Our first camping stay of the season and we chose to book Mad Hatters Camping and Glamping. Based in Ely, it is just under an hour from where we live and it looked absolutely perfect online. Earlier in the year we had brought a whole new tent set up to replace the disaster we had last year. So we were really keen to stay pretty close to home in case we were going to be unlucky all over again. It doesn’t help that our garden isn’t big enough to pitch the tent so that was another reason to stay local.
As soon as Campsites were able to reopen we booked our visit. A couple of days before we were due to arrive Claire, the owner, sent us an email with our pitch allocation and about the up to date Covid-19 procedures in place. This was a little worry of ours, however camping is great for social distancing, it was only the facilities were it would be an issue. We needn’t had worried though.
Mad Hatters Camping and Glamping
Due to covid-19 we had to ring to say we had arrived and we were unable to leave our car until all our temperatures were checked. If any of us had displayed a high temperature we wouldn’t have been able to stay. Thankfully we were all okay and given the all clear.
Mad Hatters Camping and Glamping have 25 pitches (including 5 glamping pitches) there are also 8 electric hook ups too. Each pitch is surrounded by wildflowers and each contains a fire pit too. The electric pitches are the only ones where cars can park beside you, otherwise they have to be left in the car park. There are several wheelbarrows available to be used to help transport tents and things to your pitch as well as a bottle of hand santiser, to ensure cleanliness.
After several trips to and from our pitch, we were soon set up and ready to enjoy our weekend. The boys and I took the opportunity to explore the campsite and see where everything was.
The wildflowers surrounding each pitch didn’t look like it would give you much privacy, however as the weekend went on we were pleasantly surprised. We didn’t feel overlooked at all and I think a big part of that was down to the way the pitches were set up.
Campsite facilities
Mad Hatters Camping has all the facilities that you would need to have a really lovely time away. With hand sanitiser placed in areas where contact could be made such as the drinking water tap, reception, outside facilities block and where to collect the wheelbarrows.
- Chemical Toilet Disposal Point
- Water Tap
- Recycling/Composting/Rubbish bins
- Play area
- Undercover Picnic area
- Washing Up area
- Toilet and Shower Block
- Pond
Every single visit we made to the toilet/shower block we found them really clean. The block is closed once a day for cleaning and they use a peg system to ensure social distancing. I absolutely loved the showers and the family room was a decent size.
Social Distancing
The peg system was really easy to follow however with most things it only works if everyone follows it. The campsite has done their part and other than having someone standing at the door all day, I can’t see what else they can do.
Outside the facilities block was a laminated A4 sheet of paper displaying a map. Each area was marked with a nail and when you use the facilities you place a peg on the nail. If there isn’t a nail then no one should be inside that area of the block. However, like I said, this only works when others use it. Over the weekend we found a few people either forgot to hang their peg. Or they forgot to pick the peg up when they left. The majority of people did use it and it was really effective too.
Our Pitch
We loved the layout of the pitches and it provided a decent amount of space after pitching our tent. The tent we used was the Hi-Gear Enigma Elite 5 with the added canopy attached. There was still plenty of room for us to sit around the fire pit. As well as for the boys to be able to have a play around with the ball.
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