Royal Umpire Caravan Park

The Hive was clean and had all the facilities we needed. We stayed there for a couple of days and had a lovely holiday. The camp is out in the countryside, with dog walks, horses and pubs nearby.

We’d planned Royal Umpire as an overnight stop on the way south after three weeks travelling around the Outer Hebrides and Scotland. We’ve stayed at lots of sites and on all kinds of pitches, but this one was something else, and not in a good way. The site looked nothing like its online photos, so after looking around we drove a few more hours south to stay elsewhere. At the electric barrier, the young woman in reception was pleasant enough, but gave very little information, even when we asked direct questions. She handed us a map and said to go to the far side of the field and park near the fence where we could connect to electricity. We were the only ones there, so could choose our spot. The weather wasn’t great, so we headed to the fence for shelter, where the hookup was supposed to be. The setup was clearly unsafe, with exposed wires and others covered in a bit of electrical tape. We weren’t going to connect to it. There was lots of litter and dog poo along the fence, and the other side was a badly run down horse yard. We saw staff vehicles going in and out, so you’d think it would be fenced off or tidied up. The toilets were dirty and smelly, and didn’t look cleaned. The dog walking area was a small fenced square with broken panels and a gate that wouldn’t close properly. People clearly live on site permanently, which you see at plenty of places. But there were stacks of pallets and broken furniture piled between pitches, with no gaps as required for fire safety. The site seemed to have no rules about keeping things clean, tidy or safe. It’s been over a month, and Harrison Holidays still haven’t replied to our complaint.

This was our sixth stay here, and we usually camp because the facilities are great. The field is enormous and flat, with electric hookup available or not, and there’s a small children’s park next to it with seating around. There are two toilet blocks, one with showers, and they’re cleaned regularly. This time our air tent had a big problem, four of its five inner tubes popped, and replacing them would cost more than buying another tent. Reservations and reception helped us sort a lovely Pod for the rest of the week. It was well equipped, and the kids loved the fibre optic lights at night. They said it was like sleeping under the stars. The reception and reservations staff, along with the maintenance man, really go above and beyond. Thanks to all of them. See you next time, Alex and the squad x

The showers are always very cold when I come to visit my family. The toilets smell and are very dirty, there’s no toilet paper, and the sinks in the ladies’ toilets have no hot water. I never see any cleaners around the caravan site. The bins aren’t emptied, and seagulls are eating the rubbish. Not happy, and I wouldn’t recommend it to family, friends or people in the community.