Brit Stops

[David Dwight]

Hi folks,

 

Anyone used Brit Stops, joined today and wondering what others think of the scheme?

 

David

[Andy_C]

Very good - we've used several of their stops over the last year or so.

 

Andy

[Micknick]

 

Sounds interesting but - Whats a brit stop? - sounds like a preventative messure ! micknick

[Wooie]

Micknick - 2013-03-08 5:57 PM

 

 

Sounds interesting but - Whats a brit stop? - sounds like a preventative messure ! micknick

 

 

 

http://www.britstops.com/

 

 

 

[mikebeaches]

Excellent scheme we've just renewed for the third time. The number of locations has increased every year since launch. My wife describes it as 'like wild camping, only with permission'! *-)

 

Mike

[sshortcircuit]

If the map is anything to go by, very few sites in UK and certainly not worth £25. You would be better off joining CC or CCC and using their CL/CS network

[ChrisK5]

We are members, have been for a couple years now. Very good free overnight stops at pubs, farms etc.

[David Dwight]

sshortcircuit - 2013-03-08 8:01 PM

 

If the map is anything to go by, very few sites in UK and certainly not worth £25. You would be better off joining CC or CCC and using their CL/CS network

 

We are members of both clubs.

 

We think that 2 nights free for £25 a year makes us in profit over the 2 clubs. There are noty many CL' or CS sites for a fiver these days.

[sshortcircuit]

I will agree some CL/CS sites can be expensive. On my trip up and down I make use of the CCC weekend sites which tend to be about £6/7 so not bad and I have recovered part of my annual subscription to CCC with discount on ferries.

 

Hope it grows.

[Suda]

Used one last night....The Stag at Redhill....great meal at the pub and plenty of space.We could use toilets from 9the following morning and were made very welcome.

[crinklystarfish]

Though we only very rarely use any kind of formal site the organisers are to be applauded in my view. Most people just carp on about how rubbish everything is but do nothing. Occasionally someone has a go at making something better. Top scheme and deserving of every success.

 

A different beast altogether to conventional commercial or club sites.

 

Incidentally, no 'permission' generally needed to overnight in places to which the public have legitimate access so to be pedantic the scheme is more like trespassing with permission.

 

What with this, commercial sites, club sites, CS/CL network, some legitimate local authority 'aires; truckstops, other small-scale schemes and thousands of superb wildcamping spots throughout the UK we could be accused of being rather motorhome friendly.

 

 

[mikebeaches]

crinklystarfish - 2013-03-09 9:36 AM

 

...Incidentally, no 'permission' generally needed to overnight in places to which the public have legitimate access so to be pedantic the scheme is more like trespassing with permission.

 

What with this, commercial sites, club sites, CS/CL network, some legitimate local authority 'aires; truckstops, other small-scale schemes and thousands of superb wildcamping spots throughout the UK we could be accused of being rather motorhome friendly.

 

 

Hey crinklyfish - totally agree with your observation 'trespassing with permission' The description I used was simply that of my better half! (lol) Take your point entirely concerning overnight parking in public places.

 

And you're correct, on the whole we are reasonably well provided for in the UK, although we'd always like more...

 

As another poster indicated, 2 nights at Brit Stops and you've recouped the initial cost for a year. And you do meet some friendly folk and discover interesting places and businesses. Surprisingly, we're not really into pubs, but we certainly enjoy visiting the various farm shops and vineyards etc.

 

Mike

[Andy_C]

Wooie - 2013-03-08 6:13 PM

 

Micknick - 2013-03-08 5:57 PM

 

 

Sounds interesting but - Whats a brit stop? - sounds like a preventative messure ! micknick

 

 

 

http://www.britstops.com/

 

 

and if you want to see Steve, the owner of Britstops, being interviewed at the NEC Show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsv6QW_E5k0

 

Andy

[pepe63xnotuse]

To those that have used the scheme...Can I just ask some rudimentary question please ..?

 

Do the "Hosts" tend to allocate an area for this purpose?..or do you just usually park up on their "shop/outlet/vistors" carpark?...

...and if it's the latter,if the "shop" is open when you arrive,how usual is it to have problems with space availability?.....

 

Also,although I assume that you're not expected to move on before any "shop/outlet" reopens in the morning(..otherwise,how would you be able to buy their stuff!)but what time are you expected to clear off?

:-S

 

Thanks

[mikebeaches]

According to the Brit Stops code of conduct, you are expected to arrive at a reasonable hour ie not in the middle of the night. Some individual listings provide additional guidance on the subject. And the scheme allows a maximum of 24 hours stay - so no specific time to depart.

 

I think most host businesses that have agreed to take part in Brit Stops have done so because they have adequate space available to accommodate visitors. However, the members' guide does indicate if parking or access might be difficult for larger vehicles.

 

The whole thing has been done professionally in my opinion and I know it now has a lot of followers in the motorhome community.

 

Mike

[mikebeaches]

pepe63 - 2013-03-09 12:58 PM

 

Do the "Hosts" tend to allocate an area for this purpose?..or do you just usually park up on their "shop/outlet/vistors" carpark?...

 

Thanks

 

Again, I think it varies from place to place. Some hosts will provide clear advice exactly where they'd like you to park up - which will usually be in their car park. Although many we've been to just say 'park wherever you like'. Using a car park means you will normally have a hardstanding, and and if researched in advance and chosen carefully, it's not difficult to find ones with attractive countryside views.

 

Mike

[Andy_C]

pepe63 - 2013-03-09 12:58 PM

 

To those that have used the scheme...Can I just ask some rudimentary question please ..?

 

Do the "Hosts" tend to allocate an area for this purpose?..or do you just usually park up on their "shop/outlet/vistors" carpark?...

...and if it's the latter,if the "shop" is open when you arrive,how usual is it to have problems with space availability?.....

 

Also,although I assume that you're not expected to move on before any "shop/outlet" reopens in the morning(..otherwise,how would you be able to buy their stuff!)but what time are you expected to clear off?

:-S

 

Thanks

Speaking for the ones we've used, usually there is no allocated space you just use part of the car park.

 

We've only had problems with space availability once, we arrived at the farm shop/café to find the car park virtually full - turned out it was a mother and toddler group having an afternoon coffee social in the café! This particular Britstop did have an allocated motorhome parking area but of course we didn't know where it was until we'd checked at the shop.

 

All of the Britstops we've stayed at have been very relaxed about departure times.

[Tony Jones]

We're giving it a go for the first time this year, but only because this was the first time we'd heard of it.

Don't know where Steve & Mandy have been hiding so far, but it's just what we've been looking for. In fact, I mumbled about the idea on here back in 2006, but still only discovered it actually existed in January!

We'll certainly post on here what we find - starting Easter.

[pepe63xnotuse]

Thanks for the feedback chaps(..and sorry for the late response).

I've been meaning to sign up for this for a while now..and it sounds like I should pull my finger out and get onto it... ;-)

 

This one also looks interesting: http://www.motorhomestopover.co.uk/index.html

[David Dwight]

Thanks for ally the responses, it has rienforced our thoughts on having joined, mostly positive posts the negative one's I will take with a pinch of salt.