Our First Meet with MMCS

 Club Meets - Not For Me or so I Thought.


MMCS Meet

Please let me explain, We are Nigel & Adele and have been members of the Camping & Caravanning Club since buying our Benimar Benivan 120 three years go, like most, we have not been able to make the best use of our campervan over the last three years so this year we had plans.


We have already had trips away to Wiltshire, Shropshire and South Wales using certified sites (CS) or temporary holiday sites (THS) for this, our latest trip we wanted to explore the Derbyshire Peak District, Adele checked the Clubs ‘out and about’ app and found a Midland Motor Caravan section meet at the show ground in Bakewell a few hundred yards from the town, sounds great but a meet! Arn’t they a bit ‘clicky’ ?, a bit specialised ?, a bit regimented ? Adele phoned to check availability, there was space, so we booked, have we done the right thing?


We arrived around 6.30pm and were met by our stewards who had only just  taken over the meet due to the original steward contracting Covid a few days before the start, we felt as if they had known us for years, a really friendly welcome; they checked our booking, took our details, they pointed out where the services were then took us to choose our pitch. All the pitches had been spaced out and were marked to ensure enough space between units, at this point one of my fears came to taunt me, we were invited to a coffee morning at 10.30 the following day, clicky?, specialised?, regimented?


MMCS Meet - Bakewell Showground

The following day as I got our chairs out to take over to the meeting marquee I did have second thoughts wether to go or not, but I’m really glad we did. We were greeted by the other campers who, obviously knew each other well, but we were made to feel so very welcome, they were extremely interested in us and our campervan and about our benivanadventures YouTube & social media platforms that we have started, we learnt such a lot about the different district associations, the MMCS section and what meets were all about, we heard all about the different areas they meet up and we had some splendid advise about our plans for our French trip in the summer, they were also a wealth of knowledge about Bakewell and the surrounding area, what to see and do and where to go, which was brilliant for us as its our first visit to The Peaks. The coffee and cakes were really good too.


We were only at the meet for a few days but how wrong could I have been about club meets,

clicky - certainly not, we were welcomed with open arms and made to feel as if we had been going to them for years.

 

Specialised - well may be a bit, but in the best possible way, we had some great advise from others actual experiences which for us newbies was great.

(Cont.) 

Regimented - not at all, but really well organised, you can join in as much or as little as you like. Once you have attended your first meet it won’t be your last.


So I start this again.

Club Meets - Definitely for me. 


If you have never been to one before go, you will be made most welcome and have a brilliant stay. 


We would like to thank the organisers, section members and club members for such a welcoming, friendly welcome.


Nige & Adele

Benivanadventures - travels in our campervan

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