Is the Golden Age Over - Portinscale

SafariMul

SafariMul

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The (in)famous Layby @ Portinscale, Keswick.

Thin end of the wedge ... end of an era ... golden age past it's prime ... another one bites the dust ?

Ok, doesn't appear to have a TRO etc signed, but nonetheless what with Devon, St Andrews, Whitby, Stonehaven .... !!

Glad we did our heyday of touring a few yrs ago. Now too (over)popular for our own good, I think.



Portinscale.jpg
 
Why, It's empty at night except for motorhomes, your not blocking anyone's view or drive.
In four years time I'm going to retire at 60 hopefully and i'm going to bugger off to France.
 
Why, why indeed ? No harm, gets busy I know only 20m from me.

8yrs we're buggering off to France too. These pisspot Isles of narrowmindeness can't shove their not-in-my-backyard up their own 'rse soon enough for us.
 
It's a shame that the Local Councils are run by such narrow minded idiots who cannot see the benefit of providing spaces for MH parking. The Council in Whitby for instance are complaining about Caravans and MH's parking on their car parks for the Goth Festival. If they don't want them then why not just cancel the festival. The Councillors seem to think that a camp site 3 - 4 miles out of town is good enough or they should use the local hotels or B & B's. They really don't have a clue.

Unfortunately Motor Homing is getting very popular and there are a number of different sites where you can find locations to park for a night. A few have facilities but many don't and the problems arise when people don't want to leave their really nice spot just to go and empty the black / grey waste. The Councils should do more to address this problem rather than just putting up more and more signs saying No Motor Homes 10pm to 8am - No Sleeping - No Overnight Parking. It doesn't solve a problem it just moves it somewhere else.

The French have gone about it in a totally different way and actively provide overnight stops. Some are not brilliant or in the nicest places but they are there. They generate money for local stores and bars / restaurants and provide jobs for people in the tourist industry. The Local Councils have embraced the idea that MH's are worth attracting.

We have had some really great times in the Uk and have found loads of different places to park for a night. We have been back to some and found No Overnight Sleeping signs but it just means that the Cafe we went in last time has lost out financially and one a few miles up the coast has had the business instead. If we cannot park we don't bother staying. I refuse to buy two tickets to park so we just move on. Local shops miss out and the Supermarkets win because they provide parking. Then you hear the Local Council is looking at initiatives to bring in more trade because the High Street is dying. So the first thing they do is nip round and put hight barriers up everywhere.

..
 
Sadly a result of increases in popularity and the resulting saturation of popular publicised spots...

Seen it all happen before in the 4x4 world...
Pre Internet there were miles and miles of lanes to be driven... Often without seeing another soul,
Post Internet and routes posted for all and sundry to see without much in the way of effort...
Too much traffic resulted in routes being closed due to irresponsible actions and a larger number of folks being forced into an ever decreasing number of routes....
Sound familiar???
 
Whilst France generally has a better attitude towards motohomes I've still come across laybys and coastal carparks which ban motorhomes.
 
colinmd said:
Whilst France generally has a better attitude towards motohomes I've still come across laybys and coastal carparks which ban motorhomes.
Click to expand...

Indeed . Whether we like it or not we can be a problem . Especially in large numbers .
Sure I read previously the French were forced to adopt the Aire concept because motorhomes were a problem . A few councils here have taken that more enlightened approach whether it is cost effective for them is another matter .
 
alcam said:
Indeed . Whether we like it or not we can be a problem . Especially in large numbers .
Sure I read previously the French were forced to adopt the Aire concept because motorhomes were a problem . A few councils here have taken that more enlightened approach whether it is cost effective for them is another matter .
Click to expand...

Yes I understand thats partly why Aires in France came about. They exist perfectly well alongside the thousands of campsites in France as well. Oddly here the campsite owners and council officials seem to be under the impression that if they ban motorhomes from parking that this will somehow herd them into their campsites. They are very much mistaken. It just ends up with wild campers boycotting the area. As said its so much easier to just head across to mainland Europe where not only are we welcome and wilding is generally easier they have laid on thousands of free or low cost Aires, Sostas and Stellplatz for us.

Add to that what a PIA the UK road network is, the crappy weather then there is very little "pull" for me to motorhome here. in fact if I go away in the motorhome in the UK now its either a CL on a farm site around Ullswater which is pretty much on my doorstep, A CL on the North Yorks coast or the Isle of Arran but most summers I can be found living it large in the sunshine in Provence, the Alps or the Pyrenees.
 
Advisory

colinmd said:
Whilst France generally has a better attitude towards motohomes I've still come across laybys and coastal carparks which ban motorhomes.
Click to expand...

Are the signs in Keswick/portonscale still advisory or are they checked, thanks
 
mistericeman said:
Sadly a result of increases in popularity and the resulting saturation of popular publicised spots...

Seen it all happen before in the 4x4 world...
Pre Internet there were miles and miles of lanes to be driven... Often without seeing another soul,
Post Internet and routes posted for all and sundry to see without much in the way of effort...
Too much traffic resulted in routes being closed due to irresponsible actions and a larger number of folks being forced into an ever decreasing number of routes....
Sound familiar???
Click to expand...

A lot of the decrease in spots for 4x4 was due to the nuisance and damage caused though. I am not anti off readers but do or have seen some of the results and it’s not pretty. Probably more damage caused by the bikes in most parts I admit.

Thing is in all areas of interest as folks get more leisure time you will have more people doing it. We should embrace that and ensure there are places for people to carry out their interests.
 
Totally agree with the posts on here, but what saddens me more than anything is not the attitudes of the councils or the public, but some of the wild campers on here.

Each time another one goes they tell us it’s our own fault, whilst defending councils who’s only remit seems to be to prevent us from wild camping at all costs.
 
Fisherman said:
Totally agree with the posts on here, but what saddens me more than anything is not the attitudes of the councils or the public, but some of the wild campers on here.

Each time another one goes they tell us it’s our own fault, whilst defending councils who’s only remit seems to be to prevent us from wild camping at all costs.
Click to expand...

In some cases it is the fault of , at least some , motorhomers . Unfortunately councils take the easy option . Instead of finding a solution , which would benefit everybody , they just ban us .
Whitby is a prime example , for very little outlay they could accommodate us (not at peak festival times) making money for town , marina and local businesses
 
the introduction of official aires in france was down to general de Gaulle post ww11 the french were pre war so parochial that the aires were brought in to get the different departments to mix,
 
witzend said:
How,s that then ? Whats going to make it more difficult

France isn,t what it was a few years ago
It,s also getting very busy and attracting commercial interests
Click to expand...

We wont be part of the EU, we will be a third country and subject to limits on how long we can stay in Europe. Three months max in any six.
 
alcam said:
In some cases it is the fault of , at least some , motorhomers . Unfortunately councils take the easy option . Instead of finding a solution , which would benefit everybody , they just ban us .
Whitby is a prime example , for very little outlay they could accommodate us (not at peak festival times) making money for town , marina and local businesses
Click to expand...


Of course there are bad motorhomes out there, who have created problems.
But the blunt instrument used by over zealous councils is not how to solve the problem.
 
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