6th Trip
Little Acres, Claypole, Newark, Notts. CC CL 5th – 9th February 2008

Little Acres at Claypole, Newark - http://www.little-acres.co.uk - is an adults-only site for the use of Caravan Club members only, consisting of a flat lawned paddock and a separate hard standing area, both with electric hook up points and a fresh water supply. At this time of year, we chose to pitch on the hardstanding and being the only ones there on the day of arrival we got the best pitch on the edge of the hardstanding next to a lawned area.

Entrance is via a double side gate which is padlocked with a combination code lock. You phone for the code the day before arrival. We were then given a key for the electric gates to come and go as we please.

The whole site is lovely and we were lucky to have lots of sunshine during our stay with only one day of rain, mostly at night. I took a walk around the paddock which wasn't as wet as I expected and can well imagine what it would be like there in the Spring/Summer months. The photos I took show the trees and hedgerows devoid of foliage. Compare these with the photos they have on their own website and you'll see how much nicer it will be in the Spring/Summer. We plan to return there for sure.

No toilets or shower facilities on site but that didn't bother us since we have all the facilities we need in the van. At £8 per night inclusive of EHU October to March and £7 per night (also inc. EHU) April to September, it's great value for such a well maintained site. Very clean and tidy with plenty of waste bins and recycling facilities too.

In the paddock field, the pitches (five of them) are well spaced apart all around the field and marked with a small numbered white stake in the ground, each with their own EHU point. At one end of the paddock is a summerhouse well stocked with magazines for the campers use as well an an abundance of information of places to go, where to eat, where to shop etc. Rather like a self service Tourist Information Centre really.

And there's WiFi Internet access for those who want it, costing just £2 for the duration of the stay. Sadly, this was rather erratic with little or no access between 5 and 10pm every night but at all other times, it was great. Can't really complain for just 2 quid.

We aim to visit again since it's conveniently located for friends and family in the area as well as being a great site.

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15th Trip
Little Acres, Claypole, Newark, Notts. CC CL 3rd – 6th August 2008

Went back to Little Acres Sunday 'til Wednesday.  Nothing much had changed except for a full site when we arrived and we pitched in the paddock field this time instead of the hardstanding.  Oh, and because it was Summer, it was £7 per night instead of £8 as it was last time. (Inc. EHU)   A notice on the hut said the price is to increase to £9 per night from October.  Still good value I think.  The keys for the electric gate had also been replaced with electronic transmitter keyfobs.

Since there wasn't anything new to photograph, I decided to try doing a 360 degree panorama of the main pitch.

Click your mouse in the image and scroll left, right, up and down to view. Shift to zoom in and Ctrl to zoom out.

You need QuickTime installed to view.

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25th Trip
Little Acres, Claypole, Newark, Notts. CC CL 8th – 10th April 2009

This was an unexpected trip back to Little Acres since we originally intended to go to the Royal Oak Public House at Car Colston for three nights.  We needed to be in the area to attend a funeral on the Thursday so decided to take the caravan and just turn up at the Royal Oak pub without booking since we've never had a problem staying there before.  Unfortunately, there was a rally organised with 12 caravans staying, 6 of them using the 6 available EHU points.  We could have stayed if we wanted to, without EHU but we really wanted EHU on this occasion so decided to ring a few other local sites.  We decided on Little Acres again but could only stay the Wednesday and Thursday and not the Friday night because they were booked, not surprisingly, for the Easter break.

To our surprise, there was a few new changes yet again.  The double side gate which was previously padlocked with a manual combination code lock was changed for a electronic digital keypad and electro-magnetic lock. The hardstanding area had been expanded, the grassy area replaced with more gravel (compare photo #3 above with photo #1 below) and a fence erected around the greenhouse. What was the Paddock Field has been renamed Little Acres CL and they have opened another field called Mill View CL. They call Mill View an overflow for Little Acres but in reality, it's another licensed 5 van site so basically, they own and operate two separate CL's next to each other.  Mill View is more open than Little Acres and subject to the wind blowing in from across the fields.  It was quite windy the day we pitched up and should we ever return again, I would prefer Little Acres (paddock field) rather than Mill View because it is much more sheltered and prettier.  The EHU points are around the field in Little Acres and next to each pitch allocation but in Mill View, there are two EHU bollards in the middle of the field, meaning EHU cables have to be run  into the middle of the field where cars can run over them.  They used to have a Summer and Winter price but it seems it's £9 per night (with EHU) all year round at the moment.

I asked if there was a chance we could stay the extra night (Friday) but they said they were fully booked from Friday for Easter.  Fair enough but it seems they only use the hardstanding during wet weather (or unless someone specifically requests hardstanding I guess), directing all caravans into Little Acres field and Mill View, each holding 5 caravans.  Many other sites allow an extra 1 or 2 to stay on for an extra day or two and we could quite easily have stayed on the hardstanding but seems they are sticklers for the rules.

Still a nice adults-only site but I would recommend avoiding Mill View.

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