These are some of my impressions of the campsites we have stayed at in the UK. I have given the date when we stayed as the sites may have changed meantime. They don't include the Caravan Club sites as most of these don't permit tents even when they have plenty of space to do so and I haven't included Caravan and Camping Club sites as although we were members for several years we generally found them to be too strict on rules (some of which made no sense to us) and not to mention, space allocation.
The sites are listed in order of the dates we visited.
Giants Head Caravan and Camping Park, Dorset (April and July 2017).
I first found this campsite whilst walking the "Wessex Ridgeway" as the path goes right through the campground so difficult to miss it! It is one of the few campgrounds in this part of inland Dorset and makes a great spot to explore the surrounding area. It is reasonably priced (£10 for tent and one person, £15.00 for two people) and has showers, toilets, water and some sites have electric. At the moment a new shower block is being built so facilities should improve in the future. It is situated on top of the downs at about 250 m height above Cerne Abbas and Minterne Parva and some sites have views over to the east and Ball Hill where the Ridgeway passes. It is well placed for walkers, cyclists and has plenty of open space for family groups to meet. The site is next to a minor road that does seem to get busy and so is noisy at times.
We walked into Cerne Abbas from the campsite on a circular walk by crossing the road over paths through oilseed rape fields to gain a track that went southwest descending below the "Cerne Abbas Giant" earthwork. We didn't see the "Cerne Giant" as it is high on the hill above the track but it is a very pleasant walk through meadows with orchids (Pyramidal Orchids and Common Spotted), many flowers as well as butterflies (we saw many Meadow Brown and Marbled White). The path goes to the Kettle Bridge from where we followed the Cerne river into the village to find the "Abbots Tea Room". The village was very pleasant in the summer sun and has a long history though it's association with the Benedictine Abbey dating from 987 AD. The abbey was destroyed after the reformation and only the Guest House and Abbots Porch remain (both in need of internal restoration). There are several information boards in the Porch and next to the abbey through the burial grounds is St Augustine's Well where you can tie a ribbon and make a wish (but the water is no longer potable!). On the way to the abbey near the entrance we watched a grass snake moving through the pond. There is also a pretty tranquil garden, "Squibb Garden" along Abbey Street, that has been restored.
The village is well endowed with pubs; I chose the "The Royal Oak" on my first visit in April and in July we went to the "The New Inn" both with outdoor areas and good food.
We returned to the campsite by continuing east along Alton Lane past the Cricket pitch to find a lane going northwest besides the cricket grounds and then along the side of Giant Hill to eventually join the minor road that goes past the campground (about 5 minutes walking on this busy road). Each way it takes about 40 minutes without stops.
We also went to Minterne Himalayan Gardens at Minterne Magna; again it is possible to walk from the campground to the gardens or it is a short drive (10 minutes) north of Cerne Abbas. On route we stopped at the Giant Hill viewpoint car park and I got my first sight of the Giant! The hillside gardens were very beautiful with large Oak, Lime, Beech and conifers set among Azaleas, Hydrangeas and Rhododendrons to name but a few!. The riverside walk was quite spectacular with a natural feeling that you'd come across a secluded Himalayan valley together with it's own hillside hut. Obviously the best time to visit for the Rhododendron flowers would be May.
 |
| The Cerne Giant on the hillside above Cerne Abbas. |
 |
| A large Dawn Redwood tree in the gardens |
Leadstone Camping, Dawlish Warren, Devon (July 2017).
We had a holiday in Dawlish in about 1983 staying in a holiday house near the centre of the village. Since then, we haven't been back and I only passed through the area when walking the South West Coastal Path that goes through both Dawlish and Dawlish Warren.
The campsite we stayed at this time was much bigger than the "Giants Head" campsite with several camping fields separated by small hedges and the site surrounded by tall hedgerows and mature trees. The facilities were excellent and kept in good order and clean. There were many people who were on part of their annual holidays from northern England and a few walkers (presumably on the South West Coastal path) and cyclist (on Sustrans route 2 that goes along the coast at this point). The campsite entrance is about 10 to 15 minutes walk downhill to Dawlish Warren and about 40 minutes walk to Dawlish itself. We walked over the hill to Dawlish following the cycle trail with high hedges sheltering us from the cool morning wind and taking short-cuts on minor paths were appropriate. This brought us into the centre of Dawlish with shops, parks and small red-stone beach with plenty of cafes, restaurants and shops. The route back along the seawall was in brilliant sunshine without the wind and of course is much quicker as it follows the main railway line. The seawall and railway line were much damaged in the big storms in February 2004 which cut-off the service linking Cornwall and Devon. It took until April to rebuild the seawall and railway at a cost of something like £35 million.
 |
| The railway line, seawall and coastal path between Dawlish and Dawlish Warren looking north along the coast with Exmouth in the distance. |
As we only had a day at the campsite, we also wanted to see the Nature Reserve at Dawlish Warren. The village itself is mainly geared for holiday makers with children and has plenty of gift stores, clothing suppliers and amusement parks that you might associate with the Torbay area. If you get past this, the track goes to the reserve and an information centre. Unfortunately, some of the beach beyond Groyne 10 was closed as they were repairing the sea defences and this also meant that part of the reserve towards Warren Point (and looking over the Exe estuary) was closed off as well and the bird hide looking onto the estuary. The reserve is a sand spit that cuts across the estuary but ironically access is limited because the northern part of the spit is a golf course. I found the information centre a little dated with little information on the flora present at different times of the year but the information on bird and sea life was better. It is interesting to note that there were 30 houses on the spit in 1940.
During our walk we did see many "Evening Primrose" flowers but few birds probably because of the time of day and also the best times are during the winter months with migrant waders and wildfowl. Interestingly there are still plenty of rabbits around! It was a disappointing visit, not only because of the closure but also because of the presence of dogs that left their characteristic smells but the bad erosion caused by the multitude of footpaths. I think it is time to ban dogs and golfers from the entire reserve or manage access more carefully.
 |
| This is about as far as you can get to Warren Point at the moment. The Exe estuary is to the left and the long Warren beach to the right with Exmouth in the far distance. The beach at this point is closed off from the public. |
