We spent a great 4 nights at this site and loved every minute. Having read reviews that mentioned building noise from the site being extended, we chose a pitch at the other end of the site, and it was perfectly quiet. We walked into Barnard Castle via the woods, a lovely way to access the town and not muddy when we were there. We’ve been to Barnard Castle before and really like all the independent shops and friendly vibe. On the day when it was blowing a westerly gale, we caught the 95 bus to Middleton in Teesdale from outside the site (you just flag it down) and walked back via the Teesdale Way, a wonderful varied walk, partly on the banks of the Tees and partly up on the hills above it. Halfway back we had a great lunch at the Coach House in Eggleston. The other two days were fine, dry and sunny – and still – so perfect for cycling. One day we retraced the bus route via the pretty villages to Middleton where we can recommend the Tees Pot café – very friendly staff and customers, had lunch and stocked up on cakes for the way back, on the slightly busier B road back to base via Eggleston. The last day we ventured north of the site, to the Hamsterley Forest, a hillier ride but with magnificent long views in all directions. There’s plenty of parking in the Forest and bike hire – we saw lots of families enjoying the trails on foot and on bikes, and for the more adventurous (ie not us!) there are loads of challenging mountain bike trails. Ours are hybrid bikes and we kept to the well surfaced main ‘Forest Drive’. So with so much to do in the area on foot and 2 wheels, we’ll definitely be back before too long, and look forward to stocking up again on local produce at the excellent Mainsgill Farm shop on the A66 between Scotch Corner and the site – look out for the resident camels!!
