The Camping and Caravanning Club has announced that it is planning a phased reopening of its campsites across the UK at the start of July.
The organisation is hoping to open to reopen sites in England on 4th July, in line with the government’s phase three plans of the lockdown exit roadmap, and will be releasing further information regarding sites in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in due course.
The Camping and Caravanning Club manages over 2,000 campsites in the UK.
In a statement via its website, the organisation believes that: “we are well-placed to offer you a safe, enjoyable UK holiday, providing a much-needed break away from home” due to “being in the fresh air, the physical space between pitches and with additional social distancing measures [in place]”.
A comprehensive list of social distancing measures has also been released ahead of reopening.
Measures the organisation intends to introduce include reducing the number of campers on site, a contactless check-in, a ban on group bookings, six-metre spaced pitches and markers placed on the floor to remind visitors.
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The statement continues: “It’s important that we give our members a choice as to how they would like to camp, so we’ve introduced some new measures to help keep you and our teams safe.”
“To allow us to operate our campsites in a responsible manner we have increased our cleaning regimes – this places extra demand on our teams and we have had to open some of our campsites without toilets and showers this season, these campsites are better suited to campers who can bring their own facilities.”
“We’ll only open facility blocks if we’re allowed to do so by the government, we will keep our website updated and let you know if anything changes.”
If you’re looking to plan your Great British ‘staycation’ this year, here’s the full list of The Camping and Caravanning Club campsites hoping to reopen next month:
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Open Campsites (with Facility Blocks)
Here are the Club Sites set to be open for the 2020 season with facility blocks available to use, however the reception, play areas, laundry facilities and other communal areas on the site will remain closed.
Alton The Star, Staffordshire
Ashbourne, Derbyshire
Blackmore, Malvern Hills
Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
Canterbury, Kent
Charmouth, Dorset
Chertsey, Surrey
Culzean Castle, Ayrshire
Dartmouth, Devon
Delamere Forest, Cheshire
Derwentwater, Lake District
Devizes, Wiltshire
Dingwall, Highlands
Drayton Manor, Staffordshire
Dunbar, East Lothian
Dunstan Hill, Northumberland
Hertford, Herfordshire
Horsley, Surrey
Keswick, Lake District
Kingsbury Water Park, Midlands
Loch Ness Shores, Inverness
Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire
Milarrochy Bay, Loch Lomond
Moffat, Dumfries and Galloway
Moreton, Dorset
Normans Bay, Sussex
Scarborough, Yorkshire
Scone, Tayside
Sennen Cove, Cornwall
Slapton Sands, Devon
Slingsby, Yorkshire
St Neots, Cambridgeshire
Theobalds Park, Hertfordshire
Tregurrian, Cornwall
Verwood, New Forest
West Runton, Norfolk
Winchcombe, Gloucestershire
Windermere, Lake District
Wolverley, Worcestershire
Wyeside, Powys
You can click here more information about each campsite listed.
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Open Campsites (without Facility Blocks)
Here are the Club Sites set to be open for the 2020 season without facility blocks available to use.
If you do choose to stay on one of these sites, you will need to bring your own sanitation. Separate toilet tents can be used on your allocated pitch to accommodate your own chemical toilet. The reception, play areas, laundry facilities and other communal areas on the site will remain closed to help facilitate social distancing.
All sites will provide access to fresh drinking water, a place to dispose of toilet waste such as a Chemical Disposal Point (CDP), motorhome service points and washing-up facilities.
Pitches will be available with electric hook-ups.
Bakewell, Derbyshire
Bala, Snowdonia
Barnard Castle, County Durham
Beadnell Bay, Northumberland
Bellingham, Northumberland (Open with facilities from 1st August)
Cannock Chase, Staffordshire
Cardigan Bay, Ceredidion
Cheddar, Somerset (Open with facilities from 1st August)
Chichester, Sussex
Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire
Clent Hills, Midlands
Clitheroe, Lancashire
Conkers, Derbyshire
Corfe Castle, Dorset
Crowborough, Sussex
Delamont Country Park, Northern Ireland
Ebury Hill, Shropshire
Graffham, Sussex
Hayfield, Derbyshire
Hereford, Herefordshire
Kendal, Lake District
Kessingland, Suffolk
Oxford, Oxfordshire
Polstead, Suffolk (Open with facilities from 1st August)
Ravenglass, Lake District
Rhandirmwyn, Carmarthenshire
Rosemarkie, Highlands
Salisbury, Wiltshire
Sandringham, Norfolk
Skye, Isle of Skye
Tarland, Aberdeenshire
Tavistock, Devon
Teversal, Nottinghamshire
Walton-on-Thames, Surrey
Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire
You can click here more information about each campsite listed.
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To read a full list of social distancing and health & safety measures being put in place ahead of reopening, please visit The Camping and Caravanning Club website here.
The Camping and Caravanning Club is seeing public demand increasing and asks that you book in advance to guarantee your pitch.
Bookings made whilst sites are closed are fully flexible.
New ‘postboxes of the future’ are being rolled out across the UK
Danny Jones
The Royal Mail is starting to roll out its line of so-called “postboxes of the future” across the UK this year, including right here in Greater Manchester.
It has been dubbed the most important and noticeable transformation to the classic British postbox in its entire 175-year history.
The national postal service teased the modern-day upgrade earlier this year, but the revolutionary new upgrade was officially announced this week, with Royal Mail ushering in a new era of digitally-driven units that should make many lives a lot easier – at least in theory.
Although they might look pretty identical to the iconic red boxes since before the turn of the 19th century have used up and down the country, there are marked differences between the new and the old ones.
Credit: Royal Mail
The biggest change made to the Royal Mail’s soon-to-be standard design is a digitally activated drop-down drawer, which will be able to fit parcels as big as a shoebox, hopefully saving us Brits on a fair few trips to the post office.
You will be able to scan a barcode via the updated Royal Mail app to activate the drawer for larger items; meanwhile, there will be a separate slot for letters and smaller packages.
Additionally, the new range of high-tech postboxes will also be solar-powered, helping the public limited company chase its ‘green’ targets.
Now owned by parent firm International Distribution Services (IDS) – who also oversee Parcelforce Worldwide – following the UK government’s approval of its historic sale to Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský at the end of 2024, the group as a whole is undergoing a significant overhaul.
Britain’s new solar postboxes were first trialled back in April in four towns located throughout the Hertfordshire region: Letchworth Garden City, Ware and Hertford. A fifth was later installed in Fowlmere, Cambridgeshire, too.
Despite being quickly considered a success on the whole, the initial design featured an entirely black top, with polls of civilians and Royal Mail themselves agreeing that keeping them red all over was more in keeping with the brand.
It’s like the old school phone box, isn’t it? We can’t picture it any other way.
📮Attention Postbox Lovers 📮
Royal Mail is upgrading postboxes to accept parcels. They'll gaining a new slot and a solar panel on top
Speaking in a statement, the Royal Mail‘s managing director of ‘out-of-home and commercial excellence’, Jack Clarkson, said: “We are all sending and returning more parcels than ever before.
“This trend will only continue as online shopping shows no signs of slowing, particularly with the boom of second-hand marketplaces. There are 115,000 postboxes in the UK located within half a mile of 98% of addresses, making them by far the most convenient network of parcel drop-off points in the UK.
“Our message is clear – if you have a Royal Mail label on your parcel, and it fits, put it in a postbox and we’ll do the rest.”
The new generation postboxes are now being made permanent in the same locations, with Edinburgh, Nottingham, Sheffield and Manchester next.
Keep your eyes peeled on the streets as they’ll soon be making a debut in your area.
Manchester Christmas Markets 2025 opening date announced – including Albert Square return
Emily Sergeant
Manchester Christmas Markets are merely months away, and the opening date and important details for 2025’s return have been announced.
It’s official… holidays are coming, and the countdown is on.
Just as we do every year, the Greater Manchester public has been eagerly awaiting news of when the city’s iconic Christmas Markets would be making a comeback for the 2025 festive season.
But now, Manchester City Council has announced that the famous wooden huts will be lining Manchester‘s streets once again from the first week in November, and for the first time in six years, Markets will also be returning to Albert Square.
The Manchester Christmas Markets 2025 return date has officially been confirmed / Credit: The Manc Group | Flickr
Now in their 27th year, Manchester Christmas Markets are known and loved for bring thousands of people into the city centre each year to fill up on the fantastic festive treats and to soak up all the Christmas atmosphere.
While restoration work has been carried out on the city’s Grade I-listed Town Hall building, markets have been spread all across the city centre in recent years, instead of the central hub being in Albert Square – but this year, some of the festivities will return to where they belong.
More than 200 stalls will also be spread across nine other sites throughout the city centre.
Markets will take over 10 major locations across the city centre / Credit: Manchester City Council
Promising to be plenty on offer for seasonal shoppers of all ages, 2025 will see the iconic wooden ski chalet market stalls take over King Street, St Ann’s Square, Exchange Street, New Cathedral Street, Exchange Square, Corn Exchange, and Cathedral Gardens, as well as Market Street and Piccadilly Gardens as usual.
Dominating a twinkling seasonal skyline on Albert Square will be an enormous 50-metre-high ferris wheel, as well as an enchanting vintage carousel for children, and other Christmas fairground-style attractions.
The new ‘A Taste of Christmas’ event will be open on Albert Square until Sunday 4 January 2026, bringing the space back into the heart of the city’s countdown to Christmas festivities and staying open throughout the festive season for families to enjoy into the new year.
Councillors are going all out to make Manchester the world’s number one Christmas city / Credit: Manchester City Council
“We’re going all out this year to make sure that Manchester is the number one city for Christmas – not just in the UK, but in the world,” commented Councillor Pat Karney, who is the Christmas spokesperson for Manchester City Council.
Cllr Karney also teased that there are a few other ‘Santa surprises’ to come that we can expect to be announced in the coming weeks.
He concluded: “In the meantime, dust off your baubles, un-twirl your tinsel, and get ready – Albert’s back.”
Manchester Christmas Markets 2025 will officially open across the city on Friday 7 November and close on Monday 22 December.
That is except for A Taste of Christmas on Albert Square, and the stalls at Cathedral Gardens – which will remain open throughout the Christmas period until 4 January 2026.
Emily Sergeant -
17th June 2020 
