What makes a great small site?
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Peaceful, environmentally friendly, money saving and serene... What's not to like about small sites?
• Find more great campsites in our Premier Parks online booklet! •
When Caravan magazine shared the news of who'd won the CL of the Year Awards, we began thinking about what makes these little spaces of caravanning heaven truly great. So, to answer this we looked around the industry and got in touch with some award winning site owners to see what they think is the key to success.
The Caravan Club has a network of 2500 CLs (certified locations), while the Camping and Caravanning Club over 1500 CSs (certified sites) in operation. These kinds of sites offer an exclusive approach of stripped back relaxation, surrounded by a small number of pitches in ideal locations across the UK.
The Camping and Caravanning Club states that all that is needed to become a Certificated Site is safe access from the public highway, a level and well drained camping area of at least half an acre, safe drinking water and a chemical disposal point with separate water supply as standard. But what makes this back to basics holiday approach appeal so much to the masses?
Green scheme dream
“Certificated Sites are a great way to make use of your land, without losing the ‘green’ credentials," explained Bob White, chairman of the C&CC's Exempted Camping Committee. "Now, more than ever, people are looking for cost-effective ways to holiday."Caravan Club Chairman, Grenville Chamberlain, commented: “Each and every CL is a gem in the jewelled crown of the overall sites network. CL owners are to be congratulated on their commitment to providing our members with a warm welcome and an exceptional place to enjoy their caravanning as well as the massive contribution they play in boosting local tourism economies.”
We at Caravan mag choose to stop over at small sites while working on tour, often because they're open all year and offer a peaceful corner to concentrate if we have work to do on the road. This kind of atmosphere is equally suitable to relaxation, with fewer people trekking past your tourer throughout the day.
"When we arrived, what is now Greetham Retreat CL was just a grass field with cows on it," explains Rob and Jeanette Folwell, owners of the CL that won first place in the most recent Caravan Club awards. "We built the CL site ourselves, planting 650 trees and we dug out a large wildlife pond. It now has five level hard standing all weather pitches plus one alternative grass pitch; it includes 16 amp electric hook ups, a club standard service point, free Wi-Fi, modern heated shower and WC room.
"As caravanners, we made our CL how we would want it, so it has all the facilities of a Caravn Club site but is more tranquil and peaceful as it only has five vans on it."
Devil's in the details
"What makes a perfect CL is attention to detail," says Jane Brand of East Fortune CL, a site that took third place in the 2013 CL of the Year Awards and has won numerous regional titles in Scotland. "It needs a welcoming friendly family atmosphere and well maintained facilities throughout the CL or, in our case, the whole farm."Situated just 20 miles away from Scotland's capital, East Fortune CL is rich in both natural and man-made surroundings. "East Lothian boasts a magnificent coastline of beaches, golf courses, enchanting villages, museums, galleries and historic attractions," says Jane. "Drem train station is only two miles from the farm and the train takes you straight into Edinburgh city centre, in about 20 minutes." Needless to say that advanced booking is recommended during peak seasons.
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