Why do gliding clubs have airfield frequencies if they never bother manning them?
I think you can certainly level that argument at some powered fields too!!
PPS Hinton manages to keep free-fall para, gliding and powered flying apart from each other, Halton with powered and gliding and also Gamston with powered and gliding - as long as you all have a good understanding of each others needs and procedures then all can work quite nicely.
Gamston gliding has been shut for some years now, they got the boot as the powered side got too busy and they finally edged them out, I'm happy to be corrected on that but that's the story I got. They amalgamated with Newark and Notts who lost the use of the showground at Newark and they now fly at Darlton, just to the East of Gamston, and it's a very friendly club with a variety of pilots many of whom have PPL/NPPL/SLMG, you name it somebody will have it.
Having recently gone over to 'dirty' flying as well as gliding I can see things from both sides now, cue Joni Mitchell, and all I can say is they are two different disciplines and each brings something different to the plate of the pilot. Having been brought up on the 'hanging around all day' gliding club scene I still think it's pretty amazing that you can just turn up and fly powered and then go home. It's really novel to me.
I like doing them both, they do both have a completely different culture but as long as you accept that and don't try and compare then you should have no problem. By the way, even as a glider pilot I've been to some pretty snotty gliding clubs as well. I haven't been to an unfriendly powered field yet but I'm sure they must be around.