Tiny Campsites: 80 Perfect Little Places to Pitch by Dixe Wills
| Tiny Campsites: 80 Perfect Little Places to Pitch by Dixe Wills | |
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| Category: Travel | |
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Reviewer: Sue Magee
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| Summary: A little gem of a book about little gems: comprehensive and a great read too. Highly recommended. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 208 | Date: April 2017 |
| Publisher: AA Publishing | |
| ISBN: 978-0749578480 | |
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I've often been put off the idea of camping by the thought of large, soul-less campsites, often populated by people who want to party late into the night. I much prefer camping to mean something - a feeling of being somewhere special, of being able to be at one with nature. But the trouble is, where do you find these gems? Well, Tiny Campsites will provide you with eighty perfect little places to pitch your tent.
There's a good spread of locations across England, Wales and Scotland. Initially I thought that the book was going to be difficult to use as the contents page gives the general area - Northern England and then the names of the individual campsites without any further details of location, but go to the page before the first site in any region and you'll find a map with all the camps in that region flagged up, with a number. On the opposite page you'll be given the name of the site and a page number. Patience, you see, is rewarded.
Symbols will then tell you what the site takes: tents, vintage VW campervans, all campervans or caravans. There's a star rating too: one star means great (there'd be nothing less in a book like this, you know), two stars is fantastic and if the site's drop-dead gorgeous it gets the top rating of three stars. Let's have a look at one of my favourites, three star Jelley Legs at Studley Roger in Yorkshire. Counties, by the way are given at the bottom of every page, so that you always have at least a rough idea of where you are.
You get the obvious details: a name and telephone number, email and website if there is one, plus the physical address (and in cases where the postcode wouldn't get you where you want to be via satnav, you're warned about this and suggestions made as to how you can get around the problem. Not everyone turns up by car so there are details of the nearest railway stations and how to get from there to the site. Then you get to one of the real pleasures of this book: Dixe Wills' take on the sites (you could think about them as little gems about little gems). There's a delightful sense of humour at work and every piece on a campsite is worth reading (and you can't say that about every book of this kind). The piece on Jelley Legs tells of the proximity to Fountains Abbey and of the joys of the Aga-cooked vegetarian breakfasts which are available.
Basics gives you an indication of opening times, cost, an OS map reference, the size of the site, number and type of pitches, terrain, shelter, view (or lack of, in some cases), if it's a waterside site and any noise, light or olfactory pollution. At Jelley Legs you get the friendly chatter of geese, curlews and tawny oils. I think I could cope with that. You need to know about basic facilities such as loos and showers and you're told how many and whether or not they're unisex. A good number of the sites offer other facilities such as cycle storage, clothes washing and drying along with relevant charges. If there's anything offered for children, that's here too, along with details of recycling. If there are rules - they're here too. You also get information about where to eat and get supplies and what you can do in the area.
If you're a novice camper there are some excellent tips about what you should pack, pitching your tent and that all important factor for campers, midges, so don't be put off if you don't (yet) have the knowledge. It's a top-class book and very readable to boot. I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.
If you want to take your dog with you there is a book about dog-friendly campsites (as opposed to just an indication as to whether or not they're welcome as in Tiny Campsites) there is Dog Friendly Camping and Caravan Sites: Your Comprehensive Guide to Dog Friendly Camping and Caravan Sites by www.dogfriendly.co.uk - but, be warned, it's nowhere near as comprehensive as the title would suggest.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Tiny Campsites: 80 Perfect Little Places to Pitch by Dixe Wills at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Tiny Campsites: 80 Perfect Little Places to Pitch by Dixe Wills at Amazon.com.
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