Site Plaques and Memories

Someone asked on Club Together what would happen to site plaques now that the Caravan Club had been rebranded to the Caravan and Motorhome Club. I don’t have an answer for that but it did make me start thinking about the plaques we collected years ago and are now in a bag on a shelf in my office. I thought a trip down memory lane was in order, well it was raining outside. 

My collection is by no means exhaustive. However I discovered that I have fifteen plaques for sites which are no longer Club sites, some have closed completely where as others are still open but under different ownership. The one I am most frequently reminded of is Lovat Meadow at Newport Pagnell, about two miles from where I live and I often drive by. It ceased to be a Club site some years ago and was run for a while by the local town council but even they have given up on it. We stayed there once to try out a new caravan. It had been quite wet and at the time I had a rear wheel drive car which was having difficulty getting traction. Simon, my youngest son, decided to give me a push which did get the car going but unfortunately covered him head to foot in mud!!! Fortunately it wasn’t far to take him home and hose him down. 

Four of the plaques are from old Racecourse sites, some used to trade under the Trax name which I think was a collective of various racecourses and the Club would run them as they still do on many racecourse sites. The Folkestone Racecourse was handy for an early morning ferry as there was room to leave the unit hitched up. Brighton Racecourse site has been replaced by Club site Sheepcote Valley. Long gone now was the Newcastle upon Tyne Racecourse site. Much missed I imagine as are not many touring campsites in this part of the country. It was pouring with rain when we arrived and we were asked by the warden whether we wanted a pitch with a swimming pool or without!!! Sadly Wincanton has now joined the ranks of the racecourse sites to exit the Club network. 

About five of the plaques I have relate to sites that have left the network but still operate as campsites. These include Maidstone - Scragged Oak, Windermere – Braithwaite Fold,  Lutterworth – Stanford Hall, Braemar – Invercauld, and finally one of our favourites Banbury – Bo Peep Farm, the latter was an AS site for some years but last years was its last as a full blown campsite as the owners are concentrating of organised events. 

Others that have fallen by the wayside include, Prestatyn – Tower Beach where we had a very hot August holiday, Hexham – Fallowfield Dene, Derby – Elvaston Castle, Hemel Hempstead – Breakspear Way, and finally and only just announced that it is not likely to reopen is Mildenhall- Round Plantation.