Eskdale, Fisherground Campsite

Used to camp here years ago, it's quite a drive from home but always felt it was worth it, couldn't fault the previous owners. How things have changed! Just got back from a 2 night stay and was glad to be leaving. It reminded me of an american war movie where the commander whizzes round the base in his little open top jeep. They tell you where you can pitch your tent and which way to have the door facing. What a nightmare it is carrying all your stuff from the car, especially when you have children too young to leave unattended, having to take them to and fro and keep them safe whilst carrying tent, sleeping bags etc. For goodness sake, do not think about going out for the day, you will find yourself having to park in the overflow field on your return! UNLESS YOU HAVE A CAMEL LANDROVER!!!! Nobody is allowed to park on the grass, or make a noise into the early hours UNLESS YOU OWN A CAMEL LANDROVER!!! Oh yes, they can park right next to their tribe of tents, they used to yrs ago when everyone could, and they still do!! One rule for everyone?? NOT!!! STAY AWAY from this place, the owners seem to think they are running a military base. Yrs ago, you used to buy your logs from a house further up the road, not a problem, the people who sold them were so nice and friendly. Now you buy them from the campsite owners, but think carefully before you do. We watched and have realised why they continually drive around the site in the quad....they are collecting any unused wood so they can rebag it and sell it again!!! Personally I have always either given any unused wood to another camper or taken it home to keep for next time, so please, if you do feel you must stay here and buy their wood, don't leave it lying when you leave, give it away. The facitities aren't great, if you have young children, there is grass and a stream. For the older ones there is a playground and a pond which they enjoy but any younder than 6yrs old, and really theres nothing safe. The little railway is lovely, but not cheap, check the prices on the railways website before you go so you don't get a shock when you get there. Heard another camper saying a 50 pence piece was worth a pound at this site, had to laugh but you do need to start collecting them before you go as you will need a couple if you want to shower and be in long enough to rinse shampoo out your hair. Not enough toilets, showers or dish washing sinks, queues of people standing holding their dirty dishes and looking pretty fed up. Don't bother putting any ice packs in the freezer, they won't freeze, its not cold eough in there. So, what are you paying for? Suppose it has to be the view, and thats about it. You may have quite a distance to walk to where you are ordered to put your tent, bear that in mind, think of how many trips back to the car you will have to make, is it worth it? I can see the reasons for not parking on the grass, child safety (been to a site once where an idiot was driving around narrowly missing tents), possibility of getting stuck (in wet weather) but surely people could park on the grass at their pitch while they unload the car, then park on the gravel or overflow field once the car is unloaded?? Don't bother staying here, its not worth the bother...unless you have a CAMEL LANDROVER ;-)

The location is superb and it is an ideal place for those with family. However, I would not consider ever going back. To begin with there was a long wait at the reception to be let in. It seemed to me an aweful lot of time was wasted for no good reasons. I was told to move my car 3 times in the space of 20 yards. My friends had to listen carefully while the rules were read out to the quequeing people. Once inside, the gap between the tents at some places were not even 9 feet with many fire pits. There is only 1 toilet block where 5 toilets and 4 showers each for gents and ladies though there were hundreds of people on site. As for the infamous wardens, they patrol rigorously around the site but I never saw them checking the safety of the play area or equipments around the pond, which made me wonder where their priority would lie. I would like to emphasise that I have camped in a number of sites with stricter rules than the fisherground, and I have never had any trouble until now. As commented, they talk to you as if you are a known trouble maker. I was practically the only one who had to park the car at the other side of the campsite (they told me that everyone had to do so). A friend of friend was turned away even her ptich was paid for 3 nights (eventually ALLOWED to stay). At this point, another friend (English) suggested they may be racially biased as both of us belong to the ethnic minority. I don't know if it was the case but their rudeness was enough to drive fair minded people to such a conspiracy theory. When my 12 year old daughter was told off for running (and she wasn't), we had enough and came home after 2 nights though we paid for 3 nights. A real shame.

Glad I researched this place before going! Sounds like a nightmare! Fisher I will tell you now so I will never have to again you can stick your camp sight where the sun don't shine! Think I will stick to my wild camping!

i have to agree with some of the comments on here re the wardens/owners , they are rude sometimes , the have bad customer care skills , they made me feel uncomfortable , i've known people told off for so many various things! other campers regularly were talking about the owners . if you can handle this , then it has some plus points - you can have a fire , its quiet after 10pm , toilets & facilities are ok , scenery is great . remember - no campsite is perfect !

I hated this place when i went. We got moaned at every five minutes because we were either talking or moving a finger. We got no privacy when we lit our fire we were not allowed our fire on past 10pm so we had to be freezing.

the owners were bossy old cows. The kids were shouted at for having fun and the owners were perverts and we would have liked to know this before we paid. I would never come again and wouldnt be allowed as we were banned because the men got out of there tent at night to go to the Loo's. The loo's were incredibly dirty,stinky. My daughter was bitten by a sheep when she was picking up her tissue because she didnt want to litter the place !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fisherground is a lovely campsite, great for kids especially park and play pond,good facilities, really quiet after 10.30pm.

However campsite was spoilt by extremely rude owners. From day one we were spoken to in a rude manner and from then on I witnessed incidents daily. The reasons for these were as simple as driving on the edge of the grass to pass a parked car. People were made to unpack their car as quick as possible and put thier belongings onto the grass in the rain so to get the car off the grass as quick as possible.

The barrier closed at various times during the week, earliest being 7pm. After this your car was locked out.

We will not return to this site because I am not paying money to be treated like we were. We are a quiet family who do not cause trouble. Even our six year old passed comment on the behavoiur of the owners. The whole experinece was unbelievable.

All the above reviews seem harsh, We went to Eskdale, Fisherground Campsite and loved it, great for parents with children, they can explore and run wild all day, the 10:30 close down is strict, but welcome, better than our previous experience of people 'f'ing n blinding till 2am cos there drunk, the peace and tranquillity was bliss.

We stayed up later (as you can) and was quiet, we chilled out with a beer round the campfires (yes, campfires allowed in the allocated spots) the showers/toilets were spotless, cleaned all day long, and why should'nt the wardens keep an eye on their site, they seem to live there too.

All in all, great views, resonable price, ideal for kids (pre-teen) definatly going back.

Terrible, Fisherground Campsite is far too expencive for what it is. The owners and wardens are rude and misrable. Charges occur for everything,especially the showers and washing machines which are overpriced and dont wash your clothes properly. If they could get away for charging for breathing they would!

You are bombarded with endless rules which include no noise after 10.30.

A beautiful place spoiled by misrable and greedy people who are non child friendly and lack people skills.

Obey thier rules, or this will result in eviction from the campsite.

The wardens on Eskdale, Fisherground Campsite are more like prison wardens, they watch you like a hawk.

Our two tent party had all of our tickets displayed o the tents and were approached and were asked if we had extra guests and had we all paid.

we were asked to keep the noise down at 5past 10 even though we were only chatting at a reasonable level.

there are are so many rules it makes you feel unwelcome and uncomfortable.

we are all seasoned campers and never have we come across this sort of campsite before. One of our party was on the toilet and the cleaner knocked on the door to let him know he was cleaning, what did he want him to do ?,stop his ablutions whilst he cleaned? needless to say none of us will be returning, nor will we reccommend it.

If a military style camp, juxtaposed against a stunning backdrop of sweeping green valleys and deliciously crumbly mountains is what you seek in a relaxing break, then Fisherground Campsite in Eskdale is perfect.

The luscious, seasonal greenery, the winding, narrow roads and the gentle sound of the rustling trees, like that of a babbling brook echo an idyllic dream. Pair this with campsite owners that have a regime that would give any authoritarian dictatorship a run for its money and you have Fisherground in 2009. They have taken over the running of what used to a relaxed, family friendly, well run campsite and turned it into what can only be described as ' boot-camp ' .

Upon arrival, my friend and I, who are responsible 26 year females and both work within the education sector, requested a pitch for a two person tent for two nights. They said that we were welcome to come on but then quickly followed this with a barrage of questions regarding our indented purpose of the stay. We were asked, in a not very hospitable manner whether anyone would be joining us and were we meeting anyone? We answered no to both and they proceeded to tell us the numerous site rules in a military, almost robotic fashion.

Beware potential campers. If you dare to break one of the rules, you will be shouted at publicly as if you were a school child, in the most patronising, demeaning way possible. In our case, my friend and I had dared to laugh past 10:30pm, the time which marks the start of the enforced silence on Fisherground. According to management, laughter and talking constitutes noise and you will be told to behave yourselves, regardless of your age or if you had even ' been naughty 'in the first place.

So of course, by morning, we were very annoyed at how we had been treated so we decided to leave and spend our second night on a more welcoming site. My friend told them at around 8:30am that we were not happy with continuing our short break at the mercy of a tyrannical rule and if we packed up by 11:00am could we have a refund for our second night ' s camping? To which she was told that under the circumstances, he would co-operate but we were to wait for the other manager to come and open the till.

All packed up and ready to leave, manager arrives, all cheerful and adamant that she had not meant to offend us the night before, even though being patronising and rude is usually regarded by many, to be offensive. She then continued to say that we would not be receiving our refund, contrary to what had been said and he was conveniently un-available now, as it was their ' policy to not give refunds ' , a phrase that was to ring in our ears for the rest of our trip, as they repeated it several times but with no explanation of why it is not their policy.

Our three encounters with the manager provided us with a snapshot of the wider picture. The current owners of Fisherground seem to be running a military style campsite which has excessive rules and if the camper dares to break them (or not as in our case), you will be spoken to like dirt, made to feel an inch tall and then refused a refund, even though you are entitled to one. The managers manner is that of a tyrant. She is rude, hostile, condescending, un-co-operative, un-willing to compromise and believes she is superior to others. The harsh ruling that Fisherground is now under is a clear indication that if you ' re after a relaxing break on a friendly campsite, avoid this place as though it were the plague.