Reserved notice

Hi, the other day I saw a "reserved" sign in a motorhome accessories shop, and I thought this would be useful if you were on a pitch and wanted to go off for a bit of sight-seeing.  Has anyone got one - I never seem to see them mentioned.

I changed the number plates on my first van and attached one of the old plates to a stake that could be pushed in the ground to reserve our pitch. This mostly worked but one day we went out to find a family now set up in our spot and all our pitch marking equipment some way away in a nowhere near as nice spot. Asking the family how it got there we were told "it was like that when we arrived".

The signs do help reserve your pitch but if somebody is determined to pitch there, there is not a lot you can do about it.

I made one a few years ago its had 4 registrations on since then !

You can buy plastic ones from ASOC, (if you ar19:08:31 amember19:08:33) MMM magazine,  Motor Caravanners Club and Caravan Club

We use a bucket, filled with water and with our van registration number and a smiley face painted on it. The bucket travels in the underbed locker, full of tools and spares, it's used for emptying grey water and for washing dirty clothes and shoes as well as, upside down, a spare coffee table or leg rest. It's red so it could even be used as a fire bucket outside the van.

Never been stolen, blown away or ignored.

The more observant would note that the registration is not the same as the current van as it's one we've had for some time, but no-one has ever commented in 3 years.

dbroada wrote:I changed the number plates on my first van and attached one of the old plates to a stake that could be pushed in the ground to reserve our pitch. This mostly worked but one day we went out to find a family now set up in our spot and all our pitch marking equipment some way away in a nowhere near as nice spot. Asking the family how it got there we were told "it was like that when we arrived".

The signs do help reserve your pitch but if somebody is determined to pitch there, there is not a lot you can do about it.

Caravan or motorhome?

If caravan I'd wait until they went out and move their van somewhere a long way away.

A towbar is useful for this of course.

meanchris wrote:

dbroada wrote:I changed the number plates on my first van and attached one of the old plates to a stake that could be pushed in the ground to reserve our pitch. This mostly worked but one day we went out to find a family now set up in our spot and all our pitch marking equipment some way away in a nowhere near as nice spot. Asking the family how it got there we were told "it was like that when we arrived".

The signs do help reserve your pitch but if somebody is determined to pitch there, there is not a lot you can do about it.

Caravan or motorhome?

If caravan I'd wait until they went out and move their van somewhere a long way away.

A towbar is useful for this of course.

Tent, large frame.

I also made my own, never had a problem

I just leave out the ramps and cable, never had a problem.
Rich..

Best ( worst ? ) example of pitch pinching we've ever seen was at the aire at Baccarat. Yes, I know you can't reserve pitches on most aires but a French van close to us , with riverside pitch, decided to go and service his van. He left out chairs, step, mat, bikes etc filling the pitch. 

Seconds later, literally as he was moving to the borne, a huge Hymer, parked further back from the river,  sped over and used the front of his van to nudge all the stuff off the pitch and parked there. 

To say we were all gobsmacked was an understatement but the Hymer would not move and there was nothing the French driver could do as none of his stuff was damaged.

It was even more entertaining than the river activity.

Thanks Quilter, I was beginning to feel paranoid by being the only person to have been pitch napped.

Maybe everybody else goes to nicer sites but in my case we had left out the fold up table as well as our number plate and both were found on the floor in a manner that might suggest somebody had forgot to pack them, certainly not how we left them.

I think a cheap popup tent is a better 'marker' as people don't know if someone is in there and so don't try to move it.

You can pick up popup tents really cheaply now and they can be useful for a little storage of chairs etc to keep out of the elements etc.

Then when you leave you can leave that as if someone is in the pitch camping.

Obviously wont work on hardstanding though.

We went to Devizes a few months ago. The site assistant, on his bike, lead us to a perfect pitch and we plugged in and started to get lunch. He then came round to apologise; the pitch was already allocated to a motorhome who'd gone out for the day. We were taken off to another pitch, where he radioed in first. Sorry, that one too was already occupied by another absent motorhome. We'd been joined by another van, in the same situation and eventually both of us were pitched. 

Sure, it was poor admin as the pitches should have been marked as occupied in the office and the assistant should not have been told to take us to them BUT, the failure of the absent motorhomes concerned to leave pitch markers did not help. 

We devised all sort of penalties for owners who don't leave pitch markers that afternoon.

Pitch and feathers   

Askit wrote:Pitch and feathers   

We were all for something a bit milder...like allowing us to carry on on his pitch and telling him, when he got back, that he'd have to go in the overnighting area near the bins.

It does ask motorhomers to leave pitch markers and, as shown above, they don't have to cost you anthting.

We generally don't move once pitched as we prefer walking or using public transport when available. I think your "bucket" idea is great and makes it clear the pitch is taken. One of the magazines had a letter from someone who had stuff, left on a pitch, stolen. Must admit, in 50 years of using campsites, that's a new one on me.

Thank you for all your replies.  I did wonder if the markers ever got removed and someone else park there.  From reading your comments, it seems, as in all walks of life, some people know no shame!

Off topic but at least seasonal  

We went, some time ago, to a large garden centre to buy a real Christmas tree as we had done for many years. They had a system whereby you chose a tree, left it to be packaged and got a ticket to pay and use to collect the tree on the way out. My wife overheard a guy saying to the woman and two children with him that he wanted our tree as it was a good shape. As you may have already guessed, when we went to the collection point out tree was gone. They said the guy who picked it up claimed he had lost his ticket but knew the number, as he bought one after us he of course would. That was the last time we got a real tree. There are a few nasty folk about but they are well outnumbered by the rest.

I hoped he and his family had a good Christmas..........and then he fell down a long flight of stairs  

And I bet the " gentleman" in question would have been the first to shout about jobsworths if the person giving out trees had told him no ticket= no tree. 

It's delightful people like that that mean we have to have so many rules about everything.

To return to the original topic(!)...
We have a small campervan and so storage space is at a premium. We made a pitch marker using using the back(  plain cream side) of two pieces of vinyl flooring off cuts, stapled together so that they slide over a spike pushed into the ground. Wrote 'Campervan using this pitch' on both sides using thick black permanent marker pen. 
Has worked so far, was free and is easy to store under passenger mat.

I used to have an old VW transporter with no grey water tank. I used to use the black waste water container to mark my pitch, until it was stolen on a site in Ireland. Nobody occupied the pitch, they just took the half full container. Had to buy an orange bucket to use for the rest of the holiday.

Only thing I have ever had pinched though..