Firstly, and it’s a biggie, you are not allowed to use the footpaths (ahem, public footpaths) or walk to the pub if you camp at Wowo. Yes you did read that correctly and no I’m not making it up. You are told on arrival that by booking into the site you agree to not walk on any of the paths and that you ‘waive the right to walk to the pub’. How do you camp on a site criss-crossed with public footpaths and then spend the weekend avoiding them? Apparently this is imposed by the local planners to discourage hell-raisers returning from the pub and frightening the owls and must stack-up as one of the most unworkable examples of local authority meddling ever.

The pleasure of dumping the car and wandering to the pub is surely one reason that many people short list this site? I think that it’s very underhand not to mention this on the Wowo website, or on the booking form (which is sent to you by email asking for a 50% deposit) or frankly until you are actually stood with your wallet out in the office (cash only, computers are a bit 21st century).

I have to admit the vibe of the site is good, the staff relaxed and the majority of people seemed to have a very good time. But I also wondered if the ‘we don’t take it seriously, just relax and chill’ attitude was an excuse for letting everything go. An example -

There are various signs telling you to ‘love the farm’ and take your rubbish home with you. Eco? Not sure really, this just means that rubbish is taken away in your car, smelling, and you take responsibility for it (there are no bins on the site you see) rather than the farm as would be traditional. This would be fine if the cost reflected you doing some of the work on behalf of the farm, but Wowo isn’t cheap. £48 for two nights (two adults, two kids).

In terms of facilities in this price, there is a ping-pong table with flat square balls and some things that were once bats. There is a chilling area, which is where the ‘pong’ comes in as it amounts to five ragged old chairs that looked in dire need of some attention and cleaning products. The showers are hot and you can stay in them as long as you want I suppose.

This all might seem harsh and by now you probably think I’m a moaner. I don’t mind the chilled attitude but I think it covers the fact that everything is a bit poor on the whole and none of this would matter if the price reflected a site with virtually no facilities. I think two nights for £48 is premium campsite cost, perhaps I’m out of date.

We had a good time and it’s a friendly and relaxed place, but they need to be open about the paths and pub situation and drop the price to reflect what is on offer in my view.