# How to Park.



## aido (May 17, 2005)

I always park the MH with main door not facing the main door of the neighbouring MH. even when we had a Caravan we parked this way.
What way do you Park?  

Aido


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## Jean-Luc (Jul 21, 2005)

Hi Aido, I usually park facing in the same direction as the others, which is often dictated by the view or the parking space location, but, having a mainland Europe van if my neighbour to my right is a UK van then doors will face. :lol: :wink:


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## locovan (Oct 17, 2007)

Thats the way we park. But sometimes it isnt posible if we all have to back in and face the road.
Left and right hand drives than clash as to where the habitation door is.


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## camper69 (Aug 30, 2007)

Does it matter?


Derek


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## locovan (Oct 17, 2007)

camper69 said:


> Does it matter?
> 
> Derek


Depends who parks next door :roll: 
Could be great people or the family from hell :lol: :lol:

I jest really as no it doesnt really matter :roll:


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## DABurleigh (May 9, 2005)

How I park depends more on slope, wind, sun, view and satellite access than next door's door 

Dave


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## Hezbez (Feb 7, 2009)

We have a rear lounge, so I like to park in the direction that way gives us the best view.


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## aido (May 17, 2005)

*post subject*

We were members of the CC in the late seventies attending many rallies we had a caravan at that time and the parking rule was not to park door to door. 
Maby that has changed in the CC. but will still park the old way we started parking. 

Aido


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## Jean-Luc (Jul 21, 2005)

Nope, hasn't changed at all, if you go to a CC event, if the marshals are sufficiently forceful :wink: :wink: , you will see MH's parked facing opposite directions but observing the 'door' rule. 
BTW the 'door' rule was strictly enforced at the Centenary Rally at Blenheim Palace a couple of yeas ago.


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## Kipper (May 1, 2005)

I always park according to view and (in particular) according to wind/sun direction as I have a PVC with a large side opening door. That's unless I have the misfortune to go to a "friendly :evil: c&c club" site where the warden insisted I had to park facing in a particular way even though that meant my door opened facing the neighbour's door - because "that's the rule" :evil: :evil: :evil:


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## DTPCHEMICALS (Jul 24, 2006)

Some really silly rules are still enforced are they?

Whatever happened to I paid my money i¬ park whhich way i want   

Jobsworths :evil: 

Dave P


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

DTPCHEMICALS said:


> Some really silly rules are still enforced are they?


I can't remember any CC or C&CC site where we've been forced to park front in or back in. We do tend not to park so that we sit outside facing the people next to us when they sit outside but that is not always possible.

On the Il Serchio sosta at Lucca the management have thoughtfully arranged stone tracks to the extreme right of each pitch so the grass on the pitch is kept wheel mark free. This means that everyone backs in, except UK vans, who have to go in front first. You are escorted to your pitch and he sees you in so you do have to be aware of this- he is not !

One invariable rule: whichever way you park as soon as you have got yourself settled you always see a better way you could have done it.

G


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## gromett (May 9, 2005)

Depends where I am parking to be honest. If it is a grass site I will park with my drive wheels closest to the hard stuff. If it is a sloping site I will park with my front wheels lowest so I can chock (tag axle). If it is a flat hard standing I will park in the direction that means least work when leaving.

If I was told to park any particular direction I would leave if it was possible.
If I was forced to park close enough to another vehicle that the door to door situation meant I was very very close then I would never stop at that site again.

Karl


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

Rules are made for the guidance of wise men and the observance of fools !!!

Take your pick. 

If any warden told me which way to park I suspect the conversation could deteriorate rather quickly !! I am a big boy now so will make my owen decision thank you. I have paid rent for this patch of ground and I will make the decision as to wher I leave MY property !!

Here endeth todays rant !!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

Mrplodd said:


> If any warden told me which way to park I suspect the conversation could deteriorate rather quickly !!


I'm sure that the wardens on any large club site wish everyone was as organised and thoughtful of others as you no doubt are Mr Plodd.

There are still many out there however who, left to their own devices, would park inches from their neighbour, or at least well within the sensible 6m limit.

Given that the edges of many pitches on club sites are not delineated then it surely makes sense and avoids boundary disputes, if you put the edge of the van close to the marker peg as you are often asked.

Basically if you don't like it then go to a more informal type of site.

G


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## bonnieboo (Apr 27, 2009)

Well, I dont mind people facing me. On the last site we visited we had the van on the right with the door facing us and then the van on the left had there door facing us so we had everyone facing us. I dont find this a problem but I did find it awful when the van on the left had there tv up so loud that the whole site could hear it. I dont think they were being awkward, I just think one of them was deaf. well if they wasnt when they started they sure would have been by the time they had finished. I didnt complain because I didnt want to seem unreasonable just in case he or she had this disability.

Poor old sausage ha ha :roll: :roll:


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## locovan (Oct 17, 2007)

bonnieboo said:


> Well, I dont mind people facing me. On the last site we visited we had the van on the right with the door facing us and then the van on the left had there door facing us so we had everyone facing us. I dont find this a problem but I did find it awful when the van on the left had there tv up so loud that the whole site could hear it. I dont think they were being awkward, I just think one of them was deaf. well if they wasnt when they started they sure would have been by the time they had finished. I didnt complain because I didnt want to seem unreasonable just in case he or she had this disability.
> 
> Poor old sausage ha ha :roll: :roll:


We are all deaf in Hernebay Whitstable and Seasalter as the big bangs on a thursday or sometimes all week are enough to make any one deaf 8O 
Shrewburyness Gun Firing has a lot to answer for :lol: :lol:


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## EJB (Aug 25, 2007)

Shoeburyness used to pay a lot of the populations wages....I assume it still pays quite a few.
I live next to Lakenheath/Mildenhall airbases.....'Thankyou Mr President for all that money'! :wink:

PS. Rear lounge...we always park 'nose in'.


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## MaxandPaddy (Mar 18, 2006)

We were at a seaview site this weekend and the warden told us to drive on the pitch as we have a rear lounge and we would get the benefit of the view  .

So we did and then set up our windbreak/chairs/table/tent for the dog to lay in the shade/BBQ and so on :roll: .

Then to my horror I looked at the Motorhome on the next pitch and.........it was parked with their door facing ours 8O !

Had we invaded their space :?: 

So I went and knocked on the door and asked them if we were causing a problem and a lovely couple (thank you whoever you are!) said there was no problem at all and they had enjoyed watching us put everything up and falling out putting up the new all singing and dancing windbreak  !

We just told them they were welcome to come and sit behind the windbreak on the chairs,use the table and make themselves at home if they wanted to and it all worked out well :lol: !

Sometimes (and we are guilty of this) I think we can become very territorial and set out our boundaries and make a 'get orf my land' statement but some people are very nice to pitch next to which ever way they may be facing :lol: !


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## Kees (Jan 15, 2009)

I park whichever way my wife says she wants me to  

I still haven't worked out the logic behind her choices though :lol: 

Kees


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## Kees (Jan 15, 2009)

I park whichever way my wife says she wants me to  

I still haven't worked out the logic behind her choices though :lol: 

Kees


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## DABurleigh (May 9, 2005)

By contrast, the logic behind Alison's choices is infallible. All I have to do is suggest something and she disagrees.

Dave


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

Odd isn't it that it is always the woman who makes the decisions about where to park ?

We were overnighting in a huge open field beside a lake in Switzerland. There were about 5 widely spread vans and we all had our chairs etc out.

Up rolled a big new Swiss Hymer, stopped and considered. The lady passenger then presumably made her decision and decreed they would park literally nose to nose with a French van and they moved to do so.

The rest of us were all sitting quietly, rather hoping for a fight at the very least, but the Frenchman rolled away his awning, gathered up his blocks, chairs, table and groundsheet and meekly moved away.

Very disappointing

G


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## jhelm (Feb 9, 2008)

Funny conversation. I would always tend to park with my door facing away from my neighbor. But I also try to park regarding the view, sun etc. I generally make the decision not my wife. I would never presume that the person next to us is happy to have us looking in their door. 

Speaking of parking, I did one of those how stupid can I be parking jobs this last week in Croatia. It was a tight little camp; I spent 10 minutes back and forth with guidance from those already there, the wife and kids, only to open my driver side door and realize that I had parked exactly the opposite of what I had intended. I have to give my wife a lot of credit for her faith in me as all the while the neighbors where asking her what the heck is he doing she assured them that I always know what I'm doing. I call that true love.


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## teensvan (May 9, 2005)

Hi.

We always try and park with the caravan door facing south. Plenty of sun all day. Not to bothered how others pitch up.

steve & ann. ----------- teensvan


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## bob44 (Mar 9, 2006)

Hi, 

Like Teensvan we generally try to park with the habitation door facing South (RHD Vehicle).

But ,when the sky is overcast (UK = Often) , which way IS south?

We thought a cheapo compass at the the cab dashboard would provide us with at least a rough indication.

WRONG - In the morning the Sun did not rise anywhere near the direction we expected it to, Global Warming/Climate Change??

No - It transpired that the Engine introduces so much magnetic deviation that this wee compass was almost 40 degrees out!

We moved it around but placing ithe compass anywhere near large lumps of metal (ie Cooker) produced a similar effect, of course.

Have have identified a need for a Motorhome de-gaussing station somewhere?
A new business opportunity for either Eddie of Vanbitz or Peter of Johns Cross perhaps?




Bob L


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## b16duv (Feb 14, 2006)

bob44 said:


> Hi,
> 
> Like Teensvan we generally try to park with the habitation door facing South (RHD Vehicle).
> 
> ...


Silva do a dashboard mounted compass that can be adjusted to compensate for deviation caused by large lumps of metal. Silva Adventure 58

HTH

David


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## Grizzly (May 9, 2005)

One tip we did learn early on - the hard way. When you are camping in winter or windy weather park so that your door is away from the wind. 

That way you will not have the door whipped out of your hands and be dragged out with it ( nasty, I assure you !) as well as feeling all the expensive hot air behind you being sucked out.

It helps if you can park back to the wind so that you are not being rocked around and so that the wind does not whistle up through the vents in the dashboard.

G


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## HeatherChloe (Oct 18, 2009)

Firstly, my apologies for re-opening an old thread.

In fact, I searched for "Whitstable" and came across this thread which seems to have nothing to do with Whitstable.

I then thought "great! I need some tips on parking" and thought it meant parallel parking in a small space... but it did not.



Kipper said:


> I always park according to view and (in particular) according to wind/sun direction


So me too.... I like to lie in bed in the morning and look out of the window by the bed to an uninterrupted view.

And during the day, I like to sit outside the habitation door in the sunshine.


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## Spacerunner (Mar 18, 2006)

I always park, wind permitting, with the cab facing the access way.

As my moho is French built this often results with the door facing the neighbours door. It doesn't bother me, and so far hasn't bothered any neighbour enough for them to comment.
I was only nagged at one rally, a MHF one at that, so I turned sideways across the pitch to prevent the door being wrenched off by the wind.

If people are that uptight about privacy then I would suggest that their chosen lifestyle might not be suitable.


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## nidge1 (Jul 26, 2009)

What way do you Park? 

Me----Perfect  

Her who must be obeyed------- Badly :lol:


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## gj1023 (Feb 23, 2010)

Either way , depends where the hook up is. The van hook up point is same side as habitation door and our lead is not long

Gary


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## Spacerunner (Mar 18, 2006)

nidge1 said:


> What way do you Park?
> 
> Me----Perfect
> 
> Her who must be obeyed------- Badly :lol:


Guess you'll be parking in the doghouse tonight then


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## jhelm (Feb 9, 2008)

Interesting note, that on or recent trip to the south of Italy from here. We only ran into one UK camper. I started a conversation by asking them if they were a member of MHF - no they weren't. Anyway, they had just moved their camper to another spot on the same open area di sosta that did not have marked parking areas. The reason was that according to them Italians park too close to each other and they the UK campers like their privacy/space. Note that they seemed very nice.


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## jhelm (Feb 9, 2008)

Oh, by the way parallel parking is lots of fun in ours that rounds at 7m with the bikes on, but it can be done. It's not so different than parking a car but you do need someone looking at your rear. Parking in front of a museum in Austria we even had a police car blocking traffic for us while I did it.


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## HeatherChloe (Oct 18, 2009)

jhelm said:


> you do need someone looking at your rear.


That's what a camera is for.

I drive my van as my main vehicle in central London, always by myself, and find somewhere to park on the street in Covent Garden every night - I'd be COMPLETELY LOST without my camera.


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## 96706 (Nov 13, 2005)

Our first priority is max sun and min wind on the door side. We've only ever had one comment from a neighbouring van that our door was facing his (some distance away) but interestingly if we had parked the other way round the same would have been the case with the van the other side 8O No win :? 

Mrs D


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## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*Pitch*

Hi

I usually park according to the pitch - where possible. My 'van is a bit nose down, so a slightly sloping pitch in the opposite direction will level the van for me!

On a dead level pitch, I am usually nose out.

Russell


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## bulawayolass (Jul 27, 2010)

Reverse into the slot who it faces doesn't matter.


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## jhelm (Feb 9, 2008)

HeatherChloe said:


> jhelm said:
> 
> 
> > you do need someone looking at your rear.
> ...


That's what a wife is for (just kidding). We have a big window in the back. She does drive but puts the heavy parking jobs on me. I'm the lucky guy who gets to smash the bike rack, brake the tail lights and the bumper.


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## acctutor (Oct 3, 2009)

Hi When we parked at Evesham a few weeks ago, we were told (asked politely) to reverse in so that our door faced the same way as all the rest. Then the van next to me ingored that and parked less than two feet away from our van!!

They then proceeded to chat loudly till 2 in the morning

Oh happy days!!!

Bill & Patsy


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## Matchlock (Jun 26, 2010)

I was on a CC site this weekend and as usual asked which way can I park, the answer has always been "anyway you like as long as you are central to the marker" so its max sun & min wind on the door side that I go for.

Barry


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

The total length of my living area side windows is 2.2m each side (excluding bed area) The width of the door surround is 0.5m.

I therefore cannot understand what the additional view (18.5%) through the door, if open, can make to my neighbours' privacy.

Geoff


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