pepe63xnotuse Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Ooow!.. I wasn't intending my comments to spark up anymore set-tos ... :-S ..as I was rather hoping that they may just be seen as a bit of a "eureka" moment..? (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 No right or wrong ways - just different! Some prefer caravans, some prefer motorhomes, some like tents, some use more than one. Some prefer mainland Europe - some prefer the UK - some like both - what's the problem with that. Some prefer sites - some prefer Aires - some use both - what's the problem with that. Each to their own as we all have the right to state our own preferences without risk of criticism from others or criticising others or of having to endure nastiness from others because of our preferences? Simples innit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 No right or wrong ways - just different! Some prefer caravans, some prefer motorhomes, some like tents, some use more than one. Some prefer mainland Europe - some prefer the UK - some like both - what's the problem with that. Some prefer sites - some prefer Aires - some use both - what's the problem with that. Each to their own as we all have the right to state our own preferences without risk of criticism from others or criticising others or of having to endure nastiness from others because of our preferences? Simples innit? So true he posted it in Stereo!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 pepe63 - 2014-12-17 12:36 PM Ooow!.. I wasn't intending my comments to spark up anymore set-tos ... :-S ..as I was rather hoping that they may just be seen as a bit of a "eureka" moment..? (lol) More of a take the urea moment I'd say :D ................ Frank hasn't got a Scooby Doo why it happens either ;-) .............. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Had Enough Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 pepe63 - 2014-12-17 12:36 PM Ooow!.. I wasn't intending my comments to spark up anymore set-tos ... :-S ..as I was rather hoping that they may just be seen as a bit of a "eureka" moment..? (lol) Oh come on! You're crediting them with some brains! :D I'm happy to see that I'm giving the Chatterbox boys the opportunity to have a little gang-up! Anyway, I'm off to do some Christmas shopping. Most of us just call it shopping as we like to buy something nice for our loved ones. If however, you're a failed businessman who doesn't have a pot to p*ss in and you're jealous as hell of those who can afford to splash out at Christmas, you call us 'consumerists'. :D Poor dear! ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Had Enough - 2014-12-17 12:59 PM pepe63 - 2014-12-17 12:36 PM Ooow!.. I wasn't intending my comments to spark up anymore set-tos ... :-S ..as I was rather hoping that they may just be seen as a bit of a "eureka" moment..? (lol) Oh come on! You're crediting them with some brains! :D Well.. "..'tis the season'.." and all that malarkey. :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Had Enough - 2014-12-17 12:59 PM pepe63 - 2014-12-17 12:36 PM Ooow!.. I wasn't intending my comments to spark up anymore set-tos ... :-S ..as I was rather hoping that they may just be seen as a bit of a "eureka" moment..? (lol) Oh come on! You're crediting them with some brains! :D Your right Frank ;-) ................only an idiot would keep getting involved in these bitch fests :D .............as the village idiot I have an excuse................whats yours? (lol) ............. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leake Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Tracker - 2014-12-17 11:46 AM Colin Leake - 2014-12-17 11:38 AM Sprite caravan, no toilet, no fridge and a foot operated water pump for cold water only but it served us well for many years. Sprite 400? Memories eh Colin? Did you have a toilet tent? Freezing cold at night and like a sauna by day - but even more fun in the wind and rain - and you dare not use a light at night! We soon sold it and bought an Alpine with - joy of joys - in inside loo! Then a year later rediscovered motorhomes and have never looked back! Can't remember what model it was but we bought it new at a discount and when we PXd it some years later got more than we paid for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Had Enough Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Tracker - 2014-12-17 12:45 PM Each to their own as we all have the right to state our own preferences without risk of criticism from others or criticising others or of having to endure nastiness from others because of our preferences? Simples innit? Oh my God, will somebody please pass out the sick bags? *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Joe90 Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Had Enough - 2014-12-17 12:16 PM pepe63 - 2014-12-17 12:09 PM Joe90 - 2014-12-17 10:38 AM ... I've been doing motorhoming for the past 45 years, in the first 20 odd years in the UK when work and family commitments meant trips of no more than a couple of weeks at any one time,and did all the headline places that appealed to us then, this was our first van that somehow we managed to shoe horn our two daughters in ( below ) . So I think I'm entitled to say I've got a track record. But surely 1foot/Joe, that is exactly what some of us are always trying to get over?... As, due to work and commitments, camping in the UK suited your requirements and appealed to you back then, why then is it so wrong(and to be sneered at) that it suites others now?... :-S If you had taken the advice that you and a few others now give, namely "forget all about the UK", then due to, as you say,"work and family commitments", you may have been put off having a van altogether...?... :-S And there you have it. It's all down to a sneering arrogance that only what they do is right. The right price of motorhome, the right destinations, the right type of camping, site, wild or aires. Only they are right but then of course they sneer about booking in advance and using sites before doing exactly the same thing and setting up a mobile slum for a mind-numbingly boring three months. ! " setting up a mobile slum for a mind-numbingly boring three months." I presume aimed at Pelmetman, and others that go off to find some winter sun, if that's not sneering I don't know what is, as you say "you couldn't make it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leake Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Had Enough - 2014-12-17 12:59 PM pepe63 - 2014-12-17 12:36 PM Ooow!.. I wasn't intending my comments to spark up anymore set-tos ... :-S ..as I was rather hoping that they may just be seen as a bit of a "eureka" moment..? (lol) Oh come on! You're crediting them with some brains! :D I'm happy to see that I'm giving the Chatterbox boys the opportunity to have a little gang-up! Anyway, I'm off to do some Christmas shopping. Most of us just call it shopping as we like to buy something nice for our loved ones. If however, you're a failed businessman who doesn't have a pot to p*ss in and you're jealous as hell of those who can afford to splash out at Christmas, you call us 'consumerists'. :D Poor dear! ;-) Ones wife does the Christmas shopping don't you know. Kindly don't give my wife ideas by the confession you've just made. My wife and I could simply not come up with anything we wanted for Christmas. Our crockery is all Portmeiron so she bought me a matching salt mill and I bought her a pepper mill. Very practical but now I'm left wondering just what the hell I can get her as a surprise. I know she needs a new pair of walking shoes but they need a fitting unless i just get a nominal pair that she can take back and exchange later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Had Enough - 2014-12-17 1:05 PM Oh my God, will somebody please pass out the sick bags But once you stop posting we won't need them!! It's a joke Frank - just like you - wise up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Tracker - 2014-12-17 1:26 PM Had Enough - 2014-12-17 1:05 PM Oh my God, will somebody please pass out the sick bags But once you stop posting we won't need them!! It's a joke Frank - just like you - wise up! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynneroy Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Hi Duncan, we have recently p/x to a Motorhome and the biggest problem is finding somewhere to say in the winter. I believe a motorhome is for the purpose of touring not holidaying in one place, we would have purchased a tourer for a lot less outlay if that was our intention. We also believe that we have invested such a lot of money we would like to be able to use it weekly, setting off in the evening after finishing work so we can wake up in a new place to enjoy our free time on our day off, and this is where we have a major problem, most campsites are closed in the winter within easy reach of our home, even in the summer they like you to arrive before 7pm, impossible for us. The closest motor home friendly carpark to us is Little Roodee in Chester (2 hours) and Upton on Severn ( 4 hours). These car parks are not abused by motorhomes and turned into travelling sites at all. Visitors stay for the night, walk into Chester for a nice evening meal, and then go shopping or sight seeing the following day. My husband and I wanted to visit Llandudno on Monday evening to go out for a nice meal and then do our Christmas shopping the next day, no campsites open at all, I rang Council car parks they would not allow us to stay over. I honestly believe that we need to change the facilities for Motorhomes before promoting Sales as more people will just be left feeling disappointed as we are. We have travelled to France, it is amazing not having to worry about overnight stays, unfortunately we cannot go that far every week for our day off. I think a PR team to work on the problems we face would be an excellent idea, then Sales would naturally follow. Lynne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Lynne..What part of the country are you in...?... Like you, we tried to use our Mh every other weekend or so during the winter(usually more in the "summer"), even if it's only for the odd night or two.. Although, obviously some sites will be shut( possibly due to a mix of risky ground conditions?..risk of flooding? or just not deemed viable to keep 'em open?) But we never really had that much trouble finding a "Friday-after work- bolthole", within a 2-3hour drive of us... This site may be of help.. http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/sites/ ..and here's their "Open all year" section: http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/articles/view.asp?id=248 (obviously, some may be MH suitable, while others may not... ;-) ) One additional OT point (and this probably won't go down well with some of the MHing "purists". ;-)) If/when we really want to visit town X or attend event Y and it turns out that there isn't really anywhere suitable and within range to pitch up(no CLs/pub sites/campsites/wild spots etc),then we just stump up the 40-50 quid for a B&B/"room at pub room"/"Travelodge" etc.. I can never see the point in this "but I must use my van for everything...and if I can't take it, then I'm not going!.." approach... :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Joe90 Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 pepe63 - 2014-12-17 2:17 PM Lynne..What part of the country are you in...?... Like you, we tried to use our Mh every other weekend or so during the winter(usually more in the "summer"), even it's only the odd night or two.. Although, obviously some sites will be shut( possibly due to a mix of risky ground conditions?..risk of flooding? or just not deemed viable to keep 'em open?) But we never really had that much trouble finding an "after work bolthole", within a 2-3hour drive of us... This site may be of help.. http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/sites/ ..and here's their "Open all year" section: http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/articles/view.asp?id=248 (obviously, you need to check how "suitable" they are for a winter "away-day"... ;-) ) I'm curious, have you ever been anywhere other than the UK in your van. I'm sure if you had you would be more understanding of the points Lynne makes, the fact that you don't seem to makes me wonder, one cannot even stop on a motorway in the middle of the night for more than two hours without punitive £100 fines.............. :-( European service areas often provide hot showers and service points, quiet and well off the main carriageway, parking areas without restriction, and certainly no private parking company in collusion with the DVLA like here in the UK pursuing people for punitive sums of money for staying over two hours in the middle of the night like recently happened to a pal of mine. Lynne may want to join one of the clubs and use CLs, but given the vast majority are grass she'd be best to take a tow rope,and a spade, being stuck in a muddy field with a 3.5 ton vehicle is no fun, even less when you've paid some of the now exorbitant fees asked for the privilege. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 *sigh*...You know full well that we haven't taken our van(s) abroad yet ..that is after all, why you brought it up, is it not..? *-) (.. but there again, that's not unlike when the UK suited you for the first twenty years of your MHing, then is it?... or have you forgotten telling us that already?..(lol) ) Lynneroy was looking for somewhere, a few hours from home, somewhere that they can comfortable reach, when leaving after work. As such we are in a similar situation and I therefore gave some options which may provide them some solutions... (..and as they mentioned "sites", I didn't think they'd want to be sleeping on a MW services for their night-away..) ...And if it is possible to find somewhere suitable, with just a few mins on Google and maybe a phone call, then why on earth would anyone be bothering to look at the likes of car parks and MW service areas? :-S As for muddy CLs/CSs..Well, hold the front page, "UK fields can get muddy in winter shocker!" (lol) The CLs that we use during the winter(and the majority of the summer ones, come to think of it) have all had hard standing provision, although they're not always the "prettiest" pitches admittedly...and I would've thought that the majority of sites/CLs/CSs etc staying open during the winter months would have hardstanding provision anyway, as they wouldn't want to be towing folk out all of the time(if they hadn't, I certainly wouldn't use them). Having said that, I suppose they could always thrash down to Dover every Friday night after work..then have a night in Calais, ready for the return journey the next day?.. (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Joe90 Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 I actually only suspected you hadn't ventured out of the UK yet, and with respect Lynne was expressing her frustration with the hoops and limitations one has to go to using her van in the UK and especially compared to France. When we did it years ago the situation was a little different, as like you I was totally ignorant of the comparative freedoms enjoyed over the channel, and internet forums were not even invented, so ignorance was bliss I guess,never knew bugger all about anything other than the UK as far as camping was concerned, but trust me , once you've done it you'll be singing from the same Hymn sheet I suspect. If I could turn back the clock I'd have done things a little differently with the knowledge gained in later "touring " life, but probably not until I had something better than a petrol 1600cc Commer van so I could reasonably hope to get back again ;-) :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Joe90 - 2014-12-17 3:39 PM ... once you've done it you'll be singing from the same Hymn sheet I suspect... Come the time, when having to book (and juggle & swap), limited, annual leave is just a thing of the past and we can merrily trundle around the Continent for weeks, months at a time, I may well be...:-) But that still doesn't mean that I should then be rubbishing the "Hymn" that we're singing now... ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Joe90 - 2014-12-17 3:39 PM probably not until I had something better than a petrol 1600cc Commer van so I could reasonably hope to get back again ;-) :D Hey!...you and Pelmet-Dave are kindred spirits then.... ...you're just separated by 2-3 decades, that's all.... (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Joe90 Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 pepe63 - 2014-12-17 3:50 PM Joe90 - 2014-12-17 3:39 PM ... once you've done it you'll be singing from the same Hymn sheet I suspect... Come the time, when having to book (and juggle & swap), limited, annual leave is just a thing of the past and we can merrily trundle around the Continent for weeks, months at a time, I may well be...:-) But that still doesn't mean that I should then be rubbishing the "Hymn" that we're singing now... ;-) That's fair enough...............,those days of juggle and swap will be over sooner than you think, I was 42 three weeks ago, and sometimes wish I was still juggling leave time, now I'm an old grumpy git, happy Christmas................. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Duncan MMM - 2014-12-15 12:14 PM With the news that the NCC has appointed a PR firm with a 12-month brief to help popularise motorhomes (and caravans) and the motorhome lifestyle - ........ .......we are interested to know what you think of this. Seems to me that they could usefully spend some effort in popularising the lifestyle with some of the motorhome owners here. ;-) I can't say I'm a great fan of PR, so I'm rather cynical of the approach - though intrigued to see by what means they will seek to "popularise" the lifestyle. I'm always careful not to try to proselytise, even though I think I have a number of friends who it would suit (and indeed, I've introduced a few friends to it - at their request - to have them later take it up). The dangers are amply illustrated by some of the responses in the foregoing, from people who have a motorhome, but appear to greatly dislike (some aspects of) the lifestyle. I suspect much will depend on what you want to do as an adjunct to motorhome ownership, but in almost 25 years of ownership, we've enjoyed the majority of it, winter and summer, in the UK and abroad, adapting our use to the location and season as is required. So, having just returned from 3 nights at Warwick CC site (booked at very short notice - see my post about National Grid :-( ), it's difficult for me to empathise with the "UK knockers". £13 per night with hook up, hard standing, heated facilities and 5 minutes walk from the Town Centre, what's to complain about? Afternoon spent looking round Warwick, next day a full day out in Birmingham by train, and next a good day's walk along the canal; a choice of places to eat out in the evening, and job's a good 'un. As we tend to use our 'van all year round, quite a bit of our winter use is in the UK, and we don't really have too much of a problem finding somewhere to go, and something to do - but it does get tailored to the conditions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Bulgaria Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Difficult to strike a balance. On the one hand there needs to be sufficient interest in the motorhome lifestyle to create enough demand to support / interest manufacturers, dealers and site operators. Manufacturers and dealers will grow with the demand but sites may not as they are constrained by planning and other barriers. Seasonality comes into it. Already certain periods of the year are very congested, home and abroad. Expansion in the numbers of motorhomes may be alright if the new users wanted to use them away from the peak seasons - as I guess most of us do, unless we are on the employment treadmill. PR aimed at towns and villages that motorhome would love to visit if the welcome was a little warmer would be good, but one hears of too many instances where a few irresponsible motorhomers give the pastime a bad name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertandjean Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 A shame yet another thread has finished up with cross words between Frank and Joe, Dave, Anthony and Rich. We are not going to be drawn into this other than to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and float an idea for the future. The idea is this. Would it not be possible for all of us, and any other interested parties, to arrange a meet up somewhere next year so we could get to know each other properly; who knows after a couple of glasses of wine, we might find we have more in common then on line exchanges suggest? We are members of both C and CC club and CC club(the latter for 40 years), so could use one of their sites or locations or even an aire in France. Let us know what you think either on forum or by PM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Cheers Robert and Jean, we would be delighted to meet almost anyone else from the forum and in particular yourselves with your knowledge of France. We're not either club members so that could be your get out of jail free card - but we do expect to be in France again next year but who knows yet where and when. Meanwhile thanks for all the help and info you post and Joyeux Noel et Bonne année et bonne santé to you both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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