Burrs Country Park Club Campsite

We have only recently bought a caravan so are relatively new to the experience. We have joined and visited quite a few sites with this club but I must say this was the worst so far. It is a shame as the site is unusual with the steam train going by BUT the marshall's just spoiled the weekend for us. We arrived at the site a few weeks ago when the weather was not the best. Our friends in a motorhome joined us for the weekend. All went well the first evening, however, on Saturday there was a heavy rainfall which completely flooded the pitch our friends were on for 5+ hours. The pitch was lower than the surrounding grass, hence, the water remained in the pitch and damaged chairs/equipment that they had on the pitch. Granted the site cannot help the weather but the pitch needs to be brought higher than the ground surrounding it!! My friends complained to the marshall's, who showed no interest until another couple of friends arrived to join us for tea. These friends are not use to the rules on any caravan site since they have no caravan of their own. Unfortunately, they went the wrong way around the site!!! Due to the panic we were already experiencing, when they joined us at the pitch, I asked them to park next to our caravan whilst we helped our other friends who were struggling to remove the water from the pitch. This was only going to be for a short while whilst we got sorted. However, the marshall then decided to come out and rant about H & S, driving the wrong way and parking next to the caravan. You have to picture this - we were concerned about our other friends saving their property and scooping the water way - and these marshalls were more concerned about someone driving the wrong way (for which he apologised for, by the way) and taking pictures. I also had the lady marshall pointing her fingers in my face, when speaking to me which is very rude. I am a health and safety manager myself, for a construction company, so understand H & S is very important, but our friends had been driving only 2-5 miles per hour around site, so H & S needed to be put to into perspective in this matter and other matters were more important at the time. They eventually asked us to move the motorhome to another pitch nearby, but this will not solve the issue for other caravaners in the future. Overall, the experience was terrible, the marshalls were very rude and not helpful at all. It is a shame as we live only 10 miles away and would have like to visit the site again, but until we hear that these marshalls no longer work at this site, we will not be visiting again. Our friends have complained but have not had a response as yet. I just felt I needed to let people know about these unhelpful/rude marshall's. We had heard similar reviews from other caravaners who have visited this site, but thought, no it can't be that back - But how wrong we were!!!

Comment from the Club:

We are so sorry that your friends pitch was flooded and fully sympathise with how upsetting this must have been for them. Our site staff have been in touch as they want to clarify the situation and clear up any confusion. The flooding started when we had approximately 5" rain in 15 minutes. We fully appreciate how distressing the situation was but have to let people know if they are speeding or going the wrong way on the one way system as we have children on bicycles on the site and we need to ensure everyone is safe. This is of the utmost importance regardless of the situation and as such the wardens will always advise if they witness anyone not abiding by these site rules for the safety of all on site. With regards to the flooding, our site warden did his utmost to help and could fully empathise as they were also affected by the flooding on their pitch. The site staff helped move items out of the awning, helped with taking the canopy down and moved the members affected to another pitch on higher ground and we hope that this helped to relieve some of the stress of the situation. They have also raised this as a member incident report to the Regional Manager and please be assured the wardens will always do their utmost to help and asset wherever they can.

 

5 replies

We had seen Burrs Country Park on a previous visit to the East Lancs Railway a couple of years ago, and made a mental note to make a booking. As friends had given us a "Steam Day Out" gift voucher, we tied it in with a visit to Burrs. We were not disappointed. Lovely site, nice and quiet (even though there were herds of children around), and well appointed on the banks of the River Irwell. Site staff very welcoming and friendly. Really enjoyed the weekend, and will return in the future. The only down-side (and it was club member/guest led), was the inability of some people to clear up after themselves once they had finished using the pot-wash. I had to clean out a sink on both Saturday and Sunday as all had food waste and soap suds in them. If people live like that at home, then stay at home and make a mess, but don't do it on communal sites.

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Had another great stay last weekend along with our friends. Use this site often for locality to home & the excellent facilities on site & surrounding area. Only downside we had was the constant cutting through pitches from other memebers. One fella virtually had breakfast with us & that was while he was cutting through with his toilet!! In our opinion it's just damn right rude. A few signs put up by the club wouldn't go amiss. So come on memebers you wouldn't be happy if someone walked through your gardens at home, so don't do it on sites! Apart from this, really looking forward to returning again.

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Love this site, 3rd visit and have booked again for September. Great location, easy access from all directions and lots to see and do. Previous reviews have stated some dismay at lack of playground, Burrs Country Park is one big playground in my opinion but then your children would have to be supervised. I was disappointed at at a couple of children that arrived midweek scootering the wrong way around the site and seeing it perfectly acceptable to stand and stare into our unit. One, are they not taught pitch etiquette and two, what a cheek!!! I found all 4 wardens approachable, friendly and very helpful. They also work tirelessly and thanklessly to hear some folk talk in keeping the site well maintained, clean and tidy. I do have an issue with the amateur signage re where you allow your dog to wee. Yes, I understand the reasoning but really, if my dog needs a wee, apart from dragging him off site, there isn't a lot I can do about it. Having said that, we are responsible and tried our best to adhere to the request. We found a chippy up on the Brandleshome estate at the top of a footpath that started from Burrs. It took about 20 minutes to walk up and slightly less on the downhill back but our fish and chip supper which had been double wrapped by the lady who served us was still hot enough to eat and was delicious. We also used the taxi service that one of the wardens had given us details of, Elton, I think their name was and it was very reasonable with a trip from the site into Bury town centre costing £3.60 and very prompt service also. Every time we come to Burrs, we leave ready to visit again.

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We returned to Burrs after first finding it about 4 years ago because we could only remember good things about it. What's changed? The Country Park is still an excellent facility for all ages - locals and visitors. The East Lancs Railway adds another interesting element, and there are many things to see without having to walk too far. Our extended weekend break was going as we'd expect, until we settled down for a quiet and peaceful lunch. After a few minutes, we decided to take our two-stroke oil and petrol fume smoked lunch inside to get away from the wardens and their noisy smelly boys toys, being used to trim the hedges, the grass, and to run around in the essential tractor (with accelerator pushed as far down as possible). Whilst enjoying all this noise and smell for about 3 hours, after all - we'd paid for it, so we were having it, wondered if someone would ever invent electric power tools, and even make them battery powered, no smell and a lot less noise. They could even be charged up using eco-friendly solar panels. We could even take in lots of the world's plastic waste, paint it green for astroturf and throw the tools away - but not in the oceans. When the petrol engine noise stopped, we could get back to listening to the noisy music and other goings on at the adjacent pub - all afternoon, and well into the night. Warm weather puts many campers into party and BBQ mood and although some large groups did form around and between some units, they were reasonably quiet and not disruptive - well done to them all. However, there is always the occasional noisy laughter brought on by alcohol induced hysteria, but this was brief. Why not arrange sites with 'quiet areas' and 'noisy areas' with 'don't care' in between them? Facilities - the gents' toilets seemed to be regularly blocked and overflowing, the shower cubicles are getting rather shabby and the need for a towel was reduced due to the extremely small amount of water which dribbled out of the shower heads. Hopefully, this site is on the refurbishment list - preferably, sooner than later.

Comment from the Club:

Many thanks for your review and we are sorry to read your stay was not as peaceful as you would have liked. The site staff have been in touch as they try their hardest to ensure everyone has a wonderful time staying at Burrs Country Park and work hard to maintain the site and offer a warm welcome to visitors. With regards to cutting the hedges, they had waited until after the weekend as this is when the site is busiest but unfortunately they had no choice but to cut them at the beginning of the week as they were getting out of hand. The extra noise would have been the mower they use to pick up the cuttings so the grass is left tidy with no sharp bits for people to cut themselves on. They are sorry this disturbed part of your day but hope you appreciate they do need to carry out maintenance on the site. The noise from the nearby pub is unfortunately out of the site staffs hand but there will always be some price to pay for the convenience of having a pub that sells food on the doorstep. There are pitches further away from the pub and for future reference if you have nay issues on site or would like to change pitch,  the site staff are always happy to help.  

4 replies

First time on this site for us couldn’t have picked a better week weather great. Friendly welcome from the staff they are keen on the rules. Toilet block is very clean but I think it’s ready for a refit, showers don’t get to the temperature that they should ( valves need checking) when you use the sink the water is red hot. The new train station is great but why isn’t there a coded gate from the site they haven’t thought of the disabled or people who can’t walk far. Great walks from the gate and wheelchair friendly. Just need to drive slow over the cobbles only common sense it’s nice how they have kept them it goes with the history of the area..

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We like Burrs as we live abroad and most of our family live around Bury so its an ideal spot to stay with a very good pub just off the site. Our only critisim of this lovely site were a couple of the wardens who seemed far too keen in chasing the holiday makers for very trivial things it was like being told off back in school. However we will visit again most probably next year.

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Just returned from a half term family break at the Burrs. Very good weather, lots of open grass areas to enjoy the sun. I agree with the previous reviewer with regards to "some" of the wardens. One in particular very grumpy and unhelpful. My main issue with the Burrs site is that they have extended the overall size of the site but neglected to put in a children's playground, how short sighted of the Club to do this, happy to cater for dogs but not children. Facilities reasonable good. Big improvement now that there is a train station for the East lancs railway. Great fun watching the trains go past.

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0 Stars The Caravan Club prides itself on family and pet friendliness. Not this place. The Wardens are terrible. I had a phone call on the Friday we were going to the site. The female warden call me to say that there had been a very bad accident on the motorways leading to the caravan park and traffic was horrendous. She then said to my amazement, that if we were stuck in traffic and got the the site later than 8pm, we would not be allowed onsite??? She told me I would have to go back home to my amazement. The club states very clearly that “If unavoidably delayed, please let the site know if you expect to arrive after 8pm”. We did manage to get to the site on time but was greeted by hundreds of posters all over the site saying don’t let your dog on the grass, dont let them toilet on the road etc. The posters were on every door in the facilities and all over the wardens caravan area. I thought the caravan club were pet friendly? Not these wardens. When you walk you dog around the site you get daggers from the wardens and staff. They dont even try to hide the fact the dont like dogs and the site. Ive been coming to this park for the best part of 10 years now and loved it. I try to be a friendly chap and am polite to all I see on the caravan park but this is just too much. I hear nothing but bad comments from the caravaners on the site about the wardens but the caravan club seem to turn a blind eye on the wardens goings on. I will be calling the caravan club up tomorrow to see what can be done about these grumpy old wardens.

Comment from the Club

Many thanks for your review and we are sorry to read that you did not enjoy your stay. The Site staff have been in touch as they work hard to ensure everyone has a wonderful time whilst saying at Burrs Country Park and would like to explain why they have taken such actions.

The Site Staff always like to let members know if there are any potential problems on the roads to help members plan their journey and avoid any disappointment. As the site does not have a late night arrival area like other Club Sites they would hate to have to turn any guest away at the gate and as such go the extra mile to inform members of any potential hold ups on the way.

Please be assured the Club welcomes dogs on site and we are pleased we can offer members dog friendly holidays. With regards to the signs, the site staff have put these up following some recent unfortunate incidents but these signs are for members information and not to discourage dogs on site.

We hope this clears up any confusion. 

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lovely site very friendly wardens we enjoyed the peace and quiet even though it was may bank hols, the only down sides is that it could do with a few more hedges in between pitches to act as a windbreak it was very windy . the other thing is the horrendous tow through bury and the even worse road to the site rough tarmac road leading onto even worse cobbles had scrambled eggs for tea , would like to return again but not while the road is that bad , by the way this was our first visit here

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