Independent Campsite Reviews

We loved it here. Where do you find a campsite where you can walk 50 yards and stop the train (steam railway) and just hop on. There was a little stream to play in, the play area was fun, walks for as long as you like, not a busy area. The Hardknott pass is also great fun (but you need a strong car).

The only problem was that it was very crowded at the weekends, but they all left on Sunday, so just stay away from the campite at the weekend.

GREAT site, highly recommendable.

I first visited this site in 1984 at the age of 14 - my first camping trip - and have been back many times since. The owner is a very genial fellow, the toilets are clean, there is a 100 yard walk to the pub, and best of all it's bang in the middle of the best walking area in the country - and the mobile phone won't work!

Highly recommended.

A clean and well organised site in Eskdale in the English Lake District.

This was our first visit, but certainly not our last. The children particularly enjoyed the adventure playground, and pond complete with rafts (well, young Chris did. Being 12 years old, the idea of a place where he can play and legitimately fall into a pond and come back soaked was a real bonus!!!) Take plenty of 50p pieces, as this is the cost of the showers (clean block), washing machines and dryers.

Pitch your tent wherever you like on the site, and the owner will come round at some point during the day to take your money. No bookings are taken and it is on a first come first served basis, but there is plenty of space (even on a Bank Holiday weekend).

Camp fires (real ones!) are allowed, nay encouraged, and it is amazing to see smoke drifting over the valley as you approach the site. Wood can be purchased at the local pub (more later) and Post Office (along with Camping Gaz) but it is much more fun to collect it ithe local woods.

The Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway actually has a station at the rear of the site, and trips up and down the line can be taken for a small cost.

Up the road about a five minute walk is the bit Dad liked best... The PUB. Hand pulled cask ale (a Peculier ale), good food, warm welcome (including children and dogs) and 200 malt whiskeys.

Enjoy! We did.

We have visited this campsite many times over the years. There is an adventure playground for the kids, with a zip wire and pond with rafts; clean shower blocks (50p for 3 mins hot water); free hot water at the sinks for washing dishes; washing machines and tumble dryers. They even have a freezer for your freezer blocks, but be warned, they do go missing.

Up until January 2003, this was a highly recommended campsite. The campsite has recently been taken over, and the owners are very strict. We went recently (2 adults, 3 kids) and were told to turn the music down at 2:30 pm, even though it wasn't loud - we could hardly hear it ourselves, it was just a bit of background music. The new owner is like a little Hitler, and is always on site, ready to pounce on anyone who makes too much noise in the daytime.

For families who want to go to bed at 9:00pm, this is the site for them. For anyone else who likes to sit around a campfire, having a drink and a giggle, this is not the site, Hitler will get you.

PS: Loud snorers will be pounced on too :o/

I've just visited this place (8 Aug 03) and it was class.

Best thing about this place is that they are reasonable about groups of guys or girls turning up, as long as you don't take the mick, something that a lot of campsites won't do now (couples/families only).

My only complaint is the constant WWWHHHRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA noise that the kids' "death slide" makes. Now normally, I'm quite an easy going kind of guy when it comes to this kind of noise, but this noise is like someone scraping a blunt brass spoon down your spine while putting a cucumber in your ear.

Other than that, top site, good place to go with a group of mates and have a few brewskis in the pub and flake out round a cool camp fire. Respect!

Going this weekend again. I live 5 miles away & always have a few weekends a year. Its great - if it rains I go home!

We cook on a open fire all weekend & take a crate of beer. Forget about the kids who only reappear for a change of clothes every now & then. Last year a group near us were thrown off the site for playing loud music so after 11pm rules are enforced. Best site around no need to travel any further

First visited this campsite last year (2003) and found it great. Clean, friendly, Good pub in walking distance and you can sit round a real campfire drinking etc. Would recommend (and have) this campsite to anyone. We are now going back whenever possible, rain or shine.

1st visit for long weekend. Initially a bit fazed by all the fires and smoke as well as the close proximity of all others. Very fazed when a transit van of lads pitched up next to our family. However all was well. Lads were great (quiet and considerate) and close proximity became cosy! Couldn’t believe how all went quiet at 11pm as per the rule (apart from mumbling groups sat round big blazing fires). Got to love the smoke! Fires were great. To sit outside a tent with the kids around a big blazing fire is a unique experience in camping for us. We loved it and the kids were almost in tears when it came to time to leave. This is not for those who want space but the unique friendliness that seems to generate from the warmth created by the fires is this sites strength. Brilliant (even if Meg the farm dog woke us all up at 5am howling like a banshee.)

Just back from a very relaxing Easter weekend break. This campsite is absolutely fantastic. You get back to the pioneer spirit collecting firewood and sitting round the campfire night and day. For the kids there was a brilliant adventure playground, rafting pond and a stream to explore. The scenery is breathtaking, it's worth a walk up the hillside to get a view of the sea! This was a really quiet site even though there were a lot of people on site everyone observed the quiet time after 11pm. The facilities are good, and include a washing machine, tumble driers, iron and ironing board and a freezer for freezer packs, which always comes in handy. Mick and Alison are very friendly and helpful. Thanks to them for running such a well organised site. A big hello to all the friendly people we met this weekend. We are planning to go back in the summer a weekend isn't long enough.

Fisherground is a small slice of heaven and one of the best kept secrets in Cumbria. There’s something about Fisherground that keeps calling me back time and time again and each time I visit it's like the first. We always say "one week spent at Fisherground is like two weeks anywhere else". Time stands still in probably the most beautiful parts of the Lake District. Fisherground is well managed and facilities are excellent, but remember, don't tell too many people !!

Fisherground really is a fantastic place to camp. We live only 25 miles away, so we go as often as possible, saves a fortune on baby sitters because the kids have so much to do that we only have to herd them up to put them to bed. the only down side is the owners that have had the site for the last couple of years have no people management skills at all, dictating rules to you as soon as you are on site. a cracking site spoilt by the owners.

Our visit was 2006. The best thing about this is that unlike some other sites, it really IS quiet at night. Excellent, no drunken yobs or massive egos keeping everyone else awake. Lady owner a little bit needlessly abrasive, claiming we'd driven straight onto the site past her & should have stopped & spoken to her - but truth is we absolutely *genuinely* had not seen her as we drove in (not me, my wife, nor daughter!- In fact, we are convinced to this day that she mistook us for someone else) so this was a bad start which was a shame as the site was well run with clean facilities and great fun for kids. It felt safe to let the kids wander about too. The nighttime noise curfew was observed by all, which was great as we've had camping trips spoilt by noisy sleepless nights before, and this is one of the reasons we are going back there next week! (end July 2007) Will provide an update when we come back.

Our visit coincided with the most atrocious weather in a long time - lots of people flooded out, tents disappearing in mini-tornadoes, the works! Still, we enjoyed it so much we are going again this year - with our wellies certainly, but hoping for a bit of sun this time. We found the owners to be polite and helpful, neither intrusive nor abrasive - maybe they have mellowed with time and experience? We had an electric pitch so more formally spaced out than the free-for-all central area, but even so nobody was tripping over guyropes or on top of one another - and this was middle of August. Mind you, the weather perhaps put off some people. The location is amazing, the views breathtaking. The campsite has what you need, but lack of onsite pub/club, pool etc keeps the numbers and noise down a little.