We stayed at Peak Gateway in August for a week with friends, in two large family tents. Peak Gateway is just outside the town of Ashbourne, which is convenient for local shops and supermarkets, such as Sainsbury’s, Somerfield and The Co-op. The entrance to the site is a tarmac road secured by a barrier. When we booked, we were asked to pay in full and a card key was sent in the post. The key will operate the barrier between 08:00 and 23:30. In the centre of the site, near the entrance barrier is what look like old military style buildings. The owners have done a good job of modernising these and this is where the bar, amusements, shop, reception and showers are. There is also another room called the Blenheim Room, which is used for special events. The shop is open twice a day for about two hours. As another reviewer has suggested, it looks more like a tuck shop than a place for camp essentials. We never visited, as it was never open when we tried. We never saw the reception open either, which is I assume why the barrier keys are posted out. There are also many paper signs stuck up with drawing pins giving a mobile number for emergencies. A large part of the site is for static caravans, there are also touring fields for caravans and a tent field. The tent field is at the back of the site and has a portakabin housing the toilets and two washing up sinks, with plenty of hot water. There are no showers on the camping field. The tent pitches are an excellent size and easily took our large family tent. When we booked we asked for an electric hook-up, we were told that these were not available. When we arrived, we understood why, the electrical hook ups are only on the touring fields and they don’t allow tents on there. This seems a little bizarre as they allow trailer tents on the touring field. The last time I went to a site with this kind of rigid separation I was a teenager!!!! As mentioned, the showers are in the centre of the site, which is a short walk from the camping field. These have been finished to a very high standard and are kept very clean. What lets then down is that they are only open from 08:00 to 20:00, which means if you fancy having a shower after a long day out, you can’t. We found this especially frustrating for keeping the children clean. They other annoying thing was the limited time the push button gave you and the lack of power. There is however two old showers in the old toilet block next door, which are open 24hrs. We preferred to use these as they had a control tap and were more powerful. Although these did require modernisation and a lick of paint. The chemical toilet disposal point was also in the central area, which meant a strenuous walk from the camp field with a full toilet and as another reviewer has mentioned, this facility is in the washing up area. We visited the bar, with limited opening times, which was pleasant and had a separate children’s room, however if there is an event on in the Blenheim Room, the bar is closed and there is a charge to enter the event. The events appear to happen at weekends. We were not interested in the event (disco) and didn’t want to pay £3 just to buy a beer!!!! Conclusion A clean site with modern facilities and large tent pitch sizes. The showers could be open longer and have longer times on the push buttons. The site requires more staff to allow the shop, reception and bar to open longer hours. All in all nothing too major to complain about, however we will not be returning, because the site is simply not our "cup of tea".
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