UKC

I'm thinking of finally getting round to joining the CC.

For many years I've been restricted by having a dog and then a very small child, but now my son is old enough (nearly 5) to go up to places like the Peak for some climbing, and the dog is old enough to prefer sleeping in my parents' garden.

I can't work out quite how the bookings with under-18s work. The first question is that, if you have a room booked in a hut, do you just pay for the beds you use, given that no-one else can use the empty beds?

In particular for the Downes hut it seems to be the non-members back room that can be booked for under-18s on 2nd and 4th weekends of each month. It seems to have 10 beds so can you just book it for two or three folk or do you have to fill the beds? And if you can have it nearly empty, will that be a bit of a pisser for others wanting to use the hut or is it not usually busy?

Cwm Glas Mawr, Count House, and Grange all look to have a small, bookable room but the Peak is both nearer for me, and probably offers the most suitable climbing for the moment too.

Thanks for any info.

In reply to matt perks:

Email the hut bookings secretary they'll know the answer: downes@climbers-club.co.uk

On here you'll just get useless opinion and speculation.

Tom

In reply to matt perks:

You can book the whole room, not sure how much. Also you can camp and use the rest of the facilities but not sleep in the rooms. Hope that helps. I agree contact the cc directly. Hopefully there is a contact on the website.

In reply to matt perks:

If you book a room, you pay for the room regardless of how many beds are occupied. The fee for a room at Downes is £30 per night. You don't need to fill the dorm/room.

As someone else said, camping allows you and your child use of the facilities inside and you'd just be paying for yourself and the kid so £10.50 per night. any further questions email hut-booking@climbers-club.co.uk

In reply to matt perks:

Hi Matt - if you need a signature on your CC application give me a shout - I'm in the UK for a few weeks from Friday.

Steve

In reply to matt perks:

You need to check with the hut bookings secretary as mentioned above but it is my understanding that only Members children are allowed.

In reply to matt perks:

What Missile said.

There's no restriction on weekends, just other bookings. Once you join, you can see live bookings on the website.

Personally I think you should be allowed to occupy the room at normal fees if there's no-one else there (likely to be the case at the Downes) on the proviso that you camp if there is.

Or have a lower rate for booking rooms at the Downes and Cwm Glas Mwr for members with children under 18.

As your post highlights, the CC's hut use policy for under 18s is confusing and not very appealing to families.

In reply to matt perks:

Thanks Missile, thanks Tom, and nice to hear from you Steve. I think now that it's electronic, it doesn't matter whether or not you're in the UK. If, when I read it properly that doesn't turn out to be the case then I think I can round up an appropriate number of miscreants anyway but very much appreciate the offer.

In reply to Tom Briggs:






perhaps that is because the first C in CC stands for climbers, not children's?

In reply to Tom Briggs:


And?

In reply to 3leggeddog:


My kids climb.

My point is that the huts are under utilised and they could be made more accessible to members with families.

In reply to 3leggeddog:

Exactly the kind of attitude that is putting me off joining the CC.

If you're going to stay in a tent and use the facilities then why not stay in a campsite? Presumably run by people that can at least pretend that they are happy to have you there...

In reply to 3leggeddog:


Maybe the CC should stop accepting new members of childbearing age, just to be on the safe side?

In reply to Tom Briggs:


I don't think it is likely the case at Downes at weekends - certainly not to the extent of completely losing one of the two dorms.

Huts are basically geared up to provide Alpine bunk type accommodation - not family suites.

In reply to GrahamD:

There are no bookings at the Downes the next two weekends and 4 of the 5 weekends in August have a grand total of 5 bookings, including the Bank Holiday.

In reply to Tom Briggs:

I don't think people have cottoned onto the need to pre-book. Most members turn up on the night.

In reply to

Well that opened a can of worms didn't it.

I don't particularly like the idea of pre booked family rooms over pre booked beds. It raises the possibility of members not getting a bed when one is vacant, all to save precious Tarquin and Olivia from sharing a room with a nasty climber type.

This is more a discussion for the Cc than here, be that climbers club or children's creche.

In reply to GrahamD:


And in saner countries people have no problem with kids being in Alpine bunk type accommodation. The hysterical attitude to such things that prevails in Britain is not the CC's fault.

In reply to 3leggeddog:

I might have got the wrong end of the stick.

Are kids allowed to use the shared bunks or would U18's only be allowed to use pre-booked rooms?

I wouldn't want a family room. Its not really in keeping with the point of a hut.

In reply to Scotsken:


One person's comment doesn't mean the whole club thinks like that! As you may gather, I'm a member of the CC and I'm not against kids (shock horror!)

I think as Al Little pointed out, we have some crazy legislation or ideas about how we need to protect kids. This is made more difficult with the CC being a club with a large membership. Smaller clubs can be more child friendly since most people know each other and can negotiate how children can sleep at huts. I know this is the case in the other, smaller club I'm in. The CC has to put down rules/guidelines so that it's clear to everyone what's acceptable. You might get a really child unfriendly person turning up who you don't know and can't negotiate with!

GrahamD is also correct in that members haven't really embraced the pre-booking idea. Something to do with them being "free spirits" I'm told, therefore huts appear emptier than they actually are.

In reply to matt perks:

A final question (thanks so much for your direct email, Trevor. If you happen to see this I can't seem to get your email from the CC website as a non(yet)member or UKC because of your fully understandable privacy settings).

Is it okay for a member to book e.g. the room at the Downes hut for the use of a group consisting of that member, his kid(s), and one or more other (unrelated) members and their kids?

This is probably only an issue at the Downes hut since the other relevant huts have smaller bookable rooms so a room for the two of us would not be such a waste of bed space.