DUKE OF YORK CAMPSITE REVIEW

With us usually being 'spring/summertime' campers, we weren't sure how we'd fair to a January camp out. So wanted to book somewhere that had a pub close by - just in case it got too cold and we needed to take refuge by a log fire and sample some beer - this came up on our search and it was perfect!

PRICE AND BOOKING:  

It cost £25 per unit per night.

This may sound expensive to some, but this is for your own hardstanding pitch with electric hook up, a water tap shared between 2 units, a heated toilet and shower block, an outdoor pot wash and a pub!

We booked directly through their website and received a confirmation email with a booking number.

DIRECTIONS

We followed google maps and it was quite straightforward with your usual windy country roads. Be warned though if you miss some turns you may get re-directed down a narrow farm track - which due to it being dark, we opted out of and instead re-trace our tyres, as we've been caught out on these before.

The Pub is on the side of quite a main road, but has a large entrance and a substantial car park, so easy to manoeuvre about in if necessary. The campsite is directly behind the pub, and accessed through a secure gate.

THE SITE

The site has a barrier for which you need a key code, there is a sign saying to park up and report to the reception which can be found within the pub itself - we just went in and spoke directly to the bar staff there's not a separate 'camp reception area'.

We got given a map of the site, directing us where to the pitch - as there was plenty of space, we had the choice of apx 6 vacant spots - a magazine all about the peaks and a leaflet listing some local walks! Pub to pub walks!

The site has lovely scenic views behind it, but with us visiting in January and having low fog and mist - we can't advise where the sun hits or sets - but I imagine it to be beautiful in the summertime.

It is made up of 24 hard standing pitches, with grass on either side for awnings or a toilet tent (though these are charge extra per night on booking) and 7 grass pitches - all these have electric hook up and a water tap shared between two units. there is a well maintained gravel road connecting all the hard standing pitches. There is also an area for tents but this was currently closed off, partially due to the season and partially because someone had driven into their sheep field wall and they needed to house the sheep somewhere else. I'm not sure if they allow vans on this field in the summertime, so if booking with friends and a mixture of van's and tenst, its worth phoning ahead and cheking if possible.

There are automatic sensor lights on the outside of the toilet & shower block, are soft lights dotted about the site so you can see at night, however these do turn off at a certain time, so a torch would be good.

The site isn't massive and circles around, so it's not far to walk to the loos from any pitch - even I didn't demand we put up our toilet tent for this stay!

The toilet and shower block was so warm, we arrived after a long walk along a windy ridge at 2 degrees so this was very appreciative for us! The ladies had 2 showers and 4 loos, Blokes had 2 urinals, 2 loos and 2 showers. All very clean and modern - as we only stayed for one night and got up late the following morning we didn't use the showeers, so can't comment on heat or power, but I did notice there was no plug sockets or hair dryers - just 2 air hand dryers. However, as the site has electrics I guess you can always blow dry/straighten there. 

There was a sink to wash pots, this was outside but, unfortunately both taps didn't appear to work - no water. This might be due to the cold weather and them possibly shutting off the water so as not to freeze but I never investigated, we just washed them in the van instead. If this is the case on you're staying and you don't have the option to wash in your van, there was a phone number on the handout to ring if you have any issues.

As mentioned, there is a pub!! and believe it or not, we didn't actually end up going as we'd got too settled and comfy in bed with the diesel heater on. I'm sure there will be plenty of reviews of their food on sites such as TripAdvisor, Google, Pitch up etc. But one thing we do know is that one section is dog friendly - and they advised pre-booking if want to take your dogs in and eat a meal as this area can get quite busy.