Caravanning At Cropredy
So, you've got your festival ticket and a camping ticket for your vehicle (see note at the end of this guide on what consititutes "a vehicle") and you're off to Cropredy with your caravan or motorhome.
Only small campervans are allowed on the tenting fields (although some exceptions are made for other peculiar vehicles, such as ex-army trucks and double decker buses!) and even this may change in future due to the beloved Health & Safety regulations which make all our lives so much healthier, safer and infinitely more dull.
So, if you arrive at Cropredy with a caravan or motorhome, what now?
The good news is that you have special, dedicated facilities on a special, dedicated field: Field 6. This is next to the Festival Field (see field map). The bad news is that it has a fairly steep hill in the middle of it - in other words, it's fairly horizontal at the bottom and the top, but has a fairly steep slope in the middle. Guess which bits fill up first?
FACILITIES
- Running water is provided at the top of the field (you'll need a flexible hose to fill Aquarolls or similar).
- Toilets (including disabled facilities).
- Chemical loo disposal is fairly crude - a large iron tank that's buried about halfway up the hill, next to the fence on the right as you look down the hill.
- Grey water (waste water - non-toilet) disposal is in best rally style: into the bottom of the hedge.
- There's a skip for rubbish. Remember to recycle!
ON ARRIVAL
Disabled caravanners are given special dispensation to arrive early and bag the level spots closest to the entry to the Festival Field and other facilities at the top of the hill. That means that by the time the gate opens on Thursday morning, most of the hilltop pitches are occupied.
If they are full, you may be faced with camping on the slope (closer to the facilities) or on the flat at the bottom of the hill (farther from the facilities). The choice is yours, but if pitching on the slope remember that your caravan brakes need to work, and work well!- Tow forward onto your pitch rather than try to reverse on (when reversing, a modern's caravan's brakes are automatically disengaged. You have to go forward several feet to engage the brakes again. Also, it's much easier on the tow car's clutch to pull the van on forwards than to push it up the hill in reverse).
- Ensure that the handbrake works properly and is *fully* engaged.
- Chock all wheels as an added precaution.
- Have plenty of levelling blocks to insert under the jockey wheel and front steadies.
OTHER INFORMATION
- Some people use generators to provide electric power. Be sensitive to your neighbours and, if the genny is noisy, don't use it after the end of the festival music each night.
- There's plenty of room for awnings, gazebos, windbreaks etc
- Entry and exit to the fields is via farm gates - wide enough, but take care not to catch the back end of your van on the gate post as you turn. Take a wide sweep when entering and exiting.
- If your towcar gets bogged down due to wet weather or mud, the marshals will be able to organise a tow with a tractor, although this may take some time.
- If you want to stay close to Cropredy before or after the festival, the Barnstones campsite at Great Bourton is recommended. Barnstones Caravan & Camping Park, Great Bourton, Nr Banbury, Oxon, 01295 750289
- From the official FC website FAQ (2007)
Q: Is a caravan a vehicle?
A: As far as camping goes, a caravan towed by a vehicle will be treated as a tent: you just pay for the vehicle and its occupants with no extra charge for the trailer. Remember, though, that we reserve specific areas for caravans. A camper van or mobile home and its occupants pay the same as any other vehicle (we reserve specific areas for them - see below).
- Q: Are mobile homes admitted to all the camping fields?
A: No. Mobile homes (by which we mean larger campervans and Winnebago-type vehicles) will be directed to specific fields. So will towed caravans. In previous years, the locations have included: fields 6 and 6A; an allocated section of 7; and, for staff and artists only, the backstage compound. (Note: there are many factors affecting what goes where: these include operational changes in field usage, health and safety law, local authority regulations, the requirements of our safety officer and fire officer, the comfort and convenience of fellow campers, access for emergency vehicles, the preservation of fire lanes, and the condition of the land itself - for example, if the ground is waterlogged).
- Q: Can I park my campervan in the same field as last year?
A: Field allocation is less hard and fast when it comes to little 'uns such as Dormobiles and VW Campers (yes, there are still plenty about). In previous years, for example, small campervans have parked in fields 1, 2 and 4 whereas mobile homes have been directed away from those fields. The answer to the question is 'maybe' ? it depends which field you were in before, what time you arrive, what operational changes we've made to field usage, and developments in national and local authority regulations. So just because you parked your campervan somewhere last year doesn't necessarily mean you'll be able to park there this time. As always, our friendly admission-gate staff and campsite marshalls will decide where vehicles, including campervans, go. They'll be acting on instructions from the fire officer, safety officer, and site managers so please give 'em a smile and comply with their requests.
© Caravan Guide by Widds - 2007
Top* Spend a weekend at Cropredy at any time of the year at: http://uk.photos.yahoo.com/widds