Posted on 28/11/2020 11:17
What is going on? A planning application has been submitted for the demolition of the Club's site and for the erection of lodges to take its place!.
Check it out >here< on the West Oxfordshire Council site. Anyone got anymore information, does that mean the end of a site for Blenheim Palace and Woodstock or is the reason for the popup site?
peedee
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Posted on 05/12/2020 14:30 byIt seems we have a very similar approach to two very different touring aims. We also have an outfit that enables us to achieve ours. Those are travel in comfort, taking the easiest routes to a points where the caravan gets dropped of for however long we decide to stay and have the use of our car once settled. We leave home with decided destinations and planned stopping points along the way although times may be varied at each. However although we almost always stick with the outbound plan we usually make up the return as we go along and do it by simply turning up at sites picked from guides . Getting back to booking, in the UK we always book and on the continent only if we wanted a specific pitch for some weeks and we also have rung ahead to a tiny site in remote countryside miles from an alternative. I have been doing this for 40 years and not been turned away from a site yet but came close on Good Friday one year in Spain so we avoid being on the road those time now.
Posted on 05/12/2020 17:09
Agree, very similar, but your journeys are a lot longer than ours🙂 In caravan we would tend to look for a one or two Site stay, in different areas of say Cornwall, pitch up for a couple of weeks at each Site, using car to get out and about. We used to motor on with just one overnight stay to get from home to Penzance area when we were working, and sometimes did the whole run back in one go (around 9 hours motoring with a couple of stops for food and dog walks). That would be M1, M69, A46, A429, M4, M5, A30 route. That Fosse Way section gave us lots of overnight options, either in some hidden layby, or on a CL. It’s was a heck of a tow home though in a day, particularly if traffic was bad. Once we had finished working, we took to exploring, lots more stop offs, and a longer period on a site. We have simply extended this further with MH, and sometimes now on a proper tour, avoid using Motorways altogether, as we love exploring. It’s easier to stop in MH, admittedly.
It would be good if more places like Blenheim, etc.... utilised their car parks overnight for stays. Say 8pm to 8am. I can see NT/EH/HS/Cadw considering it for a small fee possibly. Extra income in difficult times. Needs respect at all times from touring community though.
Posted on 05/12/2020 20:12 by eurortravellerBladon Chains caravan site closing, Club members distressed.
Diamond Caravan Site 5 miles away stays open, looks better actually.
Life goes on. World not ending.
Posted on 05/12/2020 20:26
ET
You are always posting details of sites that are in the middle of nowhere!!!! The beauty of sites like Bladon Chains is that people can actually walk to the Palace or catch a bus into Oxford with little inconvenience. Blenheim for us is a perfectly possible day visit from home but we would prefer to stay next door to the attraction although obviously that option want be available for much longer and I have little faith that the Club will be able to find and equally convenient replacement, but I will be happy to eat my words if they do!
Posted on 05/12/2020 20:26 by DavidKlyneET
You are always posting details of sites that are in the middle of nowhere!!!! The beauty of sites like Bladon Chains is that people can actually walk to the Palace or catch a bus into Oxford with little inconvenience. Blenheim for us is a perfectly possible day visit from home but we would prefer to stay next door to the attraction although obviously that option want be available for much longer and I have little faith that the Club will be able to find and equally convenient replacement, but I will be happy to eat my words if they do!
Posted on 05/12/2020 20:38
But on the other hand the majority of those that have caravan outfits and also (for reasons i find difficult to understand ?)travel in a separate vehicles when owning a motor caravan? can use the support vehicle meaning they do not need somwhere they can pitch up and not use their motor caravan?
Posted on 05/12/2020 20:26 by DavidKlyneET
You are always posting details of sites that are in the middle of nowhere!!!! The beauty of sites like Bladon Chains is that people can actually walk to the Palace or catch a bus into Oxford with little inconvenience. Blenheim for us is a perfectly possible day visit from home but we would prefer to stay next door to the attraction although obviously that option want be available for much longer and I have little faith that the Club will be able to find and equally convenient replacement, but I will be happy to eat my words if they do!
Posted on 05/12/2020 20:41
As a caravaner middle of nowhere is fine David. As far as Blenheim is concerned I don't think that there is a parking problem. Normally if I am within walking distance I am likely to visit one only. My visit to this site a couple of yeas ago was, by chance, different. We arrived and st up an decided that we would walk there for a meal. At that time i was on a stick and it was fa enough! We had a nice meal and a stroll round. The next day we went to visit the palace and grounds. It so happened that the following day there was a garden festival that we enjoyed. Unusual for us to visit a venue three times.
If we wee 5 miles away no hardship for us
Posted on 05/12/2020 15:14 by brueMakes you wonder, with a ten year deadline for fossil fuel vehicles how many sites will exist in the future?
Posted on 05/12/2020 23:29
I have some sympathy with Brue's comments, here. It is a bit of a concern and I am really sorry to here about the ultimate demise of Bladon Chains. It certainly makes one wonder about what the future holds for caravanning. However, I do wonder if 10 years is an optimistic estimate for topping the sale of fossil fuel vehicles. I certainly hope that technological advancements may enable us to tow caravans with greener vehicles. One worry is that even if there are 'technological advances', it could very well price many of us out of the market...
David
Posted on 06/12/2020 09:23 byI have to say the "middle of nowhere" arguement is exactly why I haven't gone down the motor home route. I would just love to get in and drive away instead of the not inconsiderable faff getting away in a caravan entails but having to pick sites in walking distance or with public transport links would eliminate most of our favourite destinations.
Posted on 06/12/2020 09:39
After 7 years of MH-ing - 8 with this odd year - we have never once needed secondary or public transport. We are not walkers either so it's not necessary to rule out a MH on those grounds, David, if it's what you want. Let the MH take you where you want to go.
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Posted on 06/12/2020 09:23 byI have to say the "middle of nowhere" arguement is exactly why I haven't gone down the motor home route. I would just love to get in and drive away instead of the not inconsiderable faff getting away in a caravan entails but having to pick sites in walking distance or with public transport links would eliminate most of our favourite destinations.
Posted on 06/12/2020 09:40
Having been the owners of both all having been in a storage compound (no one knows if we are at home or not)and have not found a "faf" with either form of LV,it was more of a "faf" finding places with access to places to visit with the coach built ,and packing things away before a dayout or to go shopping , ,where we as in the past and now, just put our coats on if needed lock the door and get in the car
Ps we May? get a PVC in the future ,but would not contemplate another coachbuilt
peedee
Motorhomer