Any reviews of the following sites?

Jul 5, 2009
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Hi

We're booked into a fedw sites this year we havent visited before, I just wondered if anyone had been to any of them, and what their opinions were?

We're going to Smeaton Lakes near Newark in 2 weeks
Rivendale in Derbyshire June
Cosgrove Park, Milton Keynes July
The Grange CC, Durham August
Springhill Farm, Farne Islands September
Scoutscoft near St Abbs - October

Thanks in advance for any information

Rick
 
Jul 5, 2009
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Ive checked out a few of the reviews on the internet, but to be honest, I dont have a lot of faith in some of them. Some people leave a negative view of a site because the weather was bad etc.... I trust you guys and gals on here, and I like to think you would give a more realistic review than some of the reviews left on the mainstream sites
 
Oct 19, 2006
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Hi
Have been using Cosgroves to visit Silverstone and have watched it steadly decline, we asked to move pitches because I thought we would have nothing left if we went out!
 
Jan 22, 2010
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hi Rick we went to cosgrove 3 weeks ago i found it ok clean tidy not bad pitches nice shower block nice view looking over lakes good park if you have kids.But my wife was less impressed lots of seasonal vans and park got busy with older ones later but they were as good as gold.Nice walk up by canal with locks i would go again as its only half hour from us but wouldnt travel hours to get there.Have a good trip
 
Mar 14, 2005
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Rick,

Grange CC is a good site, quite close to the A1 so there is some road noise, but very accessible because of this. Park and Ride to Durham is just the other side of the A1.
if you have kids, the play-park is good - if you don't, the park is in the rhs corner, so pitch away from here.
Service pitches are excellent, shower block is excellent.
There is a very nice walk from the site into Durham via the riverside - about 45 mins.
If you are coming from the south, as you come off of the A1, you need to be in the left-hand lane to the roundabout but as soon as you get on the dual-carriageway you need to be in the right-hand lane as the site road is immediately on the right. Similar obviously applies if coming from the north.
The coast near Sunderland is about 25 minutes away, the seafront walk at Seaburn is very nice on a nice day.

Neal
 

Parksy

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Nov 12, 2009
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If you write your own reviews and submit them to Caravan Sitefinder you will be entered into the £1000 prize draw so come on forum-ites, the more reviews that you send in the more chances you get to win £1000
 
May 8, 2011
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Hi

We 'did' Rivendale last year (school holiday season) and the site itself was lovely. We booked a serviced pitch but it was right against the camping field so ended up being quite noisy and not particularly restful.

The site has a lot of rules and regulations but no-one appeared to be enforcing them.

That said we may use the site again but certainly not in a school holiday period.
 
Mar 27, 2011
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Hi I've been to Cosgrove several times in the last couple of years, partly because it only takes me 45 minutes to get there but also because both myself and my wife love it there, I have always found it to be spotlessly clean and well maintained with showers and toilets all kept to a high standard of cleanliness, I am going to be there at the next bank holiday and am looking forward to it as is my wife, I am a little surprised and a little disappointed to have read a post on here where just because older vans turned up this is seen as something to be avoided, the person who said it did then have the courtesy to add that they were as good as gold, not all caravanners are neccesarily in a position to own or have the use of a posh new caravan but using older vans does not automatically mean they are not going to be just as nice people, there does seem to be an element of snobbery creeping into caravanning which I for one think is not a particulary nice part of this wonderful way of enjoying the outdoors, if it were not for the thousands of people buying used caravans all the people who were buying new units would drive them away from the dealers and they would instantly be worth nothing, come on people were all just trying to enjoy our pastime whatever age our caravan, I personally own a 1999 Avondale which I give up many many hours of my spare time keeping in excellent condition both cosmetically as well as mechanically, probably a lot more TLC given to my van than people who can easily buy a new one spend on theirs, I have done electrical work on many caravans less than 6 months old and seen how they are looked after and many older ones where you could eat your dinner off the floor to know that the age of the caravan is not a reliable guide to the people using it, sorry I sound like I'm on my soap box but I am a caravanner of only a few years, I love it and would hate to see it spoilt by the snobbery of the few.
 
Jul 1, 2009
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i live near cosgrove 10 mins and my caravan storage is 3 mins away and i go there and love it for a long weekend at short notice yes it is big but if you like cls you wont like cosgrove but if you have family you will like it its big so you can have quiet or more in the busy bits.
 

Parksy

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Nov 12, 2009
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Beehpee said:
................. I am a little surprised and a little disappointed to have read a post on here where just because older vans turned up this is seen as something to be avoided, the person who said it did then have the courtesy to add that they were as good as gold, not all caravanners are neccesarily in a position to own or have the use of a posh new caravan but using older vans does not automatically mean they are not going to be just as nice people, there does seem to be an element of snobbery creeping into caravanning which I for one think is not a particulary nice part of this wonderful way of enjoying the outdoors, if it were not for the thousands of people buying used caravans all the people who were buying new units would drive them away from the dealers and they would instantly be worth nothing, come on people were all just trying to enjoy our pastime whatever age our caravan, I personally own a 1999 Avondale which I give up many many hours of my spare time keeping in excellent condition both cosmetically as well as mechanically, probably a lot more TLC given to my van than people who can easily buy a new one spend on theirs, I have done electrical work on many caravans less than 6 months old and seen how they are looked after and many older ones where you could eat your dinner off the floor to know that the age of the caravan is not a reliable guide to the people using it, sorry I sound like I'm on my soap box but I am a caravanner of only a few years, I love it and would hate to see it spoilt by the snobbery of the few.

I'm not too sure that the person that you are referring to was talking about older caravans, I took it that he meant older children or people, perhaps he'd care to elaborate?

In the past 11 years of caravanning I've never seen any evidence of snobbery based on the age of caravans, personally I like to see older caravans being enjoyed and put to good use by dedicated owners and I'm sure that most other caravanners do as well.
Our caravan was new when we bought it just over 3 years ago but it isn't new now, we've had several much older used caravans before this one but by the time that we consider changing it (if at all) our caravan will be old and so will we
smiley-wink.gif
 
Jan 22, 2010
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I once again would recommend this site but as it was our first commercial site we had`t seen pitches used all year and as it was earlier in the year and a lot of people were doing diy with wood and saws which i dont have a problem with just not used to it.As for snobery i`ve never met anyone on any site with atitude all been very nice people as for the referance to older one`s it was to the teenagers and they were very polite which is nice to say these days.Hope i`ve explained myself better
 
Mar 27, 2011
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Message to kopite, sorry for the misunderstanding of your post, I did think you were referring to older caravans rather than older children so please accept my apology, I have to say I have noticed that there does seem to be a slight element of for want of a better word snobbery creeping into some sites where there are the people with up to the minute outfits with all the latest gadgets and those that caravan purely to get away from it all and leave the must have society we live in these days behind, I do stand correct re your post tho, happy caravanning.....
 
Dec 14, 2006
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We've been to Rivendale several times in low season and thought it was lovely. We use Camping Cheques there, which cost £13.95 - and pay for the pitch, two adults, car and caravan, awning, and electricity. This is about £5 less per night than the normal site tariff. Camping Cheques are accepted there from 28/01/2011 to 14/04/2011, then between 03/05/2011 and 26/05/2011, between 06/06/2011 and 14/07/2011, and then from 05/09/2011 to 31/12/2011. The site also accepts 6 Camping Cheques for 7 nights, or 11 Camping Cheques for a 14 night stay during those periods.
Some pitches are wedge shaped, so sometimes a little tight for access, the shower block is fine, situated in the middle of the site, and Ashbourne just down the road is lovely, especially on market day. Right opposite the campsite is the entrance to the Tissington cycle trail, the Dovedale walk is great in good weather, and the whole area has some beautiful scenery.
We also visited Rivendale in high season, when the Ashbourne Highland games were on - and were still equally impressed with the site.
 
Jan 22, 2010
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hi Beehpee no need to say sorry i dont allways explain myself very well but is nice of you to do so.I`am only in my second year of vanning so still have a lot to learn but have only been blanked twice after saying hello on my way to the shower`s i hope thats not snobbery just grumpy old men doing what grumpy old men do.I`ve got a few years left yet so i will just carry on saying hello till then.cheers
 
Jul 25, 2010
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Hi Rick, I can say that Springhill is a good one. It is on the edge of Seahouses. It takes about 20 minutes to walk into the village. It takes about 15 to walk to the beach if you go down the lane. The site is very clean and the wardens are great people. Really it is central for most coastal towns and villages around there. One thing is that it sits up a bit and if its windy then you get strong gusts but that is the only downside.
 
Oct 30, 2009
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hi Rick
the only site listed that we have been to was Scoutscoft near St Abbs nice site "pity about the divers"
not that there is anything wrong with divers you understand "used to be one myself" it just well the wet suit washing in the showers the boat repairs the compressors going filling the air tanks the parties by the BBQ,s
just the normal things diver's do while away
 
Jul 5, 2009
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Hi Colin - Thats what we're going up there for. There are only 2 of us stopping on the touring part in my caravan though, The others are using one of the statics. Not so sure there will be parties though, we're all gettign a bit long in the tooth for that lol

Rick
 

Parksy

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Nov 12, 2009
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Beehpee said:
.................. I have to say I have noticed that there does seem to be a slight element of for want of a better word snobbery creeping into some sites where there are the people with up to the minute outfits with all the latest gadgets and those that caravan purely to get away from it all and leave the must have society we live in these days behind.......................

I think that Nigel the Editor sums it up really well in his blog Read it Here
 
Jul 5, 2009
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I agree completey, I think there is an element of snobbery starting to appear. We have only beeen caravanning for a couple of years, and we're lucky enought to be able to afford a new van, however the first van we bought was a pre 1980's Esprit Panache.

Not everyone is in a position to buy new, and since holidaying abroad is becoming more expensive, there seem to be a lot more new caravanners around. Naturally, if you're trying something new, you dont want to be investing £10k - £20k unless you're sure that its the way you want to go, so logic would dictate that you spend a smaller amount to test the water so to speak.

I have seen the snobbery for myself recently at a CL site, there were 4 vans including ours, and the oldest van onsite was only a couple of years old, then a family turned up in what I would suspect to be a mid 80's van. We were the only ones that spoke to them, and tried to be friendly, the other 4 vans blanked them for the whole of the easter bank holiday.
This family had recently bought the van to try out caravanning to see if they liked it, before committing to something more expensive.
What sort of welcome is that for new caravanners? It wouldnt suprise me if they decided that caravanners were anti social, and they went back abroad.

I have also seen the opposite, 'reverse snobbery'.

We have been to sites with our (now traded in) 2008 S6 Pageant Burgundy, where the majority of the other caravans were older, and we were completely ignored despite trying to spark up conversations with other people.

What is the world coming to, I thought that we were supposed to go caravanning because we enjoy it, and we enjoy meeting new people etc, Its not a competition is it? Would you ignore a guy in a pub just because he lives in a large detached house, and you live in a terrace?
 
Mar 27, 2011
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Hi Rick, as I said in an earlier post I've used Cosgrove many times and I'm actually going there for the first time this year at the weekend when I've no doubt it will be pretty full up, will let you know if standards have fallen at all since I was there last September, on another note I am now getting a little bit on in years and haven't tried fishing since I were a lad but on a recent trip to Oxford area I gave it a bash and thoroughly enjoyed it, I've now bought a bit more gear so my second fishing experience in around 45 years is on for this weekend, can't wait! At Cosgrove there are umpteen lakes to fish and from what I've heard they are well stocked, fingers crossed for half decent weather for everyone off for the bank hols.

Beehpee
 

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