Site fee costs

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Oct 9, 2017
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50,892
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20 yrs on and off
We have been planning a trip to the Lake District and across to York next month.
On seeking stop overs and longer site stays I seem to be in a time warp.
Cl's farm fields etc used to charge £8-14 on average now its £20-30 for just basic provision ie water and waste.
York quoted £49 !!!
Pub stopovers are now slowly cottoning on and some charge for an overnight even when you patronise the pub.
I think we motorhomers have now become a cash cow.
The principle seems to be if your wheels stop turning someone will charge you.
The fun of motorhoming seems to be declining
 
The truth is, the cost of running a business in the UK has sky rocketed. As have the price of new and used motorhomes.

It was not that long ago that diesel was 99p a litre in some places. Electricity 17p kWh.

Half the country is striking and wanting what, 35% pay rises !.

Winter 2016 I was paying as little as £185 each way for a Hull-Zeebrugge crossing, 7m motorhome With 4 berth cabin. Around £550 return Portsmouth Bilbao.

Don’t forget with a lot of these CL’s, pub stopovers and sites. There are no add on sales for them. So no chance of making a little more profit.

What I mean is. Motorhomers are not necessarily going in for a session of ale or a meal. They don’t have small on-site shops (if they did everyone would be moaning about the prices).

I personally agree the prices are a lot higher. If I had more Schengen days, first place I would head is the port with the Cheapest crossing, head to the continent.

Roy at the little CL in Crow, Ringwood has just put his prices up from. £15 a night to £16. So they still do exist.

Otherwise, see Lenny HB for advice on how to your for less.

Or simply free camp !
 
7 nights near a much nicer lake !

From around £17.50 a night

Plenty of other sites on the shores of the lake

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I suppose it's just supply and demand. When we used to do gliding years ago when we landed out in fields it was normal to clear up so there was no sign you had landed and most farmers were happy ( or at least as happy as it's possible for a farmer to be!!). Then hot air balloons that had issues with noisy last minute burns near livestock etc started paying a standard fee for landing in fields guess what the next thing they expected us to pay too. I think it's the same with britstops etc when pubs see people paying for a book to allow them to use a britstops it must make a lot think if they're prepared to pay for the privilege to stay on our car park why don't we charge. Then the CLS think if it's that price just for a car park we must be worth more etc.
 
For York we stopped over at The Auction House Grimston Bar but you need to drive to P & R as it's dangerous to walk.

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I retired December 2022 part of my business was a campsite. The electric was 15.7p a unit and the contract was ending, the new quoted price was 57.5p a unit

Facility blocks need lighting, heating and hot water irrespective of how many people ar3 on site

AA rated us as a four Gold pennant site and we charged about £25 a night and people still dripped and moaned
 
Looking at a night stop at the Ship Inn, Sewerby, it’s now £30 a night to park in the field. You get a £15 voucher to spend in the pub, which is great, but we’ve stopped at many a pub that’s just happy to have you park and come in for eats and drinks.

Yes I do believe that we are an endless source of income, especially when you’re parking in a carpark.

 
Last edited:
I retired December 2022 part of my business was a campsite. The electric was 15.7p a unit and the contract was ending, the new quoted price was 57.5p a unit

Facility blocks need lighting, heating and hot water irrespective of how many people ar3 on site

AA rated us as a four Gold pennant site and we charged about £25 a night and people still dripped and moaned
I have just quoted for a job for a well know former football player and currently a TV presenter.

You would think I had asked for his child’s kidneys .
 
For York we stopped over at The Auction House Grimston Bar but you need to drive to P & R as it's dangerous to walk.
Dangerous - what from? Drivers or muggers - or both?

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We are currently £14 a night at the Funster Friendly Woodside Field (Bristol/Bath). With two local pubs. Just to prove that you can find cheaper sites if you look hard enough.

Some people don't realise that we also operate as a Motorhome Fun 5 Van site, not just an occasional rally field.

Talking of rallies over the past few years we have been delighted to host some excellent craft events organised by CraftyCaver. As the July event for the full on workshop sessions sold out some time ago the less formal June date could be your last chance to participate. (No craft events planned for 2024 currently)
June Craft And Chat Rally
July Craft Rally Reserve List

Or why not join the Funster Summer Rally in July, organised by Clivefog, incredible value and always entertaining.
 
I am surprised at CLs with no electric at the price you quote. A quick look at CL Booking shows quite a few at lower cost. Lake District is expensive, York area less so, except for York itself.
We are of to Scotland next month and have CS at Penrith for £15.
 
At the moment there are loads of special offers at haven sites from a tenner a night all in.
Takes a bit of going round the website to find them but they are there.
 
Is the £49 you quote for a CL / CS?

That would surely have to be a record 😳

Club sites aren’t that much
 
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I have just quoted for a job for a well know former football player and currently a TV presenter.

You would think I had asked for his child’s kidneys .
Always the ones with money that don’t like paying!
Mate of mine who is a very good Master Carpenter did some work for a chap who lives just down the road from us, this bloke was in the papers years ago and had his own jumbo jet for getting around and it quoted his monthly living expenses as £1 million 😳😳
Mate made a massive table for him and it took over a year to get the payment from him🤬🤬


But in the other hand I do a bit of work for an actor who’s on the TV and stage and he pays within 10 minutes of me texting him the cost😁😁

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Do people really expect to get an overnight stay for free these days ?
Not in this country.
 
Site increases are in line with everything else. All hospitality and accommodation prices have increased no end . I've occasionally used U.K. hotels and Travelodges/Premier Inns for a night or two out of necessity and the cost of those has increased substantially during the past 3 or 4 years.
It doesn't seem so long ago that one could get 5 night bucket and spade self-catering holidays in Spain for around £150 but which are now min about £450.

I've started up, run and sold a couple of manufacturing businesses and my biggest challenges were 1). getting good reliable staff and 2). getting payments made on time.
 
Is the £49 you quote for a CL / CS?

That would surely have to be a record 😳

Club sites aren’t that much
That would be for Rowntree Park by the river which has got to be one of the best locations in the country but comes at a price. We were there weekend after Easter & it was £59 which is robbery without a gun but you make your choice & pays the price. Can’t wait to get through the tunnel for some decent value.
 
Do people really expect to get an overnight stay for free these days ?
Not in this country.

Our last 3 trips have been -

Slowakia 1 week. Parking costs €0

SE Poland 3 weeks. Parking cost Zl 0

Greece 10 weeks. Parking cost €0

Reason? 'I am a tight Git'? No

Reason? 'Nobody asked for money'? Yes

[EDIT: I lie, because we left the MH on a Greek island for 3 weeks and I did pay the boatyard for storage while we were away]

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Yes we heading for France instead for five weeks to get value for our money. I'm more than happy to pay but not to line the pockets of greedy people.
I don’t disagree.

CMC take the mickey, hence I don’t use their sites anymore.

It’s worth looking though at some of the CL’s that have gone the last few years. Usually elderly farmers.

We spent many happy years as regulars at one. Very basic with just a tap and a drain, but views were amazing and it was £5 a night. Alas they shut, it just wasn’t worth it for the amount they made, or didn’t make. People kept chucking dog shit in the recycling bin and they had to dispose of the whole bin themselves several times as the council refused to touch it with crap in.

Then some idiot blocked the drain with a nappy and wipes. £200 later for an unblock.

Then the people who would expect to pay a fiver and have their mates over all the time for the night in another van and still expected it to be a fiver.

We use one now and it’s £11, same setup, he has just had to spend thousands on sorting the chemical disposal. He freely admits he makes nothing out of it.

France is cheaper as it’s subsidised which drives down the price at many Aires.

We won’t get that in this country, particularly under the current government.

If it makes no money, people who own the land will just not bother. Personally I support CL’s all I can, the CMC are a rip off!
 
We were over from Spain last 3 weeks and went to book Into the caravan club site at Morn Hill, Winchester last week, they wanted £44 plus a £15 per night surcharge as we are not members, so £59 per night, absolute extortion, we paid €14 over 7 days on our trip up thru France, and now on an aire just outside Le Havre as come over from Newhaven today and it’s another freebie, with electric….. the UK needs to wake up as it’s camping scene will go bust with charges like that, I appreciate not being a member there needs to be a surcharge, but a per night charge of £15 - sorry not for me
 
What peed me off about the CAMC (Caravan Club as it was back then), was at the big Leisure Show at the NEC in February and October, the pricey pitch fee was the same for any Tom, Dick, and Harry, as it was for paid up members. :mad:

It's the C&CC and the MCC for us, for THS and CS network. (y)

Not long back from Spain, Gibraltar, and Portugal, and 21 x Euros was the most we paid per night for full facilities including EHU, with a bar/restaurant, and swimming pool on site.

Cheers,

Jock. :)
 
Youve still got to pay to get to france/spain wherever....fuel and tunnel/ferry aint free so you need to factor that in ....plus AHC if you have pets , insurance etc etc .
Yes, but over a 90 x day period it works out at only a few extra quid a day. Fuel is required wherever you travel to, be it Lands End, John O' Groats, or across the water. From where I live, I can get to France for less than it'll cost me to get to the Isle of Skye, Isle of Arran, or to Northern Ireland. :(

Cheers,

Jock. :)
 
I reckon we spent at least £800 on tunnel, AHC, insurance before you start .
Factor that over 90 days is £8.88 per day ....yes its cheaper but if you just want a fortnight then its £57.14 per day .
 
Also..

Not everyone can get reasonable insurance for europe due to age of van or breakdown for the same reason, plus some people just dont want to go on a ferry (or tunnel) and visit mainland europe.

Each to their own 👍

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