I love our caravan

I think it's awful to restrict the age of tourers and statics. I've seen some beautifully kept old caravans and some horrendous relatively new ones. The age isn't as important as how the owners take care of them.

Just out of curiosity, I`ve just looked up the 2 sites that I mentioned, and now they`ve extended the acceptable age for tourers, one says max 15 years, the other 20. I wish they`d done this years ago when we wanted to go there.

Composting toilets don't smell. I've used them at some nature reserves.

One of the toilets flushes. BUT: "There’s also a traditional composting loo located close to the showershack and where possible we ask that this be your first port of call!"

Eeurgh!

Sorry!

Oh no! They are not the same. There is no water to flush round the bowl.

#bitsmustgetstuck

The vans look lovely.

The compost toilets appear to be the same as ordinary toilets. The waste system is the only difference. Instead of going into the sewers it goes into reed beds and naturally decomposes.

Compost lavs.

If I was twenty years younger I'd give it a go.

Need a bit more luxury in my life these days.

That filled me with dread and horror.

I follow these people on facebook

maddogsandvintagevans.co.uk/

No intentions of going there but I love what they're doing and there's something sooooo romantic about vintage caravans.

Nice to have a browse if you love caravans.

And this for only ten and a half months and we didn't use it from the end of October until April or Easter whenever that was. Since we left,about 4 years ago the site is open 12 months a year so I assume the fees have gone up accordingly.It is not for the ones who do not use it very regularly and have family who also make good use of it.

Annsixty, there is the problem , 4 thousand pounds a year to keep the static caravan!One thousand pounds for every 3 months. not viable for us.

We have been members of the Caravan Club for 30 years. When the boys were school age we went on weekend rallies mainly close to home. We all made friends and had a great time. Now we have retired we usually stay on caravan club sites where we know the standard of facilities will be high. We go away at least once every month to a different part of the country and its great. I couldn't think of a better way to spend my retirement. I love my caravan and always chose one with a high spec, I was built for comfort. Back in the days of rallying, I can remember attending a fellow ralliers 80th Birthday Party in January, I hope I still have the same enthusiasm when its mine, also in January!

We have a static in Cornwall and love it to bits. We were there each weekend when we were still working but now we can stay as often and as long as we like. It is so peaceful and restful, but also plenty of places to go to for a day out. Unbeatable. Absolute heaven.

We were on a site with our static caravan which had the ten year rule in theory but if you had kept your van in good condition it wasn't enforced. After all there were vacant pitches and if you kept paying your £4k+ rent a year and spent in the bar and restaurant they really didn't want to lose you!!

numberplease Oh , I have never come across that rule for tourers. Before we bought our current van 3 years ago , we were using a van that was 23 years old. . Maybe a bit old fashioned but otherwise fine. What a snobbish attitude and these sites are best avoided.

I too am guessing that they don't want older vans to "spoil" the look of their sites. The ones we were looking at were in fact 9 years old so presumably in a year you would have to move it or get rid. Crafty!

Regarding the age rule, it applies to tourers as well on a very few sites. There were 2 lovely looking sites in Suffolk that we were tempted by a few years ago, both owned by the same company, but we were unable to go there, because they had a rule of not accepting any tourers over the age of 10 years. Maybe they thought that old vans would spoil the look of their beautiful sites? Not true in many cases, some old vans are better kept up than newer ones.

Yes, I agree, it's not just buying the caravan but the thousands to be paid out to keep it on a site, otherwise we would have gone ahead and bought one, the whole family could have used it.

Hi rosesarered I have been doing a bit of digging around and it seems this could be anything from hundreds to thousands!! It's certainly put me off too.

NanSue, we looked a few years ago at buying a static caravan, it's the high price of keeping it on the site that put us off though.

We've raked up all our spare cash and are going to treat ourselves to an inflatable awning plus electric pump. They're up and ready in less than 5 minutes! We like the Kampa Fiesta Air Pro which is designed to allow two extensions to be zipped on if required. We figured it will be useful when the children are too big for the small caravan beds. To say I'm overexcited is an understatement

We'll sell our current awning on ebay to recoup some of the money.

I think some sites do have an age rule but there must be some that don't. I suppose it depends where you'd like to be.

Glad there was no damage Dumpling,you must have feared the worst when you heard the crunching sound,bet you don't do that again.