We were initially excited by the prospect of this lovely sounding campsite, and upon calling to make a booking, our expectations for a weekend away were sky high after chatting to the lovely lady on the end of the phone who told us that it wasn't necessary to book, but just turn up the following day. Imagine our surprise when on arrival, we were greeted by rude and indifferent staff, who took pains to point out that we didn't book 'properly' and should have sent a cheque for a reservation. (does anybody still deal in cheques these days)? Biting our collective tongue we got back into our camper, drove up to the gate only to sit for 10 minutes at the head of a queue, because the sniggering teenager on reception failed to recognise us and open the gate to let us in. (Despite the fact we had checked in with him and hopped into the camper in his plain view not 2 minutes earlier). Unfortunately our opinion of this site diminished further and further the longer we stayed. The toilet blocks were filthy (not sure about the main one, we didn't use it) with overflowing sanitary bins stacked outside the blocks. The many rubbish bins around the site were overflowing and judging by the stench that was wafting from them hadn't been emptied in quite a while. One redeeming feature of this site is your ability to wander off into the delightful Epping forest and leave it behind. So after a long afternoons walk, and in a refreshed state of mind we returned to the campsite. As it was getting on for dusk we were expecting to encounter some of the famed Epping forest nightlife.. What we weren't expecting was for it to be RATS..Big rats, small rats.. rats everywhere.. scrounging through the rubbish around the campsite and the black refuse sacks piled up beside the bins. With that, and the increasing volume of the campers around us.. we were finally pulled the pin and set of for home. Despite losing the *expensive* nights payment, This was the best decision we made when it came to this Campsite. Please don't mis-understand us, we are a young couple, not inclined to moan or complain about campsites.. their level of cleanliness or the volume of our camping neighbors. We camp at least one weekend a month and have visited all kinds of campgrounds all over the UK, taking each site on it's own merits and forming our own opinions, but this experience has left us cold. This could be (and may have been) a magnificent campsite.. But as it is today needs a lot of work, more than a lick of paint and some major investment in the staff. And regular garbage collections. Please. I would avoid Debden house campsite like the plague. (un)happykampers