Following our trip around Buxton dog friendly campsites , we continued to Ashbourne to find more dog friendly places.
Our first stop was Rivendale, which can be found on the A515 from Buxton towards Ashbourne. This campsite advertises itself on A boards by the side of the road, particularly mentioning the dog friendly cafe on site, serving Lavazza coffee (The Stables). They also have their own pub – The Prancing Pony, which is also dog friendly.
Not too much further down the road is Ashbourne Heights, I was keen to have a look at this one, as you cannot see anything from the roadside and my curiosity had got the better of me. It’s quite a long driveway, but when you arrive, you are met with the sight of a rather swish looking lodge, which I thought was a show lodge, but apparently it is hired out. I was told that the campsite has two dog friendly lodges. They have a lovely looking indoor swimming pool and a nice childrens play area and shop. The site was immaculately maintained, and overall both of us left feeling very impressed.
Callow Top campsite can be found a little further down the A515, once again, you can’t see much from the roadside and there is a long drive to the Reception. The first thing you notice are the three lanes marked on the road, presumably for checking in guests during busy times. There is also a huge shop, which my daughter likened to a supermarket, not least because it had proper shopping trolleys and not just baskets. We couldn’t see any of the rest of the site because there were automatic security barriers preventing unauthorised entry. We left a few more cards with the promise that they would be distributed around the site, and carried on our way.
The last stop before arriving in the centre of Ashbourne is Bank Top caravan site – this can be found just off the A515 near the Bentley Brook pub. We missed it the first time, so had to go back and revisit.
After a break for lunch we then headed south of Ashbourne to find Woodland Caravan park, which is just off the A515 lying between Ashboune and the A50. You’ll find it easily if you take the turning signposted Snelston. Don’t do what we did and overshoot the turning and try to find it by taking the next turning and working our way back….. It took us ages and we were on the point of giving up, when we spotted it, not a few hundred yards from the A515! Despite being so close to a main road, you really don’t feel that when you are on site. The pitches are set behind an automatic security barrier and are located in a woodland setting, hence the name. It looks very tranquil and natural. We couldn’t find anyone at reception (we found out later she had been taking her dog for a walk!) – but we managed to leave some of our postcards in the post box.
We then continued to Hulland Ward, looking for the Ashbourne Camping and Caravan site. They appeared to be very busy, with campers regularly visiting the shop cum reception – if only to buy the scrummy ice cream that was on offer in the chiller cabinet. Top marks from my daughter!
Hognaston was our next visit, to the Pudding Room…. Now this doesn’t sound very much like a campsite, but it is. There are no electrical hook ups, but there is clean fresh water and showers with hot and cold water. The name comes from the shop that is situated on site. The business supplies cakes and puddings which are sold both from the shop on site and also local Farmers Markets. Note to self: to visit her at Bakewell the next time the Farmers market is in town. My daughters eyes immediately lit up when she realised they sold sticky toffee pudding – her most favourite!!
View of Carsington Water from the on site dog walk
Moving swiftly on, we went to the Carsington Water Caravan site, we were impressed straight away with the clean and tidy appearance of the site. We were greeted by a very friendly receptionist who informed us about the dog walk on site. She queried whether it might be too long for us, and when I asked how far she meant, I was pleasantly surprised that the walk allowed dogs to be off lead in a woodland area before looping back through the site and on the lead. We tested the walk and it was absolutely lovely, a welcome stretch of the legs after all the driving. There are lovely views of Carsington water from the dog walk and Tilly enjoyed running around the woodlands sniffing lots of interesting smells. We wondered through the site on the return leg of the walk and was pleased to see lots of owners soaking up the sunshine with their dogs tethered close by. The last place we visited was the toilets, spotlessly clean and very luxurious for a campsite.
All in all a very busy day visiting all the dog friendly camp sites near Ashbourne, but well worth the visit!
