Chatsworth House Club site. Always full ????
Last November we were invited to Derbyshire with some friends. Our friends suggested staying at Chatsworth House Caravan Club Site.
“We won’t get on there, they are always full,” I thought, having been told this so many times.
We telephoned the site and to my surprise and delight we were able to get in without any problem.
On arrival at the site we found it busy but by no means full. My message is, don’t listen to hearsay give the wardens a ring.
Whilst on the site, we were made most welcome by the friendly wardens.
The site is very quiet at night with just the odd owl hoot. By day we were amazed to see such a wide variety of wild birds.
The site has the use of a gate that takes you directly into the main estate. Just a few minutes’ walk gets you to the house.
We were there for “Chatsworth at Christmas” each room was decked with the most wonderful decorations depicting various Christmas Carols. It was well worth the entry price.
Whilst on the subject of the entry price, In order to get appropriate discount on the House we made the mistake of booking our visit to the house online before we left home , however we later discovered that by showing our Club receipt at the pay station we could have obtained an even bigger discount. So it is worth remembering to check first
So all in all a wonderful site to visit and don’t forget they are not always full!!
Comments
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We were there the beginning of November and found the site lovely, paid a visit to the house also and thought the xmas decorations really nice, the goods etc for sale at the xmas market in our opinion though were on the expensive side, we would definately
visit the site again.0 -
we love chatsworth and try to go as many times in a year as possible we try not to do weekends if we can get the time of work it is a bit quieter not so many kids about we have nothing against them but ours have grown up and we just like a kid free time
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We are fairly new to caravanning and the club. We have our usual sites within weekend staying distance. We also try new ones every year, for our longer trips. This year we planned on Chatsworth for a Bank Holiday weekend and booked without a problem. Really
looking forward to it.0 -
New to M/homing and joined in November. Tried to book a weekend at Chatsworth on line and could only get the Sunday night so stayed elsewhere Saturday. Arrived Sunday and the site was by no means full. It is a lovelly site and early morning walk into the
grounds with the deer was great. No problem booking for a two day mid week break 14th December we celebrated our 38 wedding anniversary with a meal at the Devonshire Arms. Will definitely go back..As we are both retired mid week breaks suit us best.0 -
I tried to book Chatsworth site at 11am the day online booking opened and every weekend in May/June was already fully booked. I'd be interested to find out what percentage of these booking are taking advantage of the "no deposit" arrangements and eventually
cancel. We're going to a CL instead.0 -
I tried to book Chatsworth site at 11am the day online booking opened and every weekend in May/June was already fully booked. I'd be interested to find out what percentage of these booking are taking advantage of the "no deposit" arrangements and eventually
cancel. We're going to a CL instead.Write your comments here...I tried booking Chatsworth at 9am on the morning online booking opened for mid May and could only get 4 days mid week. All weekends being booked up. I was told by wardens at Chester Fairoaks that this was due to postal bookings
being processed before online bookings. It is obvious the club needs many more fabulous sites like Chatsworth!0 -
Postal bookings before online bookings? Doesn't that beat all! Tried for years to visit Rowntree. NO JOY. Even stayed up a couple of years ago to catch the deadline. I tried this year to book Edinburgh at just after 9.00am on the day bookings opened. What
a waste of time, and even when I enquired as to why, I got a wet blanket excuse trying to say I was too late. I think this is all very wrong and we should have a level playing field, with no back doors,0 -
I would agree totally with your post, we were there last year on the Royal Wedding weekend, yes it was busy but we had no problem booking a pitch via the web-site. It was a glorious weekend and being able to use the gate and gain access to the estate is
a real boon, especially when you have two dogs who love to run about!0 -
We seem to be quite lucky getting on Chatsworth, But we do go mid week its one of our favorites and only half an hour from home, We were there for new year it was almost empty the day after new years day!! Never seen it like that before!
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I have stayed on Chatsworth site several times, mainly for weekends, including Chatsworth show, which is very busy on site but had no problems booking, as long as booked on opening day for bookings. This year however my wife tried to book from 9am and by
the time she got through online, she could book week before show, which she did, we had to book local CL at Bakewell for show weekend. Our friends managed to book the whole period on site. We have only ever been able to book Rowntree Park once, but like Beechwood
Grange anyway, so book that now as well as CL's around york, of which there are plenty.0 -
i agree with you chatsworth is amzing at christmas but i can say rowntree park in york is a nightmare to get on since we have had the caravan we have only manged to get there once but as you talk to other people they seam to be able to get onthat site when
ever they wantis it me or am i using the wrong aftershave0 -
Try ringing the site at 9am on Friday usually they have had a cancellation, mind you now the 72 hour rule kicks in best ringing 9am Tuesday for the weekends, never found a problem Sunday to Thursday with the exception of School Holidays.
NigelH
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We did get in at fairly short notice for a fewdays mid week not lomg ago much to the surprise of many people on site. We had been previously and on that occassion there was an open air concert on, using the door from the site to the house we had a magnificent
nights entertainment. To be frank however we prefer Grin Low as a site as it is far more open but that is personal preference.0 -
Managed to get booked in over the kids summer holidays and really looking forward to staying...in fact to be honest WE ARE REALLY EXCITED lol
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Never managed to get in at Chatsworth to include a weekend as we both work and have a long way to travel. Baltic Wharf is much the same, no weekends now until 21st Dec which we have now just booked. Rowntree is another one, no chance. There are several sites
out there where you have to book very early almost as soon as the new years bookings go live (early December) or you have to make do elsewhere. I still believe the system should have a cut-off point to which people are able to make advanced-bookings though
not sure if this will make a difference!!?? We can always hope.0 -
Each July we bring the caravan over from Northern Ireland for our months holiday and we often stay at Chatsworth. We book from Monday to Friday without any difficulty. On arrival we ask the Warden if we can stay over the weekend if there is a cancellation
and in four of the last five years we have been lucky. Our circular tour includes Hargill House, Beechwood Grange, Ferry Meadows, Chatsworth, Bolton Abbey and Low Park Wood or Troutbeck Head. Roll on July. One gripe, the ferry from Belfast to Cairnryan costs
an arm and a leg.Henry S
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We had no difficulty in booking at Chatsworth last December 2011 to take advantage of the Christmas Decorations at Chatsworth House. Fabulous event and the meal was well worth the extra cost. Also very friendly and helpful wardens who go the extra mile for
their visitors. Would like to visit this site again some time.0 -
Several times we have tried to book sites online only to be told no joy. Immediately then phoned the wardens direct to be told plenty of room. The last time was Februay 2012 site at Castleton. Think there must be a gremlin "online". Never take its word
for gospel always go direct.0 -
Yes we had the notion as you .Many times we had treid to book this site but it was always full ,although to be fair we only treid at Bank Hol .Last year we decided to try and book the site for my wifes birhday in lat September and lo and behold we got a
pitch. We enjoyed our stay its a pleasant site and the access to Chatsworth is a bonus.Just shows if do do not succeed the first time try again0 -
Postal bookings before online bookings? Doesn't that beat all! Tried for years to visit Rowntree. NO JOY. Even stayed up a couple of years ago to catch the deadline. I tried this year to book Edinburgh at just after 9.00am on the day bookings opened. What
a waste of time, and even when I enquired as to why, I got a wet blanket excuse trying to say I was too late. I think this is all very wrong and we should have a level playing field, with no back doors,Write your comments here... I agree there should be a level playing field, we have tried to book sites online only to find them full - on phoning the site vacancies were available! Some years ago I tried to book a popular site in France early on the first
day of booking only to find one of our chosen weeks already full - on querying this I was told that people had reserved in advance - I suggested that either there should be no reserving of sites in advance of opening day or this facility should be publicised
in the mag for all to use. I got a mealymouthed reply, hopefully things are better these days but I'm not banking on it. (We have never managed to get on Chatsworth or Rowntree despite trying)0 -
We used to book by post every year because we both work full time and do not have access to a computer during the day, however last year we were told by the cravan club that postal votes were being phased out and would no longer be accepted so we had to
wait until evening before we could even try and get onto sites like Chatsworth and York so no matter which way it is done there is never a level playing field. We believe the only fair way is to take a reasonable deposit but the caravan club do not appear
to agree so retired or people who do not work in the week and can go during the week are at an advantage to people who can only go at weekends. Roll on retirement or better still take a deposit so that there are not so many cancellations.0
