My husband and I arrived at this site intending to stay the night or possibly 2. It turned out we stayed 5 and would have remained longer had it been possible to accommodate us...we loved this place! We enjoyed to site enormously, Helen couldn't have been more helpful, recommending places to visit, supplying us with routes and maps. These were added to by Courtney and every single recommendation turned out to be everybit as interesting, beautiful and immersed in wildlife as we could have imagined. The campsite provided the excellent base from which to explore the surrounding countryside, towns, villages and magnificient churches. We walked along footpaths into Stamford, a stunning town with history, fine architecture, stunning churches and well served with cafes (fantastic Scandi cafe for excellent coffee), bakeries (Henderson's is exceptional) and a Friday market, one of the best we've enjoyed. Local produce is excellent and after we'd shopped, we tore into our french stick, tiny pizzas and quiches from Mormor's Swedish Kitchen (a stall which made faire from 'renound' London bakeries pale into insignificance!) and incredible pork pies from Nelson's butchers, all eaten following a walk around the beautiful water meadows in the heart of town. We thought Burghley House would be interesting, it's jaw dropping! We delighted in walking through the estate (vehicular and pedestrian gates close 'officially' at 6pm), seeing the rooftops of the house appear over the hill (when entering on foot from Stamford) and then watching the magnificent house slowly come into full view. Walking around the exterior of this Elizabethian masterpeice made for a memorable afternoon in its own right but we had to come back the next day to explore the interior and gardens...worth every penny of the entrance fee. Only by going inside can you end your visit in the Orangery Restaurant/ cafe and we've never enjoyed afternoon tea so much surrounded by lavender and roses whilst listening to the sound of water trickling down the water feature in the centre of the pond. The end to a perfect day extended well into the afternoon however, returning to Skylark barn to watch the sun set over the fields and the skylarks rise and fall over the fields late into the evening. The Bluebell pub (Caroline and Aubrey), 10 minutes walk away is a welcoming and traditional country pub with a good range of beers and quality meals, Anything this campsite lacked in terms of its newness was more than compensated by the view and the lovely family who run it. We wanted to stay longer, Helen and Courtney were superb hosts and their children Isabel, George and Winston great characters...one of them needs to write a book when they 'grow up', their childhood strikes us as idylic!! Thank you one and all, we look forward to returning and resuming our explorations of the magnificent county that is Rutland!
