UK Camping meet in the Spring anyone?

Who's up for a camping meet in the Spring? Lots of other owners group do it so why not have one for us Hiace folks?

I'm just trying to gauge interest at the moment as I'm sure there must be enough Hiace based campers to make this worthwhile.

Everyone interested in camping with their Hiace whether campervan, caravan or tent is of course welcome.

Here's my basic idea
Let's keep this frist meet reasonably informal. As I'm quite central I thought I'd see if I can find somewhere suitable for us to meet and socialise and with as little cost as possible and hopefully throw a few local places of interest for good measure. I used to be in a completely unrelated group and I was always impressed at the places the group managed to camp on at very little cost.
My intial thought was to find a nice country pub with a handy space we can get permission to camp over on. I'm hoping this will provide us with basic facilities and a nice warm place to meet during the evenings. Or maybe a basic camp site near to somewhere we can gather in the evenings.

I don't have any date forecast yet other than to suggest maybe after Easter. I know it's cold and damp and dark now but the prospect of Sping is something to look forward to.

I'm not thinking of anything too structured at the moment like BBQ's and stuff as these need volunteers to organise them and I know they might not be to everyone's taste (sorry for the pun). I'm open to suggestions and offers of organisational help but the main idea is to share our joy of owning our Hiace's

Even if we only get half a dozen of us together it's a start so please have a think about it and show your interest on this thread.

UPDATE I've started a list of those interested just so I can keep track

Fasteddie (Me)
Admin
Clive
Entwistlea
Chrisandhiace
Timbo
Jimsmim
anthonyJ
Yamman

Sounds like a great idea... I would be interested.

I too would be interested but am with the Bongos over Easter.

I'm running a meet at Brean on 14th May, had 3 Hiace at the last one.

Everyone welcome.

sounds good

Hope you'll be posting info about your May meet in the forums Clive?

Clive wrote:

I too would be interested but am with the Bongos over Easter.

I'm running a meet at Brean on 14th May, had 3 Hiace at the last one.

Everyone welcome.

Thanks for your interest so far folks. I'm really pleased at this early response.

It would be really nice to see a few more people generally interested as I'd really like this event to happen. Looks like I'd better start to make some enquiries of places to stay.

Not much of a camper, but may be interested if it falls on a weekend off and its north of Brum.....

ahh come on, it could be fun :-) I'm no camper either and the other half will kill me, but what the hell :-)

Sounds like it could be fun ...... i'm up for it - dates permitting etc.........

Quote :

Not much of a camper, but may be interested if it falls on a weekend off and its north of Brum.....

how north of brum are you thinkin matey......

I'm pleased to see interest growing. Keep it coming folks!

In answer to your question Jimsmim I'm thinking about keeping it as central as possible for a few reasons not least of which is trying to be within reach of as many people as possible. I can take a ride out and view any possible sites before making a decision. I’m hoping to be able to use my own local knowledge to direct people who want to make an excursion to local towns and attractions.

I appreciate that it's a long trek for you and many others Jimsmim but I'm hoping that others will take this lead and perhaps organise a meet in their region too?

I'm very pleased with the interest shown so far and I'll be doing some reccy's in a couple of weeks and reporting back. I've found quite a few pubs with camping and I really need to view before we book as I want to make sure that there are sufficient facilities for everyone. Some of the pubs I've looked at so far don't offer loos outside opening hours and some offer 24hr access and showers. So far my reckoning is that the many will be pitching tents next to their Hiaces so I want to ensure all of life's basic needs are catered for.

Central sounds good.........

Just thought I'd bump this and see if we can gather a bit more interest.

I'm gathering info on suitable locations and will be visiting them over the next couple of weeks to check out the facilities.

So come on Hiacers and join us at a meet up and put faces to names and see eachothers vans and chat Hiace til your heart's content.

Count me in especially if there is a pub attached!

Definitely will do Anthony

I've started a list of those interested in the first posting of this thread

I'm going to view a few possible sites for our camping meet this week.

I've just been looking at other make clubs various social and camping gatherings and I'm very impressed with the turn outs they get no matter what the weather. I'm sure us Hiace owners can do just as well so it would be great to see a few more interested names on the list. For me I'd like to meet other owners, see eachothers vans and compare notes, chat Hiace and SC and have a chilled weekend with as little financial outlay as possible.

So who else is interested?

still interested here if i can make it!

entwistlea wrote:

still interested here if i can make it!

Great.

I'm hoping once I have a definite location and place posted that more peole will show interest so please keep watching this space.

Still interested.

Here is a list of meets that I will attend with the Estima and Bongo owners -

14 - 16 May................Brean...................TA8 2RP
http://www.warren-fa...uk/contact.html
29 - 31 May ..............Border City Steam Fair............ CA3 9AA
http://www.bordercitysteamfair.co.uk/
18 - 20 Jun..................Lechlade............... GL7 3HA
21 - 22 Aug.................Lincs Steam and Vintage Rally.............LN2 2NA
http://www.lsvr.org

10-12 Sept...................JAE Wicksteed Park......
http://www.wicksteedpark.co.uk/ - BIG meet!

1 - 3 Oct...........Wallingford................OX10 8EB

If you are interested in tagging along to any let me know. Some require a non-returnable deposit - others not. The Border Steam Fair near Carlisle is a completely free weekend - not been before and suspect basic even green field camping.

I run the Brean one so no problems getting in there!

I have some free time next week to go and visit potential sites/pubs/farmers etc and have a chat about sorting our meet out.
Before I go I thought I'd need to know a little more about our potential campers requirements so I can ask and answer the right questions.
I'd like to be able to specify exactly what we require and sort a price so the more I know the better. I feel we need to camp as a group so I don't want us to be separated due to tents in one field and caravans in another so the more I know about our group the better to help me find a suitable place so can everyone let me know if they’re using a campervan, tent or caravan please?

I'm certainly not looking at anywhere with only basic facilities so don't worry about that. If it's a pub I'm looking for overnight toilet access. How does everyone feel about shower access? Should I not be thinking of us managing without showers or will everyone be ok without? As long as one person says they want showers then showers it is!

Also has anyone got any special requirements such as wheelchair access etc?

At present we have 8 members interested in this first camping meet. If anyone else is interested please let me know as group size might be an important factor in choosing where we can stay.

Finally costs. Some places charge a nightly cost per unit and others charge per person and some put every extra they can on like extra for awnings etc.
If anyone would like to let me know what they're willing to pay for Friday and Saturday night camping pleasethat would be a great help.

If anyone has any suggestions or advice to offer please feel free to post it here or mail me but please consider that we're trying to keep the cost down.

Thanks everyone

I have a folding camper, would prefer electric hook up but not essential.
Would like showers but again not essential.
Water and an elsan point a must.

Most placers would do a flat fee rally rate, i.e. priced per unit, not per person plus children etc etc.

Price anything between £5 to £20 a night.

Pub would be good, but then again I have stocks in the camper.

Thanks for the info and advice Clive.
I hadn't considered seeking rally rates as I didn't expect enough units would attend to consider it a rally and at present I'm looking at smallish pub sites which possibly wouldn't be used to rally rates either. But I'll look into it now.
As long as we have half a dozen units turn up I'll consider it a major success.

Here's one of the pub campsites I've short listed to go and see next week.
I want to visit as many as possible and I'll post any I can find on line info about for your opinions.

http://www.halfwayhouseinn.co.uk/accom.html

Reviews

http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/sites/reviews.asp?revid=3836

for an overnight can do without a shower, toilet or large comfortable bush a must tho :-)

Hi, would be interested if dates don't clash with my schedule.
I think it is a great idea.
John