A good campsite near Poole in Dorset

South Lytchett Manor Library 

Despite the best efforts of South West Trains I successfully travelled to Sutton and back to see the aforementioned Scrooge production which was great fun. Both my sister and niece were fabulous, of course, and I was pleased to see that three of the four performances were totally sold out!

We're at South Lytchett Manor campsite, just outside Poole in Dorset at the moment. The site is about a ten minute drive from the ferry terminal which is perfect for us as our boat leaves for France early tomorrow morning. As well as the convenient location, this is a really nice site too. It was named the AA Campsite of the Year for 2016 and is affiliated to the Camping And Caravanning Club although you don't need to be members to pitch up here. We got a very warm welcome on arrival and were allocated a wide hardstanding pitch. I was particularly glad of that with the incessant rain last night!

South Lytchett Manor has a well stocked and reasonably priced shop with a games room alongside and the wonderful Library Phone Box pictured above. I took the opportunity to swap a couple of books so if you fancy reading Asa Larsson or Witi Ihimaera, copies of one each of their books are here right now! There's plenty of other facilities here too. The shower blocks are well maintained and heated, although there is loud music playing all the time. We also got a free wifi code each and the signal strength is good - as far as pitch 52 at least!

If you don't have your own travelling home, South Lytchett Manor offer rental of three gorgeous Romany caravans instead. We didn't get to see inside any of them, but they look adorable from the outside. You can also hire bikes from Reception and there's a wide cycle path passing right outside the site entrance which leads off into Poole.

On a cycling note, Dave has been mooting changing his full size bike for a folder similar to mine and today took the plunge to buy one! He's got himself a Dahon Vybe D7 from Go Outdoors in Poole. He tried the bike out in the shop and was happy with it and it's offered at a good price right now - especially considering the extra 10% discount we got for showing our Camping And Caravanning Club card! We can fit both our folding bikes in the car now which means soon no longer having to lug the large bike indoors onto the bed every time we travel!

Dave on his Dahon Vybe D7 folding bike 

Dave looking cool on his new Dahon bike 

Our pitch at South Lytchett Manor