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.
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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.”
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“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.
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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.
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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.
A very wholesome record was seemingly smashed by a group of runners at the Manchester Half
Danny Jones
It’s been a few days since the 2025 Manchester Half, and news of personal bests and records being matched/broken continues to flood in, but nothing quite beats the fastest caterpillar EVER getting themselves in the Guinness book.
Yes, we did say caterpillar.
In case you have no idea what we’re talking about (it’s pretty much what it says on the tin), a caterpillar refers to when multiple runners stick themselves in a daft bit of fancy dress and race in a line while joined together in a suit that looks like, well, you get the gist…
Fun and wholesome in itself, right? Indeed, better still, though, it appears as though this particular group of fundraisers not only completed this year’s Manchester Half-marathon with the added challenge of running behind one another in a caterpillar outfit, but have just smashed the Guinness World Record.
As you can see, the four top blokes – Matthew Athersmith, Eddie Evans, Andrew Cairns and Jimmy Craig – didn’t just get the 13.1-mile feat completed quickly; they were absolutely RAPID.
The 2025 MCR Half saw plenty of people breaching the 90-minute mark or going even faster, but we were not expecting to see the familiar caterpillar fancy dress sight finishing in 1:14:08.
Utterly ridiculous, boys.
Other notable bits of history made, besides the largest ever crowd of 28k racers and more than £1.6 million raised for different charities, included runner Sophie Godley smashing the women’s record for the fastest time while carrying (*checks notes*) 13 golf clubs. Silly and inspiring – like it.
Although they’re still waiting for full confirmation from the official Guinness World Records organisation, the Manchester Half media team seemingly verified that they beat the previous caterpillar half-marathon record by nearly 15 whole minutes.
Dubbing themselves ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’, the group of mates from Skipton in North Yorkshire ran in memory of one of Matthew’s friends, Darren, who sadly died back in 2022.
Speaking to the BBC following the remarkable achievement, Matt said: “Darren was so loved by everyone; we just didn’t know what was going on beneath the surface.”
Applauding the “unbelievable” and incredibly uplifting atmosphere on the day, they were one of many participants who added on extra caveats to the already impressive fitness and fundraising challenge.
It was nevertheless an emotional day for all of them. For instance, one quarter of the caterpillar, Jimmy, also had a heavily pregnant wife waiting at home that he had to race back to.
Generating money for male mental health organisation and suicide prevention charity, Andy’s Man Club (AMC), which has continued to grow year on year, they went on to add: “It’s OK to talk, and people shouldn’t suffer in silence. We all would have tried to help.”
Andy’s Man Club outposts are popping up all over the place, including many here in Greater Manchester, so for anyone struggling, please know that you are NOT alone and can always speak to someone. If you’re interested in giving AMC a go, you can find your nearest support group HERE.
Last but not least, for those of you local to the region who are ready to reward yourselves now that the big runs are all said and done, look no further.
Calling all Manchester runners: if you've boxed off all your races for the year, it's time to reward yourself properly – with a boogie, of course 🪩💃
Featured Images — Manchester Half (supplied)/Andy’s Man Club
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Police uncover more details in investigation into remains of ‘Baby Ava’ found in Little Hulton park last year
Emily Sergeant
More details in the investigation into the remains of a baby found in a park in Little Hulton last year have been uncovered.
Detectives have now released images of clothing found next to the baby’s remains.
Need bringing up to speed? It was on 20 November 2024 that Greater Manchester Police (GMP) received a call from a member of the public reporting the discovery of what appeared to be human remains in a park in the Little Hulton area of Salford – but it was only when officers and detectives attended the scene that they determinted the remains to be that of a baby girl.
At the time, police referred to the baby simply as ‘Baby A’, but it was revealed that they later chose to name her Ava.
Since that day, a dedicated team from GMP’s Major Incident Team has worked ‘tirelessly’ to uncover the truth about who Baby Ava was and what led to her being left alone.
Police have uncovered more details in the investigation of Baby Ava’s identity / Credit: GMP
Detectives have followed up on hundreds of public tips, conducted thousands of hours of house-to-house enquiries, reviewed extensive CCTV footage, and collaborated with police forces and agencies across the country in pursuit of identifying who baby Ava was and securing justice for her.
Now, fast approaching a year since the investigation began, police are sharing with the public some new details they have uncovered – including pictures of ‘distinct’ clothing found next to Baby Ava’s remains.
#APPEAL | Detectives leading the investigation into the discovery of Baby Ava in Little Hulton last November have reappealed on @BBCCrimewatch today.
We continue to appeal directly to Ava’s mum or dad to come forward and speak to us.
Following detectives’ earlier updates, where they revealed a piece of fabric had been recovered from the scene, they have now been able to confirm that this fabric is a pair of ladies’ size large underwear, with a ‘distinct pattern’ of what they believe is cartoon donkeys on them.
Enquiries so far have led police to believe the underwear is not manufactured in the UK, but can be shipped wholesale.
“We hope given their distinctive nature that somebody recognises them,” GMP said in a statement.
The ‘distinct’ underwear found by detectives at the scene / Credit: GMP
Unfortunately, DNA recovered from the underwear, as well as trawls of several public databases, have not furthered the search for Baby Ava’s parents as of yet, however GMP says it does believe Ava was born at around 38 to 39 weeks gestation, and that the pregnancy may have been ‘concealed or unregistered’.
Police have also revealed that Baby Ava was found on top of a layer of snow next to an area that may have been disturbed by animals, so they believe she had been buried initially.
Anyone with any information that may be of assistance is asked to contact police on 101, quoting log 1319 of 20/11/24, or by heading to the Major Incident Public Portal here.
Emily Sergeant -
17th June 2020 
