Over the weekend Mark and I took the boys to a campsite we hadn’t been to before, Secret Garden Campsite . I love exploring somewhere new, especially somewhere that comes highly recommended, and I mean highly recommended. So, I am in a few Facebook groups dedicated to camping and this site seems to be loved by all who visit. Oliver’s school friend’s family often stay here too and they also mentioned it would be somewhere great to stay. So we booked it. £56 for a pitch for 2 nights seemed rather reasonable.
Secret Garden Campsite, Wisbech St Mary
As we were going to be meeting another family there I had emailed the campsite asking whether we could be pitched together. Communication was pretty swift and within a couple of days, 2 pitches beside each other was booked and paid for. We were told our pitch numbers beforehand which was really handy as it meant we could have a look at the sitemap and begin to work out where we will be.
A few days before we were due to arrive we received another couple of emails letting us know what to expect and how to find our pitches. I must admit it felt a bit odd when the email said to head straight to your pitch. You didn’t need to sign in at reception, but if we needed help finding where we were staying they were more than happy to help direct us.
Secret Garden Campsite is split into 2 halves; Garden side, and Fen Side. Garden side is on the same side as the Reception, Shop, Pub and Brewery. Whereas the Fen side has the Maze, Playing Field, Bush craft and Willow Den.
Our Stay
We arrived at Secret Garden Campsite, Wisbech St Mary around 3.30pm and we were able to find our pitch without needing any help. Our pitch; F21 and F22 were a lovely size and surrounded by trees and bushes. It really felt private and secluded where we were. Each pitch comes with a firepit whether you are staying on an electric or non-electric it doesn’t matter.
Our first afternoon and evening was spent pitching, exploring the immediate area and just spending time together. The boys absolutely loved having all the space to run around and play. The maze was such a great place and we hardly saw them as they made friends with others.
Things to do
There is so much to do at the Secret Garden Campsite whether you have children like us, or not. If you have children then there are lots of areas to explore such as “The Hobbit Hill”, Pigs and the Maze. If your looking for something a little more adult, then the pub opens daily and depending on when you visit there maybe some on site entertainment too.
The boys loved visiting the pigs and we sat and watched them all for awhile. There isn’t any seating near to the pigs however there is some seating outside the shop which isn’t too far from where the pigs are.
As well as fun for the adults and the children there is also an enclosed area suitable for dogs to be off lead. Dogs are welcomed at the Secret Garden Campsite, and the off lead field can be used to let the dogs just run around. Whilst on site they need to be on lead at all times. This is the only area where they can be off lead.
The Secret Garden Campsite is also home to several small businesses such as the brewery, distillery, Fenland Bush Craft and Shedders and Fixers, a place for skill sharing.
The pub looks great and there is lots of natural light.
The outside covered area is perfect for outdoor events. there is a stage and plenty of seating available. When events are being run they are usually advertised on their Facebook page, and/or you can book on the website.
The Shop
The Shop sells everything you may need including fire logs and a starter kit. We popped in on the Saturday during our stroll around the site for ice creams. It was refreshing to find a site that doesn’t overcharge, We brought 9 ice cream/ Ice lollies for under £7. We then nipped back to buy some fire logs and butter, and paid £6.25. The shop alos sells the range of alcoholic drinks made on the site.
Facilities
On the Fen side the toilet block is easily accessible to everyone, your not really far away at all. There was plenty of toilets and each shower room had a toilet too. The whole block was kept rather clean and there was staff cleaning them quite regularly.
The toilets are rather small and there isn’t much room to be able to manoeuvre about, so if you are taking young children to the toilet that need help then I would suggest using the shower room toilets. We did receive an email explaining they were struggling to get hold of toilet paper in bulk so to bring our own too, however the toilets seemed really well stocked. I would still suggest bringing your own roll just in case, as you wouldn’t want to be in a position where you needed toilet roll.
The showers are activated by waving the palm of your hand in front of the control panel. The temperature is really easy to control too using the buttons on either side of the shower head on the control panel. The water isn’t a constant stream ad you do need to continue to wave your hand in front of the panel to continue the water.
Also in the shower bock is the kitchen. There is a communal fridge freezer which is free to use as well as washing machine and dryer. The machines are coin operated. There is also 2 sinks for washing up.
Map of Secret Garden Campsite
As you can see below the site looks rather big, there is plenty of space and you don’t feel enclosed. I love that there are not too many pitches either. There is a lot of space for children to play and when we were camping there wasn;t many cars coming and going.
Our thoughts
We are definitely going to be returning. There is plenty for children to do and plenty of opportunities to make friends with other children. Where we were pitched was perfect for us, there was plenty of space for all 9 of us to enjoy as well as being located close to the maze there was a lot of green area for the children to play. I had brought the boys some foam aeroplanes to play with and they were loved by everyone. I did think we would struggle with finding an area for them to use them as they do need a bit of space to fly, however there was plenty.
Our only complaint, and in all honesty it isn’t anything the campsite could rectify was the noise level of some of the other campers. Quiet time is 11pm and it was quiet by then, however it was still loud by 10.30pm of women laughing and shouting, the odd music beat and children shrieking, all from the same pitch.
So The Secret Garden Campsite is owned and ran by 2 people; Neil and Lesley and because there was no booking in we didn’t see anyone official until we popped into the shop. We did think that during the afternoon that we may see someone to ensure maybe we had arrived and on the right pitch and if everything was okay, but no one did. This was the first campsite we have been too where no one had welcomed us, or where we didn’t have to at least check in.
However, we are looking forward to returning next year!
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