Caravan Site Warden: A Day in the Life of...

Ever fancied turning your passion for caravanning into a career as a warden? Read on, before you hand in your notice.

Words: Adrian Edwards

Have you ever wondered what life is like for the site staff? What do they have to do? What's their work-life balance? What do they enjoy most… and least? Ever wondered if you'd like to be a warden yourself?

To find out, I went to visit Exebridge Lakeside in Devon, a medium-sized Caravan & Motorhome Club Site. The wardens, Julie & Phil Woolmington, were happy to tell me all about it, how they became wardens, and how people can get into this type of work. So, what's it like?

Julie was busy in the office when I arrived a little earlier than the agreed arrival time.

"Sorry, we're not open yet, but go and choose a pitch, then come back, and we'll do the paperwork," she says brightly.

Diplomacy in action

Julie hands me a site map, and explains it. As we'd been driving for two and a half hours, this was welcome, and an example of how site staff can be a little flexible with the rules to keep visitors happy. And to fulfil their duties.

On today's visit, Julie had to explain we couldn't pitch on the grass pitches, near the dog walk, because local planning restrictions meant this area could only be used if there were a minimum number of units already on the hardstanding pitches.

And, as some caravans had left the hardstandings yesterday, the restriction applied, even though there were still units on the grass area. Her explanation, tactfully delivered, avoided any feeling of resentment, a diplomacy that site staff have to deploy at times. I was already beginning to get an insight into what type of person makes a good site warden.

Couples-only site

Exebridge Lakeside is a typical Club Site, with 80 touring pitches, including super-service pitches, hardstandings, and grass. The pitches are level, and arranged in terraces on a hillside, in a beautiful rural area on the southern edge of Exmoor National Park.

Although it has a play area and games room, and is visited by families, almost all visitors are couples holidaying without children. A large proportion bring their dogs, and the site boasts a sizeable, enclosed, dog exercise area.

"Probably the greatest dog-walk area we've ever seen," said Brian and Sandra, from Lincolnshire.

There is also an excellent caravan storage area, and an area for tent-camping in peak times, that's also open to non-members.

Becoming wardens

Julie and Phil are the full-time wardens for the site, and have been for a year. The title 'wardens' was a collective decision by Club staff, although the Woolmingtons would prefer 'managers' because: "Wardens sounds a bit like prison warders," they say.

They tell me how, about eight years ago, they were keen caravanners themselves, getting away most weekends after finishing work at noon on Fridays. They used to look at the site wardens, and think, "We could do that."

Phil was an aircraft engineer and Julie had a sandwich business. They were both ready for a lifestyle change. They asked a warden at one site about it.

"He said, don't do it!" laughs Julie.

Nevertheless, the Woolmingtons became trainee site wardens to trial the life, being careful not to sell their house and business at once.

"You don't know if you're going to like it," says Julie.

Learning the job

Trainee, or assistant, wardens usually spend the first three years working at sites around the country, learning the job. They normally live in their own caravans or motorhomes at the sites, and have staff-only wash/toilet/laundry facilities, as well as a staff compound in which to pitch.

"It was scary to start with, wasn't it?" recalls Julie, pointing out that you have to do the work, get on well with customers and experienced staff. And, live and work together as a couple full-time, perhaps for the first time in a marriage within the confined space of a caravan.

Trainee wardens build up their knowledge and experience. They can then apply for the vacancies, which arise at sites around the country, eventually becoming full wardens. The larger sites will often have two or three couples managing them. With the CMC, wardens stay at one site for a maximum of five years, to avoid becoming jaded. At Exebridge, there is staff accommodation at the entrance, and a compound.

The Woolmington's duty hours are 9am to 5pm, although members can arrive up until 8pm.

Be prepared for occasional emergencies

Occasionally, there are emergencies, too. The couple tell me how Phil was called out at 10.45pm one evening for a 'dripping tap' on a service pitch. When he arrived, a burst standpipe was causing a "jet of water 20 feet high! Not only that, it was going over the bank, and hitting the caravan below!". He tried to stop it, and got soaked, so had to turn off the water to the service pitches overnight.

"It was hot weather, but it didn't seem funny at the time," laughs Julie.

The couple work three weeks on, then have a week off, usually going away in their motorhome, while relief wardens take over. So, the pair are regular tourers themselves, experiencing other sites. They stay at both private and Club Sites (after a qualifying period, wardens get a free pass to CAMC sites), and particularly like visiting Devon and the Cotswolds.

Regular duties

The next time I visit reception I find Phil beavering away on the paperwork. He must record all the daily, weekly and monthly checks and tests. There are daily files to sign off for the defibrillator, play area, machinery visual check (tractor, mowers, blower).

The fire points and alarms, and oil and grease checks are weekly. The picnic benches, duty bell, ladders, emergency lighting, games room, shower-block water temperatures/pressure, PAT testing, hook-up bollards and RCD trips are checked monthly. Any faults are recorded and repairs undertaken. Oh, and they are trained first-aiders, too.

Taking bookings is an important task daily. Many are online, but,

"...there's a generation less computer-savvy, who will always phone to book, plus last-minute-bookers," says Phil.

He also must answer scores of regular questions; is there a bus? Is there a local pub? Is there walking or cycling close by?

Wardens also have to make arrangements for special requests, like reserving close-to-facilities pitches for the disabled, keeping small groups of friends and family in neighbouring pitches, and accommodating larger units on bigger pitches. Phil, with his technical background, carries out all ongoing maintenance, apart from tasks requiring qualified technicians, including gas and electricity.

The main daily tasks are cleaning the shower block, and grounds maintenance. Julie does most of the cleaning, and Phil the mowing, hedge-trimming and waste emptying, but they both share the cleaning at busy times. In the shower block, the gratings, which drain the shower floors, have to be lifted and cleaned of hair weekly.

Gardening duties

Julie is also trained and able to use the garden machinery. And there's a lot to it! There are acres of grass to cut, which includes having to mow around caravans, awnings and electric hook-up leads, as well as hundreds of yards of hedges and shrubs to trim. It's important work — a visitor once reported in a customer survey that, "the grass was a bit long, 80mm in places!" (The Club standard grass height is 65mm or 2½ inches in old money).

These tasks are on top of stocking and operating the shop, which sells essential camping equipment and basic groceries, and manning reception ("sometimes visitors have travelled a long way, had traffic problems, so you need to make them feel welcome and find a nice pitch"). Their duties even include ensuring there's fresh water in the dog bowl by reception.

What are the bugbears of the job?

"The good old British public," laugh the couple. "People say, 'the worst part of your job must be cleaning the toilets' but it's not really."

"Well, sometimes it is," says Phil, but it gets you out of the office and it's exercise."

What about the 'public' then? The Woolmingtons insist the vast majority of visitors are lovely people, but occasionally there are problems to deal with.

Once, at a site where they were helping trainees, an elderly couple arrived and booked, then enquired how frequently the local bus stopped outside the site. Told it was every 25 minutes, the husband became ' rude', complained bitterly that he had understood it to be every 10 minutes, and demanded his money back. (The Club head office eventually authorised this).

Phil and Julie explain that, although there have to be common sense rules, for safety amongst other things, they are careful to avoid over-stating these. They certainly don't go around telling people what to do or not do!

"People are on holiday, so let them get on with it, unless there's something drastically wrong," says Phil.

People skills

An example of what can cause difficulty, as on many sites, is pitching correctly so that there is an adequate space between units to provide a safe break in the event of fire. Phil explains as the pitches are large on the Exebridge site, it's not too critical, but he concedes that, "It's easy to get people's' backs up. So what I do is have a quiet word, like, 'please, next time, could I ask you to... because..."

Dogs cause perhaps the greatest potential for upset. Phil and Julie have two dogs themselves, and stress that 99% of dog owners are responsible. The main problems are dogs not being under control on the main site, and dog mess, either of which can upset those with, or without dogs. Occasionally, they have to take action.

"You have to be careful how you speak to people, they go on the defensive," says Phil.

At some sites, over-excited children can cause upset, but this is rare. The Woolmingtons suggest during school holidays there are bound to be many youngsters at many places, so caravanners who get annoyed by children playing might wish to choose their times, or sites, accordingly.

Julie tells me, "We've got our own children, and grandchildren, and to me it's lovely to see the kids out playing. They get together in little groups, they're not on their computers, they're playing!"

"We get many lovely people," she adds. "That's what makes the job worthwhile." Although you can never please everyone! In the shower block there is pleasant radio playing at a reasonable volume, but a lady once stormed into the office and threatened to leave if it wasn't switched off. They had to gently point out that no one else was unhappy about it. "Sometimes, you have to bite your tongue". And a sense of humour is a big help, too.

What do they love about the job? Being out in the fresh air, in a beautiful area. Being able to visit many places in Britain and meet new people. Spending the winter in Spain. And, above all, "Helping people to have a great holiday experience," say Phil and Julie in unison.

Further information about working on a caravan site W caravanclub.co.uk/about-us/work-for-us/ W campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/aboutus/work-with-us/jobs/