Derwentwater

We stayed in a Ready Camp tent which was very well equipped and had lots of handy conveniences such as good lighting, a kitchen, full dining table and camping chairs. Although at first we raised an eyebrow at the "portaloo" branding, the toilets and showers were perfectly fine and the washing up sinks were well kept. While the facilities are fairly basic the best part about this campsite has to be the location. Turn right and a very short walk across a sheep field brings you to the shores of Derwentwater - a lovely picnic and swimming spot (when it's warm enough). Just a few minutes further and you find the Theatre by the Lake, the boating jetty and some short woodland walks. Turn left instead and another very short walk leads to a Booths supermarket so you don't need to bring all of your food with you (for those who like a cream cake I heartily recommend the Latham's coffee renoirs). A couple of minutes more and you're in Keswick high street with many lovely pubs, shops and restaurants. We didn't cook an evening meal the whole time we were there, choosing a different restaurant each night. Pillars had a nice terrace dining area and the Thai restaurant Star of Siam had great food. There is a public swimming baths and large children's play park with a great view of the fells a 5-10 mins walk from the high street. We travelled in a group of four ranging from age 50 to age 6 and everyone would be happy to go back to this site. It could be improved by having a play area for children and perhaps wi-fi as that area is poor for 3G/4G coverage, however there is plenty to do in the surrounding areas and this site gives an excellent base from which to explore.

• Location: Town,Country,Secluded,Lake
• Suitable For: Families,Older couples,Active break,Peaceful break,Younger couples
• Friendliness: 5
• Cleanliness: 5
• Facilities: 4

Charged full price for 2nd class facilities on a brand new site!

• Towing: Easy
• Location: Town
• Suitable For: Older couples
• Friendliness: 3
• Cleanliness: 4
• Facilities: 1

Our first time at this site, and obviously it has just been rebuilt and is still in the process of being finished. Signage and directions on the club site and in town were poor, and we made a wrong turn into the Keswick site first. If we hadn't been helped by a lovely chap there, we'd no doubt have gone wrong again by turning into the DerwentWater static site, or the Lakeside site which are further down the same lane - the Derwentwater touring site is further on and as yet has no sign outside saying that's what it is. And the wardens seemed to expect me to trust my sat nav as the only way of finding them. Clearly, they've forgotten what it is like, being a newcomer to town and towing a large van that you don't want to have to turn around! Once on site, the hardstanding pitches are level, but we only just fitted our 8ft wide van plus small awning on the footprint. Car had to be parked on the grass. As another reviewer said, its a shame they haven't made all - or even some - of the pitches fully serviced. There is nothing for children to do, so they seemed to cycle and scooter around and around this small site all evening. As a dog owner, the site is right next to Crow Park (with its sheep) and a small woodland, and there are a number of other walking routes for morning constitutionals, and Booths supermarket and the rest of the busy, dog friendly town is also very close by, but not so close it is noisy. Very surprised that there is no 3G or 4G in Keswick (on O2, anyway), so we relied on free wifi in pubs to download tourist information. But I advise checking your final route before you lose signal!

• Towing: Easy
• Location: Town,Country,Lake
• Suitable For: Families,Older couples,Peaceful break,Younger couples
• Friendliness: 3
• Cleanliness: 4
• Facilities: 4

We have been staying at this site for many years and were looking forward to seeing the refurbishments this year however, we were very disappointed. Firstly, on the old Oval site, every pitch had a water tap which was a very important feature for us. Being of a certain age, lugging a full aquaroll across the site every day is extremely difficult and we were so disappointed to see that in place of the old Oval site with taps, the C&CC have put pre erected tents and created new caravan pitches on the back part of the site which used to be called Walker park, however, this new section does not have water taps on each pitch. The wardens informed us that when the site is finished there will be a couple of pitches at the front of the site with water connections, but this is far fewer than on the site before it was refurbished. The back part of the site which used to be called Walker Park has now been converted into 48 electric hardstanding pitches. These pitches are just about wide enough for a standard caravan with a standard depth awning. If you have a bigger awning, you will not be able to fit it on the pitch. Cars are supposed to be parked across the front of the caravan and awning but still on the pitch, however, many people on site at the same time as us had large twin axle caravans which took up most of the length of the pitch. This meant that their cars overlapped the roadway considerably making the roadways particularly narrow and difficult to get through. Some people with exceptionally long caravans had to park their cars on the grass area beside the pitch leaving little room to put out a table and chairs or BBQ etc. I can't comment on the new facilities block as it was not finished when we were there but from the outside it looks good. Overall, this site is still in a lovely position, very conveniently situated for the town of Keswick. However, the new pitches are too small and should have been made with water and drainage.

• Towing: Easy
• Location: Town
• Suitable For: Older couples
• Friendliness: 3
• Cleanliness: 3
• Facilities: 2