Winter Closures
Evening,
Just a quick question.
Can anyone shed any light or have any thoughts as to why in Yorkshire out of 18 club sites only four remain open all year.
The only reason I ask is we are looking to book a weekend this month as modern caravans are capable of withstanding colder weather which we can expect 🥶
Money has been invested in sites to improve and create more hardstanding pitches to make them all weather, maybe its just me but if the sites remain open they can recoup some money.
Is this the same country wide ?
Thanks.
Comments
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Have you contacted the club to ask? However for my answer I think you need to understand how business operates. The operator can only recover investment costs when income exceeds outgoings. In low demand winter months the operating costs will if anything be higher than in summer. Many sites will also have seasonal restrictions on their lease and/or planning consents. Winter caravanning (Christmas and new year apart) is still very much a minority activity. And, the ‘club’ isn’t the sole operator of caravan sites, there are others.
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The biggest barrier is the local authority/nat park planners. They can not accept that the only viable, job creating, business in the countryside is tourism. Recent application for 12 months licence in Anglesey turned down as " it would open a can of worms". No job hope for youngsters to get 12 month employment and ability to get a mortgage and then a home. The hospitality sector misses out on regular income and the whole thing declines. For the been no where, done nothing councillors much easier to blame, incomers, second homers and everything else rather than move into the 21st century and meet the newer needs of visitors and the employment oportunites now horse power on farms has finished.
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It’s the same across the UK. Yorkshire is the luckiest county in terms of Club Sites that stay open. Beechwood Grange is possibly only open because Rowntree Park floods so often. There aren’t enough Club Members use their outfits enough to justify keeping some sites open from an operative point of view. Combination of the Club having lots of older Members who put their outfits away, November and February have traditionally been quite holidaying months generally, but I do think the price of some sites is having an effect as well combined with the general economic situation. We used to use Club Sites in Winter, but the prices have shot up so we go elsewhere now, and I suspect there are a lot of others like us. Some Club Sites, leased might not have a twelve monthly opening contract.
I would suggest you take a look at the CL network. Once you have identified what your needs are (facilities, hook up, serviced pitches for example) there are lots of lovely CLs that are open all year, and Yorkshire is very well served by such. Given the floods at the moment, you might have to be careful about actually getting to a site. If you want to give an area you fancy visiting, regular CL users might be able to help you find a suitable site.🤔
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It has always been this way since I joined the club in 1999, in fact there are more club sites open in the winter now then there were back then. Personally I like going away during winter places are quieter and sites are cheaper too, but even I use January to rest after Christmas!
But location will play a part too. City and town sites will do better in terms of attracting people than more isolated country sites. There are local restrictions too.
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I think there are less sites this year with extended opening simple because the recent trend in bookings and occupancy have not justified keeping them open. Probably since the reintroduction of deposits members have been less inclined to commit to a booking so I imagine the Club would not rely on there being a lot of late bookers to fill the space. Although the Club would have no idea what the weather would turn out to be it has been pretty bad this winter with both Chatsworth and Rowntree Park both being forced to close because of flooding at various times. Energy prices are also impacting on what people perceive as value for winter stays which perhaps has reduced demand?
David
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"but I do think the price of some sites is having an effect as well combined with the general economic situation. We used to use Club Sites in Winter, but the prices have shot up so we go elsewhere now, and I suspect there are a lot of others like us"
Totally agree ttda - Although Sandringham, this year, was almost full for New Year - when we arrived on the Wednesday before Christmas there was the grand total of 6 units on site and even over the full Christmas period there were no more than 30 units on site. They can't have been in profit and I doubt that the surge for a couple of days over New Year would have made that much difference.
I think we'll also be giving club sites a miss this year given that price-wise they are now competing with budget hotels and since we never use any of the facilities it is just too much to pay.
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Personally, I do think the Clubs pricing policy and deposits haven’t helped.
It’s one thing paying for a cottage, deposit up front, but most folks will get to a cottage regardless of the weather unless it’s thick snow or flooding, and still enjoy themselves. I know we do, and friends, family do. But asking outfit owners to commit three weeks ahead, before forecast is reliable, pay an upfront deposit and then paying the prices the Club wants to stay on a site isn’t the same by any means. I will play Devil’s Advocate and say the Club have already recognised this as they reduced the deposit down from 20% to 10% some time ago.
We used two Club Sites last year, one in September, excellent weather, one in November, dull but dry. Clumber wasn’t full by any means in September, and Cayton Village was like a ghost town, might have been around a dozen outfits on just the one area that was open. We drove past Castleton just before Christmas, (traditionally very busy, you had to book early to get a pitch) loads of empty pitches. The Club might have cured the so called “block bookers”, but it’s got a take up problem with out of season pitches. Hence the free pitch (time limited to before 31st March) and the 10% off offers. A free pitch before 31st March is only attractive if you tour in Winter, the sites are open not too far away, and you can afford the rest of your stay on a Club Site.🤷♀️ But then the canny Marketeer doesn’t give too much away😉
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Morning
Thankyou for all the responses, some I had thought about but some I never even thought about.
It's great to get positive constructive comments.
I will be looking into more sites myself unfortunately outside the CAMC network even though we do enjoy them.
Thanks to all.
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Yep. We used to end our touring year at Bolton Abbey, doing Skipton Xmas Market, a bit of walking etc…., cottage somewhere in January, then start touring again at Ferry Meadows early February. Bolton Abbey now closes end of November, and no way will we pay what they are asking at Ferry Meadows, so we use a lovely CL under Belvior Castle and cycle out from there.
Local sites to us….. Castleton, too expensive. YRP, too expensive and floods regularly. Beechwood Grange, not dog friendly, too expensive, don’t like the location. Chatsworth, too expensive, and we aren’t fans of Chatsworth House beyond a once in a decade visit. Clumber, ok for a walk, too muddy for cycling and no reliable wifi or phone signal. And too expensive. Bridlington….horrible town, but surrounding area nice, so we use CLs closer to where we like to see, at Bempton, or near Burton Agnes.
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We enjoy Club Sites, but our holidays are not about the sites, it’s what is around them, worth visiting, and there’s simply not enough choice of pricing on Club Sites. It’s “here you are, that’s what we are giving you, charging you for, whether you want it or not”.
We rejoined C&CC last year, purely for their CS sites. Because you can camp on them, more provide very nice facilities, but you get a very good price if you choose not to use a hook up, which we can happily do without most of year. We were paying £15 per night, on HS, with very nice loos and showers, laundry, pot washing, and a few other extras depending on site. A lot of CLs don’t give value as good as this, let alone Club Sites. So it does pay to have a good look around and weigh up every option.
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All I would say is just be careful when thinking about commercial sites rather than Club sites, especially if either would do. There are very few commercial sites, of equal quality to Club sites, that are much cheaper if at all. Usually the T&C's are much harsher ie not only a deposit but full payment weeks before arrival and from my own bitter experience no willingness to show any flexibility should you have a problem and can't make the booking. There are some very good commercial sites out there but you do have to be careful you are comparing eggs with eggs!
David
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I can answer that Hja because I asked myself the same question - so went and had a look. It certainly wasn't full over Christmas but there looked to be a lot more units on site than at the CAMC site. Don't know about New Year, though - was too busy packing up and planning a departure around the diabolical weather to go and investigate!
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Hi David,
Yes I fully agree with you regarding CAMC standards and that is one reason why we have stuck by them, even now with deposits.
We will continue to use them as we cannot fault the sites, yes prices increasing but so is everything else.
Sorry if I didn't make myself clear I meant for a short winter weekend outside of the club.
Paul.
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Where are you wanting to go for this short weekend PJMEG? Somewhere I can highly recommend is Cliff Farm, near Sinnington. It’s between Helmsley and Pickering, so couple of nice places to wander. HS pitches, hook ups and very very nice heated loos and showers, as well as an honesty freezer in the utility room. We have used it for a good few Winter breaks. It used to be a CL, but has now expanded, has around 30 pitches, so a small private site rather than a “commercial”. No current idea on prices or deposits, but easy to Google website.
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