Layby parking with a caravan
Hi everyone
Is it legal to park overnight on an off road layby in the uk with your caravan?
We are travelling to Devon overnight and will want to stop for a few hours to sleep with little ones.
We will be going to Woollacombe and wondered if anyone knew of any off road layby's we could stay at after jct 27 on the M5 maybe on the A361?
Thanks
Comments
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Believe me, you’ll be far better off and safer on a site, especially with your kiddies to consider. Check out the club's Cadeside site which is where you want to be, or one of the CLs in the area, or perhaps Taunton Dean Services which is quite a good one for caravan parking as service areas go.
Legality depends on by-laws and many lay-bys bear signs stating overnight parking or sleeping in vehicles is not permitted. I’d not risk it personally.
Incidentally, stopping in that area is likely to get you to Woollacombe far too early for 13:00 arrival time.
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You will be far safer in a number of ways to simply book an overnight stop somewhere like a CL, or pay to pull up and stop off at a service station. Most lay-bys are filthy places and all manner of anti social activities go on at some, let alone having to deal with huge HGVs trying to take a break as well. Not the kind of places to consider with children. There will be lots of CLs down your route not far off the motorway network, some are very accommodating with prior warning of a late arrival, and early departure, and will give you and family a more restful stopover.
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Another thought - Staffordshire to N Devon is somewhere around 300 miles and doable in one hit so why not get some sleep at home and set off in the early morning? We towed a caravan from mid-Cornwall to Uttoxeter in one go several times. It took around 6 hours including a couple of stops and the inevitable traffic delays. That would also avoid you arriving early and being turned away from the Woollacombe site.
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Personally I think Taunton Deane services suggested by TW are the best bet for some sort of safe rest, even if you have to pay a fee for more than two hours. The laybys to Barnstaple are mostly on road, not very safe except for short breaks. People do park up overnight in the laybys, often lorries take up the spaces. If it's peak holiday time it can be very busy everywhere.
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Motorway service areas are noisy and, for overnight, expensive. Better using Cadeside if space available or a CL somewhere. Anywhere between Weston super Mare and Taunton area would do you. Alternatively a country park parking area or similar might be OK if no restrictions.
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Another vote for Cadeside if they have room. Easy to get to off the motorway.
David
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No it’s not illegal but there are better options. Are you hoping to stop at 8pm, 10pm , midnight, or even later than that? The timing will determine the options.
Stay safe.2 -
Club Sites are useless for late arrival stopovers unfortunately. If you aren’t there by 8pm, you have had it. We booked Minnows one Summer for just the one night, got very badly held up for hours on M5, I managed to phone the Site (in the days pre mobiles), but it was before 8pm or nothing. We had no chance, so I rang a CL in Sampford Peverell who happily let us roll in around 9.30pm. It was a delightful place, so much so we had holidays on the Site. Still never been to Minnows. You need to factor in possible delays, particularly during busy holiday periods.
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The OP says they will be travelling overnight so that probably precludes stopping at a CL or caravan site (club or otherwise - does Cadeside have a late arrivals area?).
As others have suggested, Taunton Deane services would certainly be a possibility but OP has asked for laybys after J27.
There are (were?) offroad parking/picnic areas either side of the A361 at Moortown Cross between Tiverton and South Molton, about 10 miles beyond Tiverton.
I've not been this way for some years so don't know what facilities are there now or if overnight parking would be allowed.
Perhaps a check on street view would help.
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We've used Moortown Cross in the day time and it looks as though overnight parking/resting is allowed.
https://www.campercontact.com/en/united-kingdom/england/knowstone/63442/picnic-area-on-link-road
This is well on the way to Barnstaple so I presume the OP can arrive at their intended site early?
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Hello,
We start out at about 5.30am (junction 15) and aim for a comfort break south of Bristol, hopefully missing their rush hour. Then taking a steady trip into Cornwall. If my memory serves me right Woolacombe will take you just as long. I agree with everyone else and would not park on a layby without children and I can't see anyone getting a rest either. I hope you have a lovely time.
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Perhaps Woot will return at some point and tell us if any of the 13 replies have been helpful. We have tried.
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It appears to have become a habit for many more who ask a question and receive numerous replies not to bother to come back on here either to thank those that have bothered to provide answers to their queries or to at least give an update on what they themselves have decided to do!
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The OP has actually been back to the thread by liking several of the suggestions made, is that not enough?
David
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Not wanting to divert the thread, but that is a problem with CT. The only way I know if to see who liked a post is by trawling through the "latest activity" on the club together "home page". The posts themselves say if they have been liked, but not by who. Annoying...
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"Not wanting to divert the thread, but that is a problem with CT. The only way I know if to see who liked a post is by trawling through the "latest activity" on the club together "home page". The posts themselves say if they have been liked, but not by who. Annoying..."
Some forum software does note, under a post, who has liked a particular post but Club Together is not really a fully featured forum. Maybe in the future that could change? Sometimes from a curiosity point of view it might be interesting to see who has liked particular types of posts but we have to live with what we have
"Agree with 'CT', if I returned to this thread days later I could be trawling it for hours on end if it allowed me. Perhaps David as a Moderator has more tools to his hand!"
As I only use one log in for both contributions and moderating its difficult for be to know what non-moderators can see or not.
I think we have to accept that whilst many come on here for discussion and banter some will only want to ask a specific question. I am not sure its useful to take anyone to task for not coming back once they have their answer, or in this case a range of suggestions? As I have mentioned the OP has taken the opportunity to like many of the comments and probably feels there is no need for further comment on his part? I think, if it was me, someone demanding I come back to make a comment would probably have the opposite effect?
David
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If I ask a question, and get some responses, I like to put a thank you post on the thread. It just seems a polite, all in one response to those that have bothered to answer my question, rather than cherry picking only those I agree with by liking. My individual take on things, reaches everyone.😁
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Without them actually saying that they like or appreciate the responses for most there is no way of knowing that the OP has in fact read the posts. I would think that most of we members do not check who has made all the "likes" or look to see what the OP has actually done, as there is only so long most can spend time on here because there are a lot more interesting things to do during the day than read everybody's actions on CT.
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+1 👍
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I was taught that It was polite to say thank you when someone has gone to the bother of providing an answer to a question I made. However politeness seems to have gone out of the window these days, at least for a large percentage of the population.
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Have to say I agree with Nellie. I've lost count of the number of times I've tried to answer requests for suggestions like the OP and had no indication if my reply was useful or not. It's very frustrating; not expecting a fulsome "thank you" but it would be nice to know if I'd been helpful at all. I'm not sure a series of "likes" is much of an indication, especially seeing the way some, often totally irrelevant posts, get "liked" though!
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Think about it. 🤔 If the OP asks a question, and folks respond one way or another to that question, by acknowledging the responses it sort of finishes the thread circle in a positive, constructive way. Threads that have no resolution to a problem or questions asked, are more likely to end up going over the same ground, and go eventually off topic.
I don’t think anyone is criticising posting behaviour, more just wondering if the initial question raised has been answered sufficiently. A simple “ thanks” would be enough, but it’s not a major gripe if it doesn’t happen. 🤷♀️Post liking is misleading. In this instance the OP has “liked” their own post, so as I say, hard to know if responses have been enough from a like😉
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