Opening at the site had to delayed by a day due to snow so there were a large number of units (15) all waiting to get on site when I arrived. We were all helped to form an orderly queue, so that no one had to wait long to book in. The wardens were new to the site, having only just arrived themselves and I can’t praise them enough. I had arrived in a new (to me) motorhome, having only used caravans before and was unable to get any water running. Despite being very busy, one of the wardens came over to help. The next day, the other warden kindly checked up on me. The following day I was due to leave but had to delay departure due to high winds, again, no problem (there was plenty of room on site anyway). Despite the weather, the cafe was open next door, which, although expensive, served excellent snacks and cakes; although hot food was off the menu due to technical problems. There is an excellent pet shop opposite the cafe but isn’t open on Monday and Tuesdays. There are dog walks a plenty but make sure you take something to wipe their feet on-it was extremely muddy!
Our recent 2 weeks stay was our second visit, the first visit being in May 1978!!! Don't know why it has taken so long to return. Clearly there have been improvements in the intervening 44 yrs but this no facilities site is a wonderful example of being able "to get away from it all". Both set of wardens were extremely personable and easy to communicate with are to be recommended for their maintainance of the site whilst it was suffering the effects of the drought. With many local attractions, from the adjacent Fineshade Forest site, to National Trust properties and the charming towns of Stamford, Oakham (the castle is a must) and Oundle all close by, visits to Leicester for the Richard 3rd museum and National Space Centre are only 30 miles away.
The only downside to the site is the access road which is out of the Club's control. This is extremely narrow, with passing places, rutted and bumpy so 5mph is essential if you don't want the contents of your cupboards on the floor!
Well worth further visits and not just for overnighters charging down the A1.
Lovely site and fantastic for dogs and walks - just wish the wardens were consistant with their policy of late checkouts. Very disappointed to be told we couldn't leave later than 12pm on the Sunday because of the narrow lane - only to learn later that others had in fact had later checkouts. Some what ruined the weekend as only there from Friday pm to Sunday am. 😟
This is a wonderful site - a walkers/cyclists paradise!! It is our second visit but definitely won't be the last!
Fineshades wood is just round the corner with well marked trails for all abilities! The site is clean, tidy and well run. The wardens (Emma and John) on duty during our visit were chatty, friendly and informative and took a great deal of pride in ensuring that the site looked its best and ensuring that campers had a great time!
There is a wild grass area and a seating area to encourage more wildlife onto the site. We saw red Kites; butterflies and whole host of other birds.....what an area!!
If you want a very peaceful, laid back holiday, this is definitely the place to come!
After a gap of a few years we have just returned from a weekend stay.
The road leading to the site is still pot holed and bumpy, no change there!
Pleased to see that the hedging around the site near the forest car park has now grown and that it masks the view of the car park.
The site managers have now created a small garden/seating area in the middle of the site, lovely idea.
Some of the pitches still slope, even some of the hardstanding, judging by the number of ramps, we saw, although our grass pitch was OK.
Walks in the surrounding woods are great for dog's, cafe in the grounds for refreshments afterwards. Plenty of Red Kites to watch too.
Facilities clean and tidy, new bike and dog wash at one of the service points, very useful.
It's worth noting reception doesn't open until 1pm so early arrivals will have to wait.
We enjoyed our stay at this still lovely site.
Our third visit to this peaceful site. Just love the area and being able to walk into the woods. The site is immaculate and the wardens friendly and helpful. So many places to visit including Rutland Water, Burghley and National Trust properties. A superb stay with good weather.
lovely site, staff and the fine shades centre is an excellent place to visit especially if you have a dog , loads of walks
love Uppingham, Oakham and Melton Mowbray, Rutland water also a good visit
our favourite club site by far, always seem to meet nice people too
We stayed over the Jubilee Bank holiday weekend and were very impressed with the hard work put in by the wardens and volunteer guests in hosting a Quiz along with a tipple to toast the Queen (not forgetting the cake and chocolates!) a great time was had by all who attended!
This is a lovely site next door to a forestry centre (with cycle hire). The site is very well run by helpful wardens with a great attitude towards customer service.
As previously mentioned, there are a lot of dogs on site but with all the wonderful walks around the site we were not surprised it was so popular with dog lovers, so if our canine friends are not your thing this might not be the site for you.
Kings Cliffe is a 50 minute woodland walk and with Stamford (and Burleigh House) only 10 minutes away by car you will be spoilt with things to do.
My only criticism would not be to the site or it's wardens but to the CAMC on how any club site does not have access to toilets,
I understand shower blocks are not always available but surely a small toilet block on a club site is a minimum requirement? at £25 a night for just EHU and access to water seems quite expensive. (I've stayed at a lot of CL's with more available facilities at cheaper prices.)
We first visited this delightful site for a couple of nights, as part of a longer break last year and were so impressed that we came back this month for another nine nights. I am sure that we will return again. Paul and Gill the wardens, were exceptional, they both worked incredibly hard at keeping the site in excellent condition. They are friendly, going the extra mile to make sure that campers have a great break. Paul gave us lots of tips on places of interest locally and this was really useful (details also on a board in the information shed). We only went out in the car once during our visit, as we were able to go on numerous short and long walks with our dog, directly from site. Red kites can be seen around the site, the woods and nearby villages. We also spotted some deer, We didn’t try the off road bike route through Fineshade, but can say that it was so easy cycling on the tracks with our old folding bikes. It is a fabulous place if you have a dog and want to enjoy a peaceful holiday.
Just enjoyed a few days at this lovely site surrounded by woodland with a visitor Centre cafe just a stroll away and beautiful walks in the forest. Great, helpful wardens who run a tight ship. I was even challenged by a very nice gentleman when parking my car in the car park even though we’d been there 4 nights ….. but at least it shows it’s a safe place to visit. Stamford is 10 minutes away by car and is a very beautiful little town. We have been members now for many years but have never, ever had cause to complain. But Caravan and Motorhome Club, you really do need to rethink your number of dogs on site policy. We love dogs and used to have such pleasure taking ours with us when we had caravans - it made our trips away all the more enjoyable. This time however, the number of dogs was ridiculous. In the space of around 30 feet, we were surrounded by 12 dogs. There were five in one caravan, three in another, and the other four were in close proximity. When one barked, they all barked. When the five dogs were taken for a walk, if one was allowed to pee on grass between caravans and empty pitches, they all had to do it!! Granted, it is one of the best sites for our furry friends but FIVE? Come on, something has to be done to reduce the number allowed on site. All we could hear were dogs barking. Not good. Otherwise, a little gem of a site.