The Church House Inn

Great location for walking to the lake and on to fells. Easy access off the road and through the carpark to a field with hard standings raised up from the grass which dictated which direction we pitched the caravan and put the awning, couldn’t get either level. The public footpath running along the site allows users to see into the site and our caravan and was noisy at times. The track through the site leads to another field for campervans, this was closed during our stay. There is regular traffic noise from the roads and dogs barking somewhere so it isn’t a peaceful site. The toilet and waste emptying point was almost full to overflowing, making emptying the toilet even more unpleasant, it was drained during our visit. There are 2 toilets and 1 shower next to the pub which were shared between the CL and any campervans ( 5 at one point )pitched in the carpark during our stay. I assume the motor homes in the additional field will also use the facilities, they are not for exclusive use of the CL as advertised. Friendly host who is helpful and working hard on his business almost single handedly, a pod is currently being built on the CL. £20 a night and £25 at weekends ( Sunday night is a weekend) isn’t competitive with the other local sites and is far too high for what’s on offer.

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Pleasant stay and location. Good and easy dog walking from site and into Coniston. Owner very helpful and gave us sole use of a fridge as ours not working. Shame pub not open but another across the road.

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Nice spot good path into coniston good pub over the road, the church house in is closed and no sign of opening, excellent base for walking. But at £20 a night mid week it is overpriced

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This CL advertised:- pub, restaurant, drive over waste for MH, shower - none of which existed. No signs to indicate where the toilet was or bins. Price was £15/night - I questioned the owner about VAT reduction as per Government Covid Guidelines and he said - NO not discounting!! Extremely disappointed as this could be a super site. Perfect for walking in the Coniston area.

Response from the Club

The CL owner has been in touch as they work really hard to ensure their site is operational for members and that guests have the best possible experience when staying with them. The pub and restaurant have not reopened following lockdown as the rooms are quite small (cosy) with low ceilings which make social distancing impossible and therefore not financially viable at this time. The CL Owner informs members of this on arrival and tells them that the larger pub less than 100 yards down the road is open and serves food. The toilet is available and has been completely refurbished, an additional toilet is in the process of being installed. The shower is not available at this time as this is also being refurbished but should be available for members again soon. 

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This was our second visit and will sadly be our last, due to the following issues: Having booked almost a year in advance at £10 per night, after seeing an earlier review plus another one on social media regarding a price increase I emailed the (new) owner to double check the prices. I was told that our 8 night stay would be £140 rather than the £80 I thought it would. When I queried this I was immediately told that if I wanted to cancel the booking she fully understood, as my parents were also booked onto the CL, and my in-laws into a room at the pub, this wasn't really an option with 3 weeks to go and a further email from myself resulted in an offer of a £20 reduction. It transpires that the CL cost is now £20 per night at the weekend and £15 per night midweek. Throughout our stay the Elsan disposal point was quite frankly disgusting, this was reported twice and was not resolved until the last day of our stay. The first weekend that we were there, there were 6 vans on the site, there are 5 hard standing pitches and the 6th Van was pitched on grass in front of the drinking water taps. Not withstanding the obvious breach of the rules this site is not big enough for 6 vans. On the final Saturday of our stay 3 tents had appeared overnight in the pub owned field opposite the CL, as it is their land they are of course perfectly entitled to do what they like with it, however all the occupants of these tents them proceeded to use the "exclusive use" shower and WC on site. Despite an almost wholesale change of staff from the previous management and a lack of visibility of the owners (we weren't quite sure who the landlord was, and the landlady was, other than serving food on the first night, usually out with her dogs or walking round the car park on her phone) the food was still good, but sadly the atmosphere in the pub and the sense that you are mixing with locals has gone. All of the above issues just seemed like a lack of care to us, and whilst the location remains one of our favourites we will not return and will stay at the CL in Coniston itself, which with EHU and not charging a weekend premium, represents much better value.

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