Review of Laneside Caravan Park, Derbyshire.

September can often bring some of the best weather of the year in the UK, and when we decided to take Brian our motorhome out for a test run for the weekend we weren’t disappointed. We booked on to Laneside Caravan Park in the Hope Valley, Derbyshire for a couple of nights.

Our first impressions were good. The campsite was easy to find with good access. We arrived later than expected and was promptly met by one of the friendly site staff who efficiently directed us to our pitch.

The pitch we booked was a fully serviced all weather pitch and was perfect for our weekend away. I’ll be honest, we’re not grass pitch people so we will always go for hard standings   as we find it cleaner and less chance of getting stuck if the weather takes a turn for the worst. Access onto the pitch was good too and within minutes we had the electric plugged in and our evening dinner cooking.

Through the night the site was quiet with very little noise and we did sleep like a pair of logs until the sunlight woke us through the skylights in the morning. First job of the day is to get the brew on, with the second job being to take a stroll across to the shower blocks.

One of the big concerns most newbies to the camping world worry about is showing and the toilets. These showers were adequate, the water was hot, the shower cubicles were of a good size and there were no queues (which is always a plus for me). The only thing we would say is they are a little dated now, but that said they were clean and well maintained. The same can also be said of the toilets, these were also clean and well maintained. It is also worth noting that the toilet and shower blocks were heated which is also something that is welcomed on these cool Autumn mornings.

 

Once showered we were ready to explore the area. The campsite itself is located just a few minutes walk from the village of Hope. Here you will find a couple of country pubs and a lovely Tea Room. Too early for alcohol, we opted for the Tea Room and we can recommend the cream tea, freshly baked scones, jam and cream accompanied with a proper brew in a proper mug (non of these little Downton Abbey style fine china cups with tiny handles you can’t get your fingers in).

Setting off from Hope we followed a river side path along the Hope Valley to Castleton. The walk is fairy flat and took us around 40 minutes. Castleton is a bit bigger than Hope and has a few more pubs and cafes along with a number of gift shops.

Walking along the path Mam Tor soon comes into view and if you are feeling adventurous then there is a great walk which takes you to the summit of Mam Tor and then along a ridge overlooking Castleton and Hope and eventually dropping back down into Hope village itself.

The location of the campsite is ideal for those wanting a lazy weekend with nearby pubs and cafes but also for those who like to get out an explore. As well as Mam Tor, if you are feeling super fit you could walk across to Edale and tackle the mighty Kinder Scout.

The campsite itself has 20 all weather serviced pitches, 65 grass pitches with electric hook-up and if you want a little bit more peace and quite there is a specific camping field with electric hook-up for adults only.

On the Saturday night we were treated to a visit from a mobile fish and chip van which turned up around 4:30pm and stayed until after 7:00pm. We couldn’t resist and it was quite nice to have tea brought to us so we could laze around on the evening and have a drink with some friends who were staying on the same site. As for the fish and chips, they were good and worth the queue time.

The on site shop was well stocked with fresh bread delivered daily. They even had some camping accessories should you have forgotten or broken anything when you arrive on site.

We would stay here again and we would be quite happy to recommend this camp site to our rental customers. Our overall score for this site is 4 out of 5.

The website for the campsite is here.