About 3 years ago we started negotiations with Monkey Tree to hold Car Boot Sales at this Holiday Park and recently I was asked to run the sales which started today and has great potential however there are serious problems. We arrived to set up the sale but there was a delay to open the barrier causing a back log of our sellers in their small car park and I am told some potential sellers left the Q. It was agreed that the main Holiday Park entrance would be used as the alternative entrance was too dangerous and in the interest of public safety we agreed not to use the main road double gate entrance.

I was met by two sellers who owned a caravan on this park for 13 years and they told me that a lot of the people who have caravans on site were against the car boot being held there and that the road into the car boot was too dangerous especially as it passes lots of caravans which is not fair to the people staying in those caravans. They also told me of the fear of so many people that the Car Boot people would get into the holiday park and go around stealing from the caravans! All very fair comment however in 25 years I have only had ONE police complaint about stealing at our car boots and that is a turnaround of millions of people.

We put internal direction signs to guide our customers to the sale but it seems some buyers wanted to go drive about and have a look at the holiday park either being nosey or maybe wanting to look at their facilities to book but certainly not to look to see “which one can I steal from” This seemed to antagonise some of the residents which was hardly our fault resulting in complaints to reception. ‘No go’ areas should have been designated with barriers. Management advised me of the complaints our people were driving everywhere and that some young lads from the car boot had allegedly shouted a sexist remark to a caravan owner’s 13 year old daughter? Young lads driving around in a car ‘don’t do car boots man’

I do feel that the caravans owners who have been at Monkey Tree for many years resent the introduction of our Car Boot Sales and probably schemed to make us realize “you are not welcome here” and I am sure they are our car booter’s as well and they know how busy our car boots get and they all thought “there is NO WAY we want six or seven hundred cars coming through here every week, sod that”
Quite right my lovers and taking all into consideration and for a peaceful life for all concerned me and my crowds will just go somewhere where we are really wanted and loved and appreciated and you can all go back to the peace and tranquillity of Monkey Tree for we may never pass this way again!

Bottom line; Monkey Tree asked us to start Car Boot Sales at their location but negotiations were poor, on several occasions I called to make final arrangements but there was a lack of communications with wasted journeys.
What I object to most strongly is that our Car Boot Community are judged as thieves, the majority of the people who come to my sales are most honest clean living folks but a sad fact is that amongst all crowd gatherings there is someone lurking around to steal from you, but what I don’t understand is the mentality of someone who breaks into a caravan to steal probably the same crap as you see at our car boot sales for next to nothing prices every day.

And our Gladice told me yesterday she was offended that the Police advise anyone who had had anything stolen to look around the car boots first. I can imagine being a copper especially in a place like Camborne and being on the reception all day and listening to the tales of woe about something that was stolen, and you have got to be there all day listening to the same old crap because they had been irresponsible by not looking after their own property in the first place! I would get so pissed off with them all FFS and to get rid of them I would tell them ‘Go look around the boot sales, but you wont find your property there’!!