General Info

🏕️ Camping Season & Site Capacity

  • The site is open 1st April to 31st October.
  • Maximum capacity: 170 people, including day visitors.
  • DBS checks: All overnight adult visitors must hold a valid DBS. Network members are exempt unless acting in a Leadership role.

⛺ Booking & Pitching Guidance

  • Bookings are managed via virtual pitches. If you’ve booked the building, your group typically camps beside the hut. Otherwise, you’re welcome to pitch anywhere on the camping field.

🚪 Arrivals & Departures

  • Arrival is from 16:00 on your booking day.
  • Key details for buildings and toilets will be emailed the week prior to your stay.
  • Early arrivals: Please email us your ETA so we can make suitable arrangements if required.
  • Departure is by 18:00 on your final day.

📍 Getting Here
Important: Do not follow SatNav directions via Dilston Mill or the Physic Garden—they lead to a restricted access point.

  • Use the entrance marked by curved stone walls from the main road.
  • Please close the gate behind you upon arrival, even if it was already open.

🚗 Vehicle Access

  • Drop-offs should occur in the top car park—the access road is narrow and shared with the cottage resident. It’s unsuitable for large vehicles, and traffic must be managed carefully at busy times.
  • Only Leaders staying all weekend or those dropping off Equipment should drive all of the way down to the site.
  • Speed limit: 10mph on the access road, 5mph past the cottage and on site.
  • Vehicles must not drive onto the camping field; pedestrian transport for equipment is recommended.
  • Damage to the field will incur a minimum £100 charge.
  • Parking is in the designated area only.
  • If the Main Site Car Park is crowded (if the site is really busy!), cars should be moved up to the small top car park to allow for Emergency Vehicle access.
  • The field access gate and the Green Container should not be blocked at any time, access may be needed at short notice.

🧹 Site Stewardship
Please leave your pitch and facilities clean for the next visitors. Return any unused firewood to the store near the car park—wood should never be left at fire areas or dumped in the field.

♿ Accessibility
Note: While the building has a ramp, there is no disabled access to the toilets.

🔥 Fires & Firewood

  • Wood may be available, but we advise bringing your own.
  • Open fires must be in designated areas only.
  • Raised altar fires can be used in rough grass areas only, not on the camping field. Please arrange this ahead of your arrival if you’d like an area cleared, or leave enough room for tractor/cutter access on your pitch.

🏠 Building Use

  • Sleeping accommodation for 6 (2-room / 4-room).
  • Cooking appliances: 6-burner cooker, kettle, microwave, tall fridge.
  • Please bring your own catering equipment, including pots, pans, crockery, and utensils.
  • At night, the kitchen hatch must be closed
  • The hatch door is not a serving table and cannot take weight (chains can be removed to allow folding).

🚨 Safety & Emergencies
Please ensure your group is familiar with fire exits and the flagpole assembly point.

  • In case of a fire, the manual alarm (on the building deck) or a loud shout of “Fire” can be used to alert everyone.
  • ALL GROUPS on Site must assemble at the assembly point and headcounts taken.
  • The automatic system does not contact emergency services, so designated leaders must call 999.
  • Evacuate to the top car park if needed or the fire begins to spread.
  • Groups must have a PEEP in place for members with additional needs.
  • Inform site management of any emergency when safe to do so.

🤝 Considerate Camping

  • Quiet hours: 23:00 to 07:00—please be respectful of our neighbours.
  • Leaders are responsible for their own group’s behaviour throughout the visit.

💧 Water Use

  • Multiple taps available across the field with short hoses.
  • Ensure taps are turned off after use.
  • Please do not use taps to wash up or dispose of food waste.

🚯 Waste Management

  • No digging of waste pits anywhere on site.
  • Use the 3 large bins at the site entrance—not small wheelie bins.
  • If bins are full, take your rubbish home.
  • We cannot dispose of old camping gear (tents, chairs, etc.)—left items will incur costs.

🔥 Fire Areas & Shared Spaces

  • Fire areas, showers, and toilets are shared by all site users. These cannot be reserved.
  • Please coordinate with other groups and keep shared areas tidy.
  • No digging of Fire Pits anywhere on site. Altar Fires/Raised Fires MUST be off the Camping Field and in the Rough Grass Areas. A suitable area can be cut in the rough for this purpose but enough room needs to be left for access by the Tractor/Cutter.
  • No Fires are allowed near or on the Mill Race that runs from the Bridge down to the building.

🚁 Drone Use

A drone policy is in place to protect all users and nearby residents/members of the public. Copies are sent with booking confirmation and joining instructions or available anytime by request via:
📧 [email protected]

Site Rules

• Please embrace our Scouting Values.
• The access to campsite is via single track road between the stone gates, leaders and equipment may proceed down to the campsite, people dropping off MUST use the car park on the left as you enter the single-track road. Leaders MUST manage the single-track road to create a one-way system as there are no passing places and reversing down the track should be avoided. Gates must be left as you found them.
• Please be aware of the site boundaries, as per the Site Boundary Map. There is no access to Dilston College or beyond via the Bridge over the river, unless by prior arrangement with the Castle/College.
• There is STRICTLY no vehicle access to the camping field without prior agreement. Damage to the field caused by vehicles will be charged to the group responsible for the damage. Consider bringing a trolley or sack barrow for your heavy items.
• Noise levels on the campsite are to be kept to a minimum especially between 10:30pm – 07:30am due to the agreements in place with the neighbours.
• Fire wood must only be taken from the wood pile or fallen trees, no live trees are to be felled under and circumstances as they do not belong to the campsite. If you are planning cooking on open fires it is recommended to bring or arrange your own wood as we can not guarantee a supply. Please DO NOT chop wood on the camping field, use the area adjacent to the river or rough grass areas.
• Please conserve the water supply. DO NOT leave the water taps running as it is a metered system.
• Cooking on open fires must only be carried out in Designated Fire Areas or on raised/altar fires in rough grass areas. Please ensure they are raised well above the ground to prevent scorching of the grass. It is the Camp Leader’s responsibility to ensure there is adequate fire fighting measures in place. No lifting of turf, digging of pits or burning excessively large campfires is permitted on site.
• Campers are responsible for keeping the toilets in a usable state during your stay, if there is more than 1 group on site take turns to look after cleaning. Cleaning equipment is provided in each toilet and are coloured RED. Please sweep out, collect any litter and mop floor.
• Please allow time on the day of departure for fires to cool. All the fire bays need to be emptied, the COLD ash can put in the bin, part burned logs please stack neatly next to the fire. All unburnt wood MUST be returned to the Wood Pile, not stacked next to the Fire areas and not dumped on the camping field next to the wood pile.
• All campsites must be left clean and tidy and unused wood returned to the woodpile.
• Only waste generated by camping is to be disposed of in the bins at the site entrance, the waste is separated by our waste contractor so no need to separate on site, we are not licensed for any other type of waste e.g. broken chairs, tents etc.. Groups found leaving this waste will be charged £100 for its disposal, if more than one group is using the site at the time all users will be billed.
• Building users are responsible for the cleaning prior to departure, cleaning equipment is provided in the building, Green for Kitchen / Blue for Hall & Bedrooms please use the correct ones. Failure to clean up after yourselves satisfactorily will result in a £50 cleaning fee.
• The toilets are to be cleaned before departure.
• No dogs are allowed on the camping or activity areas. Please challenge anybody who brings a dog onto the camping field for Health and Safety reasons.
• Please challenge any strangers on the site for their reason for being there, explaining that is it Private Land and they are not allowed on site for Safeguarding and Safety reasons.
please report any instances to the site management.
• Any damage or concerns must be reported to the Campsite Manager to ensure they are dealt with