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The caravan is sorted. It has a pitch, a storage compound or a spot on the drive. The problem at the end of the season is everything that came out of it: the awning, the poles, the groundsheets, the chairs, the water barrels.
That kit needs somewhere dry, and dry is hard to come by here. North East England gets about 894mm of rain a year, falling on roughly 145 days. A storage unit is for the kit, not the caravan, and this is how to use one well.
What actually needs storing at the end of the season?
The bulky, awkward, damp-prone things, not the caravan itself. For most Teesside caravanners and campers the pile looks like this:
- The awning or tent, with its poles or air beams, pegs and guy lines
- Groundsheets, awning carpet and windbreaks
- Chairs, tables, loungers and the camp kitchen
- Water and waste containers, levelling ramps, hitch lock and wheel clamp
- Bedding, sleeping bags and airbeds
- Bikes, roof box and the cool box
None of it is valuable enough to worry about. All of it is big enough to fill a spare room, and most of it hates being left in a shed.
Why is a wet awning such an expensive mistake?
Because mildew starts fast and doesn’t wash out. Awning makers say the same thing in their care guides: a damp awning develops mildew surprisingly quickly, so it must be completely dry before it is packed away, then kept somewhere dry and ventilated.
That’s harder than it sounds in this region. Rain on 145 days a year means the last trip of the season often ends with a wet pack-down. Then the air does the rest. Humidity across the North East averages 83% over the year, and there are around 60 nights of air frost, each one a chance for condensation to form on anything stored in a shed or garage.
Roll an awning away damp in October and you’ll unroll black spots in April. We’ve covered what this climate does to stored belongings in our guide to damp and sea air in Redcar. Canvas and coated polyester are near the top of the at-risk list.
Drying, folding, boxing: the end-of-season routine
Dry first, and take longer over it than you think you need. Everything else follows.
- Dry it properly. If you packed up wet, open the awning out again at home. A garage, a spare room or over the banisters for a few days. Check the seams and the mud wall, which hold water longest.
- Clean it gently. Clean water and a soft brush. The care guides say no scrubbing and no detergents.
- Fold it loosely. Pack it into its own bag without forcing it. Vary the folds from last year so the creases don’t wear in the same place.
- Bag the metalwork separately. Poles, pegs and ramps go in their own bag, wiped dry, so they can’t rust against the fabric.
- Box the small stuff. Lidded plastic crates, labelled by job: kitchen, electrics, water, pegs and tools.
- Keep it off the floor. A pallet or a couple of battens lets air move underneath.
One more rule. Empty and dry the water containers with the caps off, or they’ll smell by spring.
What fits in what?
A full caravan kit fits in the smallest container, and a single-garage-sized one takes the kit plus the rest of the household overflow. As a guide:
| What you’re storing | Unit that suits | Guide price (inc VAT) |
|---|---|---|
| Family camping setup: tent, sleeping kit, camp kitchen, chairs, cool box | 10ft container (large shed size), with room to spare | £90 a month |
| Full caravan kit: awning, poles, groundsheets, furniture, water and waste containers | 10ft container | £90 a month |
| Caravan or camping kit plus bikes, roof box, garden furniture and the Christmas boxes | 20ft container (single garage size) | £118.80 a month |
Guide prices, checked 2 October 2026. Sizes and availability change from week to week, and not every size is offered at every site. For what's available today, with live prices, see the Redcar, Ingleby Barwick and Stockton (Preston Farm) pages.
The 20ft container is the one size offered at all three of our sites, which is why we use it as the benchmark. At £118.80 a month it works out at under £4 a day for a dry single garage you don’t have to build.
It also earns its keep outside the camping season. The awning goes in as the Christmas boxes come out, and they swap back in January. If you’re not sure which size you are, the size guide translates square feet into things you can picture.
Access is by personal PIN at the main gate, 24 hours a day. The container is secured with a high-security padlock, and you hold the key. So an early start for the first trip of the year doesn’t depend on anyone’s opening hours.
The spring payoff
This is where the autumn effort comes back. Kit that went away clean, dry, boxed and labelled comes out in the same state. You load the car in order, hitch up and go.
The alternative is familiar. A Saturday lost digging through the shed, a musty awning on the lawn, and a trip to the camping shop for pegs you already own.
Where to keep it on Teesside
We have three sites: Redcar on Limerick Road, Ingleby Barwick on Low Lane, and Preston Farm in Stockton, all a short hop from the A19, A66 or A174 for the run out to the Moors or the Dales. All three iBOXED sites are pinned on the map below. Pick whichever sits between home and where the caravan lives.
