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 Topic: Grass or hardstanding
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05/3/2021 at 10:32am
Location: East Herts
Outfit: 1992 Elddis Wisp 450CT + X Trail
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Quote: Originally posted by philip 22 on 04/3/2021
Well l prefer a Hardstanding service pitch l am disabled wheelchair user to each its own
That's quite understandable in you circumstances Philip. I would imagine it would be very easy for a wheelchair to get bogged down on grass, especially if there had been a lot of rain. As you rightly say, each to their own.
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Colin
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05/3/2021 at 10:44am
Location: East Herts
Outfit: 1992 Elddis Wisp 450CT + X Trail
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Quote: Originally posted by dk168 on 04/3/2021
Quote: Originally posted by Colin21 on 04/3/2021
With the C&CC CSs I've been on I have found quite the reverse. I have yet to see one that wasn't all grass. Never seen a hardstanding pitch on a CS. I'm not sure though whether that is a difference in policy between the two clubs, or just chance.
I am guessing C&CC have to cater for tenters, and they are unlikely to want to camp on a hardstanding pitch.
Having said that, I camped at C&CC's Devizes club site only 6 miles from home on a hardstanding pitch and pitched on the grassy side to step into the gravel section, as advised by their staff at the time, to avoid dragging mud and grass into the tent, and it would be nicer underfoot in the living area etc...
For me personally, I guess the holy grail would be an All Weather Pitch which is the best of both worlds IMHO.
DK 
What exactly is an All Weather Pitch, DK? I've heard the term but just assumed it was another name for hardstanding.
I don't like hardstandings for two reasons. Firstly because they always seem to be regimented, all in rows either side of a roadway which I don't like, and secondly because if I put up my awning it's difficult to get pegs in and I don't like the feeling of it underfoot. I have always camped on grass and for me that is part of it. I have only ever used a hardstanding pitch once, and that was by accident. I went back to a small commercial site a couple of years ago that I hadn't been to since the 1970s, without realising that all their caravan pitches were now hardstanding. They only have about 15 or so. I was only staying for a few nights so we hadn't taken the awning with us, and wasn't I glad! The site was still lovely though.
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Colin
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05/3/2021 at 12:39pm
Location: Lancashire
Outfit: Leisuredrive VW T6 campervan
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I suppose the ideal is a grass pitch with a hardstanding drive to put the 'van on, after all, it's not that important to have grass underneath (unless you have a dog maybe). Then you can peg your awning out on the grass. However there are many good comments on here, gritty hardstanding is a pain as it treads inside, grass near the doors can get puddled if it is wet.
For the couple of nights max we spend on any site, we're not that fussed.
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05/3/2021 at 12:56pm
Location: East Herts
Outfit: 1992 Elddis Wisp 450CT + X Trail
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Quote: Originally posted by franbee on 05/3/2021
I suppose the ideal is a grass pitch with a hardstanding drive to put the 'van on, after all, it's not that important to have grass underneath (unless you have a dog maybe). Then you can peg your awning out on the grass. However there are many good comments on here, gritty hardstanding is a pain as it treads inside, grass near the doors can get puddled if it is wet.
For the couple of nights max we spend on any site, we're not that fussed.
That's the thing with campervans and motorhomes, they are great for touring, which is probably what we would do more of if we had one. With our caravan we tend to go for a week or two weeks to one site and explore the area from there. If we do go for less than a week we don't bother with the awning, it's not worth it.
I agree that it would be fine to have the caravan on hardstanding and the awning on grass, that would be better than having the awning on hardstanding in my opinion. I still prefer random pitches though and hardstandings tend to be all in rows. I like to be able to set up my caravan whichever way round I like, and tend to look for sites that allow that. Never found one yet that has hardstandings set out at random. Maybe there are some, I don't know. Even if there are though it would still restrict which way round the caravan goes.
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Colin
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05/3/2021 at 6:10pm
Location: Notts Lincs border
Outfit: Burstner A538
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Over the past years , i havelost count of the number of times I have had to be towed out , dug out and manhandled out of wet soggy ground which was supossidly solid.
Never believe site wardens, they just want to fill spaces.
ALWAYS GO FOR HARD STANDINGOn the continent where thy understand camper vans , they nearly always have only hard standings,
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05/3/2021 at 8:58pm
Location: Lancashire
Outfit: Leisuredrive VW T6 campervan
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I have to disagree ra, we don't find a lot of hardstandings on the sites we use in France. Maybe we go to different sites to you.
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06/3/2021 at 1:20pm
Location: London
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Quote: Originally posted by rogerangie on 05/3/2021
Over the past years , i havelost count of the number of times I have had to be towed out , dug out and manhandled out of wet soggy ground which was supossidly solid.
Never believe site wardens, they just want to fill spaces.
ALWAYS GO FOR HARD STANDINGOn the continent where thy understand camper vans , they nearly always have only hard standings,
That's very unfortunate luck. Don't think I have ever seen anyone needing towing/digging out/rescuing from a proper camp site in decades of tent camping and past few years of caravanning.
Only time I've seen difficulties is in France at Le Mans 24 Hr race where they have 'pop'up' sites for the duration of the race. These are on what is normally farm grazing fields and don't have proper managed roadways or pitches, problem tends to be on 'roadway/aisle' between pitches due to sheer weight of traffic, not individual pitches. The weather is often truly foul with mega thunderstorms, and the water table is only inches below the surface at the best of times, also the soil is very soft and sandy, and easily disturbed! Some low lying areas (reserved for late comers to the site! ) become lakes when it rains, so hardly idea camping terrain, but we survived without problems for 10 or 12 years there.
Of course some vehicles are more capable than others, but my variety of ordinary (not 4x4s) cars have always coped well! With a MH/Camper, maybe the commercial vehicle underpinnings means the 1st gear ratio is very low and this induces wheel spin more easily, or the sheer weight makes it sink more!
Certainly can't imaging the Club sites having persistent issues, even CL/CM sites I've used seem well sorted, private sites I can't really comment on too widely, but few I've used have been fine.
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06/3/2021 at 5:37pm
Location: None Entered
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We did get towed out of one CS a few years back. Mind you, it had been raining a little, in fact so much they closed the site to new arrivals. We may have been able to tow out ourselves but the owner asked us not to attempt it. When we were ready he brought his tractor with low pressure tyres and towed us out without leaving a mark in the turf.
Saved me the effort.
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06/3/2021 at 9:31pm
Location: North Somerset
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Someone mentioned siting at Devizes? Last time I went there (last year) with my camping car and tailgate awning I was told on no account was I to pitch the awning on the grass, as it was extremely soft. So I had to peg the awning down on the hardstanding. Bloomin' hard work, even with rock pegs! - and I'm sure, very annoying for neighbouring units, having me hammering away on what seemed like an almost completely impervious surface! I shall avoid repeating the exercise in future if at all possible.
Once, when caravanning I had the caravan on a hardstanding and the awning on grass. That doesn't always work very well either as the pitch was so soggy the awning was almost pulled off its rail as it sank ever deeper into the mud. Ain't camping wonderful!
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Life without dogs? I don't think so!
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via mobile 05/3/2021 at 4:34pm
