Anyone else camping at Thistledown, Gloucestershire this summer?

[poppyboo]

We just got back from a lovely week there, it is a stunning 70 acre organic/green campsite and not as busy as I thought it might be. It is a magical place! The children loved it! We got so many compliments about our bell tent too....

The price was good too, £17 per night for family tent, 2 adults, 2 kids. Lovely warm showers too and extremely clean washing up areas. So much to do on site, rope swings, piglets to visit, little woods for the kids to play in. Watch out for tics though, my DH go one and we went to the nearby hospital to have it fished out properly.
My 3 year old refused to use the composting loos though LOL
You can have campfires in the fire pits there.

There are two ponds though so if you have younger children it probably isn't best to let them to run too free/let them completely out of your site. IYKWIM. One of the ponds is in the woods next to one of the rope swings.
You can camp in wild flower meadows there too...It really was beautiful! I think it got number one in Cool Camping? I can see why now I have visited it.

We're going back for our fourth visit, it is my boys favourite place to camp and its only 20 minutes from home!
They particularly enjoy building a campfire at night (you can buy a barrowful of wood) and most of the site is car-free so they can run/ride about without any worries.
It was after our second visit that we bought our bell tent as there are normally quite a few there and I fell in love with them - so glad we did.

do they have trollies to transport your gear from car to field?

Yes, huge wheelbarrows or you can pay £2.50 and they'll cart you and your kit in their 4x4 mule.

If you camp in the elderflower orchard you can park your car next to your pitch.

Nice pub - Rose & Crown in Nympsfield village about a mile away, very reasonable food. Also, drop down the hill in to Nailsworth for wonderful bread from Hobbs House bakery. Stroud farmers market on Saturdays is an institution, fantastic stalls.

just wanted to mention again about checking for tics while you camp there...I spent all last night waiting at A&E for them to take out a tic in my bum cheek I know that you need to be carefull when removing them, & they shouldn't really be taken out with regular tweezers incase the head is left beind and causes an infection (just incase anyone was wondering why i didn't get DH to take it out) The NHS buys special tweezers from vets to get them out. I have read on here that you can buy them online... The tic thing is sort of putting me off a bit

we are camping at Thistledown in September, just wanted a bit more information about the tic situation, is there anything we can do to avoid getting them? also what do they look like. I presume putting a flea collar on my whole family won't help!

apparently if you wear your leggings/jeans/trousers tucked into socks, that can help stop them crawling up your trouser legs and biting you. (Not a great look LOL) They look like....ummmm...little black things, a bit like a large ant I guess, their heads go into your skin to suck on blood and the rest of the body hangs out. They fill up and when they get full they drop off. You need to keep a check as they can (but rarely) cause Lymes disease. Look carefully all over the body, including the scalp. Run your hands over DC's head and see if you can feel a little lump. Not loving the tic situation myself, can't believe me and my DH got one each after four nights there!

Tick removers from pet shops :) one twist and they are off.

They tend to crawl up to creases etc so check all over, but really there is little you can do other than check each night. They will be on long grass and undergrowth mainly, ie on the side of paths so there is little you can do to avoid them (although Slubber can give you all lots if advice on permethrin soaked death socks and trousers! )

Hth