Over the last 24 months we have stayed at 47 campsites in the UK, all are unique and some better than others but we have enjoyed our stay at each and none have driven me to write a poor review – until Dodwell Park.
With hindsight, the warning signs were present on checking in when the wardens made no secret of the fact that they had moved from her native Plymouth as parks down there aren’t profitable enough – at least their motivation is clear.
The park is sandwiched in behind a residential mobile home park which is not apparent from the website and you have to walk through it to get to the dog walk, which is not close to the camping field, I’ll come back to dogs later. The reception and shop building and separate toilet block are dated and unpleasant, with the single toilet block being at the far end of the field. The gents had 2 cubicles (one with a broken lock), 3 urinals, 3 showers and 3 sinks which was completely inadequate for the size of the site. They look as if they date from the 70’s and are ready for complete replacement.
We had a hardstanding pitch which was small and overlooked, and faced a wooden fence over the top of which were visible a number of units on the mobile home park about 6 feet away from us.
While the site pretends to be dog friendly, it is not. The dog walk is nowhere near the campsite. Our dog, a 13 year old Labrador, has arthritis and the walk to the dog field took us about 15 minutes or so – he is a very slow walker. He is also a male dog and anyone with a male dog knows they urinate a little to mark their territory. According to the wardens, urinating against a hedge is not permitted on site and they appear to be living on a different planet if they seriously think no male dog on the site has ever cocked its leg until it got to the dog field. Dog fouling relates to faeces, not urine. I completely support policies relating to cleaning up fouling but have never heard of anyone thinking they can tell a male dog to cross its legs and wait until it is told to urinate on command!
As we were preparing to leave, our dog urinated against a hedge which prompted the female warden to appear from the office and ball across the site at the top of her voice at us that this wasn’t allowed. She was followed a short time after by her partner who also balled at us in front of everyone that as we weren’t doing as we had been told we should leave. I am hard pushed to decide whether their appalling conduct was down to racism, homophobia or that they are just deeply unpleasant people who have no idea how the hospitality industry works.
This is the worst camping experience I have suffered in 20 years of camping and there are so many better places than this.