Positives:
Excellent location for overnight stays enroute to the West Country, and for those with a car who are prepared for day trips using the A38 and A30 dual carriageways into Devon and Cornwall, and the M5 northbound. It's also handy for day trips to the Dorset coast, and by bus into Exeter.
The facilities are tired but spotless, and the wardens this year (2023) are friendly and very welcoming.
There is plenty of opportunity for exercising dogs and/or walking in the nearby Haldon Forest accessible on foot from the campsite.
Negatives:
This is probably not a good site for light sleepers, the adjacent A38 carrying overnight HGVs that strain to surmount Haldon Hill.
The site is owned by the Jockey Club, who are responsible for site maintenance. It appears to be a side hustle for them. When the washroom boiler broke down earlier this year (2023) it took several days for replacement parts to be sourced. We had a seasonal pitch. In March we started with heavy rains that turned grass pitches into quagmire. However as the weather became drier the site became very dusty, and our van soon looked dirty, even though it had been fully washed in March.
As seasonal pitchers we were not always in the van, and were never completely convinced by site security. A Jockey Club gate at the entrance to the racecourse is locked every night, but there is no raising barrier similar to those found at many C&MC sites that can be controlled by wardens.
There is a popular weekly carboot in a neighbouring field, and some travellers decided to arrive unbooked and uninvited on the campsite. While they were successfully removed, the handling of that process is the responsibility of the Jockey Club who doubtless have their procedures to follow. On balance we contemplated whether our insurance company might claim the site was unsecured in the event of our van disappearing while we were at home, and thus argue about paying an insurance claim. We therefore decided to cancel the season pitch, but many other seasonal pitchers are clearly not so worried.
On the whole we feel this site is an opportunity missed, but that is not the fault of the Caravan and Motorhome Club, or of the wardens.
Gasser
Reviewed on 13/06/2023 19:09
