Camping trip from hell

[Rowlers]

We had planned a weekend camping trip with friends to try out our new Monty.
Went to Barn Farm in Birchover, near Matlock.
First impressions - a great spot, beautiful scenery, good facilities.
Reality - no-one actively marshaling the site.
Result - loads of groups drinking, shouting, swearing, playing Frisbee until at least 3am.
No sleep.
I got dressed in the middle of the night and told a few groups (mainly men) to pack it in - no-one from the campsite around to complain to or quieten everyone down.
LAds next to us shining their torch at our tent,talking about cars and farting ALL NIGHT.
Friends packed up and went home at 2am.
Next morning, one of the pikeys drove so fast down the hill in his (white) van, he lost control, span sideways and almost skidded into a tent with two people in it.
DON'T EVER GO.
We left without paying - no-one stopped us because there was no-one around.

What's your worst camping experience?
Make me feel I'm not the only grumpy camper around!

we had a very similar experience with a new site in Yorkshire. At first sight it was perfect but as you found out, with noone official on site, huge groups of young people set for a party took over. there were signs saying 'Family Campsite. No large groups,'' but they all came in dribs and drabs and let the rest of their mates in at 8pm when the teenagers left in charge of the site went home.

There were two huge groups partying all night. The next morning about a dozen people were waiting to complain, but what pisses me off is that at the time, I was the only person trying to get these yobs to stop playing their music all night and shut the F* up!.

I swear I was planning to let their tyres down, paint on their car doors with nail polish... all sorts of petty revenges, but I was terrified at the same time. They were so rude and abusive to me when I kept asking them to please have some consideration.

Rowlers that sounds like an absolute nightmare. You poor thing.

FMF it's so typical. How come no-one else speaks up. I would have if I'd been in either of those camp sites.

Rowler - sounds ghastly, poor you. It makes me soooo angry - my problem is I get so wound up it's actually my fury at selfish people who think they have the right to ruin it for everyone that keeps me awake, rather than the noise itself.

Most sleepless night I ever had was when a Geordie with a very bad snoring problem pitched next to us at Buttermere. After partying with his friends till 1-ish (the official quiet time was 11), he feel sound asleep in a drunken stupor and snored all night. It was so loud you didn't just hear it, you felt the vibrations through the ground.
Fortunately he only stayed the one night but by the next night I was so tired I had a huge go at a perfectly nice group of teenage Christians who pitched in his spot when they started playing 'The Minister's Cat' in whispers at 10.55.

Got stressed this time when a group of recovering drug addicts on a weekend out with their helpers lit a fire near our tent and I was convinced it was going to set fire to us and incinerate dd.
Mostly everyone was amazingly civilised at the site where we were this year (Gillside Farm at Glenridding in the Lakes) - lots of groups of teenagers doing DofE but they were all as good as gold.

Mind you, the best revenge is to give your kids permission to run shrieking round the offenders' tents at 7am , preferably armed with tin pots and pans etc while those selfish gits are trying to sleep off their late night/early mornoing shennanigans

Oh what a shame. Is the site on UK Campsite? You could put a review on there so that others are warned.

My worst camping trip was last year in Cornwall when it rained all week and I felt lousy as I had tonsillitis. I thought it was just a sore throat and self-medicated all week but ended up at the emergency surgery . We left early and I normally have to be dragged out of Cornwall kicking and screaming.

Rowlers - I read this with interest as my parents keep a caravan on Barn Farm and have done for many years which they use as a base for walking.
They know the owner of the site and have never really had any problems with noise although I know they do have quite a few groups up there and the campsite is separated from where the caravans are kept.
If I were you I would have complained and let them know, as I'm sure the owners of the site would be mortified if they knew how bad it was, and also that there appeared to be no-one there to keep things under control. It is a shame, because as you say it's a nice site with good facilities.

k, that settles it. we were thinking of a caravan holiday next year.

think we'll stick w/self-catering cottage.

it is the ONLY time we get away from rude, loud ass people as we live near town centre in a 2nd floor flat.

We went camping for our 3 year old's birthday treat about 2 hrs from melbourne, Australia - beautiful countryside with masses of indigenous wildlife. Two huge parties of people turned up and played loud heavy metal music until 1am. Dh complained to the site owner, who in his own drunken stupor, confessed that they were his friends that he'd invited up from the city. Next morning they were letting their kids (young teenagers) ride around the site on motorbikes - we left early - I was really upset because it spoilt the birthday treat.
Hope to try camping again next year with kids in UK - are there really any family-only quiet sites out there??

tbh, i've only ever camped in the US, in places that were WAY out of the way - accesible only by 4x4, near climbing areas or where you had to backpack in. that really kept the noise down.

i'm glad i found this thread, tho, b/c it's enlightening.

I think on this occasion the reason why no-one else complained is beacause there was so much noise from so many different groups, it was hard to know where to start!
I lay in my tent for a fair while before steaming down the field to sort out the louts.
The groups I told off were blokes and for some reason I feel much braver doing that.
The biggest and loudest group was mixed and they all had children with them too. I didn't feel brave enough to enter their realm - they had taken the entire top bit of the field - but I did corner two blokes as they wandered around drunk looking for a lost dog.
It had no efeect as the whole group were totally anti-social amd couldn't care less.
The groups I did confront were a bit taken aback by me!
Me: Lads, what's going on here? It's 1am. I'm here with my family for a quiet weekend and YOU LOT WON'T SHUT THE FUCK UP"
Lads: Sorry.
Me: Can you stop the shouting now please because I'm really FUCKED OFF"
Lad: Er, yeah, sure
Rest: Stunned silence.
Other group:
Me: LAds, it's 1am and all I can hear is your FUCKIN FRISBEE. PACK IT IN NOW EH?
Lads: Sorry, yeah.
Me: For Fuck's Sake (followed by flounce back up the field)

Mabel - intersting what you say. The reviews on UK Campsite did not suggest it was going to be bad at all. But surely campsites need patrolling all the time? I think they are trying to please both families and groups and succeeding at neither as a result of cross-contamination.

FMF - wanted to do that but every bugger was up by 7am anyway.

expat - exactyly - how do you know what they are really like? We tried to find a good one and the reviews suggested it was! Suppose personal recommendation is the best way.
We have booked Ridge Farm in Dorset for a week in August - am hoping it will be quiet - website sells the place as a haven of peace and quite for families. Reviews seemed to back this up. Please let it be true....

That really sucks, Rowlers. Yeah, some sites in CO were known for being full of rowdy drunks.

But b/c almost all ours were in areas where you had to sling everything on your back, most folks packed it in early out of exhaustion.

Or b/c you had to 4x4 and know where you going, it was the sort of thing where the only folks who knew about it heard about it from someone else, so pretty quiet groups.

I'm sorry that happened to you, b/c I know how much that would fuck me off, as the only time we are not surrounded by loud people is on holiday.

You poor things, luckily I've never had that experience. However last time we went camping there was a family a few tents down, who had some friends who popped in. They spent the whole evening talking about their money problems and how difficult their life was - they s topped when it got v late. Only problem was that we couldn't help but listen and felt totally depressed as we realised that our finances were worse then theres! When to be feeling really down. Not their fault really.

agree with Sally that the forestry comission sites are normally pretty good - when we were at Holland's Wood one packed weekend a warden on a bike actually came round during the evening and took the Antipodeans next to us audiably to task for building a fire in their barbecue. Even the flag-draped groups of lad were quiet after that...

ooh is there a list of forestry commission sites anywhere?

they're all on here

thanks MrsB - you are the fount of all knowledge - from camping to, er, camp clubbing

MrsBadger - Certified Know-All since 1978

poor you Rowlers, I'm in Camping and Caravanning Club which has some great sites, safe and with wardens, I recommend Hayfield nr Glossop, there's an adventure playground and a toddler playground a short walk away and a stream to fish for tiddlers in. Lots of midges though.

i'm dying to try a forestry site too SS & Mrs B -thanks for the link

wow - Rowlers, i could have done with y our assertiveness on a recent trip with loud big family group of party all nighters. I was so harrassed at the end of the trip that my poor kids really suffered from "mum from hell" syndrome Felt so upset with myself and for our two that I did take them shopping and swimming the following weekend.
Am amazed at how other parents with young children can be so inconsiderate to others and swear so much around their own kids. My youngest was in tears the following morning from lack of sleep and one of the blokes walked past our area on the way to the loo block, on hearing her wailing said loudly to his mate something on the lines of "God, I wish they would shut that brat up, it is doing my head in..." took all my strength not to scream and swear at him but didn?t want to in front of my children and also not very confrontational (in rl!!)

Hope you ahve more luck next holiday

we stayed at Holmsley (thanks Mrs Badger and Sparkler) and when a large group camped near us the wardens came over and told them to keep it down and told us if we had any problems whatever time of the night to complain straight away. they were really lovely folks