The National Water Sports Centre

I was a bit apprehensive because I'd never tried white water rafting before, but it was so much fun with my friends. Liam was a first rate guide, explained everything clearly, and helped us get the most out of the rapids. Five stars. I'd definitely recommend it, and we're already checking when we can come back!

The location is lovely, which makes the state of the facilities a real shame. The biggest problem was the toilet and shower blocks. They smelled awful, seemed to get cleaned only once a day, and even then the cleaning was poor. You could smell them on the way over, so I wouldn't want a pitch nearby. The site says the block was recently refurbished, but it looked to us like they had just added another block outside the old one, which still needs a full refurbishment. Pitch spaces weren't clearly marked either. When we arrived, the campers beside us had parked on our pitch. The shop prices were high, as you'd expect when it's the only convenient option, and the woman working there was rude and seemed uninterested. Noise rules weren't enforced, so our neighbours played their TV loudly until midnight on both nights. It's a beautiful site in a great spot, but those problems let it down.

Sam made the rafting trip memorable for both the kids and adults. He taught us how to stay safe on the water while keeping everyone entertained. My daughter also loved the Sky Tykes trail, which is attached to a cafe with food, sweet treats, ice creams, waffles, and the occasional lager or cider. Sam mentioned the Poppy & Pint pub nearby, which we visited and enjoyed too. We camped at the basic site, about a steady 20-minute walk from the Lake for paddle boarding and white water rafting. It's popular, so I'd book ahead. There are electric hook-ups, toilets and showers, a play park, a shop, and plenty of open space for kids. The watersports were great fun and good value for the time we had. On Saturday we hired paddleboards and a kayak, a lovely way to cool down in the heat. We hired a raft on Sunday. We had a really pleasant, sunny weekend and I'd recommend a visit.

We were really disappointed by the toilets and showers. They were filthy, and it looked like the toilets hadn't been cleaned for quite a while. None of the dispensers had soap, so we had to leave the site to find toilets that met basic hygiene standards.