Just Starting

Hi Brian & Val

Congratulations on joing the world of caravanning - I'm sure you will enjoy it.

The new forum is the place to ask any questions you may have on correct loading etc and if you have never towed before you could consider going on the CC  Towing Course.

Once on site you will find most members will be only to happy to offer help when you need - dont be afraid to ask - and over the period of your stay will you will find that most of things that you are worried about are not problems at all.

Hope you have a great first trip and enjoy your caravanning.

Regards Riggers

Hi there,

We started caravaning this time last year and like you just went on local trips to start off with, a very good idea. Since then the world (UK) has been our oyster. Take your time over everything, it's not a race, if you have to do it five times it doesn't really matter, next time it may only take you four attempts. Don't be afraid to ask, CC members are generally very friendly and very willing to help. On our first trip we had the site warden and two members in and out of our van helping with various things that we couldn't work out, they all volunteered their help we didn't ask. Now if there is something I'm not sure about I ask another member or best of all the site warden, they are great fountains of knowledge. Most of all enjoy yourselves, we do. Nothing better than setting up and then sitting down with a cold one after all that 'excercise'.

Bst of luck Pete & Marie

You will love Harbury Fields Farm! I live in Harbury, and have observed the evolution of this site from humble beginnings as a small addition to the owner's farm, through the CL stage, to the very successful site it has now become.

It is amusing to observe the numbers of vans on site through the year and the differing seasons - winter 2011 I was amazed at just how many hardy campers were there!

I hope you enjoy your stay!

Welcome to the wonderful world of caravanning.  Never worry about doing things slowly - you tend not to forget the important little details that way - like taking the cover off the water heater (my usual silly).

Can I suggest nay insist that you both learn to tow and set up the van inside and out?  If you drive a car, you can tow a van with a little bit of help from the Club's towing course.

I know too many people who were really enthusiastic caravanners who have had to give it all up on the death or ill-health of a partner, just because they did not take up the challenge of towing to start with.  I even know one lady (a centre committee member no less) who had to call Mayday to tow her caravan back from a rally to her house, less than 10 miles because her husband had developed a severe tummy bug and could not drive home.  How embarrassing is that?

When my husband and I got together we had both been the only driver in our respective families, and suddenly found that the boundaries had moved.  We follow 'tacho-regs' with one driver towing for not more than 2 hours, then taking a coffee break (20 mins) and the other taking over.  Sound familiar to any professional drivers out there?  It made mincemeat of the journey to the Loire Valley - with both of us sharing the driving and navigating.

Enjoy your new hobby - hope to see you on a site soon.

Regards

Mia

Mia,

        fairly new to caravanning ourselves. Had our first outings last year and despite all my planning and organising we still found that on the first two trips we had lots to learn. Takes a few trips to get it all easy but it falls into place. I now look forward to our trips as im pretty sure ive got it all covered...but then hey, you just never know..

Regards

Paul

Last year was our first year of caravanning and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the Hillshead site near Brixham, with our two grand children for the Spring Bank Holiday.

Dependant upon how mobile you are, you will probably find the walk to the beach to be quite an effort and the journey back seems even longer.

Hope you enjoy your stay.

Just as an after thought, we did not have any rock pegs for the awning, before we travelled to Hillshead and we had to buy them at the site, as we could not put the awning up without them.

Hi All  We two are new to this and have managed two practise runs so far at a site only 45 mins away,  Nerves and stress abounding on the first one a little less on the second, management  conflicts a few lol and almost divorce in bag with the awning lol.  We hope to begin again next month and hopefully get this right. Great help was appreciated from seasoned travellers and the wardens at Silver Bank site so maybe we will dare to venture further eventually.