Wednesday 29 June 2011

Barn Farm Campsite, Birchover.

 

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Last weekend I went camping at Barn Farm in Birchover. While sat there in the rain I realised I’m being too hard on myself. I may not be able to be out there every day, but I WetTarpBlognever had time to do that. I may not be able to go to the lakes at a moments notice, but I do perhaps feel I’ve been avoiding going out to some places because I felt like they would be boring to you.

It’s a bit stupid and it’s not true. If it was, why would there be so many people out there this weekend. Family's, DoE groups, Lone backpackers, Teenagers, middle aged caravan owners and older.

We were there because this is what we enjoy. The first day we were there, it was wet. Really, really wet by the time I was in my sleeping bag. but it didn’t matter. The tarp I’d thrown between the two tents kept us mostly dry and my son had his first taste of real freedom, being allowed anywhere on (quite a big) site, as long as he told me where he was going first. I barely saw him except when he was hungry.

He’d come running past with several friends he made, in and out of each other’s tent’s (if he turned up in you’re tent, even for just a few minutes, thank you. You made his weekend).

There was one family In a dark blue transit van. Inside someone had made some caravan style bed/bench seats out of chipboard, with a caravan awning on the side. It may not have look like a bought caravan, but it did look damm comfy (if a bit darker). I applaud anyone who tries stuff like this. Without backyard tinkerers there’d never have been a caravan industry for people to buy from anyway.

 

The site itself is a big one. 4 fields, each one a good size. This did mean that the toilets were often in demand, but you rarely had to queue for more than a minute or two.CamppBarnFarmBlog

The showers are hot (and surprisingly, free). The busy toilets are cleaned regularly and I’ve never known them be out of loo roll. They’re building a small shop (not yet finished) and there’s a laundry and games room for the kids. There’s two pub’s close by, both of which have a good reputation for their beer and a small village shop that carries the usual essentials.

If you want a walk, there’s a several stone circles and standing stones nearby (I wanted to visit these, but with the weather being so unpredictable we skipped these for the sake of the kids and went to Bakewell instead). The Limestone Way  also runs fairly close to the village.

There’s also Matlock as well as Bakewell, nearby for shopping. There’s the heights of Abraham, or If you like old houses (or it’s forecast to chuck it down all day) Haddon Hall is only a short car ride away..

A word for those with camera’s.. one of the alpaca’s has a ‘stealth cloak’ and is therefore unphotographable, coming out only as a silhouette Winking smile

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So, Yes, I like this site. It can be very busy and finding it in a car is a navigational pain in the ass, but it’s worth it.