Misrepresenting sites online
We visited Putts Corner site 2nd week of July 2023 , have visited this site for 13 years it has always been a 4 star site with reviews to match but this year on entering the site the difference shocked us , it looked completely neglected, we usually get greeted by happy, helpful staff but this time we were greeted by a disgruntled warden who said your too early and don’t go wandering. After setting up I had a wonder round and where the site was usually full of flowers it now has overgrown hedges with brambles and nettles everywhere, the grass is seldom cut and in places very long encouraging Ticks, we were told that the club had brought in “no mow May” but this was July and the idea was to attract wildlife, I don’t know if someone in management has realised but this site is surrounded by fields, trees and obviously wildlife, when I spoke to other visitors most had the similar view to us, one who’s wife was disabled said it’s scruffy and was only going to stay overnight. Near the main bottom toilet block look what appears to be an old Wi-Fi pole has broken at its base , is leaning dangerously and is being held up by a piece of rebar and tied with a lifting sling.
The biggest problem is the site is being misrepresented on line the star rating and site photos are old , it no longer looks as per photos and recent reviews rarely give a high star rating but the club is still charging 4 star rates, I checked other club sites on line and found other sites with a no mow policy so I just can’t get my head around it, if you went to a 4 or 5 star hotel would you expect the exterior and gardens of the building to look pristine or a scruffy mess, it doesn’t make sense. We’ve decided that if this is the club’s policy from now on we don’t want to carry on being members and will cancel at the end of the season, there’s plenty of options like pitchup.com And of course the decision’s like “no mow May” has been taken by the club without taking a feeling of the members . Don Sykes
Moderator Comment - Don, this is really a subject for either a review or the discussion area. As its in more general terms about the site I will move it to discussions.
Comments
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I think no mow May is a good idea, but that doesn’t mean rubbish around or not cutting grass near to pitches. As for flowers etc, unless shrubs, aren’t those up to the wardens? Depend whether they are interested in gardening or not.
We regularly visit CLs and don’t want pristine sites, not what camping is about.2 -
It would have been interesting for you to have posted some photos to illustrate what you mean?
David
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On our a last site last month the HS pitches were just as tidy as before but it was the larger grass strips in-between that had not been mowed, I quite liked it but Mrs C wasn't as keen on the appearance but we both agreed (really) that as long as the pitches themselves were good and tidy it didn't really matter as to the 'star rating' which for us is more to do with pitches and facilities, and the state of the grass around them wouldn't put us off coming to club sites or membership.
I think from other threads that actual grass pitches would be kept mowed?
Funny though that some complain about sites looking like car parks and should be more rural looking when the club does there are complaints the other way?
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As others have said No Mow May is not only a good idea but one many of us who enjoy the great outdoors in our caravans, motorised or otherwise, would very much support. This initiative should be managed correctly though and support nature, it’s not a lazy option to do nothing. My observation of this notion across the sites we have visited this spring has been most positive with site staff showing a real interest in it and a passion to help our wildlife.
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No mow May is a good idea, I do that at home.
However its MAY, not June or July the sites should by now be back to a tidy appearance. Given the price that is being charged I think members are right in expecting things to be kept tidy.
There are sites that have left 'no mow areas' for wildlife, our council has also done that on 2 of the big parks we have. The rest though should be cut.
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Just a thought about no mow May. My niece’s house has a park opposite their front garden. The grass wasn’t cut in May but this has now been done. Coincidentally, immediately after cutting there has been a big increase in the number of flies, many of which find their way into her house. Now my thought, and this may be way off beam, is that the long grass prevented birds, and particularly starlings, from getting at and eating the flies and, as importantly, their grubs. So not cutting the grass may be depriving the birds from soft food that they need for their young and subsequently creating a later fly infestation.Ticks have also already been mentioned earlier in the thread. These live in long grass, the long grass that children play in.
This may be a rubbish hypothesis but does anyone else agree with this thought?
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Actually John I do agree.
I find the sort of long grass in parks and concil run areas have a detrimental effect on Birdlife. I prefer areas to be planted with wildflowers, an oxymoron of a statement I know, but at least then the birds can get in amongst the flowers and the insect life, especially Bees etc, have a ready made food bank.
Leaving long grass that purports to be for 1 month for 2-3 months is lazy and/or cost cutting exercise.
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Just as an addition to my post above, I saw the grass in question again yesterday. When it was cut it was about a foot high. This cut grass is just laying where it was cut and, apart from being wet by recent rain, it is drying out. How long before a discarded cigarette causes a fire? Even more reason to think that 'no mow May' has a lot of unintended consequences especially in public areas like parks.
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I have had a recent experience like this in Italy. I really feel the club misrepresented the site in question not only in photographic terms but the pricing information was also out of date. I wanted to review the site but I cannot fathom how to do so. It seems ridiculously difficult to leave site reviews.
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They do live in longer grass, they drop off hosts(wildlife) awaiting another host. Unfortunately ticks really don’t care if it’s rabbit, deer or human😕
PS-it’s never wise to wear shorts in long grass.
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The tree huggers say that not mowing in May lets wild flowers grow in the grass. I tried it this year in the orchard below the house - there were no flowers, and all I got was long grass like a hayfield. The whole no mow idea is fanciful.
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Same here. No mow May was just another eco warrior idea foisted on us. Right up there with Veganuary and electric cars. Some organisations (local authorities for instance) jumped on the idea to save money.
My 15 year old dog got ticks this year for the first time ever, despite being regularly treated against ticks etc.
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Fanciful?, it depends on the way it is thought out & executed. If it’s used as a way to skip cutting it may be fanciful. If it is researched & ‘best way’ is followed then it is really positive. When folk who are basically negative to the idea try it looking for failure they will find failure. If it’s approached positively it will work.
nb-don’t expect wild flowers from a bowling green lawn, the potential flowers have already been destroyed.
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No Mow May in a meadow, with mixed grasses, wildflower seeds present and growing? Brilliant idea👍
No Mow May in areas where thriving wildflowers not present, usually just overgrown couch grass, and very wet? Oh dear………..badly misinterpreted.
Our next to no mow anytime of the year neighbour did no mow May this year. First week in July tried to mow grass, end result was a broken beyond repair lawn mower, and a big bill for gardeners to come out and tackle. They are however continuing with no cut the hedge more than once a year, even if it’s full of bindweed😡 Counter productive, I have had enough and we set too spraying and hacking from our-side as much as we could yesterday, as my garden is being devastated by the bindweed. I am all for gardening for nature, we have all sorts in our garden, but you have to do it properly and with a degree of awareness. All they are pleasing at the moment are the rats😡
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No mow May, June, July etc....at the golf course I practice at....some of it as tall as me!
you don't just lose a ball but your clubs and probably a playing partner or two🤷🏻♂️
madness! Is this what Club sites are like these days?
And...don't get me going on the total lack of attention to cycle paths etc...positively dangerous with low hanging branches....
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Plymouth city centre used to have amazing formal borders these then went to wild flower meadows and now all we have is a sign saying urban meadow, very long unkempt grass, aka waste land.
As you say cost cutting.
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Yes, cost cutting, not grass cutting👎
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And don’t even mention the trees! 😤😤😤
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Just in case the wrong idea is taken about what club sites really looked liked, well this one anyway, here is the reality taken in very early June, and notice it is only done of the larger grass strips, sometimes with a border and so not quite as bad or mad as people are making out? By the time we left it had all been mowed
I quite liked the flowers.
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The problem is that some don’t understand the concept of No May May or how to manage the grassland and meadows to maximise nature’s opportunities. The last thing it should be is an excuse to be lazy and do nothing for months on end, these areas do need tending.
As for those areas on sites I have seen these have been away from where dogs and children should be straying. The alternative is sterile, tracks of turf. Also. our local No May May areas have been teeming with finches, buntings and the like something we rarely saw during mow to an inch of life times of old.I’d also say that my wondering across wilder habitats of Britain as a child, youth and adult has done me and many no lasting damage. Yes ticks are out there but it’s not the long grass they are attracted to, it’s mammalian hosts. We need to educate ourselves and children about protection, not eradication they need to understand the dynamics of ecosystems. We need to live along side nature more, after all, that’s why many of us immerse ourselves in our shared pastime of caravanning. Such environments are under threat, we need to be more pro-nature active wherever we can! The alternative is concerning for future generations.
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You can’t expect results from one year. And it has to be managed. The grass under our fruit trees is left to grow. We have oxeye daises, ragwort (and the associated cinnabar moth caterpillars) knapweed (lots this year for the first time in 5 years) We did sow an appropriate wildflower mix in the September before we started, on very short grass, with additional yellow rattle which reduces the strength of the grass, and is doing well. Lots of different grasses and lots of insects, including grasshoppers or crickets. It will be cut down in September and the cut grass REMOVED. That is crucial to avoid enriching the soil. It will then be mown a couple of times before winter. Many schemes fail because grass is not removed. It is not a no management scheme. We also have a lawn, which is not cut TOO short, surrounded by borders.
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Also, the increased numbers of deer across the UK also adds to the issue. There is some research taking place about the spread of ticks via the huge numbers of game birds released into the wild each year. The significance of this vector and connection to Lyme disease is not yet fully understood but when we upset the natural balance of things so drastically things go sadly awry!
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Ragwort is highly poisonous to a great deal of animals, especially horses, and back when the UK cared and had enough money to tackle problem plants, it wasn’t uncommon to see teams of workers removing ragwort from roadside areas. I drove up the A1 between Grantham and Blyth a couple of times last week, and was appalled at the amount of ragwort growing in the central reservations and roadsides. Every equine owner knows to clear any signs of ragwort from grazing fields, not doing so risks a horrible death for horses. It spreads hugely. It’s a notifiable plant…….
https://www.rhs.org.uk/weeds/ragwort
My garden is as carefully managed as I can for wildlife, including insects, but someone else’s misguided policy on plant management is strangling all my nectar rich plants and I have been forced into using stuff I don’t really want to. I’d rather have Budhlia and Lavender for my Butterflies and bees, than a tangle of bindweed that doesn’t seem to attract anything.☹️
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Convolvulus (Bindweed) is a very rich insect attracting plant. Hoverflies, bees and butterflies love it. Even the RHS recognise this. Also seen horses, cattle and pigs living in areas like the New Forest alongside ragwort. They seem to understand it’s best left uneaten. Maybe learnt!
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I think “moderation” and control might be the issue here micky🤔 Photo of next doors garden, the whole large plot looks like this, it’s strangling all the other plants, crawling over walls, coming through fencing, etc…. Totally out of control.
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There is a reason it’s called-‘in the rough’ golfing in those conditions isn’t impossible it’s part of becoming a good Golfer. No Golfer ever got to the top by only ever playing in perfect conditions. The conditions & the mastering thereof are what turns a Tyro into a good/great Golfer👍🏻
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Hey Tinny, I donated to the fighting fund to stop it👍🏻👏🏻👏🏻
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