Karen Wright: Discovering Norfolk’s pop-up campsite
I have heard of ‘pop up’ shops and ‘pop up’ restaurants but until recently I had not heard of a ‘pop up’ campsite!
The concept of anything ‘pop up’ is that it is a temporary thing lasting sometimes a day or a week and allows people to try something new. The ‘pop up’ campsite I went to is part of the Caravan and Motorhome Clubs portfolio of different ways to try a holiday in the great outdoors.
Open from the 14th August until the 10th September, the site is located on the Holkham Hall estate in Norfolk. I was curious to see what facilities had been set up by the events team as it is hard to imagine how temporary facilities work in what is basically a field. When we arrived, we were given a very warm welcome from the club's onsite reps and were shown to our pitch. It was a massive space; it wasn't long before we were set up with all our outdoor furniture arranged and we were ready to enjoy ourselves.
The facilities were incredible, portable showers and toilets which looked brand new and were spotless. The showers were hot, and the water pressure was excellent – always a bonus! There was of course fresh water, wastewater disposal, a washing up point and of course chemical loo disposal areas too. There was a food van as well as a visiting bar, which was a lovely surprise and made for a great social space.
The estate itself is huge and free to explore if you are staying at the campsite. We used our electric bikes, and it was fun to breeze around and check everything out. We rode up to the hall, we rode down to the beach, and we could easily have ridden down to the little seaside town of Wells-next-the-Sea as it is only a couple of miles away and very pretty.
The house itself was spectacular, and we were entitled to 30 percent discount on the ticket price as we were at the ‘pop up’. It is open Thursday, Sunday and Monday and the family that own it still live there. We booked a tractor trailer tour which was a good laugh, and I recommend it especially as we got to see some herds of deer up close. Holkham Hall has something for everyone, and the club even have glamping tents to hire so you don't even need your own van to enjoy everything there is on offer!