This is one of my nearer club sites, yet it was my first visit. It is an attractive, atypical site with unusual features including part of an ancient moat, now a pond under a small wood, some pretty, old cottages (used as holiday lets), a well-maintained cluster of park homes near the entrance with some friendly owners and even (though not for me a positive feature) a swimming pool – open from 1 July. The site is very well kept and well designed – not at all like the standard fayre. The hard-standing pitches provided a good surface although some were significantly smaller than others – and I don’t just mean the non-awning ones – especially in terms of their length. I had a service pitch – I liked the fact that these were spread around the site – and I was lucky to get one of the longer ones and one which was out in the open and not hemmed in by trees. There were a few in the latter category which I will avoid if I can. There were clusters of grass pitches nicely laid out although, again, some of them in rather gloomy locations – not for me but I know some love that sense of seclusion. There is something for everyone here. I rather liked it. The only negative was that I gained the sense that the comparatively small site, with buildings within it, the layout, pitch size and other factors, meant that it might feel a bit busy, be a bit noisy and perhaps seem claustrophobic when full, especially in warm weather when windows are open and people are sitting out. Although not full when I was there, though nearly so, it felt busy with cars, awnings and other accoutrements filling the pitches and encroaching on grass strips and ambient noise reaching high levels at times. A small issue, but I certainly don’t think I would want to be here during school holidays and when the pool is open. My other complaint was the number of people who thought it was OK to walk across my pitch to visit the facilities. Offenders seem to have no idea that some of us still regard this as unacceptable. The wardens were among the best; very friendly and keeping the site very well. Grafham Water, the local countryside, and villages are not quite as attractive as the nearby, much bigger, Rutland Water, but it does have great appeal. The fact that the reservoir is smaller is in some ways an advantage. At about 10 miles, it is easy to go around the perimeter – certainly by bike, and for those who enjoy walking, on foot. There’s plenty of nature to see, two lovely cafes to visit, an interesting visitor centre, a public house in Perry on the opposite side to Grafham and, of course, lots of water sports opportunities. The path is mainly flat (thankfully) and, although it does leave the water behind in parts, has some wonderful waterside stretches especially near to Grafham going anti-clockwise. In parts, the surface is not great for cycling, ironically mostly near the cycle centre, but possibly a temporary thing. 4G is excellent (no need to rely on club Wi-Fi) and TV was fine.
