Durham Amateur Rowing Club

Rated 4 of 5

Peace and tranquility

Rated 5 of 5

Access to local places of interest

Rated 5 of 5

Beauty of surroundings and scenery

Rated 5 of 5

Ease of arrival/welcome

Brilliant CL

We had four nights here during the third week of April, and will definitely be back. Although busy much of the time with rowers coming and going, there was very little disturbance. And what a beautiful setting, beside the River Wear, lots of walks into countryside from it, and just a 10 minute walk into Durham itself. 20 minutes if you want to enjoy the lovely riverside walk which takes you there. You can see the cathedral and castle as you walk along. There is so much to see and do within the city you can leave the car on site. The people are friendly, the streets amazing, lots of different eateries/pubs, you'll not go hungry or thirsty. You can also enjoy the clubhouse on site if you don't wish to go far, the members are friendly and helpful. There are also information leaflets available as you enter the building. It is a very popular site so do phone to book. We saw one poor soul who didn't and they had to look elsewhere. We are looking forward to a return visit.

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DustyDave

Caravanner from Lincolnshire

Reviewed on 19/05/2015 16:58

18 reviews

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Rated 4 of 5

Peace and tranquility

Rated 5 of 5

Access to local places of interest

Rated 4 of 5

Beauty of surroundings and scenery

Rated 4 of 5

Ease of arrival/welcome

Excellent base near city

We stayed 3 days midweek in March and loved the site. It won't suit everyone, but it was great for us, a mature couple, wanting a base to explore Durham. The site is small, with 3 of the 5 pitches being a few metres from the river (unfenced). Great views from one side of the van onto the river and woods, other side looked onto the car park and clubhouse. Its about 10 mins walk to city centre, along river, past sportsgrounds. Also good walks along river away from Durham. We found the staff in the clubhouse, and the rowers, very friendly, and enjoyed a chat with them in the bar in the evening. The weakness of the site is that the toilets/showers aren't always available. The clubhouse door is open from 12am to 3pm, and 7pm to 10pm, however there were always people around from 7am onwards who could open the doors for you, so the only time we couldn't get in was after10pm, when everyone had left. Toilets excellent, didn't use shower. We found the site very quiet generally, although rowers do come fairly early in the morning, and you can hear their voices if you have a pitch next to the car park, as we did. Didn't bother us though. No litter problems, something other reviewers have mentioned, no dog walkers seen, not blocked in, plenty of space. One churned up area, but most of grass area fine. Some trees have been cut down letting more light in, so grass should grow better. Overall we really liked it, you wont get better this close to a city. Would recommend the Court Inn, 10 mins walk away, for good food and ambience, tho bit pricey.

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MartinDF

Reviewed on 10/03/2015 17:46

4 reviews

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 1 of 5

Peace and tranquility

Rated 4 of 5

Access to local places of interest

Rated 1 of 5

Beauty of surroundings and scenery

Rated 3 of 5

Ease of arrival/welcome

Very handy to Durham centre but read on!

We arrived at the site and were horrified to see the mud bath we were supposed to park our caravan on. Apparently there had been an event on the weekend before which had churned up the caravan parking. In no way did it resemble a caravan club 5 site of any description, it was not just the condition of the grass but the unkempt surroundings too, paper coffee cups bottles of water old inhalers, mats and dog dirt. The ease into Durham was great but beware walking back on the opposite side as there is a diversion which is very slippery.

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Pauline McDougall

Motorhomer

Reviewed on 13/02/2015 17:01

1 review

1 Helpful note

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 1 of 5

Peace and tranquility

Rated 5 of 5

Access to local places of interest

Rated 2 of 5

Beauty of surroundings and scenery

Rated 1 of 5

Ease of arrival/welcome

Must READ ALL reviews in future.

The site is a very small gravel and grass area, under the trees, to the side of the Rowing Club's Car Park. It is frequently inaccessible due to parked cars. Even when there were approx 50 other spaces available, they seemed to prefer those which obstructed the caravaners. There is a locked gateway behind the caravan area, which we were told is an escape route if someone needs to get out in a hurry. There was barely enough room for the five caravans, as it was, so I defy anyone to turn a unit round in order to get out, without a mover. The Club is in constant use, which is good for them but the car park is also a public right of way to the riverbank, so people, cars and dogs are using it from as early as 6 a.m. and upto 11.30 pm. Dogs were not kept on leads and on several occasions, whilst the owners stood talking, the dogs made for the grass around the caravans to do their business. We never used the toilets or shower facilities, but people who tried were turned away during the day time and in the evening, the main door was locked so access was via the bar! Nice! We went in the bar once, and asked the bar man for the wifi code, despite having two drinks as we waited, we never got it. When we asked again, he said if we gave him our Lap Top he would put it in. I don't think so! The only plus side was the beautiful river walk straight into Durham. Despite planning to stay a week, as did others, we left early, in desparate need of a good night sleep, if nothing else.

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Mr P

Caravanner from Devon

Reviewed on 06/11/2014 11:16

15 reviews

1 Helpful note

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Rated 4 of 5

Peace and tranquility

Rated 5 of 5

Access to local places of interest

Rated 4 of 5

Beauty of surroundings and scenery

Rated 5 of 5

Ease of arrival/welcome

Handy location

We visited this site in June 2014. The booking process was very straightforward and the site has good facilities with use of the toilets, showers and bar in the Rowing Club The Clubhouse has wifi when the bar is open. The site is ideally located for visiting Durham, a pleasant 15 minute walk into the centre either via the road or along the river bank. The Rose Tree at Shincliffe serves reasonably priced pub grub and is dog friendly. It is fifteen minute walk along the river bank away from the City. There is great walking from the site. You can see our walks on our blog www.twodogsandanawning.co.uk

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Two dogs and an awning

Caravanner

Reviewed on 14/07/2014 16:00

50 reviews

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and tranquility

Rated 5 of 5

Access to local places of interest

Rated 5 of 5

Beauty of surroundings and scenery

Rated 5 of 5

Ease of arrival/welcome

Plenty to watch at this site

Rung up on the off chance and managed to get 1 night stay only as CL was fully booked for rest of week. Mark was very friendly and helpful. Plenty to watch whilst on this site with all the different rowers training during the evening and also again in the morning, but not noisy. Easy walk to Cathedral and a pleasant walk along riverbank into town. Will return for a longer stay next time.

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3dom2roam

Motorhomer

Reviewed on 06/06/2014 19:49

4 reviews

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and tranquility

Rated 5 of 5

Access to local places of interest

Rated 5 of 5

Beauty of surroundings and scenery

Rated 5 of 5

Ease of arrival/welcome

One of the best...

Spent the May 2013 Bank Holiday here. An ideally located site not only for visiting Durham City with it's fantastic Cathedral, Castle and wonderful old pubs, but also for lovely walks along the River Wear and through wooded hillsides. Booking (via e-mail and then telephone) was very well handled and facilities on the site were very good - as others have stated access to toilets/showers when Rowing Club open otherwise you need your own facilities. Loved the bustle of the rowers around the club - a positive, friendly buzz rather than a noisy crowd - and added to the atmosphere rather than detracted from it. Will definitely stay here again.

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Wansley

Motorhomer

Reviewed on 08/05/2013 19:53

3 reviews

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 5 of 5

Peace and tranquility

Rated 5 of 5

Access to local places of interest

Rated 5 of 5

Beauty of surroundings and scenery

Rated 2 of 5

Ease of arrival/welcome

April 2013 Stay

Beautiful location let down by site. Hard standing for vehicles but that is it. Only grass.No laid paths so can get very messy. A little more effort from the club would make this a cracking site. You have lovely walks along river and into Durham.The social club does not allow dogs, but you can walk or drive to Shincliffe village (within 2 miles) where Rose Tree/Seven Stars pubs both welcome dogs.We ate at the Rose Tree, friendly staff and good food.. Access to showers/wcs on site only when members are around to let you in- after 8am usually.

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hallysdad

Reviewed on 02/05/2013 08:28

5 reviews

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Rated 4 of 5

Rated 3 of 5

Peace and tranquility

Rated 5 of 5

Access to local places of interest

Rated 3 of 5

Beauty of surroundings and scenery

Rated 3 of 5

Ease of arrival/welcome

Great site for access to Durham city

We stayed here three nights in early September 2012. The site is very small and the pitches are squeezed into an area at the side of the rowing club car park although you are not that close to your neighbours. However, this site has one of my “pet gripes” in that, whilst the site advertises hardstanding pitches, you have to track across grass to get to them! Not an immediate problem in the summer/autumn, but it maybe in the depth of winter as the site is open all year! The clubhouse toilet & shower facilities [& bar] are available to site users but only when the club is in use. The showers are clean, spacious and with lots of hot water. If you needed a quick getaway in the morning, you would need to be able to use your own facilities or find someone with the entry code to get you into the clubhouse. Having said that, this is all explained on the club website & site notice board. We did find that the “day to day” maintenance of the clubhouse left a bit to be desired, esp. the lack of toilet paper in the loos. Also, if the club has a function on, the car parking close to the perimeter of the site can obstruct the entry/exit and this would have been a concern if you needed to get away in an emergency. The site is, however, superbly located for access into the centre of Durham, being only a 15 minute walk along the river bank to be in the main shopping & touristy area. Riverbank walks to the south towards Shincliffe are also possible with a few stopping off points like pubs and a garden centre with a tea room. We never did find the facilities manager who had taken our booking despite a couple of attempts to find him! Having paid “up front” there was no real need but it would have been nice to have been able to meet the person that we had had e-mail contact with. Overall a very convenient site for Durham centre but just a little more effort from the club itself would make a visit a bit more enjoyable

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Pilgrimphil

Motorhomer from Norfolk

Reviewed on 24/09/2012 12:02

44 reviews

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