take several volumes I think?
What fascinates me is seeing so many new places over the years but you must have covered more than most or have you some gaps still to be filled?!
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I used to have a little black book, wrote down essential communication details in the days long before the Tinternet. It’s quite valuable, as some Sites that are no longer on network, we can still contact and use. I sort of added a few details for our personal use such as how good it was for dogs, was it quiet, places of interest close by. You forget the names sometimes, and need a bit of a memory jog. A bit sad looking at a few that are no longer there, but we have the nice memories and some photos somewhere.
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Boy, it must have rained an awful lot yesterday!🤣
Had a quick add up this morning about 5 o'clock as I couldn't sleep. We've obviously split ours as we've toured quite a bit on the continent.
We're up to about 180 sites in the UK, with about 100 being CLs and about 100 in Europe. Didn't unfortunately send me back to sleep..
I think those with Motorhomes will have stayed on more than Caravanners, if they've been doing it as long, as they tend to move more often.
You've accumulated quite a few there Nellie. What's your stand out best 3 CLs?
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Yes WN, we definitely use more different CLs now with MH, even on a 10 night tour we might use 3-4, plus alternatives.
My personal best memories are of our stays at Kestal Farm near Marazion. We used to leave our van there, and it became a home from home as we would go down at least four times a year, all months. Basic, but private, spacious individual pitches and a brilliant location. Then a lovely farm CL overlooking Tintern Abbey, we had the whole place to ourselves, a week of walks direct from Site, and Ostriches, Donkeys and sweet little girl who sold us eggs to make pocket money. She liked to come over and play with the dogs. Last one was as basic as they come, a meadow field on the edge of a canal in Stamford Peverell. Tap, waste, ponies and peace. Brilliant walking and cycling. All sadly no more now.
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I don't think I can quite match Nellie's numbers, but not that far away. Because I write site reviews and publish them on my website I know I currently have 130 UK site reviews and 191 European site reviews so 321 in total. Those figures are understating the actual sites we have stayed on since 1982. I would think that we have stayed on another 30/50 sites in the UK and about the same in Europe. The reason they are not on my website is because many have closed and other which might still be open were visited prior to my website. So at least 400 sites and probably a few more.
David
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Haven't kept records, but nowhere near your numbers Nellie, well done! 🙂
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What fascinates me is seeing so many new places over the years but you must have covered more than most or have you some gaps still to be filled?!
Brue, we have stayed in every English and Scottish county, but not on a CL in each, yet!😁 To my list can be added a number of sites from touring Sweden and Norway, and Rallies, with various centres, but they were so long ago I can't remember them all, or find the rally plaques. Hope a few more new sites this year, all being well.
Tda, had we had a M/H, like yourself, instead of a caravan we would have visited even more, staying for shorter than the normal 4 or more.
What's your stand out best 3 CLs?
WN, I don't think I can pick them, as they vary so much, having different "best" features. There are some that we have used frequently because of location, although the facilities may not be as good as others that we have stayed on, but they suit us for what we want to do. I think ones that we would call favourites would not feature on others lists so really don't want to put them out there. That's not to say that I would not recommended particular sites but would have to know what features prospective visitors require.
Well done DK, quite a number. Ad thanks, Helen, I'm sure you must have a fair list of CLs that you have used.
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Nellie's OP made me think about my own records that I have kept ever since we started caravanning back in 1988. In the early days it was just a log-book of our holidays and, in those days, time away was rather limited due to work and also I had to borrow my parent's caravan.
In those early days we only went to two or three sites each year and these were almost exclusively club sites. In the first 10 years we only used CLs on 8 occasions out of the total of 67 sites used, most of these CL occasions being an overnight stop near Dover when we went across to France.
Over the years, particularly in the last 10, we have used CLs much more frequently. Out of the 94 sites used during that period, 46 were CLs and the number of club sites down to 18. The last 3 years we used 15 CLs exclusively and for all our 32 nights away booked for this year all are on CLs except for one overnight stop at Cadeside on our way to Cornwall.
The records that I keep are now on an Excel spreadsheet to which I keep adding extra columns. Amongst other details the sheet shows site name, location, cost per night, distance from home and a brief note about the site. For many sites I have included the GPS coordinates and the road atlas page number/grid, particularly for France. For French sites I have colour coded the sites, green cell fill means good, amber means OK but with some reservations, and red means don't use the site again. Thankfully there are only 7 that are red. I have also set it up to automatically record the number of nights away in any particular year and the total cost of the sites for that year.
It's surprising how many times we refer to the spreadsheet, usually to check when we went to a particular site .
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I also have a spreadsheet of stops since we started again 11 years ago. Tally so far 142, with only a few being return visits. 13 of those were CAMC sites although none of those have been in the past three years.
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