Important Information

It is essential to give an arrival time and departure time if you intend to leave the site early or arrive late due to ferry crossing. This will enable the Warden to plan pitching arrangements in advance. Late arrivals and early departures will be pitched on the short stay area adjacent to the office. Hardstandings are purely on a first come first served basis.

Please ask all members for both their expected arrival and departure date times if they are staying on site prior to, or after a ferry crossing and make a note in the Warden’s Notes field. This site has a specific area for members make a booking for 1 night as they travel to or from the ferry port. This 1 night pitch should only be booked for those members who plan to arrive after 08.30pm and/or leave before 08.30 am. If arriving outside of these hours please book a standard pitch.

As you top the rise on the approach road, you can see the site splendidly set in parkland on the valley floor, with the Forest of Bere at its edge – a superb location. Part of the site is reserved as a children’s play and picnic area; you can also walk, cycle, picnic and horse ride, enjoying the peace and quiet of the former royal Forest of Bere. If you want to explore further afield, there’s everything from a day trip to the Isle of Wight to a visit to Portsmouth to see the restored ships (the Mary Rose, the Victory, the Warrior). Then you can visit Lee-on-Solent to watch the big ships of today sailing up the Solent.

     

 Rookesbury is a fairly level site with plenty of hardstanding pitches. There are two toilet and shower blocks. For those with dogs, the dog excercise area is huge. There is a young childs play area with swings and a climbing frame. Children are discouraged from riding their bicycles on the play area as there is quite a grassed slope next door, where if bicycles are ridden could travel at some speed… so be advised, to keep your chidren from riding in this area, the wardens are rightly quite strict about this. The shop has a nice small selection of essential shopping goods.

The site is about 10 miles or so from Portsmouth, where you can catch a ferry across to the Isle of Wight. WightLink do a very good service and during our visit in July 2008, we bought a ticket without booking, only waiting around an hour to board in the queue with the car.

The Isle of Wight offers some fantastic scenery. Don’t forget to visit Godshill, a very attractive chocolate box village location. A few images below of the village…

       

Ventnor on the Isle of Wight offers a fantastic sandy beach and the surrounding beach gardens are well worth the visit…

       

The Needles, Isle of Wight…..