We visited last month and found the site OK - overall quite attractive, a refurbished toilet block, nice pitches - everything you would expect really. It was only when we tried to leave at 06.30 am, we found the high security barrier was in a locked position. It turns out, we had literally been locked in overnight. Had we been out the previous evening and returned after 11.00 pm we would have been locked out! I emailed HQ for an explanation and they simply said 'it's made clear in the handbook'. Yes, it does say (in small print near the bottom of the page) 'the barrier is in operation and it closes between 2300 and 0700'. But it doesn't say you will be locked in or out and your security key will not work. So, if you happen to need a doctor or an ambulance, a fire engine or a policeman, or maybe just want to visit a nearby attraction, you will have to make alternative arrangements. Anyway, HQ kindly passed my email to the site managers, as I wanted to find out why this draconian policy was in place, and I have not heard from them yet. I can't think of any other visitor facility where customers are locked in/out overnight and I wonder if the full safety implications have been considered. Perhaps the Site Managers will eventually respond to my email. I should say, I guess, reading some other reviews, it's probably been put in place to help control the group of Irish Travellers that live on the site but I will not pre-empt their reply. Maybe, if it is, the Club should review its membership policy rather than compromise the health and security of its ordinary members.
I also found out after we left, we were not allowed to walk our small well-behaved dog around the site. Again this provision is probably aimed to stop the travellers running their various hounds around the site.
Lastly I suggested the Club improves its road signage in and out of the site, including on nearby roads, but I may have wasted my time suggesting this!!
Needless to say, we won't be returning unless the Club improves its policies on these issues.
