Single night stop over
We used this site as a stop-over on the way to Cornwall and I guess alarm bells should have been ringing when I called about availability for a single night and the response was that they were sure they could fit us in somewhere! Now, I have to be honest and say that I do not like this approach to CLs. I want a CL to be a 5 van site not a 5 van site with an adjacent area for permanent/seasonal pitches and an overflow field etc. as this site has - and all share the same facilities. Anyway here are some pluses and minuses.
On the plus side, it is a very neat and tidy site and is clearly well kept and looked after. There are delightful views overlooking a few fields and local hills but also feels sheltered. It has a toilet (but bring your own loo roll!) and shower (although we didn’t use the shower so we can’t comment on that) as well as laundry facilities. It is also ideally situated very close to the A30 for convenience.
On the negative side, travelling down the approach road I thought we would get stuck! It is so narrow for our 8-foot wide caravan that I was amazed that it didn’t come out scratched and damaged from all the hedge growth screeching down the side as we slowly travelled towards the site. Heaven forbid if you meet something coming the other direction! We later learnt that you can access and depart from Gosford Road (as opposed to the ultra-narrow Gosford Lane) but why weren't we told this on booking just a few days prior - especially after saying we were a large outfit?!?!? The toilet waste area is reasonable - in fact, being under cover would probably be a good thing during inclement weather, but, as per the pictures on the website I wouldn’t want to do my laundry there as the washing machine and drier are within a couple of feet of the toilet waste! Most unhygienic! On-site, the close proximity to the A30 makes road noise pretty much inevitable. As a one-night stop over we weren’t overly concerned by this but it would put us off staying for any longer. And then when we came to pay we couldn’t find anyone or any way of paying! When we arrived the previous evening we were greeted and shown where to pitch but no mention of the alternative access or who, how, or when to pay (to be fair after a four-hour tow with grumpy children and a dog desperate to stretch his legs I really just wanted to get set up). So we left a note in the letter box with our contact details asking them to contact us for a bank transfer payment. In the end, as we drove out we met the owner so we managed to settle up there and then but it added another stress. All in all a convenient stop-over and is much better for the modified access (although even that is also tight in a couple of places for an 8-foot wide twin axle van) but not somewhere I will be rushing back to although it does definitely have some very good points.
