Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Walked between caravans

347 replies

Tevion28 · 05/09/2021 01:09

Hi currently staying on in my friends holiday home and me and dp wanted to walk down to the river and took a quick route between 2 caravans and a lady came out and shouted very aggressivly do not walk between the caravans and slammed her door shut so was we in the wrong.

OP posts:
Tevion28 · 05/09/2021 01:54

PyongyangKipperbang
I'm sort of thinking the same

OP posts:
SneakyCucumberAction · 05/09/2021 02:05

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll

Even with touring caravans, your pitch is your own territory. You should never walk through the middle of a row of pitches, unless maybe you will only be walking down the middle of unoccupied (i.e. empty) ones.

We've said that we'll get ourselves a couple of windbreaks to mark off our own plot for next time we're off in the caravan. It's not even just privacy, but tourers will have cables trailing from them and water containers that could be a hazard for playing children; and statics will have gas bottles and sheds/airers/outside seating that they don't want people going too close to - for safety and privacy reasons.

Just treat it like a block of terraced houses and only use the road/ marked pathways between the rows.

Jesus wept. Get a grip of yourself. You are 'holidaying' in a caravan. FGS.
PyongyangKipperbang · 05/09/2021 02:11

@Tevion28

Just a thought though do they actually have rights to that patch going between or just the area that the caravan is pitched on.
As far as I understand it (Uncle inherited a similar arrangement and it pissed him off!) no. He has the right of access to his mobile home and effectively rents the land it stands on. He has no rights to any other land unless stated in the contract which it probably isnt. He has an issue with other people who stay in their cabins/mobile homes most of the year and "claim" areas as theirs when it isnt and really kick off if anyone dares to set foot on "their" land. Its the classic "I own this house so therefore I own the parking space in front of it on a public road" job. He is selling his inheritance and has deliberately chosen the second highest bidder, because the man of the couple has already started making noises about how the "NDN" are taking up his new garden and he will have to have words. :o
EduardoImagined · 05/09/2021 02:12

Just be decent and realise that they have probably paid a lot of money to own or rent the caravan, and the area next to it between it and the neighbouring caravan...that is surely either oart of the deal or should just be respected. As a child of the 80s when caravaning weekends in Prestatyn were a regular thing it was just respected that areas around a caravan 'belonged' to that van. Why does that need to be a confirmed thing? Just respect people's holiday privacy in the same way you would like it respected. You might not think you walking through that area was an issue but what if everyone else felt the same way and that poor caravan renter had to deal with people walking past regularly? You only see your version of events and not their reality.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 05/09/2021 02:15

But it isnt their garden!!

If it was then it would be fenced off and private. Its a field with no designated "your bit, my bit" going on, so why on earth would the OP think for one second that a bit of grass that looks like all the other bits of grass, is off limits?

Choosing to spend stupid amounts of money on a temporary dwelling with service charges on top is your choice, it doesnt actually buy you rights to any land! Its said often on here "You dont own the road...." well there you are!

So do you also freely walk across people's front gardens in new-build estates where they don't allow (or people simply choose not to/can't afford) any fences, walls or other physical boundaries? What about people's drives when they don't have gates at the entrance?

The grass will be cut regularly in one go by the site maintenance person (and charged for at a hefty rate, as you say), so they'd have an awful job doing that if each pitch had fences. Also, most site owners demand you replace your caravan every 10 years or so/when they deem it's starting to look tatty, so how would the low-loader lorries be able to load and unload vans if they all had fences in the way? Not to mention regular delivery of gas bottles.

I agree with you that it seems a foolish amount of money - upfront and ongoing - to spend on a temporary home, but I'm not snobby enough to think I have the right to ignore their privacy (that they've paid a fortune for), just because they've made that financial decision. I personally think it's absolute madness to spend tens of thousands on a brand new car, but many people think differently; and it's their money to spend however they choose, not mine.

The bits of grass between caravans don't usually look exactly the same as the common areas - there are usually roads/tracks/clearly marked pathways and signs up to show which are the public areas to drive slowly or walk through.

How do you actually know how much of the pitch is earmarked on the lease/contract before deciding that you can just go ahead and ramble across the green bits?

Sounds quite arrogant to me to slap down people and ignore their clear privacy, just because you deem them less worthy than people who choose/can afford to live in 'proper' brick-built dwellings. Is that the next stage down in the rights and dignity pecking order from people who do live in normal houses 'but are only renters so we homeowners get priority'?

Explosivefarts · 05/09/2021 02:15

If she was aggressive to me I would walk there again and again to wind her up. Manners cost nothing . All she had to say was excuse me please don’t walk between caravans and use rather path. You didn’t know it was her “garden” . Sounds like caravans aren’t for her.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 05/09/2021 02:18

And just in case anybody is wondering, I am a homeowner, live in a 'normal' brick-built house and most definitely would not want a static caravan on a standard money-pit, tyrant-run site.

PyongyangKipperbang · 05/09/2021 02:18

You might not think you walking through that area was an issue but what if everyone else felt the same way and that poor caravan renter had to deal with people walking past regularly? You only see your version of events and not their reality.

Crap on a cracker that has made me laugh!!

Unless you've pitched up in Trafalgar Square, what the hell is going to happen in their "reality"?! Are they going to actually hear footsteps or SHOCK HORROR people talking? Like I do, every single day because I live in a terrace that fronts on to the pavement? In a small quiet market town in which I do not in fact own the fucking road?

FFS get a grip.

EduardoImagined · 05/09/2021 02:21

Or maybe she is sick of dealing with countless thoughtless people while she is trying to relax and enjoy her earned holiday. I would think it happens often if the attitude of some people on here is anything to go by.

PyongyangKipperbang · 05/09/2021 02:22

So do you also freely walk across people's front gardens in new-build estates where they don't allow (or people simply choose not to/can't afford) any fences, walls or other physical boundaries? What about people's drives when they don't have gates at the entrance?

Of course not because the people living there are paying for that land either through rent or buying. So they have exclusive use. Its private.

But if a piece of land as been claimed as "mine" on a communal area (rather like the yoga thread earlier about people expecting a certain spot in the class) then no I will not take any notice if they dont like people, who have as much right to use that land as they do, walking over it.

PyongyangKipperbang · 05/09/2021 02:25

@EduardoImagined

Or maybe she is sick of dealing with countless thoughtless people while she is trying to relax and enjoy her earned holiday. I would think it happens often if the attitude of some people on here is anything to go by.
How is the OP being thoughtless? Please explain.
WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 05/09/2021 02:26

Are they going to actually hear footsteps or SHOCK HORROR people talking? Like I do, every single day because I live in a terrace that fronts on to the pavement? In a small quiet market town in which I do not in fact own the fucking road?

Is it jealousy, then - just because you don't have any private space between your door and the public pavement? We're not talking about the road/public access part - of course they know they don't own those parts.

Everybody knows that caravans are not the best insulated for sound, but there's a difference between hearing people from a little distance away and walking right outside your window when they have absolutely no need to and where they are walking may actually be clearly identified on your lease/contract/plans as part of your own pitch.

Even if it is technically not marked as part of the pitch, by way of analogy, large men can freely walk right behind women, keeping the same pace, on a dark night - because 'you don't own the pavement, love' - but the decent ones wouldn't dream of doing it.

EduardoImagined · 05/09/2021 02:26

Yes people walking past where you live is the same as people being disturbed on a caravan site where they expect some peace and quiet. Seriously comparing your life on a terrace street to people trying to enjoy time in a caravan park that isn't a home...it is you who wants to get a grip!

PyongyangKipperbang · 05/09/2021 02:28

Even if it is technically not marked as part of the pitch, by way of analogy, large men can freely walk right behind women, keeping the same pace, on a dark night - because 'you don't own the pavement, love' - but the decent ones wouldn't dream of doing it.

WTAF?! I am genuinely astounded that you have tried to draw this fucked up comparison.

Shirleyphallus · 05/09/2021 02:29

@PyongyangKipperbang

You might not think you walking through that area was an issue but what if everyone else felt the same way and that poor caravan renter had to deal with people walking past regularly? You only see your version of events and not their reality.

Crap on a cracker that has made me laugh!!

Unless you've pitched up in Trafalgar Square, what the hell is going to happen in their "reality"?! Are they going to actually hear footsteps or SHOCK HORROR people talking? Like I do, every single day because I live in a terrace that fronts on to the pavement? In a small quiet market town in which I do not in fact own the fucking road?

FFS get a grip.

Absolutely this Grin

Can’t believe how salty everyone is about what is an unwritten rule that doesn’t even make sense

If you don’t want people to walk somewhere, fence it off. If it’s free grass between caravans then walk there.

PyongyangKipperbang · 05/09/2021 02:29

@EduardoImagined

Yes people walking past where you live is the same as people being disturbed on a caravan site where they expect some peace and quiet. Seriously comparing your life on a terrace street to people trying to enjoy time in a caravan park that isn't a home...it is you who wants to get a grip!
Maybe caravans arent for you lovely :)
WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 05/09/2021 02:32

But if a piece of land as been claimed as "mine" on a communal area (rather like the yoga thread earlier about people expecting a certain spot in the class) then no I will not take any notice if they dont like people, who have as much right to use that land as they do, walking over it.

So how exactly do you automatically know where the boundary lies for every single caravan pitch in the country? Reminds me of the scrap men near us, who will help themselves to any metal they can get away with from the front of your property - whether it's a wheelbarrow, bike, swings, whatever - and then just claim they 'thought' you'd left it out for them to take if you catch them and challenge/report them.

Yoga classes and the like are completely different, as you book a space for one person somewhere within the room and it's FCFS as to where you end up - you never book your favourite corner and just assume that it's yours by right.

EduardoImagined · 05/09/2021 02:33

As I've said I have enjoyed many caravan holidays as a child and enjoyed many with my kids. I just know how to respect other people's holidays... lovely!

AJ297 · 05/09/2021 02:33

We've just come back from a caravan holiday and tbh the caravans were that lined up that some people would have had no choice but to walk/drive between caravans to get to theirs. That's what verandas are for, the outside space. The rest is just a throughway to get to other vans. I wouldn't walk between if I didn't need to but I suppose it very much depends on the site you're on.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 05/09/2021 02:42

WTAF?! I am genuinely astounded that you have tried to draw this fucked up comparison.

Fair enough then, if you personally wouldn't feel even a little bit on edge if people were standing right outside your window and talking - maybe in the middle of the night. I'm sure this does happen where you said you live, but it's lucky for everybody that you don't mind it at all.

Maybe caravans arent for you lovely

I'd have said that that was probably the case for those who don't seem to understand or respect routine caravan park etiquette.

I think I'm probably going to leave this there, as our own perspectives are obviously poles apart and clearly not going to change. All I'd say is: just because you can do something doesn't always mean it's a kind or respectful thing to do - especially when there's absolutely no need for you to do it apart from the fact that 'you can't stop me doing whatever I like'.

PyongyangKipperbang · 05/09/2021 03:02

WTAF?! I am genuinely astounded that you have tried to draw this fucked up comparison.

Fair enough then, if you personally wouldn't feel even a little bit on edge if people were standing right outside your window and talking - maybe in the middle of the night. I'm sure this does happen where you said you live, but it's lucky for everybody that you don't mind it at all.

My issue is with you trying to compare an annoying person standing outside a holiday home talking with a woman being terrified of a potential rapist. If you cant see that then....wow.

And FYI, yes it annoys me sometimes but guess what? I accept that as part of living where I do given that its all I can afford, I dont hang out of my window ordering people to not walk by my house.

SD1978 · 05/09/2021 03:04

If they are permanent pitches, it is an unspoken rule, not sure if 'actual' rule not to walk between them. If it's a campsite, not so much.

Moon22 · 05/09/2021 03:43

She sounds like an old fish wife who needs to find some manners before yelling at you! I mean, she may find this irritating and possibly against the rules of caravanning, but there is a way to speak to people! I would never have known this was 'a thing,' either! Sounds very like the folk who believe the public road outside their house actually belongs to them and is solely for their car!

Nannamia · 05/09/2021 05:28

@GetOffThatPhone Grin Grin Grin

HarebrightCedarmoon · 05/09/2021 05:35

Yes, quite. Ignore the fish wife. Though I would try not to walk between caravans if there were a reasonable path or detour around them. Sometimes there isn't though.