Standard or serviced pitch?

On the continent it is fairly common to have one or more shared taps at the edge of the pitch which I find extremely useful. Where drains are provided the difficulty is having to carry enough waste hose to reach the drainage point so we have never bothered. I would say also that it is usual on the continent to have hedges and bushes around each pitch so there is ample opportunity to dispose of grey water as long as it is free of waste food etc.

Unfortunately most of the U.K. sites seem to have an open aspect with close pitching. You can avoid this by using CLs of course if that style of caravanning suits you.

some CLs could be described as Serviced Pitches, as you can usually run the waste water directly into an adjacent hedge with a short hose....no wastemasters required.

similarly, should the tap be within a reasonavle distance a long hose (or two joined) would bring it within reach of the van, making it ....virtually serviced.

for those with onboard water tanks, imguess it would be 'serviced' as you could could fill without using any other container.

those with MHs whose tanks last longer than their stay (say 4/5 days) also enjoy the advantages of a serviced pitch without being on one....

if talking here about a caravan, filling an on board tank in a UK van generally involves using a pump to fill from another container, or using  a special connector as used when using a serviced pitch with direct connection.

Continental vans on the other hand usually  have an ordinary filling point where you fill using a hose or a watering can.

We have just come back from 2 weeks away in the caravan on a standard pitch.

As others have said, it is no hardship to fill the aquaroller with fresh water and empty the waste water. 

The kids got involved and argued over who would fill the water up and empty the waste (but left emptying the toilet cassette to me!).

Where we were the serviced pitches also had a tv aerial point, but two weeks without tv was no hardship.

I would recommend taking a decent sized watering can with you to fill the toilet flush tank. Also to have a decent length electric hook up cable or a couple of the 10m ones which you can join together if required.

 

As others have said, it is no hardship to fill the aquaroller with fresh water and empty the waste water. 

The kids got involved and argued over who would fill the water up and empty the waste (but left emptying the toilet cassette to me!).

 Also to have a decent length electric hook up cable or a couple of the 10m ones which you can join together if required.

It could be an age / aches / pains thing ?? and the lack of kids (grown up) to deploy, but we find the extra £3.50 well worth it. Unless only stopping for a few days we would always opt for service, if available. As too electric cables, I would opt for the standard 25 metre. Even on CC sites there has been the odd pitch where it has been a bit close. We actually carry a 25m and 10m and use as appropriate.

My first choice is a pitch with plenty of seperation from units either side. It seems newer sites now offer the absolute minimum so that awnings etc bring you far too close to your neighbours. The temptation when building serviced pitches is to cram them in so that the expense in constructing drains, water supply etc is minimised. With the amount of leisure time spent on site, unless you have a physical restriction, is it really a problem to walk a short distance to fill an aquaroll?

We have not stayed at any really new sites. However, on the CC and affiliated sites we have used service pitches, I have not noticed any significant difference in the size and spacing of the service pitches. That is except for the AS site at Grantown where the service pitches are huge, you could fit two vans on some of them.

DWG Hope your husband passed his towing test.

Write your comments here...Yes he passed! cant wait to get away now.

Have been reading everyones advice on here , thank you, some really helpful points beint mentioned too.

We have carried a watering can for a number of years. Really useful for filling cassette toilet and we normally keep it just inside the awning so it acts as a sort of fire bucket as well.

I would not pay £3 50 a night for a service pitch it is not worth the money. Aquaroll lasts 2 days so does the waste water.

Why pay £3.50 for something that is not used everyday.

I would not pay £3 50 a night for a service pitch it is not worth the money. Aquaroll lasts 2 days so does the waste water.

Why pay £3.50 for something that is not used everyday.

In your opinion ...... for some that's small price to pay