The joy of off-grid caravanning

[Christhecaravanner84]

Recently I've been to a couple of off grid sites and thoroughly enjoyed it. I stopped for three nights at a temporary site for the Royal International Air Tattoo and more recently, weekend just gone, I stopped near South Cerney for the vintage show. The latter is close to my storage and I'm looking forward to doing a some more weekenders there; It's a small CL with NO facilities other than a tap and elsan. It was only £15 at night and in a really nice peaceful location. Also lovely owners who seemed to have all the time in the world to stop and chat. I was able to position the van facing out over fields. Would have been lovely to sit out with a fire pit, but didn't seem the best of ideas with everything so dry, although others did. I've had no issues at all with power.

I replaced all the 12V bulbs in my caravan with LEDs and I havea 120 watt solar panel. I had lights on whenever I wanted for as long as I wanted. Up late chatting on my CB radio powered off the van battery (portable antenna mast on drive on stand), followed by a good hour or so watching TV. Fan at the end of the bed on all night, no problems. Battery fully charged again by mid-day. I realise I would have to be a bit more careful in months with less daylight but if it was the depth of winter I would still always have EHU. I never thought I would stay at a site which didn't even have a toilet. I did and managed OK, although I'd still prefer a proper karzi for big jobs.

I'll probably do a few short weekends at the CL in the autumn, but the site I've booked for new year is full facility/serviced. Next year though, I will be seeking out more CLs and basic sites. Not only was the CL peaceful but it seemed to have more character than a typical singing and dancing club site. I've seen some CLs online in absolutely staggering locations. Peace and quiet is what it's all about for me. It's very satisfying to be self sufficient. Looking forward to more offgridding.

 

[Mr Grumpy]

Welcome to real freedom !

It's off-grid virtually every time for us. 150 watts of solar power and a refillable gas bottle and we are very comfortable for several weeks.
There's loads of off-grid CL's etc out there, many at less than a tenner a night.

 

[RogerL]

We've been using CLs almost exclusively for years - even when sites have toilets/showers, we don't use them and rely totally on our on-board facilities.

We did a summer music festival a few years back, took an old car battery as an extra, it lasted nearly 3 days before we had to switch back to the leisure battery - so quite practical for a summer weekend.

 

[Buckman]

I think that £15 a night on a CL with no facilities except water and Elsan point is a tad expensive in comparison to CLs that do have EHU, but if you are willing to pay that it is your choice.

 

[Trevormc]

I agree with Buckman why pay £15.00 a night when you can pay that with EHU.
I think a lot of CL owners will slowly put themselves out of business with what they are charging.

Trevor

 

[Beachball]

At one point i thought £15 was expensive last year we went to to a CL site in Norfolk and paid £17 that was a fully service pitch and tv hook up but checking today £25 (increase due to substantial rise in electric)

 

[Slowtow]

For us it's more the access into these CL locations that have put us off which is a shame.
Some of these CS squeeze as many pitches in for extra revenue which has concerned us.
We'd happily pay a bit more for a nice location five pitch CL with toilet/shower.

 

[otherclive]

In Autumn 2021 we stayed at a commercial site in Norfolk near Holt. The top price fully serviced pitch was cheaper than the CL pitches which were £38pn each fully serviced with hedges providing privacy. All were 100% utilised

 

[RogerL]

In Autumn 2021 we stayed at a commercial site in Norfolk near Holt. The top price fully serviced pitch was cheaper than the CL pitches which were £38pn each fully serviced with hedges providing privacy. All were 100% utilised

Generally, the laws of supply and demand work well with caravan sites - the CL we used In Norfolk earlier this year is just £10/night for grass pitch, EHU with toilet/shower but perversely was rarely full despite being opposite another CL charging £20/night and always full. When our son was young, we had two weeks every year at River Dart Country Park - for this year that would be £63.50/night for the 3 of us and they're always full in peak season.

The internet is a wonderful tool to research potential caravan sites, allowing users to choose their value point, facilities, space and location.

 

[Kevin M]

We are going to see a CL in Oswestry next week to view the approach and entrance before booking a weekend, £15 per night Inc hook up.

Kev

 

[RogerL]

We are going to see a CL in Oswestry next week to view the approach and entrance before booking a weekend, £15 per night Inc hook up.

Kev

Google Earth and Google Streetview are excellent tools to assess site approaches without having to travel - the Caravan Club entry for a CL, or a club site, will state if the entry is less than 10 feet wide.

 

[otherclive]

Generally, the laws of supply and demand work well with caravan sites - the CL we used In Norfolk earlier this year is just £10/night for grass pitch, EHU with toilet/shower but perversely was rarely full despite being opposite another CL charging £20/night and always full. When our son was young, we had two weeks every year at River Dart Country Park - for this year that would be £63.50/night for the 3 of us and they're always full in peak season.

The internet is a wonderful tool to research potential caravan sites, allowing users to choose their value point, facilities, space and location.

When we lived on Dartmoor the River Dart Country Park was a “ go to” favourite with the children.

 

[Christhecaravanner84]

I’ve been looking at sites in Scotland. Found one charging £8 / night for EHU!

 

[RogerL]

I’ve been looking at sites in Scotland. Found one charging £8 / night for EHU!

Check their present price when booking, some sites are slow to update details on the internet. A site we use in Aberdeenshire has gone up from £7 to £12 as business energy costs have gone up more than the domestic price cap increase.

 

[Beachball]

For us it's more the access into these CL locations that have put us off which is a shame.
Some of these CS squeeze as many pitches in for extra revenue which has concerned us.
We'd happily pay a bit more for a nice location five pitch CL with toilet/shower.

This is the name of one i stop last year Church Farm Cottages CL Cromer road Lower Gresham Norfolk it a Adults only five pitch CL and it has a toilet /shower we thought it was great now we might book a cottage

 

[Slowtow]

This is the name of one i stop last year Church Farm Cottages CL Cromer road Lower Gresham Norfolk it a Adults only five pitch CL and it has a toilet /shower we thought it was great now we might book a cottage

Thank's BB. Yes we stayed at Cromer a few years ago (CAMC site) and loved the oldee worldiness and relaxed pace of the town. Their beautiful church had peregrines nesting which drew quite a crowd. The dressed crab for tea was very reasonable too.