Date of Visit: June 2023
Overall View
This is an independent site about 4 miles from Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire. It is part of the Tranquil Parks group as well. It has won best Site awards on a number of occasions. It is situated alongside a long disused railway line between Great Dalby and Melton Mowbray.
It is an adults only site in the main, (although children are allowed in certain static accommodation on the site). It is spread over two site areas, North and South.
There are 8 fishing lakes spread throughout the site which are well stocked with fish and permits can be purchased.
Access is good, please see arrival video HERE
Security is of a very high level, ANPR barriers at entrance and then coded barriers throughout the site.
Facilities
There is pretty much everything you would need on the site.
- Reception/Shop which is stocked with basics plus caravan essentials.
- Clubhouse – this offers food, drink and entertainment dependent on season. Good shade is available and is totally accessible and has a pet friendly room. There is a good information stand available here.
- Accessible bathrooms in both areas
- Solo toilet/shower rooms
- Ordinary toilets
- Elsan Points, described, after use, as one of the best they have ever used.
- Laundry/Dishwashing area plus small information stands and an ironing board.
- (Wash £4.50 × 45 minutes; Dry £1.50 × 15 minutes). Cash only.
- Dog shower in each area plus rubbish and recycling points.
- Electric car charging points by Reception.
- EE 5G is well above average. Vodafone 4G is poor. O2 reports good 4G coverage on it’s website. Three reports good outdoor 4G but may be patchy indoors.
- A range of independent food vans visit the site in an evening, pizzas, Chinese,
burgers, fish and chips to name a few. It should be noted that they have a timed queuing and payment system in place, particularly for the fish and chip evening which we opted to try. Despite getting my queue ticket number at 18.20, I was informed that it would likely be 20.15 gone before we could expect to receive our food. As a result we declined to wait so we cannot attest to the standard of food. Cooking to order is laudable but roughly 2hrs to wait for simple fish and chips is, in our opinion, excessive.
There is on-site Wi-Fi which at a very basic level is free. You can opt to pay additional fees for Bronze, Silver and Gold which gives you increased Mbps. I opted for the Gold and found it coped really well.
TV gave a good range of channels including radio. Given the close proximity of urbanisation, this was expected.
The nearest bus stop is on the A607, this is about a ¾ mile walk along unpaved road to the main road. This is in addition to the lengthy walk along the access road to the site.
There are plenty of quiet by roads and good numbers of cyclists were out and about.
Review of Site Pitch
Each pitch, irrespective of which area or size is fully serviced. There are 130 pitches in total.
Opting for a North area extended pitch, which gives you additional grass space and is bordered by hedges. There is ample space for car, caravan on tarmac, awning on pea gravel and lawn beyond.
It should be noted that the grey waste drainage point on each pitch is situated ½ way along the side of a caravan. Those vans who have rear drainage points will potentially require additional lengths of grey hose. The blue water point, electric bollard is to the rear of the van.
The pitch was totally level and pitching up was a matter of moments. Care should be taken as access with the van hitched up is quite tricky and a caravan mover will greatly assist you.
The South area is similar in layout, including extended pitches but is much newer and therefore the landscaping is not as developed. The area is much further away from roads etc. and as a result is quieter overall. It has the same facilities as the North area including two facilities blocks.
Around and about
March House Farm, 5 minutes drive from the site is a Farm Shop, cafe/restaurant and they also have a dog groomers on site. Their offering is superb, dogs allowed in the courtyard which is shaded. Fully accessible too. https://www.marchhousefarmshop.co.uk/
The nearest town is Melton Mowbray, of pork pie fame. Main shops and supermarkets are here. Morrison’s and a larger Sainsbury’s.
https://www.visitleicester.info/uncoverthestory/uncover-our-beautiful-market-towns/melton-mowbray
The nearest fuel available is a BP garage on the outskirts of Melton Mowbray on the A607. It also has an M&S Food Hall and Wild Bean Cafe.
The nearest supermarket is Aldi which is next but one to the BP garage.
The site is well placed to visit a range of places. There are walks from the site, one into Melton Mowbray itself.
The Watemead Country Park is a 20 minute easy drive from the site. It is a former industrial area which was reclaimed in the 1980s. Minimal facilities but level with good paths all round the lakes. There are toilets including accessible and appear to be relatively new. At the time of the visit there was a little tuk tuk style coffee barista parked and selling delicious coffee and a couple of flapjack style cakes in the North entrance car park. It may well be that during school holidays there are more offerings available. Family picnic area and dogs allowed in most areas apart from two areas where wildlife is breeding. Please see www.watermeadcountrypark.co.uk for further details.
The smallest county in England – Rutland is a short drive from Melton Mowbray. It offers several places of interest, namely the villages of Oakham and Uppingham and Rutland Water a Reservoir with great facilities. Oakham is a level and very picturesque village with beautiful cottages, plenty of thatched buildings and the famous Oakham Public school. There is a small market in the market square, some lovely independent shops and cafes. There is plenty of parking with blue badge availability free of charge.
Moving onto Rutland Water, this is a Reservoir which feeds the East Midlands. It is, however, very well managed by Anglian Water as a locals and tourist resource. There are a wide range of activities and a good number of catering services, from a simple cuppa to full meals etc. Which one you choose will determine which area you head too. There is an excellent map which clearly shows the different choices available and can be found, along with everything else you need, at:
https://anglianwaterparks.co.uk/rutland-water-park/visitor-information
We tried Whitwell and there were a range of waterworks, aqua park, cafe, toilets – all of which are accessible. The aqua park will require further checks if needed.
In addition a pleasure cruiser which departs from the jetty in front of Whitwell cafe during the summer months.
https://rutlandwatercruises.com/
Melton has a street market on Tuesdays and Saturdays in the town centre from 8am.
Melton also has a livestock market on Scaffold Road that has a farmers market every Tuesday and Friday, 8am to 2pm. There is a Sunday market and car boot sale from 8.30am.
You can also download a Melton town app and there is free Wi-Fi in the town.
About half an hours drive due south from the site and you arrive at Foxton Locks. Please note that ALL facilities are the opposite
turning to the one showing cafe and a ¼ mile down a single track road with passing places. There is a pub/restaurant; canal side cafe and small, well stocked shop. There are accessible toilets in the car park and is fully wheelchair accessible. It is a real sun trap and the bacon baps come highly recommended! It’s advisable to download the site map. https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/places-to-visit/foxton-locks
Visit Harborough District also offer a series of Heritage Trails in places of interest. There is one which shows the history of Foxton village and the locks. Leaflets can be obtained foc from the lockside cafe/shop. Further information on this and the other trails can be found at www.visitharborough.com
Slightly further on is the ancient market town of Market Harborough. It has a large town square with a good range of shops and a few independents, there are also a good range of banks/building societies. To one side of the square is the old market hall which used to house the early grammar school above. This is next to St Dionysius Church, which was closed on the visit.
There are a good range of National Trust properties in the area. Belton House NT is about a 40 minute drive east from the site near to Grantham.
Summary
An excellent adults only site, 1st class facilities and generous level pitches. There is some ambient noise, railway traffic, road and farm operations. There is, of course, grounds maintenance which on a site as large as this is non-stop. However, to be fair they do rotate it around the site.
For a site with good facilities, easy access and well located to see a great, varied range of places to visit and activities to suit most people, the site is hard to beat.