Review for D’Arcy Equestrian, Tolleshunt D’Arcy

Country:                                    England

Co-ordinates:                           Latitude: 51.7777 Longitude: 0.7883 (apologies I cannot the more useful N/W details).

Address:                                   Kelvedon Road, Tolleshunt DArcy, Maldon, Essex, CM9 8EL

Good for visiting:                   We visited Tollesbury, West Mersea (& East Mersea), Burnham on Crouch and Bradwell on Sea.  Better known for Colchester, Chelmsford and Tiptree

Phone & e-mail:                       tel:07751 090509  tel:01621 860553   mailto:darcyequestrian@hotmail.com

Website:                                  http://www.ridingcentres.com/

Questions:-  (This review is from the point of view of motorhomers driving a Swift Kontiki 669 tag axle – 8.56m)

What are the pitches like?                

Lovely pitches.  Not laid out rigidly.  This is a nice big field with hook-ups all around.  Tents are accommodated in a separate field by lifting a fence!

Is there water on each pitch?            

No – but there are plenty of taps so water is very easy to get, however long, or short, your hose.

What is the electric like?           

16A – excellent

Drainage?     

Yes, unusally for the UK, there is an actual drain for waste water in 1 corner of the field (well away from where people would pitch)

What’s the site access like?        

Good, but perhaps slightly awkward if you approach from the village.  Probably better to approach from Tiptree direction – you will also see the Camping & Caravanning sign from this way too.

What are the Sanitary facilities like?    

Toilets:                              Good – just 1 shower room, with toilet and sink                                                                                                                                                      Toilet paper provided? Yes, and plenty of spare kept available.                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Showers:                          Perfectly acceptable, although could get mucky if some campers choose not to clean up after themselves.

What other facilities are there?    

Chemical waste disposal. Rubbish bins.  Possibility of horse-riding lessons. Talking to the horses!  A few picnic tables dotted around for everyone’s use.         

No. No internet

Very welcoming and friendly.  If Val’s not there just call the mobile provided and Gerry will come down to meet you.  What a lovely guy!  You are given a key to the toilet, but most of the time we left it on the latch or propped open (with the added bonus that this helped to dry out the shower).

How much is it?     

We paid £15 per night                                    

What’s the area like?            

Lovely.  Just a short distance away in the village of Tolleshunt D’Arcy is a pub, a shop and an Indian restaurant.  The historic town of Maldon is a few miles away, where you will find Tescos, Asda and Lidl as well as numerous other shopping opportunities and historic buildings.  To the north is Tiptree which we drove through when we left – it’s closer than Maldon!  We should have visited during our stay 🙂  Beaches, marinas and mudflats are all in easy reach.

More detail:

The Good:-

The area, the people, the horses 🙂

The Bad:-

When the site is busy, particularly with campers in tents, the shower is in constant use in the morning, meaning that the toilet is also out of bounds for everyone else.

 The Ugly:-

Nothing at all 😊

Moving On:

We moved on to Suffolk, to Fishers Field (a Caravan Club certificated site) in Theberton.  If we had had more time here we would have visited Chelmsford, and definitely Tiptree.