Campsites closing at the end of the 2024 season

Well perhaps you don't think £3 is enough for your pet if you had one Burt, but others might of theirs?

If I had one and I wanted to be in a particular location then £3 wouldn't really put me off.

When booking in I noticed this pic of River Breamish before being refurbished. It was all grassy, no facilities and it always had spaces as I recall. Today all the SP are taken (I can't see an empty one) and the site appears almost full. 

So how to turn underused sites and make them popular? Personally,  put in toilet and showers, HS, SP. It appears that is what club site users want?

So how much would it cost to turn Nunnykirk into a fully serviced site with hard standings, a toilet block, and service pitches? It’s in a dip in the landscape, the rain (lots in Northumberland), means that the site gathers the water that falls from the sky. We can’t do anything about this. Have you ever been to Nunnykirk? Also, it’s a relatively long  way from Rothbury or Morpeth.

By contrast, the Breamish site is a short way off the A697, with a decent shop at the petrol station and good walks and cycle routes from the site.

The reality is that Nunnykirk is a relatively long way from the facilities that most people want nowadays. Where are the site staff coming from?

In an ideal world, all sites (whatever they offer), would pay their way. Don’t get me wrong, I started my caravan holidays decades ago, on sites with no facilities at all. However, the world moves on, and unfortunately sites such as Nunnykirk, are appealing to fewer customers. 

We could talk about the merits or otherwise of this all day. However it seems that the writing is on the wall for the “underperforming “ sites.

I would be interested to hear the views of other members as how to underused sites could be brought back into profitable. Or should the club subside those sites, and somehow get the staff to operate them?

I still recall the DG stating in the mag about there are different sites for all the members with there likes and dislikes, we have been in the club for nearly 40 yrs, we have used over 120 different club sites and well over 160 returns to a lot of these sites, spending over 1,000 pitch nights, we live in East Anglia and we have lost Mildenhall a few years back (our favourite site) only 1 site in Suffolk now and none in Essex, we use Thetford forest site for many of our mid week breaks, but find that less than half full and fear for its retention next time the club snatch the sites we like from us. once you leave the Lowestoft site you won's get to another going South until you go into Kent !

I don't always believe the the lack of a toilet block is the only reason for low use, speaking with others state we don't go any more because we find it hard to get a TV picture now as the trees have got taller, why not put TV points in, and update the electric supply so it don't go low, 

Why not do an survey and see why people are not using these sites.

I rally a lot weekends, which is the main reason I stay in the club.

I would be interested to hear the views of other members as how to underused sites could be brought back into profitable. Or should the club subside those sites, and somehow get the staff to operate them?

Surely the club would have already gone through that process? I imagine most, if not all the sites included for closure are held on leases. Had they been owned outright one would have thought the Club would have already updated them. If leases are soon up for renewal and increase in the lease would just be more nails in the coffin. They could reduce the price, perhaps a single all inclusive price. But as I have mentioned before you will need many more people staying just to stand still. I am sure the Club have already "subsidised" these sites but there comes a point where those costs mount and it becomes totally uneconomic. I think what the Club is saying that if they keep these sites open and take the losses they won't be in such a good position to upgrade other sites where that is a possibility?

David

I for one will miss Dockray Meadow being on the network. Not that we visited many times but when we did it was always a delight. It’s a bit off the beaten track and we had to make a specific tour to include it. The red squirrels visiting your pitch was a magical experience. Shame that it couldn’t be viewed as an asset, rich in experience, rather than from a monetary perspective. Sad to see its demise.

It would be informative if the Club would give members some facts, figures and information for each of the sites they are planning to close.- for instance the number of overnight stays at each of those sites in 2013 compared with the most recent number for 2023 - so that members can see the extent of the decline and understand the reasons  behind the decision to call time. Although we are Club members we really are kept in the dark.

Regarding the previous response. I think that says it all. “Not that we visited many times”.  and “It’s a bit off the beaten track and we had to make a specific tour to include it”

Lovely though these sites are for some people they do not provide what most customers want now.

The reality is that the most profitable sites are within striking distance of “services”.

Good or bad, let’s just accept the reality of today’s world. Enjoy your stays, wherever they may be. Good night.

It was equally full when we were there at the end of June and has been on every visit we have made, all out of peak times. It’s a very popular site. Even more so now that it’s all hardstanding and the final bit of grass converted to service pitches. Except for the three tent pitches, which were also well populated during our last visit.