Lonton South Farm
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Dont bother wasting your time to stay here - you are made to feel like an inconvenience visiting this site and for £22 per night its expensive for what it is.
First of all on arrival I was immediately asked to pay my bill in full and in cash only (this wasn't mentioned when I rang up to book), I asked for a late check out on the day of departure and that was greeted by the owner rolling her eyes and said would 1pm be ok, I then asked for 4pm as I was going out for the day and she shook her head. When I got back to site on the day of departure, the owner came down to the field asking if I was leaving right now so she could leave the gates open, it was pretty obvious I hadn't even started to pack up yet.
To access this site you have to drive through two gates, after driving through the first gate there are horses, dogs and kids roaming around. You then enter a second gate which is where the CL is, I was the only guest staying there. The views are lovely but you have to be aware of being woken up by dogs barking and kids screaming early on a morning which comes from the house behind the CL which belongs to the owners family.
This CL is in a beautiful location, close to Mickleton (the Crown is a lovely pub) and Middleton in Teasdale. I also visited Low and High Force while I was there which is only 10 mins away. You can access an old railway line for walking directly from the CL which was a bonus. For £22 a night the site has no facilities - one drinking water tap, bins (only recycle for glass) and one toilet in the ground for emptying both grey waste and toilet with no option to flush and no hose for cleaning it after use.
I will be returning to this area but definitely not to this CL - its the worst ive ever stayed on.
Adequate CL in stunning surroundings
Lonton South Farm is a perfectly adequate CL site in stunning surroundings. There are two negatives: the CDP disposal facility is way below the usual expected standard, and the price at £18 a night is way too high. Views from our pitch were beautiful. Access to the Teesdale Way makes for excellent walking. We walked from the site to Low Force (about 13 miles return) along the Penine Way - an amazingly lovely path with the reward of eating our lunch by Low Force waterfalls. Bowlees Visitor centre nearby is well worth a visit for refreshments. We did try and cycle to Barnard Castle from Lonton Farm as described on the website but the cycle path ends at Cotherstone (it's then 4 miles along the road to Barnard Castle) . If you're into quirky pubs the Kirk Inn at Romaldkirk might be for you. We enjoyed the experience!
A brilliant CL in Farm Location
Always a warm welcome from Mrs Watson who maintains the site to an exceptional standard.
A part sloping site with levelled hard standing pitches, all with good views.
Experienced caravanners and even motor home users have no problem accessing the pitches.
I must admit there are some obviously inexperienced drivers of motor homes who arrive expecting club site tarmac roadways and facilities.
This is a great location and site and we visit in springtime every year
Wish I'd read the other reviews...
The area is beautiful, with a railway path adjacent and a lovely riverside walk into Middleton.
The site however is one of the worst, I am sorry to say. The field is quite small, and not only does it slope but undulates as well.
There are two electric posts each with two hookups, so four in all. The fifth pitch is non-electric.
Four 'hard-standings' have been dug out, but not leveled correctly, and what looks like recycled road surfacing has been thrown down, which has not been compacted, so the whole effect is a total mess. The hard-standings are not wide enough, so outside the caravan door is about a foot of this lumpy stone and then grass which is a higher level, so when it rains a muddy puddle collects outside our door.
There is one water tap which is behind one of the pitches, so a privacy issue for the people on that pitch, and the waste disposal is unspeakable.
This was the most expensive site of the three during our holiday, and by far the poorest value.
Excellent Location
Lovely views from the site and the easy access to the disused railway track meant we didn't have to move our van all the time we were there. Middleton in Teesdale is a lovely little town with an excellent butcher, a really useful hardwear store and a friendly café.
We had some fabulous and varied walks direct from the site. The dogs did not bother us and we stay on CLs not expecting to have any facilities or be bothered about the noise of a farm so previous comments did not put us off. A noisy pheasant woke us early one morning but, hey, this is the countryside!
BurtnJoyce
Reviewed on 25/08/2020 20:43
Beautiful Countryside and Dog Walks on the Doorstep
We stayed here at the end of July 2020. The views are spectacular and it is a lovely 10 minute walk on footpaths through fields to the village of Middleton in Teesdale. The site is situated on the old railway track which eventually leads to Barnard Castle. This is one of the highlights of the site for us as we have a dog and got straight onto this walk which leads to Mickleton and Romaldskirk, which both have nice pubs that you can stop off at. The village of Middleton In Teesdale has several pubs, a very busy fish and chip shop and several cafes. This is a working farm and the sounds and sights of the sheep being herded up was a joy to watch. We were on a slope and so did need our chocks but it wasnt too much of an issue. There wasn't a toilet facility and we thought the site was too expensive as we had 2 family members staying in our awning for which we were charged an extra £35. Therefore the total cost was £80 with E/HU for 3 nights for a motorhome with an awning. This is double the price that we have paid at other CL sites for exactly the same. Would we return - Yes due to the location but not the price
Oh Dear!
As the previous review stated, this is one of the worst (but not THE worst) CL we have ever stayed on, and we have been caravanning on CL’s for 25 years! The site is accessed through a horse paddock via two gates, although the horses did not bother us at all. The owner visited us shortly after our arrival and we never saw anyone again in the 6 nights we were there.
We have one of the larger caravans at 7m in length and we struggled to find a pitch level enough, even with the huge number of levelling blocks my OH insists on carrying. We had three goes at pitching up and if there had been another longer unit on site there would not have been a suitable level pitch. Perhaps a smaller caravan would have more success in pitching, and there were two very much smaller units when we were there. The hardstanding pitches are very narrow and nowhere near level and the whole site is on a slope. The CDP was very basic, especially when the previous user had not properly flushed the waste away. Perhaps we should have been ready for this as the site does not have a photo on the web site. At £14 per night it is overpriced. This does include EHU, but as we had to pitch up opposite the hardstandings, we required our extension lead to reach the sockets.
On the plus side the bins were emptied regularly and the water tap was central to the site. The views were lovely with easy walks along the old railway track accessed directly from site and Middleton in Teesdale was about 15 minutes walk across fields. The town has a Co-op, pubs, a fish and chip shop and really all you need. We wouldn’t stay on this site again, which is a shame as it is a lovely area to visit and in our opinion the Tees valley is under-rated as a destination. I dislike leaving bad reviews, but honestly we really couldn’t believe it.
Winebird
Reviewed on 16/07/2019 15:46
I can not believe how bad a site could be
A beautiful view, great location for walking and car trips.
Fabulous wild life.
The site it’s self is not fit for purpose,
The grass was long, the hard standing can only be describe as hard core.
The bays are no where near level front to back or side to side. Part bare earth and hard core.
Chemical waste was quite primitive and the dogs do bark and bark etc.
Chris Clark
Reviewed on 03/06/2019 18:31
Lovely rural farm site
This is a site with excellent panoramic views. It has direct access to the Tees railway walking path. You will need levelling blocks on some of the pitches. Clean, well kept and a great welcome
lovely site
Just returned from bank holiday 3 night stay. Yes we paid on arrival so what, it saves you looking for the owner later. The owner was friendly and helpful. Yes we heard dogs ? the horses never came anywhere near us when empting toilet. Yes the site is basic its a CL if you want more maybe a club site would suit better. the site was very clean and well kept, bins emptied daily. it was perfect for walks , the Teesdale walk was straight from the site and beautiful views from the site. We will definitely be returning. Well done Mrs Watson