You can now book your sites a year in advance

Reinforced grass would solve the misgivings many have with regard to using a non HS pitch.

I am not sure about that. I have no concerns about getting bogged down but simply prefer gravel to walk on around the caravan.

perhaps its a 'weather' thing but we love being parked up on a nice firm grass pitch in the sunshine and, given the choice in those circumstances, would avoid gravel like the plague, horrible stuff.....

this large french pitch just wouldn't be the same pleasant place if it was covered in chippings....

on some long term sites, the first thing folk do is get out a huge piece of plastic or webbing sheet and cover over the chippings to keep the stones out of the van and make the outside seating area more comfortable....

yes, I can see the issue in poor uk conditions but it just needs decent drainage....investment doesn't have to always be in concrete, chippings and gravel.....

leaving, say, 20% properly drained grass pitches would allow choice for those who prefer them and they could be removed from service in poorer conditions on sites that are not full all year round...

 

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last year, in Spain, we were gifted a massive mesh covering from the German occupants of the pitch opposite...they didn't want it, so I took it home.....haven't used it yet, although we do have a smaller 'outside camping carpet' which makes hard lumpy pitches a bit easier on my delicate tootsies

perhaps is my golf, football, cricket background that is behind my affinity with grass......

in 2016 we were lucky enough to get down to pitch side during the '66 World Cup 50th anniversary celebrations...now that's real grass....

That's probably true, Corners, as far as pre-bookings go. On the other hand, in summer, given the choice we'd go for a grass pitch every time - much more pleasant for sitting out and more comfortable for the dogs. But would we actually book a grass pitch in advance? Probably not!

Surely its all about choice, some like grass some don't. Personally I like grass to pitch on that looks like BB's photo but I would never book a grass pitch in the UK, not with a MH. 

Having choice is what the club should be looking at, their pathetic excuse as to why they didn't follow up on the trial still leaves me confused 

Choice is what others seem to be able to do but the C&MC can't or won't, so until such time they do I will use their sites out of grass season and the other club or commercial at other times, unless I know I can  1. arrive on site at mid day or 2. the site is fully H/S

Interesting thoughts on grass pitches etc... and fully understand the choice  issues.

BB's photo of the French pitch got me thinking. It's so very like our all time favourite CL down in Cornwall. This has all grass pitches, lovely very large individual pitches, hedged and sheltered with Cornish banks full of colourful shrubs and wild flowers. (Two of the pitches are large enough to accommodate at least two vans, so you get a picture of how much space they have). The CL actually has six areas, so if one is spoilt by thoughtless visitors using a groundsheet, it can be repaired and rested. 

We like grass pitches more, even with the MH. But like others we have been on some less than perfect pitches occasionally. I think the Club Sites actually perpetuate the problems of grass pitches nowadays. The spacings are so tight, there is now no longer the capability to alter the peg placings even a tiny bit, so all that happens is vans and awnings pitch up in the same place, making any problems even worse. In our early days spent on Club Sites, if you came across a grass pitch that was less than perfect, you just moved the peg slightly, or pitched up in a different orientation to compensate! Totally verboten nowadays. Hence the preference for HS pitches. Plus of course, they can make Winter touring possible. But I do hope we don't lose lovely sites like Marazion and Nunnykirk to the graveyard gravel.

Well if and when Crystal Palace site closes, there's a ready made replacement with grass pitches just waiting for us, BB!

(Oops! That doesn't make much sense without the photo from BB's earlier post! )

as it happens, we've just (Friday) booked CP for later in the year as part of a small tour, wanted to get there before it closed...ill check it out