Where do I park?

[gavel]

We are going home to York. We have always taken the caravan and then driven from the site. We have a 20 ft van , not to big. Do we park as normal or buy a small car and tow? My wife is disabled.

 

[gavel]

Not a very well structured question. We have a 20 ft m/h and I wonder where folk park in big cities when sight seeing?

 

[pappajohn]

if you go down the 'a' frame route check your van has the towing capacity.

a small car will have a weight of maybe 1200>1500kg.
nothing to do with payload, its the train weight you need to watch for.

then theres the expense of an 'A' frame.....maybe £500+ fitted.

if the vans up to towing then id go for an 'A' frame for the convenience of having a car with you, especially as your wife is disabled.

 

[pappajohn]

20ft isnt too bad.

if you're stuck then supermarket carparks are a good bet.(few and far between in york center though oh
normally 2 or 3 hours free parking.

york railway station carpark should be ok but it will cost.

theres always the park + ride but i dont know if there are height barriers as iv never used them in york.

if the onstreet parking is in unmarked (lengthwise)bays just find a space big enough and stick your blue badge in the window.:thumb:

 

[wasp]

York Council tell you to use the Park and Ride, there is a parking area on a side street I dont remember though but its always clogged with cars We went two years ago and parked in the bus park and they gave us a £30. ticket and we paid the £8.00 parking fee
Wrote to the council explaining that we took disabled/elderley mother with us
so park and ride not suitable and they let us off.
the other problem with York is that all their car parks have height barriers so anything over 2 metres is a no no check their web site for car parks but I think you will only have the park and ride option. Hope that helps Rob

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[JockandRita]

Not a very well structured question. We have a 20 ft m/h and I wonder where folk park in big cities when sight seeing?

Hi Gavel,

With a disabled badge, you'll have a wider choice than most of us. At 20ft, it'll be like parking a LWB Sprinter, or similar. I'd give it a try in several towns/cities before shelling out for a toad and associated towing kit. Just my opinion mind!

Jock.

 

[Larrynwin]

Hi gavel it is my understanding that max towing weight on a car licence if test passed before 1997 is 750kg which excludes most small cars excepting qpod or aixam quadracycles or similar. If I am wrong someone shout please.
York Cclub site is a good stop just 15 mins walk from centre.
good luck

larry

 

[JockandRita]

Hi gavel it is my understanding that max towing weight on a car licence if test passed before 1997 is 750kg which excludes most small cars excepting qpod or aixam quadracycles or similar. If I am wrong someone shout please.
York Cclub site is a good stop just 15 mins walk from centre.
good luck

larry

Hi Larry,

The 750Kg maximum applies to those passing the car test after Jan 1st 1997, unless they take another test for towing.
Passing prior to 97, usually resulted in gaining a B+E category.

Jock.

 

[pappajohn]

Hi gavel it is my understanding that max towing weight on a car licence if test passed before 1997 is 750kg which excludes most small cars excepting qpod or aixam quadracycles or similar. If I am wrong someone shout please.
York Cclub site is a good stop just 15 mins walk from centre.
good luck

thats after '97 Larry

if passed before '97 you will have C1+E (upto 3500kg trailer) train weight of 8250kg

if you passed after '97 you have to take a seperate trailer test to gain C1+E entitlement. train weight of 12000kg

 

[WillH]

Gavel, we have just been to York but stayed at the CC site, Rowntree Park. Check out this link Park & Ride - City of York Council some of the car aprks are OK for high sided vehicles.

Rgds
Bill

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[Larrynwin]

Thanks Jock

I passed my test 100s of years ago and thought the 750kg limit applied to me, thats good news I can look for something bigger to tow.

Ta Larry

 

[pappajohn]

Thanks Jock

I passed my test 100s of years ago and thought the 750kg limit applied to me, thats good news I can look for something bigger to tow.

Ta Larry

have a look at your licence....check for C1+E...it will be there along with B and B+E

grandfather rights.

 

[camcondor]

York is a major parking headache, even for those with Blue Badges. We parked in a city centre car park in our Smart, displayed the badge very clearly, and arrived back at the car to find the jobswerth, rude parking attendant writing out a ticket. When challenged, he said his supervisors had told him to write out fines on all "non-local" badges as "most of them were illegal / bought off the Internet". He said we should appeal and the fine would be cancelled.

I wrote to the Council and got a response from an arrogant harridan who changed the story somewhat, called me a liar, and stated that the badge "was not clearly displayed" . Luckily we had taken a photo of it in the window of the car and there was a time stamp on the photo. So ended up with the fine cancelled, but said harridan screeching from on high about how traumatised the poor ickle jobswerth attendant had been by my daring to challenge him while he was "just doing his job". Yes, indeed.....NOT!

The experience tainted an otherwise great visit to a wonderful city and area.

The two CC sites are excellent - we stayed just outside town, near the A64 - but the CC site in the city is excellent if you do not want to take a car with you. Personally, I like to have the Smart as it gives one just that bit more freedom to venture further, especially when one of us has impaired mobility. We have a trailer and an A frame, the A frame wins every time for ease of use, although they both tow well. :thumb:

 

[GJH]

Hello Gavel,

As Jock says, having a disabled badge, may give you a wider choice. Most councils have contact details on the parking pages on their web sites - York certainly do - so it may well be worth contacting them and explaining the circumstances as they might be able to give you extra help to meet your extra needs.

Graham