Author Topic: Camping and caravanning club  (Read 13082 times)

Re: Camping and caravanning club
« Reply #25 on: 14 October, 2015, 09:44:58 am »
We are members of C and CC, and we are also members of their Mountain Activity sub section.
Never considered the ALC because of their southern bias and  we joined the club to use our caravan. Sometimes comfort trumps simplicity and puritanism.

The MAS has a couple of sections in the north that do both walking and gentle cycling but TBH the cycling is a bit limited. However , we have generally been given a warm welcome , even if we are the only cyclists and go and do our own thing.
We use the 5 van sites, go to very occassional section meets and Temporary holiday sites.

Re: Camping and caravanning club
« Reply #26 on: 14 October, 2015, 01:10:50 pm »
Members of C&CC for several years now, and lapsed members of ALC.  Most of the ALC meets are in the Mildalnds or further south which are a long way from Glasgow  :( We didn't bother with them, and we tend to use C&CC sites for summer holidays - usually Rosemarkie, Nairn and Dunbar (East Coast as I am a midge magnet)

Donkey

  • "Are we there yet?"
Re: Camping and caravanning club
« Reply #27 on: 16 October, 2015, 09:19:30 pm »
Camping on foot or by bike with a small tent or tarp is too expensive in most of the UK. The CC & C sites are at the upper end £££.
I will use the toilet (sometimes maybe the shower!) but the cost of staying for amount of space in 'real estate' terms compared to a caravan plus awning plus car(s) is disproportionate.   

What the silly prices did for me though, was to get me rough camping  :thumbsup:   Better views by far. And every night gain a bit more 'Camping Knowledge'. I've been doing it for a long time now and you would not know I've camped (everything :o is taken away). 

So thank you CC & C for getting me back to nature  :)

Re: Camping and caravanning club
« Reply #28 on: 16 October, 2015, 10:15:55 pm »
C&CC sites are exactly the sort of campsites I don't want to be on.

Its great for identifying where not to go. Fine for those that like that sort of thing though.

Re: Camping and caravanning club
« Reply #29 on: 17 October, 2015, 11:40:55 am »
For me, camping is where you're staying to do the thing you want to do, not an end in itself. I'm not in a travelodge club, either.

Re: Camping and caravanning club
« Reply #30 on: 17 October, 2015, 12:55:25 pm »
I like C and CC sites usually and find they tend to be of a high standard but can be expensive.
Get a bicycle. You will never regret it, if you live- Mark Twain

Kim

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Re: Camping and caravanning club
« Reply #31 on: 17 October, 2015, 01:54:13 pm »
For me, camping is where you're staying to do the thing you want to do, not an end in itself. I'm not in a travelodge club, either.

Though presumably a Travelodge club might be worth joining if the membership fee was reasonable and it gave discounts on bookings and/or access to SEEKRIT Travelodges in useful places.

That's primarily how I see the C&CC, anyway.  The sticking point is that you have to do an awful lot of lightweight camping (or *really* want to use a members-only site) for the membership to be worthwhile.  It makes more economic sense for heavyweights.

Re: Camping and caravanning club
« Reply #32 on: 18 October, 2015, 03:57:14 pm »
C&CC sites are exactly the sort of campsites I don't want to be on.

Its great for identifying where not to go. Fine for those that like that sort of thing though.

I've got to agree with this, I've got a Caravan and also cycle tour with a tent. In both cases I don't want to be in a great big field, surrounded by caravans & motorhomes and looking at the arse end of someone else Elddis.
 
Give me a small site, a quiet location and a decent view and generally a happy bunny.   


Kim

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Re: Camping and caravanning club
« Reply #33 on: 18 October, 2015, 04:09:50 pm »
C&CC sites are exactly the sort of campsites I don't want to be on.

Its great for identifying where not to go. Fine for those that like that sort of thing though.

I've got to agree with this, I've got a Caravan and also cycle tour with a tent. In both cases I don't want to be in a great big field, surrounded by caravans & motorhomes and looking at the arse end of someone else Elddis.
 
Give me a small site, a quiet location and a decent view and generally a happy bunny.

I'm not sure how true this is as a generalisation, but my experience is that C&CC sites come in both varieties.

clarion

  • Tyke
Re: Camping and caravanning club
« Reply #34 on: 18 October, 2015, 04:38:32 pm »
Club Sites tend to be a bit huge, regimented and sterile, with loads of tarmac down and electric points at the pitches for those caravanners who can't bear to be without television etc.  I prefer Certificated Sites, which have a limit on the number of vans, and tend to be a patch of grass with a toilet block.  Everything you need, really.
Getting there...

Wowbagger

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Re: Camping and caravanning club
« Reply #35 on: 18 October, 2015, 05:31:57 pm »
C&CC sites are exactly the sort of campsites I don't want to be on.

Its great for identifying where not to go. Fine for those that like that sort of thing though.

I've got to agree with this, I've got a Caravan and also cycle tour with a tent. In both cases I don't want to be in a great big field, surrounded by caravans & motorhomes and looking at the arse end of someone else Elddis.
 
Give me a small site, a quiet location and a decent view and generally a happy bunny.

On my first night's cycle camping ever, when I did an out-and-back just to familiarise myself with the tent that the excellent Butterfly OTP had lent me, someone gave me a dead bunny that he had shot and skinned and I took it home for the pot. Much more use than a happy bunny!
Quote from: Dez
It doesn’t matter where you start. Just start.

Re: Camping and caravanning club
« Reply #36 on: 18 October, 2015, 06:08:46 pm »
Club Sites tend to be a bit huge, regimented and sterile, with loads of tarmac down and electric points at the pitches for those caravanners who can't bear to be without television etc.  I prefer Certificated Sites, which have a limit on the number of vans, and tend to be a patch of grass with a toilet block.  Everything you need, really.

I like farm campsites where you don't have to book and just turn up and pitch.  I find C&CC sites to be the polar opposite.....like a sort of surburban cul-de-sac but in the countryside. It kind of defeats the object for me, but lots of people seem to like them. All I want is a clean bog, a shower, a place to wash up and chilled out people around me.

clarion

  • Tyke
Re: Camping and caravanning club
« Reply #37 on: 19 October, 2015, 10:52:55 am »
There you go, then: The Cert Sites are your thing.  Then there are the Listed Sites...

The Big Sites Book earns its name.
Getting there...

Kim

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Re: Camping and caravanning club
« Reply #38 on: 19 October, 2015, 12:57:35 pm »
This said, sometimes a more mainstream site can be just the thing mid-tour to take advantage of laundry, battery charging facilities and the like.

Plus you get to amaze the natives with your day's epic 50-mile ride and ability to fit everything in *that*.   :D

clarion

  • Tyke
Re: Camping and caravanning club
« Reply #39 on: 19 October, 2015, 04:29:23 pm »
^This is true.
Getting there...

Re: Camping and caravanning club
« Reply #40 on: 19 October, 2015, 07:45:27 pm »
It is still to expensive to to make the lightweight section worth joining .I suspect they would get a much more successful section by not making you join the main club and charging a sensible amount to access the small site's ☺
the slower you go the more you see

Ruthie

  • Her Majester
Re: Camping and caravanning club
« Reply #41 on: 19 October, 2015, 08:08:12 pm »
When I first joined I looked at the ALC meets but most of them are at sites with no toilets.

I don't do pooing in the woods if I can help it.
Milk please, no sugar.

clarion

  • Tyke
Re: Camping and caravanning club
« Reply #42 on: 20 October, 2015, 04:36:28 pm »
No, all ALC meets have facilities.  There are five members of the Council who usually cycle camp, so we make sure of it.  In the past, sites such as Napton were regular visits, but now it's places like White Mark Farm in Watlington.
Getting there...

Steph

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Re: Camping and caravanning club
« Reply #43 on: 27 March, 2016, 11:19:32 pm »
I am a member of both C&CC and ALC. I do believe I know the Mighty Leader of the latter. I am hoping, weather and poss meeting with the Met about hate crime allowing, to spend Wed and Thurs nights at the Chichester club site for BEER and a day's mudflat birdwatching.
Mae angen arnaf i byw, a fe fydda'i

RichForrest

  • T'is I, Silverback.
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Re: Camping and caravanning club
« Reply #44 on: 28 March, 2016, 12:03:19 am »
Would be good to see you at a meet or 2 if you could make it  :)

Re: Camping and caravanning club
« Reply #45 on: 16 February, 2017, 10:23:33 pm »
I’ve been wondering for quite a while whether membership might be a good idea, mainly to gain access to the certified sites.

Anyway I took the plunge and joined this evening and noticed soon afterwards that members get a 10% with DFDS Seaways.  Good timing as another job on my list is booking a Newcastle/Amsterdam ferry for this summer. :)

Slightly OT; is an ASCI card a necessity in Germany and Holland?  I’ve never been asked for any sort of club card in France but I have read about people needing an ASCI card in Northern European countries.   

Re: Camping and caravanning club
« Reply #46 on: 16 February, 2017, 10:38:39 pm »
There you go, then: The Cert Sites are your thing.  Then there are the Listed Sites...

The Big Sites Book earns its name.

Ive yet to see a CCC site that I want to stay on. There are so many other ones about, often seasonal, that are much more my thing. 

Re: Camping and caravanning club
« Reply #47 on: 17 February, 2017, 04:38:51 pm »
Careful with the 10% discount. We've just booked Stena line from Harwich to Hook and back for this summer and they give 10% on the crossing only, if you want a cabin or any extras they are full price. We paid the same as the Stena website through CCC and all we got thrown in was a flexi fare instead of an economy for the same price. It's a bit of an improvement but not as much as I would have hoped.
Duct tape is magic and should be worshipped

RichForrest

  • T'is I, Silverback.
    • Ramblings of a silverback cyclist
Re: Camping and caravanning club
« Reply #48 on: 19 February, 2017, 04:10:18 pm »
Most of the ALC meets this year are at club sites, mainly due to the rally rates the club do now.
Have just spent 2 nights at Oxford for £5 per unit per night, at Easter we are booked in at Hayfield in the peaks at £8 per unit per night.
If you come as a couple that's only £4 each so you can soon get membership fees back.

Rich

Re: Camping and caravanning club
« Reply #49 on: 22 February, 2017, 10:24:13 am »
The membership fee is worth it in shop discounts alone, IMO.
Which shops? Or is it on the web page?
Have now and again wondered about joining but put off by thinking I wouldn't use my membership enough times in a year to make it worthwhile.