Old Hartley Club Campsite

Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 5 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 5 of 5

Location

Rated 4 of 5

Good for families

Small but Beautiful

After just spending a few days at the site in a vw camper van, we have definitely added it to a must go back site! the site is quite small as are the pitches but the extraordinary views make up for this. We arrived mid afternoon, the wardens said, "choose a pitch that suits ands let us know", so we chose one right at the cliff top!. levelling blocks are a must as the site is quite sloping, but saying that, a number of vans were managing without. regarding the facilities block, 'snug' comes to mind but totally adequate, and cleanliness up to the usual standard. Whether I would want to take our twin axle caravan is doubtful, just because of the size of the pitches but the VW California camper-van was perfect.

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Goodwinleeds

Caravanner

Reviewed on 05/04/2018 11:32

6 reviews

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 4 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 5 of 5

Location

Rated 2 of 5

Good for families

Brilliant Wardens

Stayed here before getting the ferry to Holland as we do most years. The views are great and you can see the ferry coming in to port from your pitch. To get the view the pitches are set at good angles so everyone can enjoy the sea view. This is not an identikit caravan club site and you can choose from a variety of pitches. You will need ramps and leveling blocks for most pitches but the Wardens are on hand to give help where needed (and more leveling blocks). It is all the better for this variety of pitch. It had been wet the weekend we stayed and the grass areas were a bit muddy having been churned by cars. The Wardens did a great job of assisting motor homes with matting to drive off their pitch. They even towed our caravan off with the tractor as I knew I would have churned the grass with the car. I would highly recommended this site as something different from the usual hardstand pitch looking at the caravan opposite you. For families - my daughter once voted this the worst site she had been to as there is no swing park. There is a swing park in the village about 200 metres from the site entrance which pleased her greatly. I will also recommend the Deleval Arms at the entrance to the site for traditional pub grub and decent beer. The walk back to the caravan is pleasingly downhill after an evening out.

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thehoggmeister

Caravanner

Reviewed on 01/04/2018 16:14

3 reviews

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 5 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 5 of 5

Location

Rated 3 of 5

Good for families

Don't believe what has been written before !

I disagree with almost every complaint by the previous reviewers. This is a site with lovely views from every pitch which would be spoiled by the "improvements" some have suggested. One half of the site has a tarmac loop road, but members mess it up by demonstrating their incompetence in keeping their wheels off the grass. Water and disposal are at the top where the entrance is, yet folk struggle up the hill with waste containers, but drive up to go out. The Handbook and Web Site both tell members in advance that "leveling blocks are required" but many of the caravans I saw pitched were not using them. Perhaps the occupants prefer the inconvenience to the a little effort. The hard standings are gravel/hardcore and are no larger than necessary to support the wheels of a caravan. They are not connected to the road, which on half the site is half a site away in any case, which hels to keep the natural appearance of the site as much as possible. So the leveling blocks come in here again for the overhang on the grass. Pitches are well spaced which gives those further up the hill a better view. The pitches at the bottom of the site have just a mesh fence between them and the public foot path along the cliff top. It is surprising how many of the walkers are more interested in the caravans than the sea view! So members who are touchy about people looking in their windows would be better selecting one of the higher pitches. For those members who want to drive around on wide roads and zoom straight on and off huge fully serviced concrete pitches, there are other sites on the network that will satisfy their needs (and accomodate circus sized awnings as well). This site is all the better for not having such "facilities". I managed on and off the pitch, in November, without making grass into mud and sited a 7.8m twin axle caravan perfectly level (blocks again!) at the furthest part of the site which proves it can be done. There were also quite a number of motor caravans on the site at the same time, all of which were going on and off pitches without trouble.

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Navigateur

Caravanner

Reviewed on 07/11/2017 18:57

3 reviews

2 Helpful notes

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Rated 4 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 5 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 5 of 5

Location

Rated 4 of 5

Good for families

stuck

as stated previously i feel that the hard standings are rather small, and as they are surrounded all round 180deg with grass it is very very easy to get stuck when it has been raining hard, there is no way other than to cross grass at some point to get of the pitch, and when you have a couple ton of equipment and very wet grass it is extremely hard to do so and very easy to get stuck

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Reviewed on 24/10/2017 18:36

1 review

1 Helpful note

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Rated 4 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 4 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 5 of 5

Location

Rated 5 of 5

Good for families

A lovely small site with beautiful views

We stay here about 3 times a year while visiting family nearby. We have a motorhome and have had no problem parking on most of the pitches although a number of them are sloping to various degrees. If this is a particular issue for you then you should get there as soon as the site is open to use and take your pick. We like small sites and it's no problem for us not to have an awning out. It's great for dog walking as you're straight out of the site onto a lane and bridlepath along to the beach, maybe a mile walk. It's about 5.5 miles from the campsite to the far end of Whitley Bay beach and back, so good exercise, just watch out for the cyclists on the bridlepath, they can be a bit full on. My only negative comments are that the showers are a bit small. I'm very slim but even so, compared to many of the Club sites they are a bit tight on space. The site facilities are now under lock and key as i understand than some bright spark made an announcement on Facebook that they're open for use by any passing motorhomer/caravan. NOT SO. The gate is open all day which is convenient for entries and departures but it would feel more secure if there was a pass holder barrier of some sort in place.

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SueDaveRossi

Reviewed on 24/10/2017 15:00

2 reviews

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 5 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 5 of 5

Location

Rated 5 of 5

Good for families

A couple of nights at Old Hartley

We stayed at Old Hartley for a couple of nights and thought it was a lovely small site with friendly, welcoming and particularly hard working Wardens. What lovely views and they try so hard to make sure each caravan/motorhome has a view no matter where they are pitched on the site. The facilities are spotlessly clean and very adequate for what anyone needs. Some people seem to forget that they have their own facilities if for any reason they are not happy with the ones provided on site. The site is as described in the handbook and on the internet so no one should really be surprised when they arrive. I hope that the hard working Wardens don't read some of the reviews on here and become dispirited. We had a lovely time, the walk to the island was great and the drive round the surrounding areas was very interesting. We would love to go back if we are in the area although it is sometimes difficult to get in due to the fact that it gets fully booked - despite what some members seem to write in their reviews. Thank you for a lovely welcome and a great stay.

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Bonnie57

Reviewed on 17/10/2017 23:29

18 reviews

1 Helpful note

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 5 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 5 of 5

Location

Rated 4 of 5

Good for families

A Sincere Thank You :-)

We would just like to sincerely thank Terry and Ann for a wonderful visit to this caravan site. We stayed for a night (but ended up staying the week!!) in our Carado motorhome and were VERY impressed with EVERYTHING the site had to offer. Immaculately run and properly 'policed'. The dog barking was just about nil and the cleanliness was beyond reproach. We have travelled all over the UK and Europe and stayed on many different sites but this one has to be one of our best and great value for money. We have read some of the more negative remarks about the site from other visitors but we are inclined to disagree with the majority. Life is for living and this world is a lot happier if people are prepared to just give little bit from time to time. Thanks Terry and Ann - we are sorry that you will be stepping down BUT please enjoy a very well deserved retirement. Best wishes, Peter and Nicola Rigby.

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2031Rigby

Reviewed on 14/10/2017 12:17

1 review

1 Helpful note

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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

Oh dear

I use this site quite often as part of our family lives in the north east. It gives a super view over the sea and down the coast to Tynemouth. BUT and that a big but, the site has been degrading for years . Prices go on upwards each year because of where it is. The pitches are small and very awkward to level on, that's after you've managed to get across the to them. There is only one service point for water/waste on the site at the top of the hill We last visited at the end of September and it as very very soggy Great shame on the club.

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1PJD

Reviewed on 12/10/2017 10:39

9 reviews

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 3 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 5 of 5

Location

Rated 4 of 5

Good for families

Good site marred by dated facilities

Spectacular location with great views. Very convenient for frequent buses. Near to good walks, pubs, small shops etc. The downside is that the facilities need an update. For example the shower cubicles are tight for space, and the pitch size is such that cars have to park partly on the grass, which can lead to damage to the grass. Also, the site is much more sloping than expected, not at the pitches, but for moving around the site with heavy water containers, or for people not in the first flush of youth.

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OtleyRoger

Caravanner

Reviewed on 11/10/2017 20:44

4 reviews

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 3 of 5

Peace and quiet

Rated 3 of 5

Facilities and cleanliness

Rated 5 of 5

Location

Rated 3 of 5

Good for families

Takes the prize for the worse laid out site we've ever stayed on.

The views are amazing, the staff are very nice and facilities very clean. But, inadequate amount of facilities when the site is full, which is most of the time, especially when one of the showers in the women's only runs slightly warm. Approach to each pitch is a nightmare. The site is on a hill and the approach road from the entrance is short and ends abruptly and then you need to drive your motorhome or pull your caravan down hill over the grass and then try to manoeuvre it onto your pitch. Obviously when it has been raining or it's wet because of the dew, the vehicles churn up all the grass around the pitches, making it really muddy with great tyre skid ruts, in the dark dangerous to walk from your pitch to the facilities. On leaving your pitch, there is no exit road either, this doesn't start until half way up the hill on the other side. So leaving your pitch and getting to the exit route is a challenge. Again another lot of churned up muddy grass. Such a shame, it's one site which needs to be closed so the facilities can be updated. But more importantly so it can be properly laid out with gravelled access to each pitch. On the plus side the bus stop is a short walk away from the site, plus great walks to the light house and along the beach. I personally would be reluctant to go back.

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Nutkin

Reviewed on 11/10/2017 20:37

1 review

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