Caravan and Motorhome Club Sites 2022
During 2022 we are visiting a number of Caravan and Motorhome Club Sites once again including a mix of our new favourites and new locations to us. Below are our reviews and recommendations for these locations and what considerations to make when visiting. During what shall be our second season with our motorhome in 2022 we have invested in a tow car to make even more of the weekend getaways and longer holidays and tours. You can follow our reviews through the year as we travel the UK once again.
Cherry Hinton, Cambridge: Super start to 2022 with a short trip to Cambridgeshire and a stay on the edge of the city at the delightful Cherry Hinton – based in a former quarry this site was quite unique. Covid rules had come to an end the night before. The staff in the office were very friendly (as were their little Yorkshire Terriers) and helpful as thanks to the A14 delays near Thrapston, we arrived in the dark! A completely (thank god!!) flat pitch (number 18) meant a swift set up and start to the evening. The site was well kept, quiet and an ideal weekend getaway. Cherry Hinton is just a short walk away for the pubs, local shops and bus routes to the city centre. A slightly further, but not unreasonable walk got us to the big Tesco on the edge of the town. We hadn’t yet got the A Frame on the tow car so this was a walking trip this time. Pitches 15-22 are in a very nice spot. Aerial cable is must of the EHU stands due to the steep quarry sides but the mobile signals on Vodafone and EE were more than good.
The Sandringham Estate, Norfolk: This is our local favourite site, being just an hour from the storage and ideal for our weekend breaks away. Sandringham is well placed for the woodland walks and seaside days out. An overnighter to test the A Frame and tow car meant this was a good choice to shake down the new outfit. The site was partially open with the top field closed for winter. Busy and as popular as ever. This time we had Pitch 41 near to the woodland walk for the fur babies. We have officially now visited this site over the last three years in autumn, spring, summer and winter! Be back soon…
Thetford Forest, Suffolk – This little spring trip was our first visit to the Caravan and Motorhome Club site – and this really is a little gem! We arrived fairly late into the afternoon and so had a small choice of hardstanding pitches but were lucky to have the selection of Pitch 26 just a couple of pitches away from the motorhome service point and in quite a quiet end of the campsite. What is really unique about this site is the location – on the grounds of the former Desert Rats (tanks) training ground. Good walks around the local area, woodlands and roadways (on the former concrete tank tracks) reveal much of the former history, including a tank and memorial at the entrance to the complex. Jamie had just collected his new car and so we took the opportunity to bring this along to try out over the weekend with trips into Thetford and Swaffham. We also visited Brandon Country Park just a short drive away. Lovely to meet the warden team, who recently moved over to Thetford, who remembered us from their time at Sandringham during our last visit there! A lightly further trip than our mainstay of Sandringham but worth it and we would love to visit again!
Baltic Wharf – Bristol City Centre – We were so lucky to get on a cancellation pitch at this soon to be no more CAMC site and so started our Easter tour a day early to experience this one. We have visited Bristol (in a hotel) in the past and so were looking forward to taking the motorhome and trying this out before it goes! The drive through the city centre – with the tow car behind us – was not too tricky until we arrived at the site and roadworks narrowing the main road made for a tight right-hand turn into the campsite! Pitch 32 was not bad in a reasonably spaced area and just away from the road noise – all good. We liked the closeness to the SS Great Britain and short walk along the docks – this truly is a great location. Very welcoming wardens and well kept site despite it showing its age in some places (but I guess no upgrades as its leaving us soon!). This was a very enjoyable over night stop of us and the fur babies and broke up the drive to North Devon quite nicely.
Willingcott, Woolacombe, North Devon – Our first port of call for the Easter tour this year was near Woolacombe. Despite a couple of cloudy and rainy days we were able to enjoy some time in Barnstaple, Lynton and Lynmouth, Ilfracombe and Woolacombe. The CAMC site was not overly busy and so plenty of pitch choice. Great team, lovely facilities and well kept site all round. We stayed up the highest point on the site at Pitch 98 and this had lovely views out across the valley and the rest of the site. The journey into this one with the standard sat-nav took us up the cross country route with very tight roads and turns – adjusted this for departure!
Minehead, Somerset – From North Devon we took a ride across the A39 and headed into Minehead for a couple of days. We had read some really great reviews about this one and there were a few local places we were looking forward to visiting. Pitch 17 for us – in a very quiet and nice part of the site. The staff could not be more welcoming. The facilities were in excellent order, the site well maintained and the dog walk very generous and with some nice views of the site and out towards Minehead. The site is just a short walk from the town centre should you choose and Dunster Castle and Dunster Beach are a short drive away. You have to concentrate hard on the roads into Minehead (especially with the wider Bailey body) through some parts in the smaller villages, but other than that a great spot! We had a couple of nights here and got to have some drives out in the Fiat 500 too!
Hebden Bridge – This was a return after our last visit in October 2021. This time we chose to bring the tow car so we could get out and about as despite the name we learned last time that the site is actually just up from Mytholmroyd and not that close (not to walk easily anyway) to Hebden Bridge. Our good friends live in Hebden and so this was a lovely visit to catch up, go for a long walk up to the Townhouse Tearooms in Heptonstall and soak up the delights of Hebden itself. We had a choice of the last hardstanding pitch or a grass on arrival so took this pitch near to the office but it turned out to be a nice spot. Pitch 16. This site has not facilities block so bear this in mind if you are visiting this one. We noticed that an application has also gone in for some more serviced pitches in addition to the ones in place already.
Incleboro Fields, West Runton, Norfolk – We had a cheeky weekender booked for some time and we have not been to West Runton since July 2020 when we came to the Camping and Caravanning Club site just up the road in our little Sprite Alpine 2 caravan! This time we used the CAMC membership to try out this one after seeing a video from the infamous Bob Earnshaw coming here last summer. We had to give it a go! The pitches with the sea views were all taken so we opted for the lower field but this gave relatively easy access to the road out of the site and down into the village and sea front. As you shall from the map below this is a site of two halves – with the golf course in-between the two sections of pitches. This is a large site and so we took Pitch 237 after trying a few (mainly as this is a challenging one to get motorhomes level if you are not in the south field/tiered sections.
Norfolk Broads Club Site – A delightful stay at a super site. Just a weekend for us and joined our good friends Andy and Adam who had been on site since mid-week. Our friends were on Pitch 58 so we were lucky to bag Pitch 66 – a really nice one with lots of space around it. There is a super pub just round the corner – The Dog – which had a basic but decent menu with some nice wines and beers! A gentle stroll back and a couple of nice relaxing evenings with friends. Day trip our to Hemsby and Potter Heigham were a pleasure as was the afternoon tea and cake by the river. A short drive from Wroxham nearby. Very helpful and friendly site and warden team here too. The facilities are very good including a basic but functional dog walk. A well stocked (cash only) shop for basics is also available. We brought the tow car along so we could have some rides out and enjoy the country and seaside driving. We would recommend and shall come back for a longer stay so we can see more of this bit of Norfolk to make a change from Sandringham and Hunstanton side of the county.
Durham Grange Club Site – This is our second visit to Durham Grange. We were here in 2021 as a stopover as we moved west to east across the UK for our the summer tour. This year we have used the site as a stopover to break up our journey to Edinburgh which was our first Scotland stop for the summer tour in 2022. The site is well placed practically next to the A1 – now this is an interesting and often controversial point on the social media groups as some people complain about the road noise, others welcome its location (both for the A1 and the short drive and steady walk into Durham itself). We do not find the road noise too intrusive at all – you know its there when you tune into it but its not a concern for a lay-over or for a couple of nights. The CAMC wardens here are very helpful and welcoming. We opted for a serviced pitch for this one – whilst some may say a luxury, this really does offer the one night flexibility as you don’t need to visit the motorhome service point on arrival or departure so helps maximise the stay you have. Pitch 31 for us on this stay. The site was not full with a spattering of available pitches. There is a nice woodland dog walk for the fur babies too!
Edinburgh Club Site – We very much liked the site at Edinburgh. Despite the relentless rain! This was a very busy and completely full site during our stay (the Edinburgh Fringe was in full swing). There were a number of European motorhomes and caravans dotted around the site too and a few arriving on the off chance and being turned away. We selected a nice and wide corner pitch – Pitch 78 for this stay. The river and beach is a short walk across the road from the site and the city a short drive or bus route away. We had a very enjoyable drove over the A78 up through Jedburgh and across the hills – stop off at the England/Scotland border line too!
Balbirnie Club Site – There were a couple of nice days spent at Balbirnie in the often coined Kingdom of Fife. This was a short drive across the Forth road bridge and around the edge of Glenrothes to the site which is located within a country park and golf club. This was a lovely spot to go off and explore the coast around this part of Scotland – from St Andrews, Elie and Anstruther as well as the local distilleries situated nearby such as the one we visited at Kingsbarns. The wardens are here are a couple who keep a tidy and well organised site – friendly and welcoming – not many choices of pitches for the motorhome (well for getting as level as we could as there are some sloped parts in the wooded area of the site – whilst we had a nice pitch with small potted plant dividers, you immediately behind housing which gives some, not overly-intrusive, evening noise. We selected Pitch 75 for the stop. It was nice to walk the dogs off the site and around the country park and as such there are not dog walking areas in the site itself.
Maragowan Club Site – We booked a nights stay here as a half way point moving across from the east to the west. As we could not do the full coastal route this trip – we wanted to find somewhere in-between. A good recommendation and a stones throw from the lovely Loch Tay – a nice village to walk around with a spattering of outdoors and local shops (including a lovely new build Co-op). The site is a short 10 minute walk into the village. We enjoyed Pitch 38 which had a nice view over the fast flowing river alongside the edge of the site. We have to say this was one of the most welcoming arrivals we have had from the site team – 10/10. The site is long and narrow and there is a good amount of space between the pitches. The site was clean and tidy, good facilities and easily accessible motorhome service point. We liked the atmosphere here, but note the busy road into the village – there are a lot of tree-felling lorries – both coming at you fast and also destroying the road surface so take your time going into this one.
Bunree Club Site – This is our absolute favourite Scotland site – could almost be our complete new favourite had it been closer to home! Simply wow. We really liked the location and scenery/setting this site is in – whilst we did not have a non-awning pitch at the waters edge, we did have a nice elevated pitch, Pitch 18 which gave a super view out (if we were pushing the limits of the levelling wheel blocks to get level (this has cemented us getting the Milenco Quattro 3 to give some extra lift). There is a traffic light system to enter the site. when you leave the main road. Well located for Fort William, Glen Coe and a short drive from a number of interesting locations such as the Harry Potter rail bridge!
Ayr Craigie Gardens Club Site – This is a really nice site. Located near the University of West Scotland and close to the town centre we enjoyed having this site as a stopover as we headed down to Meathop Fell. We needed to head down south and did not want long days at the wheel so chose this one as we could not get a pitch on the Moffat site. The wardens are a super team here, efficient, helpful and friendly. The site is easy to access, despite the urban environments. We opted for Pitch 16 – a slightly larger and relatively flat pitch for this stopover. We took a nice walk along the beach at Greenan Castle and also took a walk around the university grounds with the fur babies.
Meathop Fell Club Site – We said we would be back and this year – almost a year to date – we were! As we were travelling south we opted for a serviced pitch to make for an ease of setting up and moving on. A couple of nights here this time on Pitch 29 gave a nice side view (something we did not have last year) towards the estuary. What surprised us was the number of empty pitches compared to our last stay where the site was full – this was the exact same time (and peak school holidays) so is this a slow down in caravans? A return to European flights? Be interested on thoughts on this. There is a lovely shop on site – with local produce, milk and ice cream! The access is up two smallish but narrow hills which we completely forgot about (especially with a tow car on the back this year). Facilities are good at this site and it is very peaceful. We had a lovely day out around Lake Windermere, from the Bowness-on-Windermere, to the Lakeland store, Hill Top and a promenade around Grange-over-Sands!
Buxton Grin Fell Club Site Cheeky one-nighter at the gorgeous Buxton (Grin Low) to end the summer trip 2022. We loved this location when we stayed here last year and could not resist another stay! Pitch 25 this time in a different part of the site which was really nice with the little hedges between the pitches. There is an impressive offering of baked goods from the local bakery you order the day before for morning delivery. The town is a short walk away as well as the lovely Soloman’s Temple just up the path behind the camp site.
Two Guys, Two Dogs, Four Wheels 