Gutted but it's going

When I was enthusing over the having bought our first Van (Autosleeper Rambler) and we only had one small baby a very wise old Archdeacon who I worked with said, "Martin - don't keep it too long. When it stops working for the family sell it and move on." We kept it for about 12 years and it stopped working. Too small, didn't need to get out of London, life was too busy, oh, and it felt like I was doing all the heavy lifting. We sold it. My dream is my dream, but everyone else does not have to be forced to share it.

Last year, kids now 21 - 27 we bought an old Hymer. We all love it. Kids (when old enough to insure) all want to use/ borrow it. Oldest daughter and boyfriend were the first to do a long trip in it - perfect for mountain bikes!

Life turns. Enjoy each day.
 
Grasmere9 said:
Oh my this is a whole new level of technical stuff 🙈
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Brilliant bit of kit
 
We are meant to be going away next week... help me please to come up with a great plan to present! We are based in Cheshire and have 6 days. I am getting snow blind with Search for Sites!! I really want this to happen.

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When I was 11, I never had the privilege of joining my parents on their holidays.

When they were on annual leave, either I was at boarding school, or on occasion during school holidays and half terms I was sent to a sort of foster family in a huge house, who provided short term holiday accomodation. There would be a few other boys and girls of similar age also separated from their parents. We bonded as a group and had a great time together.
 
Grasmere9 said:
We went to Chester to a CL...it poured down all weekend. The Lakes....it poured down and we sprang a leak..fixed under warranty and ran out of gas (rooky mistake), my sisters racing yard in Newmarket. Meant to be going away next week but other half now says he can't face it.
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I loved camping & caravanning with my parents when I was that age....but we almost always went to sites with plenty of things going on and lots of other children for me to run around with. On the occasions we went somewhere quieter it was usually in group with friends.

Grasmere9 said:
So surprised that people pack the Playstation 😂 I thought I would get flamed if I suggested it!
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We take the Xbox with us - and we don't have kids ;)



Whereabouts in the country do you want to go and for how long?
I'd suggest ditching Search for Sites for now and looking for a more traditional campsite with plenty of thing to keep him occupied. This is a good place to start: https://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/sites/ and you'll probably find more reviews from families with children than you would on the more motorhome-focused apps.
 
Molly A said:
You could go to Sandy Balls near Fordingbridge if you think a more busy site with facilities would work . I would echo the fact that a CL I the middle of winter is going to be incredibly boring for a single child. The very best idea is to take a friend with him, if possible. We had the same issues with my partner's daughter on our boat, but bringing a friend worked well. If he loves tech,let him have his tech on the van. Have a film night, with hot dogs and all the kind of food you wouldn't normally give him.Obviously the cricket thing is going to be an issue, if he loves playing then weekends away are going to be an issue for him. You might need to confine yourself to one night away before or after the match.
Good luck, but to get him into it you are going to have to make one or two compromises.The trip to France should be a game changer, loads of activities, we did the high wire tree tops adventure parks, cyclng, surfing, Isle D'Oleron is good as well as Isle De Re. Maybe take a friend with you then, too....
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I thought sandy balls had shut its touring bit and was all static now ?
 
DangerMousy said:
I loved camping & caravanning with my parents when I was that age....but we almost always went to sites with plenty of things going on and lots of other children for me to run around with. On the occasions we went somewhere quieter it was usually in group with friends.


We take the Xbox with us - and we don't have kids ;)



Whereabouts in the country do you want to go and for how long?
I'd suggest ditching Search for Sites for now and looking for a more traditional campsite with plenty of thing to keep him occupied. This is a good place to start: https://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/sites/ and you'll probably find more reviews from families with children than you would on the more motorhome-focused apps.
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I don't mind where we go. I will take a look at the website you recommend.

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Grasmere9 said:
We are meant to be going away next week... help me please to come up with a great plan to present! We are based in Cheshire and have 6 days. I am getting snow blind with Search for Sites!! I really want this to happen.
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There is a really good looking site called 'letsgowiththechildren.co.uk ' which could give you some ideas. Broken down geographically so chose your activities and then find a site, or vice versa....engage your son in the planning and think about taking a friend but defo sort out mifi....
 
scousebird said:
It's a shame to hear your news. Could a friend come along, would that help your youngster?
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Many years ago, with our first Moho we let our son take a friend along, they both enjoyed it, especially Cornwall surfing together - brilliant!
 
A soggy field in the back of beyond won't appeal. What lights junior's fire? Structure a trip around that. Visit a GoKart track/ZipWire or some other adrenalin stunt. At 11 he should not dictate what happens. Tails do not wag dogs.
 
Grasmere9 said:
We are meant to be going away next week... help me please to come up with a great plan to present! We are based in Cheshire and have 6 days. I am getting snow blind with Search for Sites!! I really want this to happen.
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If I were you I'd wait for the summer. There's a risk that it will be a repeat of the previous trips in the cold and rain. Even if there are things to do you will have to spend a fair bit of time inside. Just my opinion of course... but with so much at risk I think I'd wait.
 
chaser said:
Sometimes I have to wonder on here, we have more than half the people on here pandering to dogs, buying motorhomes just so as they can take them with them, going where the dogs wil be allowed and spending a fortune on tunnel and vets and stuff but when it comes to your own flesh and blood, the future of this world, they can't have a bit of what they want.
When our kids were small we would never have dreamed of going anywhere they didn't want to go, holidays were for the kids not us, we got our enjoyment seeing that they were happy.
And they have turned out ok thanks.
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I agree with much of what you've said. Our family holidays were always about the children but we decided where we went and the accommodation we stayed in. After that, it was games on the beach, football, tennis, frisbee, swimming in the sea, bucket and spades, flying kites, oh the simple pleasures!

My granddaughter is eleven and her parents decide where, when, what etc., after that they make the holiday suitable for her and her seven year old brother.

Personally I think allowing an 11 year old decide on whether to keep a motorhome, is a step too far.

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ChrisL said:
I presume you're not 11? However, different things please different people, clearly others have not found it the same. I was in my late 50's when I went, I don’t know what shows you saw but some of them have some fantastic effects and I thought the sheer amount of work that goes into the productions on such a large scale was amazing.
It's closed at the moment because of Covid i believe but if it wasn't i would be visiting it on this trip to see some of the stuff i missed last time.
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I'm sorry I didn't enjoy it at all, but I'm just putting an alternative view about it. I just didn't get it.
 
Grasmere9 said:
We are meant to be going away next week... help me please to come up with a great plan to present! We are based in Cheshire and have 6 days. I am getting snow blind with Search for Sites!! I really want this to happen.
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www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk

Alton The Star Campsite - The Camping and Caravanning Club

View and book our Alton The Star Campsite and explore all that Stoke on Trent has to offer. Caravans, tents, motorhomes and all other units welcome!
www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk

Close to Alton Towers!
 
I know many might disagree, but a motorhome is not a great option if you have kids.
I have always thought that a touring caravan is much better, as having a car available opens up many more options.
If you look around a typical campsite, most families with children will be in a touring caravan, not a motorhome.
At 11 years old it should be fairly easy to keep him entertained.
From experience, 16 is the worst age as it is no longer "cool" to go away with mum and dad, but they are too young to be left home alone.
 
ontheroadagain said:
I know many might disagree, but a motorhome is not a great option if you have kids.
I have always thought that a touring caravan is much better, as having a car available opens up many more options.
If you look around a typical campsite, most families with children will be in a touring caravan, not a motorhome.
At 11 years old it should be fairly easy to keep him entertained.
From experience, 16 is the worst age as it is no longer "cool" to go away with mum and dad, but they are too young to be left home alone.
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Our tourer was great but in the end we left it in Cornwall and drove down most holidays. I imagined taking the motorhome abroad to explore new places...and warmer places. We don't really fancy sitting on a plane and going to a hotel and never seeing the country.

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ontheroadagain said:
I know many might disagree, but a motorhome is not a great option if you have kids.
I have always thought that a touring caravan is much better, as having a car available opens up many more options.
If you look around a typical campsite, most families with children will be in a touring caravan, not a motorhome.
At 11 years old it should be fairly easy to keep him entertained.
From experience, 16 is the worst age as it is no longer "cool" to go away with mum and dad, but they are too young to be left home alone.
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I think that only applies if you use your motorhome like a caravan, leaving you with no car. We use the motorhome to go out and about. Last year we went to two different farm parks, with two different sets of grandchildren. We used the motorhome to have a picnic in at lunch time. We also went with them to Twycross Zoo and to several different beaches.

I think a motorhome is a great option with kids. You have food and drinks onboard, as they are always hungry. You have beds, you have a toilet and handwashing facilities. You also have a TV.
 
We took the Gruppenfuhrer’s Grumpkids to the Longleat CAMC site a few years ago, very short walk to get into the park (tip: book the safari bus early). The way we approached it was to keep the actual destination a surprise, not saying anything about the Safari park. Then when there the first evening and they saw a few animals from the playground we shrugged it off as the private collection of some eccentric landed gentry. But when they later heard the lions we made up stories about escaped animals and disappeared children never to be found again, merely a scattering of indistinguishable bone debris ever being recovered etc.

Longleat Club Campsite

Longleat is a Club Campsite in Warminster that welcomes both caravans and motorhomes. Enjoy a site open to both members and non-members.
www.caravanclub.co.uk www.caravanclub.co.uk
 
Might he be interested in a bit of fossil hunting on the Jurassic coast? Just thinking you could maybe turn what was previously a less interesting trip to a wet CS/CL into more of a road trip of different venues and experiences?
 
If you’re in Bournemouth area for VR event, there are also things like Bovington Tank Museum and Monkeyworld not far away.

Home - The Tank Museum

The Tank Museum, Bovington, UK - the world's finest collection of tanks and Dorset's best family day out! Home of TANKFEST and Tiger 131.
tankmuseum.org tankmuseum.org

Home - Monkey World

MEET THE PRIMATES MONKEY WORLD APE RESCUE CENTRE The rescue centre has assisted governments around the world to stop the smuggling of primates from the wild ...
monkeyworld.org monkeyworld.org
 
RowleyBirkinQC said:
We took the Gruppenfuhrer’s Grumpkids to the Longleat CAMC site a few years ago, very short walk to get into the park (tip: book the safari bus early). The way we approached it was to keep the actual destination a surprise, not saying anything about the Safari park. Then when there the first evening and they saw a few animals from the playground we shrugged it off as the private collection of some eccentric landed gentry. But when they later heard the lions we made up stories about escaped animals and disappeared children never to be found again, merely a scattering of indistinguishable bone debris ever being recovered etc.

Longleat Club Campsite

Longleat is a Club Campsite in Warminster that welcomes both caravans and motorhomes. Enjoy a site open to both members and non-members.
www.caravanclub.co.uk www.caravanclub.co.uk
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Full!! CMC sites are nearly always full in school holidays.

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Grasmere9 said:
We went to Chester to a CL...it poured down all weekend. The Lakes....it poured down and we sprang a leak..fixed under warranty and ran out of gas (rooky mistake), my sisters racing yard in Newmarket. Meant to be going away next week but other half now says he can't face it.
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I would definitely try doing something in it that he enjoys, ask him for a list of things he'd like to do (not all will be realistic options). Try taking him Skiing at Glencoe for a weekend? A weekend at a British Superbike meet? Take him to Bala for a weekend and go rafting, canyoning, zip lining or Surfing doesn't matter if it's raining if you're wet anyway? Mountain biking in and around Fort William? Whale watching or Sea Fishing?

Cheers
Red.
 
How about the Peak District ?You never know someone might cancel for a night or 2 at Castleton c&mc site which is a great spot for the blue john mines.

Otherwise, you could add a pub stop somewhere on the edge of ladybower ( think there is a pub that offers this?) and there is a lovely trail cycle route along the side of Derwent reservoir, historically linked to the Dambusters .

If you can get to Hathersage there is a fantastic heated lido open all year round.

You could stay here ( see below ) we had a couple of nights at this little site last year in the Peak District , it looks like they may have availability, it’s just a short walk or cycle to the MonSal trail . We would go again.

We hired a fire pit for a couple of nights when we were there

Dale Farm, Great Longstone | Peak District Camping and Motorhome site & Farm Shop

Dale Farm is a small, rural campsite & farm in the Peak District’s Great Longstone, Derbyshire near Monsal Head, Monsal Trail, Bakewell and Chatsworth House
dale.farm

When we were on the Monsal trail cycling and we did notice some children abseiling off it, think there is a local abseiling company ?
 
Grasmere9 said:
We actually visited this place in Macon in 2018 but he was too young to do anything. He's taller and older now so definitely looks a good idea. I had forgotten all about it. What is RH&D railway? Forgive my ignorance!
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Have a look at the C&CC temporarily sites. There are 30 odd within 20 miles of Bovington Tank Museum this year.

Screenshot_20220216-135417_Out & About.jpg

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