High Lodge Farm

A aimé Clean, peaceful, relaxed, beautiful sunset

N'a pas aimé n/a (less than full scored for wifi as I don't believe there was any, but 5G signal was good

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A aimé Lovely site. We like the low key back to nature sites. Very spacious pitches. Very flat. There's an area in the middle of the field thats a little play area for kids. We saw some red kites swooping. Toilets are clean and the outdoor showers great. Would come back.

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Réponse du gestionnaire : Thank you for your wonderful review - we really, really do appreciate it and we're delighted you enjoyed our farm.

A aimé Such an amazing place. My 5 year old son absolutely loved the play area. Great atmosphere and a well organised wild campsite. We will be definitely coming back!

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Réponse du gestionnaire : Thank you! Sometimes, it's best to keep things simple. We're delighted you enjoyed our farm and we'd love to welcome you back next year.

A aimé The moment we left.

N'a pas aimé This campsite falsely advertises on Pitchup.com.

The proximity to the Thames Path is prominently mentioned multiple times in the advert, which was the main reason we booked three nights. Only after we had paid and could no longer cancel were we informed, buried on page 4 of an email attachment (well hidden!), that there was currently no access to the path.

We came for the so-called "Walkers' paradise" listed as a feature in the advert. In reality, not only is the Thames Path inaccessible, but there are no public footpaths anywhere near the campsite. There was a map of a walk drawn the information board, supposedly signposted, but there were no signs, and either it was an extremely poor map or the route simply doesn’t exist.

We arrived as backpackers, also listed as a target group on the site, so we did not come by car. We took the train and then walked 45 minutes along a busy, noisy road ("Walkers' paradise" indeed!). When we tried to get around, we discovered there’s no bus service at weekends and no trains on Sundays. So we didn’t get around much.

The campsite itself was also quite bad.

The portable festival toilets make it feel more like "farm that wants to make more money during summer" than "camping". The grass was also almost impenetrable with our tent pegs. There is a spot to wash your dishes, though the sink water with all its cleaning chemicals is dumped straight into nature ("Wildlife haven", also a feature!).

Reception is only open from 4 to 7 PM, and that’s also where the campsite’s only electrical outlets are hidden, which were, to our delight, not working during our stay.

The "PYO sunflower field" listed in the advert was also nowhere to be found.

Would not recommend.

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Réponse du gestionnaire : Thank you for taking the time to leave a review and I'm sorry that you felt the need to rate us 1/10. For your benefit, and the benefit of everyone reading your review, we'd like to clarify a few details, particularly the claim about 'false advertising'.

The Thames Path does border High Lodge Farm, but it's not safe to direct people to the path from the farm. At no point in our listing do we state the Thames Path is accessible directly from the farm. It's quite clear from looking at the map and reading the information we supply that access is via Abingdon Bridge or Culham Lock (15 minute walk). You're the first people in four years to have raised this as an issue.

With regards to the walk, there is a beautiful dog-friendly circular loop which is laid out on the huge map by the reception hut. We find most of our customers take a photo of this and follow the well-trodden path. Again, there are beautiful walks along the Thames Path (see above).

We are a family-run pop-up campsite open for six weeks during the summer - not a year-round established campsite. You're right, the income from this campsite helps to supplement the unpredictable income generated from farming, a challenging industry to say the least.

We clearly state there is no electric hook-up at this campsite. It's a back-to-basics campsite. There's no electricity in the reception hut - it's not connected because it's not needed.

I'm sorry that you found it hard to bang in your tent pegs. There's been a lot of dry weather this year, which is why the ground is dry. Most campers find that a decent mallet usually sorts this problem out.

Our PYO Sunflower Field was just a short walk from your tent pitch - approx five minutes. We didn't advertise it to the public this year because due to the extremely dry May, June and July we've had (see point about tent pegs above) the field wasn't the blooming lovely site it usually is. That's farming - some years you get a bad crop. However, you would have been extremely welcome to enjoy it and pick some flowers, had you visited.

I'm sorry that we didn't advise you to bring a car. We're not and can't be responsible for the local bus timetables or for your decision about whether to travel by car or not. There are plenty of buses available in Abingdon Town Centre to Oxford, Didcot and beyond and taxis locally.

A aimé I liked that the pitch up field was nicely mowed, had set out organised pitches and we had the option of pitching up next to the untouched field that was adjacent to the pitch up field. There was access to very basic outdoor, yet covered hot showers, but my daughter and I opted for the cold shower to wake us up and funnily enough, there wasn’t a queue for the cold shower. I also liked the option to hire a fire pit. Very well organised campsite, looking forward to returning. Also a mini park for younger kids. Good reception on O2.

N'a pas aimé Marked out pitches were a little too close to each other meaning you could literally hear people snoring in the next pitch. Ground was especially hard and full of stones which ruined a good amount of tent pegs.

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Réponse du gestionnaire : Thank you for your review, Stephanie. We're delighted you enjoyed your stay. Duly noted about the pitches. The ground is very hard this year due to the amount of dry weather we've had. It's a bit of an issue for all campsites.

A aimé It is a great campsite, with good pitch sizes. Great space for the children to play around and the view of the sunset is great too and the showers are great too, really enjoyed my outdoor shower for £1. Liked everything apart from the toilets.

N'a pas aimé Portable toilets. We left earlier than planned because toilets were not in good shape. We usually avoid portable toilets, but wanted to give it a go but this confirm to us that this option is not for us.
We usually opt for the compostable ones, and still prefer them, obviously just personal preference but here they need to check the toilets more often.

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Réponse du gestionnaire : Thank you for your fantastic review and we're delighted you enjoyed the showers. We love them! Much appreciated. We've taken onboard your feedback about the toilets and we've added additional facilities for this weekend. We've tried compost toilets in the past, and a toilet trailer and we've had complaints about both sadly.

A aimé Open space, central play area for children was a bonus. space for football. enjoyed the badminton and good washing up facilities. field surrounded by woods

N'a pas aimé perhaps would benefit from more portaloos

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Réponse du gestionnaire : Thank you for your fantastic review and generous 10 score. Much appreciated. We've taken on board your feedback about the toilets and we've added additional facilities for this weekend.

A aimé Beautiful views ~ we parked up on the far side so our tent had views of the sunset. The lovely walk that we could do with the dog was great and a fun adventure. It was a simple check in. The kind and helpful staff sorted out a querie and allowed us to add an extra car. Loved the play area which my son took full advantage of whilst I enjoyed the benches around so I could watch him from a little further away,

N'a pas aimé Toilets not great by Sunday morning (not the campsites fault) and slightly confusing as to where to pitch for a first timer (again, not the campsites fault more mine but as poles had fallen down the instruction of parking between poles was difficult to follow). The ‘road’ round the campsite could have been made clearer. No hay bales to play on sadly.

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Réponse du gestionnaire : Thank you so much for visiting and leaving a review. It's much appreciated. We are very aware of the toilet issue and we've rectified it for this weekend. Many apologies. This feedback is always so useful and allows us to improve, so thank you.

A aimé Very generous pitches
Dog friendly
Large play/sports area
Hand washing facilities
Logs and fire pits well organised
Woodland walks and sunset views over Abingdon
Close to paddle boarding launch spots
Chilled but family focused vibe

N'a pas aimé Toilets - 4 portaloos for 50 family pitches. Knew on arrival (Saturday) that by checkout (Sunday) they would be absolutely disgusting and they were. Put me off the site. Either need 3 times as many portaloos (and/or daily clean out) or for goodness sake get some composting toilets made and just lock them up off season.

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Réponse du gestionnaire : Hi Elizabeth, thank you very much for visiting our campsite and for taking the time to leave a review. We're so sorry about the toilets. We thought we would try Portaloos this year because customers and repeatedly complain about the smell in our event trailer toilets, but it seems we didn't order enough. We've added more for this weekend so hopefully it won't be an issue going forward, but I'm sorry we didn't get it right for your stay.

A aimé Nice general feel, all families, nice play area in the centre. Large marked pitches. Nice views and woodland setting.

N'a pas aimé Toilets in a very bad state in the morning. Porta-Loos are fine for camping at this price point but they need more for a field of this size (and it wasn’t full when we were there). By 9am Sunday morning the loos were unusable

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Réponse du gestionnaire : Thank you very much for visiting and for your kind words and 8 score. We're very aware the toilets weren't up to scratch, we've added more for the rest of the season and additional bins. Thank you for letting us know, hopefully it won't be a problem going forward and we're sorry they were not in a great state for your visit.