Crossways Country Park

Positiv Overall: I really liked the setting. It's green, quiet, close to Barnstaple and has some genuinely lovely countryside walks along old train track bed directly from the site. The hot showers and decent water pressure were a pleasant surprise, and the almost-empty site suited us perfectly.

Lovely location, incredibly peaceful.
We stayed here because we wanted somewhere green and peaceful close to Barnstaple with showers and laundry facilities, and in that respect Crossways really delivers. There was only one other unit staying while we were there, so it was wonderfully quiet — exactly what we like.
The fenced in dog exercise area was good but not as good as the walks through the gate along the same hedge.
The best surprise was discovering a lovely walk directly from the site along the old railway trackbed, through woodland and open meadow and past a pond, eventually heading towards Swimbridge. It's a beautiful bit of countryside and, personally, I think this should be mentioned to guests because we would never have known about it otherwise.

Negativ The site itself has a lot of potential, but it's definitely on the scruffy/basic side.
There were several handwritten signs around the facilities, some of which were rather entertainingly misspelled. The Elsan had a handwritten notice reminding people to clean up after themselves, and the pot-wash/laundry room had a notice saying "linnin" must be washed before using the dryer. 😂

The wash block is, as other reviews have said, rather reminiscent of Prisoner: Cell Block H. The showers were actually perfectly good though — hot water and decent pressure — and the facilities were reasonably clean. The wash blocks are labelled "Peahens" and "Peacocks", which is... unusual.

There were four drinking-water taps that I could see. Two were in the touring field, although one had an unusual connection that I couldn't use and the other was usable with a standard Hozelock fitting. Two more taps between the wash block and the manager's house had locked covers, so they weren't available for general use, although still with signs saying drinking water.

The ground immediately outside the facilities was quite mossy and slippery, and I actually slipped there. There was also a lovely big motorbike parked directly in front of the laundry/pot-wash room throughout our stay, which made access rather awkward.

There were several older caravans tucked away in the top corner of the site which appeared to be seasonal/long-term units. They were empty during our stay and the grass around them was quite overgrown. There were also a few touring caravans grouped together near the facilities which appeared to be occupied more permanently. They weren't really an issue for us, but the whole area contributed to the slightly run-down feel, which isn't likely to improve as the site is currently being managed on behalf of the administrators.

The laundry was probably the most frustrating part of the stay. I bought £20 worth of tokens and was shown how to use the washing machine. I did two loads successfully. The following day I put four tokens into the tumble dryer before realising it wasn't actually working. After some investigation, it turned out the dryer wasn't plugged in and its plug was missing the fuse and fuse cover. The manager eventually replaced the fuse using one from the washing machine and it worked.
I later used another token for my towels, leaving me with five tokens. When I tried to exchange those for cash before leaving, I was asked how much I intended to "contribute" for using the dryer. I explained that I'd assumed the four tokens lost while it wasn't working would cover it. I was then told that the token box had been checked and there were no tokens in it. I found that upsetting because it left me feeling that my account of what had happened was being questioned. I eventually received £5 back.

One other small thing: the written rules in the laundry said departures were by 10am, whereas the Pitchup listing says 11am. I only discovered the latter afterwards, so I needn't have felt quite so rushed on departure morning.

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Positiv Extremely friendly owners, willing to help anyway possible, lovely pitches, showers and toilets do the job, peaceful site, local cider maker over the road well worth a visit, bus stop right outside the campsite, local pub the Castle Inn was very nice and food lovely, would definitely come again 5*

Negativ Nothing

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Positiv Very friendly, quite camping

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Positiv The owners were very friendly and helpful. The site itself was fabulous - really peaceful and had everything we needed.

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Positiv Nice quiet site, welcoming helpful owners.
Nice shepherds hut, with all you need for a short stay.

Negativ Facilities well maintained but a little dated. A basic site with no shop etc

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Positiv Peace and quiet
The owners were wonderful
Bus stop outside entrance
Lovely pub in nearby village

Negativ Nothing

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Positiv Peaceful campsite in nature and very friendly hosts

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Positiv Friendly, accomodating, direct and easy-going. Helped us choose a good spot on the site based on our needs and wants. Were able to put my disabled partner close to toilet block, which is important for us.

Bunnies lolloping around in the field late in the evening.

Don't know about WiFi because I had good phone signal, better than at the majority of sites I've stayed at.

Negativ Some road noise but not as bad as I've had at some sites and it wasn't a major issue and didn't wake me up once I was asleep.

Fields are not flat but I got my vehicle level enough with levelling blocks. Had to be slightly careful with positioning of table and chairs but everything was perfectly useable and I felt safe enough cooking on the table with gas so enough said really!

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Positiv friendly couple. Site was perfect for us. All the facilities we needed and the field is kept very tidy. In the countryside but only 3 miles out of Barnstaple. A vine yard is opposite.
Reasonable price.
Would we stay there again - Yes yes

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Positiv The site is well kept, flat and attractively landscaped with lovely views into the hills. The facilities were plentiful and clean. What makes this place are the personable staff. Their house is part of the land and they are attentive, communicative and convivial. For reasons we could not understand given the location and natural beauty this site was quiet. If that’s your bag, grab it while you can.

Negativ There wasn’t anything to dislike.

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