UK Sites where no car is needed
There was a discussion on this subject started by royandsharont when Club Together first started, but the thread was "lost" when the forum was migrated.
Perhaps we can collectively re-create a list of sites within a short walk/bike ride or with easy public transport links to towns and places of interest.
Please keep your remarks brief so the list is easy to read.
Here goes ........................
Moderator Edit:
I've made this 'sticky' so it doesn't get lost down the thread.
Comments
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St. Neots CCC Site, Cambs
Ferry Meadows CAMC Site, Peterborough, Cambs
Norwich CCC Site, Norfolk
Seacroft CAMC Site, Cromer, Norfolk
West Runton CCC Site, Sheringham, Norfolk
Incleboro Fields CAMC Site, Sheringham, Norfolk
Yarmouth Racecourse CAMC Site, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk
Colchester Camping, Essex
Hertford CCC Site, Herts
Thornton's Holt Camping Park, Nottingham
Gullivers, Central Milton Keynes
Briarfields Touring Park, Cheltenham, Glos
Broadway CCC Site, Broadway, Worcs
Oxford CCC Site, Oxon
Brighton CAMC Site, East Sussex
Bath Marina, Somerset
Lee Valley Camping, Edmonton, London
Abbey Wood CAMC Site, London1 -
Moffat C&CC
Dingwall C&CC
Melrose, Gibson Park CAMC
All 3 are on the edges of towns.
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+1 for Melrose, it has the added bonus of having of a largish Co-op within a very few minutes' walk and also within walking distance, 30 minutes, is Tweedbank railway station with trains to Edinburgh.
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The Edinburgh site has good public transport to the centre. There is, or was, a shuttle minibus service from the reception building. There are also covered secure bike lockers on site.
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I won't list them all but I have over 80 site reviews listed here http://www.davidklyne.co.uk/uk_campsite_new_2_index.html with sites that are either within walking distance or have access by public transport from near the site. The little motorhome symbol indicates such sites.
David
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A few down here in the south west..
Truro..Carnon Downs
Plymouth..Riverside
Padstow..Dennis Cove
Lydford.. Lydford Camping
Tavistock..Harford Bridge
And for walking on the moor from Minions..Cheesewring Farm.
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Just a quick mention of a potential issue with public transport.
On a rally last September several people were left unable to access the bus services due to Covid restrictions on numbers meaning the bus was ‘full’ when it arrived.
To add insult injury seeing the bus pull in peopl thought they would get on only to be turned away.
So maybe sites where walking distances are reasonable will be a safer bet at the moment.
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Borrowdale CAMC site - Ferry or bus to Keswick
Southport CAMC site - On edge of town with rail links to Liverpool
York RP - In centre of York
Sandringham CAMC - Bus stops right outside site.
Buxton CAMC - Easy walk down into the town and convenient cheap taxi back to site if needed.
WTG mentioned Llanystumdwy C&CC site. there's also a smashing CL just up from that site.Penrallt Bach. A short walk to the bus stop in the village.
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Obviously we all hope that impact on public transport by COVID will start to improve over the course of this year and into next. As someone who makes quite a lot of use of public transport whilst away in the motorhome I would always recommend checking the latest time tables on line as things can change even without the current situation. Also in popular tourist areas sometimes frequencies might change between peak and off peak times of year.
Also just a heads up about taxi services. In large towns and cities there is usually not an issue. However in smaller towns, especially around school opening and closing times you often can't rely of finding an available taxi as they are often used to transport kids to and from school. We have been let down a couple of times like this. Also don't assume taxis offer a 24/7 service in rural areas. We got stuck in Abergavenny A&E for several hours for want of a taxi back to Brecon!!!
David
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Delamere C&CC site - 5 minute walk to the train station for trains to Chester or Manchester
Bridlington CAMC site - Bus outside and not far to walk to Sowerby Hall for a "tourist train" to Bird centre.
Chapel Lane Birmingham CAMC - Has a bus stop outside to the centre of the city.
Pinewoods Independent site - Wells-next-the-sea. Catch the Coast Hopper either east or west in Norfolk
Lady Margaret Park Chirk CAMC site - 400 yards to train station for train to Shrewsbury or Chester
Chester CAMC site - Walk to Cheshire Oaks Shopping Plaza
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Warwick easy walk into town for shops, market, parks and river Avon, castle and canal.
Exmoor House, Dulverton easy walks into town, riverside and moorland walks from the site.
Minehead easy walks to local shops and Minehead town centre, the beach, steam train and coastal walks.
Start Bay easy walks to Torcross sea front, farm shop and cafe next door, local pubs, coastal walks.
Milton of Fonab, Pitlochry short walk to town, river walks, salmon ladder, botanic gardens and theatre.
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Steamer Quay Totnes short walk to town, museum and castle, river Dart a stroll away, boat trips on river and riverside walks. Longer walk to Sharpham Vineyard.
Tewkesbury easy walk to Abbey and town centre, riverside walks.
Berwick Seaview, walks to beaches, town and town walls.
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Bowness-on-Windermere C&CC site - Buses, ferries or catch a bus to Windermere train station.
Thirsk CAMC site - On edge on town
Burnham Market CS site - On edge of attractive Norfolk market town with bus connection along the coast.
Crossways CAMC site - 5 minute walk to train or local bus to Dorchester.
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Maragowan ( Killin ), Stonehaven, Forfar. All in town or on the edge of town.
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Just don't expect city type bus services. Brecon - Abergavenny served by 43 or X43, only the 43 stops at the CMHC site, approx every 3 hrs. Buses stop around 1800 hrs. English bus passes not valid in Wales. Such are the joys of living in rural areas!!
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<This thread> has just reared its head above the parapet for the first time in 3 years. Such a shame CT doesn't have a better search facility.
Some duplication but a few additional sites to add to the list.
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Well done Jim for remembering this old thread. I was very disappointed when it disappeared as did all the photographs to my travel stories, so I stopped writing. Have visited the forum today and saw this
I have a copy of all the sites that were listed and have pasted them below. We have personally visited many but the highlighting will not paste with the text. Hope this helps.
Regards, Roy
England
Berwick Seaview, Northumberland
Old Hartley, Newcastle upon Tyne
Teesdale Barnard Castle, Co Durham
Coniston Park Coppice, Cumbria
Thirsk Racecourse, North Yorkshire
Hawes, North Yorkshire
Knaresborough, North Yorkshire
Lower Wensleydale, Leyburn, North Yorkshire
Wharfedale, Grassington, North Yorkshire
West Ayton, Scarborough, North Yorkshire
Rowntree Park, York
Beechwood Grange, York
Bridlington, East Yorkshire
Burrs Country Park, Bury, Lancashire
Southport, Merseyside
Fairoaks, Chester
Chatsworth, Peak District
Castleton, Peak District
Buxton, Peak District
Blackshaw Moor, Peak District
Houghton Mill, East Anglia
Seacroft, Cromer East Anglia
Sutton on Sea, Lincolnshire
Skegness Sands, AS Lincolnshire
Milestone Park, Newark
Fakenham Racecourse, Norfolk
Ferry Meadows, Peterborough
Cambridge Cherry Hinton, Cambridge
Kidlington, Oxford (CL)
Moreton-on-Marsh, Cotswolds
Bladon Chains, Cotswolds
Henley, Cotswolds
Cirencester, Cotswolds
Bromyard Downs, Cotswolds
Broadway, Cotswolds
Tewkesbury Abbey, Cotswolds
Uttoxeter Racecourse, Cotswolds
Warwick Racecourse, Cotswolds
Exmoor House, Dulverton, Somerset
Cheddar, Bristol, Somerset
Baltic Wharf, Bristol
Black Knowl, Brokenhurst, New Forest
Hillhead, Brixham Devon
Steamer Quay, Totnes Devon
Commons Wood, Welwyn Garden City
Abbey Wood, London
Crystal Palace, London
Brighton, West Sussex
Littlehampton, West Sussex
Wales
Riverside Touring Park, Betws-y-Coed North Wales. AS
Lady Margaret’s Park, Chirk North Wales
Pembrey Country Park, Llanelli South Wales, off road cycle routes
Tredegar House Country Park, Newport South Wales
St David’s Lleithyr Meadow, South Wales
Brecon Beacons, South Wales
Hiilcroft Cl, Saundersfoot, Pembrokeshire
Scotland
Braemar, Scotland
Craigie Gardens, Ayr Scotland
Errol, Perthshire, Scotland CL
Edinburgh, Scotland
Forfar, Scotland
Huntly Caravan Park, Aberdeenshire AS
Kingdom of Fife, Scotland
Maragowan, Killin, Scotland
Melrose, Gibson Park, Scotland
New England Bay, Scotland
Strathclyde Park, Scotland
Silverbank, Scotland
Stonehaven, Scotland
North Ledaig, Oban, Scotland
Low Glengyre Farm CL, Stranraer, Scotland, no transport but good walks
Grantown on Spey, Affiliated site, Scotland
Bunree, Scotland, on side of Loch. Fantastic walks from site but nothing else. Bus?
Culloden, Scotland. Walk to the battlefield which is great. Bus to Inverness
Non Club Sites
Bratihwaite C&CC, Cumbria
Ravenglass C&CC, Cumbria
Ambleside Aire, Cumbria, town centre, no electric or sanitation
Keswick, C&CC
Beadnall Bay, Northumberland C&CC
Bakewell C&CC
St Neots, C&CC
Hay Brow, Scalby, Scarborough, C&CC
Moffatt, Scotland C&CC
Barnard Castle, Co Durham, C&CC
Oxford C&CC
Gulivers World C&CC site in Central Milton Keynes, Bucks.
Country Park Lincoln, commercial
Broadholme Nursery commercial, ideal for Derby, Buxton, Matlock
Hendre Mynach, Barmouth commercial
The Cardiff Caravan Park, commercial
Greenacres, Wellington, Somerset commercial adjacent to the M5, good stop over site
Little Cotton, commercial, Dartmouth, Devon
Polruan Holidays, Cornwall, commercial
Riverside touring park, commercial, Stratford upon Avon
Sandfield House Farm, commercial, Whitby
York YCP, commercial, Stockton Lane, York
Lady’s Mile, Dawlish, Devon
Extra info
Someone has said:
Gibson Park at Melrose in the Scottish Borders (only a couple of miles off the A68) is one of my personal favourites and is another good stopover for a few nights on the way North. The site is in the centre of Melrose and there are good public transport links all around the area as well as easy walking around the immediate area. If you like Italian food, don't miss the authentic Italian restaurant "Monte Casino", which is located in what used to be Melrose railway station on the disused Waverley Line between Edinburgh and Carlisle, but there are also several other excellent hotels and restaurants in and around Melrose.
I would suggest Exmoor House CC site in Dulverton. It is right on the edge of the town so you can walk to the small supermarket, deli, excellent butcher, greengrocer, you name it. Great pub at the end of the approach road to the site which serves good grub and beer, also a hotel in the town which serves bar food etc. to non-residents, dogs welcome in both. Several good walks direct from the site, also Land Rover "safari" type trips from the town take you into the wilds of Exmoor, and there is a bus service but I don't know any details.
A good commercial site on the South coast of Cornwall is Polruan Holidays http://www.polruanholidays.co.uk/ Walk to the village (a steep hill down and feels much steeper coming back) for newspaper, basic food requirements, two good pubs serving food, passenger ferry to Fowey, trips around the river, or to Mevagissey. Footpaths from the site go along the coast to Looe and Polperro, and there is also a bus service so you can walk one way and get the bus back. Fabulous owners, nothing too much trouble, they work really hard keeping the place just so.
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Anyone remember the song "I've been everywhere, man"
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