North Lees Campsite

Wonderful campsite, clean and well situated, there were a group of DofE kids that were all crammed into the toilet facilities which made it very difficult to shower or use the bathroom but luckily they were only there for one night and were well behaved, I can see from a lot of reviews the campsite is often over run by large groups of school kids and DofE kids with no notice from the campsite which is a massive shame, I would like to come back here but I would definitely be emailing to find out what groups were booked first as they have the ability to completely ruin your stay. The staff we did see were friendly and helpful and it has everything you could want apart from no campfire allowed :(

Wonderful campsite, clean and well situated, there were a group of DofE kids that were all crammed into the toilet facilities which made it very difficult to shower or use the bathroom but luckily they were only there for one night and were well behaved, I can see from a lot of reviews the campsite is often over run by large groups of school kids and DofE kids with no notice from the campsite which is a massive shame, I would like to come back here but I would definitely be emailing to find out what groups were booked first as they have the ability to completely ruin your stay. The staff we did see were friendly and helpful and it has everything you could want apart from no campfire allowed :(

A Tale of Two Cities (Oxford and Bedford). We booked for two nights midweek thinking it would be quieter. However, around 5pm on the first night the camp was inundated with around 60 young people all on their DofE Gold. Great to see and good for them, but they absolutely took over the field with about 30 two-man tents arranged in a horseshoe. That said, they were polite and well-behaved, observing the 10pm noise curfew. Their teachers and DofE guides camped in the same area, and regularly looked in on the students. This was a secondary school from Oxford. The Oxford school left by 8am the next day and the field looked like it had when we arrived. However, around 4pm we saw two more minibuses arrive, this time from a school in Bedford. A different kettle of fish. Again they camped right across the middle of the main field, but were sadly less societal than their next-but-one-county neighbours. Teachers were largely absent, camping in a separate field. The 10pm noise curfew was therefore unpoliced, and the noise, football, rugby, music etc. continued until at least 11pm. Why do I say all this ? Not because I don't applaud youngsters embracing camping, not because I haven't been there myself, not because I begrudge youthful exuberance. No, because I would have expected the campsite to advise and maybe forewarn families and couples that these two groups were incoming. Clearly these group bookings were made some time ago, and so an advisory email or even a quick word from the onsite warden wouldn't have gone amiss when we checked in. All that said, the campsite was fine. Lovely location and probably otherwise quiet and peaceful. Couple of clean showers, couple of outdoor sheltered washing-up sinks, bit rocky and slopy in places, but was OK. The hand dryers in the toilets though could likely be heard from Dronfield. In hindsight, we should have chosen the top field as far as possible from the toilets and the Germans who decided to wash, rinse and generally clatter their pots and pans around at 11pm.