Durham Grange Club Campsite

Rated 4 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 5 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 5 of 5

Location

Rated 5 of 5

Good for families

Great Location

What an excellent site for visiting the local area! Park & Ride actually within walking distance and you're in Durham city within minutes. It is ideally situated just off the A1(M) to travel to and from and within easy reach of great days out like Beamish Museum - a must! The coast is not far away so, again, a great location for stop-overs on the way north or south or for local visits.

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Highrevving

Motorhomer

Reviewed on 28/11/2015 20:27

16 reviews

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Rated 4 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 5 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 5 of 5

Location

Rated 5 of 5

Good for families

Great Base Camp

We were going to a Flyball competition at nearby Seaham. Rather than leave home early in the morning we decided to book a site closer to the venue and then to visit the Beamish Museum and Durham Cathedral. Having been members of the Club for 12 years, this was our first stay at a Club site (we normally opt for the CL network. As Durham Grange is just off the A1 access is easy. If you are approaching from the North keep to the outer lane of the A690 on the roundabout as you are required to turn right almost immediately on leaving the roundabout. We found the site well kept and maintained while the staff were helpful. We will be back as Beamish is just so big a one day visit is not enough to take it all in. Due to Disability we chose to drive into Durham to get to the Cathedral and found parking difficult to find and also incurred the £2 congestion charge. However this was well worth it as it is a magnificent building.

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PhiLindaKeay

Caravanner

Reviewed on 18/11/2015 15:25

1 review

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 3 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 5 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 4 of 5

Location

Rated 5 of 5

Good for families

Great for concert going in Newcastle!

Me and my wife recently stayed on this site in order to go to a concert in Newcastle. Although there was some noise, being so close to the A1, this did not spoil our stay in any way. The staff were very helpful, the site was very well maintained and clean, and was ideally positioned for all our requirements. My son was able to collect us from the site easily for the concert, because of the easily accessible, well maintained and good sized parking area. We stayed an additional night and walked into Durham. We enjoy walking and found the public footpath, accessed near the site, was a very pleasant track into the centre (1hr 15mins approx.). However, we were there in November and would therefore strongly suggest the use of walking boots. Great! we will be returning.

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Graham Townsend

Reviewed on 18/11/2015 10:01

2 reviews

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 2 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 4 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 3 of 5

Location

Rated 3 of 5

Good for families

Great for city - roadworks starting soon!

The site is just off the A1M so do expect road noise on any pitch. The wardens do a fine job keeping the site clean and tidy. Use the park & ride (£2.00 return) and there is a footpath to it over the road. The site was very full, BUT some of the cubicles were locked-off in both male and female areas of the WC block Why is the CC doing this? We see this practice increasing at many sites and while it may be sensible when sites are quiet, it is an inconvenience to us when they are busy! Be warned that the A1M is to have re-surfacing works starting at the end of November so expect increased noise etc... Enjoy.

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Gadgie 1

Caravanner

Reviewed on 15/11/2015 08:24

26 reviews

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 1 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 5 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 4 of 5

Location

Rated 4 of 5

Good for families

Handy stop off

The site is maintained to a high standard by the wardens. The road noise is quite marked (A690/A1). My pitch, although in what is considered a quieter part of the site, had a light shining on it all night from the adjoining compound. On a nice day, the walk along the river into Durham would be enjoyable, mine was a very wet and muddy one (the map instructions could be a little clearer..I ended up in a farmers field, having to climb over a barbed wire fence..with the dog..once back on track it was okay). Returned from Durham, part of the way by bus,driver did not know the site , so I still had quite a walk at the end. I would recommend this as a stop off point

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Gilly18

Motorhomer

Reviewed on 13/11/2015 15:47

2 reviews

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 2 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 4 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 4 of 5

Location

Rated 4 of 5

Good for families

Never again

Oh dear what a mistake! We stayed at the end of October, the play site for the children was good. Our experience was not favourable; advised on arriving there would be road noise, however not told about the on-going road works which went on through the night until the early morning. Unfortunately our pitch backed on to the council site which was also noisey from the skip lorries and continuing beeping of reversing vehicles.

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VGF2107

Reviewed on 10/11/2015 12:32

19 reviews

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 3 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 4 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 4 of 5

Location

Rated 3 of 5

Good for families

Good but no frills

I notice a previous review"a site to like but not to love" This review really says it all. Road Noise not a problem inside caravan but could be annoying sitting outside. A good functional stop just off A1 which is what we wanted Toilets/Showers Good

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rossini

Caravanner

Reviewed on 08/11/2015 17:30

4 reviews

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 3 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 4 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 3 of 5

Location

Rated 4 of 5

Good for families

A site to like but not to love

I liked this site although it is hard to find anything outstanding or, indeed, anything particularly bad. The pitches are well organised, most of them around a main trapezoid shaped road with some grass pitches in the middle and further hard standing pitches on various offshoots and enclaves from the main roadway – some pitches being rather gloomy I thought and not at all to my taste. I always prefer a nice open aspect and I had a service pitch on the opposite side to the loo block and reception. The pitch was very good and level. I was struck by the fact that the non-awning service pitches appeared to be identical in size and shape to the awning service pitches. The loo block was very clean and modern and fresh and there’s nothing to complain about there. The wardens I met were friendly and the site appeared well kept if not especially attractive – but it was mostly wet, gloomy, foggy autumnal days when I was there. I thought a surfaced path between each of the long sides of the main road would have been good to avoid walking across the grass or the long walk round. But this is nit-picking. Everyone comments on the road noise. It comes from two busy roads and the junction between them and anyone who comes here must be aware of it so their complaints are hard to justify. Mostly the noise is of the “tyres on road surface” type rather than the sound of engines. In some ways this can be worse than the engine noises one gets when much nearer a busy road. Nonetheless, whilst this is unavoidably noticeable when outside, one can barely hear it in the van. At night, just the occasional boy-racer accelerating onto the A1. It’s not a big deal. I prefer it to total silence. For caravaners the location is excellent of course being less than three miles outside of Durham. In a motorhome, however, with no car, the location turns out to be not so great. There is a park and ride half a mile walk away, but it is a treacherous walk requiring the negotiation of very busy roads and few paths. Mostly one has to take the muddy, badly maintained, grass verges with cars, lorries and buses flying past within seemingly inches, and with every opportunity for twisted ankles. You really do have to take immense care and I found it took me the best part of 15 minutes to cover this short distance. Plainly the junction was not designed for pedestrians and one is hardly likely to expect the highways authority to cater for a few caravanners wanting to get to the park and ride. Nor can one blame the CC out of whose hands this is. But it is a great shame because were there a comfortable, safe way of accessing the park and ride on foot this site would move to a new level for those in motorhomes. On my bike, it felt marginally safer. There is also a great bus service (but still requiring the same walk) from the top of High Street in Carrville (opposite the PnR). Here one can get buses to Durham or to Houghton le Spring, Sunderland and South Shields. There’s a really good play area.

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Graydjames

Reviewed on 05/11/2015 18:54

56 reviews

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 3 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 4 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 5 of 5

Location

Rated 5 of 5

Good for families

Beautiful Autumnal Colours

The Colours of Autumn were very noticeable this year, especially at Durham Grange. As we have dogs, we were extremely grateful for the dog walk, which took you through a small wooded area, so colourful, which was just behind our caravan. The site was spacious, well set out and we were particularly impressed with the automatic fob for opening and shutting the gate(no leaning out of the car window and straining the neck to reach the signal post.) Although we don't have children now, there was a lovely play area for the children. I can't say that the site was peaceful, BUT, you can't really expect that when you are only approximately 150metres from one of the main routes North, and let's face it, we have all used the road to get to the site!! As we live only a quater of a mile from the A1 and M62 interchange, personally it didn't really bother us. The facilities were, as usual for a CC site, of the highest standard, we had particularly excellent service from all the Wardens there, who provided us with all the information needed; consequently, we enjoyed the local walk along one of the Bridal paths, taking you down to the River Wear: later in the week, my partner walked one of the dogs all the way into Durham! We also visited two of the local seaside places- Whitburn/ Seaburn: fantastic for dog walks, wind and spray in your hair, and a myriad of bird life: I would also recommend the Hot Apple Pie from one of the local tea bars. And... it goes without saying, the place is only a stones throw away from the bustling, vibrant city of Durham.

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HarveyAyla

Caravanner

Reviewed on 02/11/2015 10:54

2 reviews

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 3 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 5 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 5 of 5

Location

Rated 5 of 5

Good for families

Noisy But Nice

Just returned from a three day stay at Durham Grange. I was concerned about the noise which is frequently mentioned in the reviews. The main concern was that my wife and I would be sleeping in the awning due to members of our family joining us. I did look at other non CC sites in the area but none of them caught my eye. The noise from the nearby A1 and another ‘A’ road was noticeable which on the first night was accompanied by the equally noise from the wind. A rather disturbed sleep on the first night in the awning. One of the grand children did mention they had trouble sleeping due to the constant noise of the traffic and they were sleeping in the caravan. In fairness I have stayed at other sites and can still hear traffic from minor B roads when sleeping in the awning. The plus points is that it is a typical CC club site with all the high standards you would expect. The site was pretty full even at this time of year but the one toilet block on site always appeared empty. My wife did comment that the office didn’t appear to sell the usual essentials like milk, bread etc. I can’t confirm that but I must admit I can’t recall seeing any of these when we booked in. It does seem strange why they don’t. There are no shops in walking distance and I had to travel to a petrol station to pick up some milk one morning. The reason why we stayed here was that it is a good base for where we wanted to visit. We went to Durham, Beamish and the ‘Locomotion’ rail museum in Shilden which are all a short car ride away. A good weekend away.

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glpixs

Caravanner

Reviewed on 27/10/2015 17:12

16 reviews

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