Tandem 2022 - UK National Rally

Camping Site Services

(email to tcn2022@tandem-club.org.uk).


This page provides some information about rally sites amenities. It is work in progress and some things will be added and changed as we get closer to the rally.

Site Plan

We have room for 68 camping units on the rugby club's practice areas, have use of the clubhouse, and have a large marquee. The Clubhouse has a large room with a bar which will be available during events, as well as some toilets and some showers. Pitches will be around 8m x 7m although the 7m is reasonably flexible. If you have a super-large camper can, caravan or tent please let Cathy know (email to tcn2022@tandem-club.org.uk) and we will set aside a pitch where it will be easier to accommodate you.

If you have a special requirement to be close to facilities please let Cathy know (email to tcn2022@tandem-club.org.uk).

Campsite Plan

Toilets

The club house has 2 ladies and 1+ gents toilets. We have ordered an outside toilet block and an accessible toilet which will be situated in the car park. There are a couple of portaloos which will be located at the south of the camping field.

new vacuum loo021.JPG (480×360)
There will be a chemical toilet emptying point with a large container (IBU) for toilet waste. This waste will be regularly collected by truck and removed from the site. Please think about the environment and consider using green toilet fluid rather than blue.

Waste Water

The site is not on mains drainage. You must not put any bleach or strong disinfectants into the drains as that could be a problem for the septic tank. If your grey water isn't too bad, we will have a grey water waste point to use or you can donate it to the local hedges but not on the general grass areas. As a last resort you can empty any particularly noxious grey water into the chemical toilet emptying point but please be sparing with this.

This is an excellent opportunity to consider using eco-friendly washing-up liquid and washing products, if you don't do that already.

Dish Washing

We will instal two sinks outside the club house to help with dish washing. These will be cold water only. Please consider eco-friendly washing-up liquid.

Showers

The clubhouse has a large shower room with a set of open showers: it is a rugby club after all! This will be for the males only. As well as these we have ordered a 6 cubicle shower block which will be situated in the car park.

Electrics

Finding a site for a National Rally during school holidays suitable for a Tandem Club event is always difficult. One of the compromises made is that the chosen site did not have mains electricity to the camping pitches. We know this will be awkward for some, so we have done our best to try and alleviate the situation. Maybe we can all consider this as a good Green exercise and reduce our carbon footprint!

There will be the following electric power supplies available for the use of campers.

Club House Power Station

In the clubhouse we will set up an area for charging mobile phones, electric bike batteries and other such equipment. This will have:

3 x 6-way UK mains plug sockets

You will be able to use these for low current electric bike battery chargers, mobile phone chargers and other chargers.

PowerBlock

1 x 10-port, 2.4 Amp/1.2 Amp USB charger

You will be able to use this to charge mobile phones and other such devices using just a USB-A lead. This saves space as the 3-pin plug part of separate mobile phone chargers are not needed.

UsbCharger


Please be careful not to overload these with high current/fast chargers, If in doubt please ask one of the organisers. We may put in a separate area for electric bike batteries if demand is high. The Club house will be locked over night.

Marquee Power Station

In the marquee we will set up an area for charging mobile phones and other such equipment. This will have:

2 x 6-way UK mains plug sockets

Connections for mobile phone chargers, low current electric bike battery chargers and other low power chargers.

  PowerBlock

1 x 10-port 2.4 Amp/1.2 Amp USB charger

You will be able to use this to charge mobile phones and other such devices with just a USB-A lead. This saves space as the 3-pin plug part of separate mobile phone chargers are not needed.

  UsbCharger


Please be careful not to overload these with high current/fast chargers or high current electric bike chargers, If in doubt ask one of the organisers of the rally. The marquee power supply will be a single long lead and will also have to power the kettle.

If you do not wish to leave things like your phone in the marquee, you might want to think about a small portable battery pack (often called a power bank). You can easily put a label onto it, and charge the battery pack in the marquee or clubhouse. You then use the charged-up battery pack to top-up your devices back at your motorhome, caravan or tent. They come in various capacity - and various weights to go with it. Whatever you choose, check it will be suitable to charge what you need and I'd suggest a trial run before the rally. Online, a search for "power bank" or "mobile battery pack for phone" will give some ideas.

Caravan/Motorhome/Car batteries

We will have a CTEK 5 Amp car battery charger with us to handle emergency battery re-charging, somewhere near the club house. However it is worthwhile making sure your batteries are in good condition prior to the rally.

BatteryCaravan/Motohome/Tent Power

This rally will be a good test of your Green power usage :) It will be worthwhile making sure your leisure battery is in good condition as these degrade over a few years, especially if they are not kept fully charged. Unfortunately the conventional type of leisure battery, based on lead and acid, is not good for deep cycle discharge or being left in even a partially-discharged state. Those of us lucky enough to afford the new Lithium batteries won't have significant issues.
If you have to purchase a new leisure battery, personally I would recommend looking at a VRLA -AGM or GEL based lead-acid battery. These have much better deep cycle characteristics than a conventional lead-acid leisure battery. An AGM battery has a rated 150 recharge cycles while a conventional lead-acid may be only 50 so the extra cost is normally worthwhile.

Some Internet info:

LED Lights

Older caravans and motorhomes may still have old Hallogen bulbs. These lights can easily take 20 Watts of power. plugin LED alternatives are available that can take that down to around 4 Watts. See: https://www.atenlighting.co.uk/

SolarPanel Solar Power

A solar panel of 100 Watts or greater, depending on your electricity addiction, can provide enough average power to keep your battery topped up. These can be installed on the roof or can be free standing. You should use a Solar power controller, ideally of an MPPT type, to charge the battery. This makes sure the optimum power is obtained from the solar panel and makes sure your battery isn't over-charged. If wired into you caravan/motorhome fully it can also measure how much power you are using and calculate your battery charge level.

Some information of solar power appliance usage is at: https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/advice-and-training/technical-advice/solar-power/

Some Internet info:

Wifi

The clubhouse has Wifi available. this is connected to a "normal" land-line so we would recommend 3G/4G access for your personal usage where possible. We have done a basic check and there is good 4G coverage for Three, EE and Vodafone based networks. Obviously with a large number of users in a country side location you will be sharing the same radio mast and so performance will likely drop when a lot are using mobile data.

Some pictures of preparations