peterd13
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I have been using Wild Camping Locations for a number of years now. Having always hated the whole concept of close communal living epitomized by campsites, using these really appeal. My wife and I go away a lot in our van, which means we have used a large number in locations across the UK. We have never been moved on or experienced any difficulty whatsoever apart from the odd hiccup of difficulty in finding one or two of the obscure ones, that is, until this last Bank Holiday weekend when we tried a pub stopover for the first time in the Peak District.
Wanting to find somewhere to eat and to stay for the night we decided to kill two birds with one stone and the Angler's Rest at Millers Dale came up on the Tom Tom as the closest. We duly turned up and announced ourselves to a young lady behind the bar and, I thought, made it clear that we wanted to order a meal and stay the night. We had noticed, when we drove in that there was already a Chausson in one corner of the car park. This had encouraged us into thinking that it would be a good location. I have to say that the meal was excellent and good value for money. We polished off a nice bottle of Merlot between us in the anticipation of not having to drive anywhere afterwards.
We duly paid for the meal and decided to retire for the night in the van. We had hardly settled in when there was a rap on the door. On opening it the publican appeared with the exclamation: "You're not intending to stay the night are you?" Our impression was that he thought that we had just turned up and decided to stay. We explained that we had spoken to the young lady behind the bar to which he retorted: "Oh her, she's only been with us a week!" He then went on to explain that he was limited to one van a night (by whom he didn't explain), but muttered something about 'the neighbours'. He had no intention of being flexible about this so we were forced to move on and find somewhere else.
This whole episode left a sour taste and we most certainly will not be returning to the Angler's Rest and I doubt if we will try any other pub stopover again. I just wondered if anyone else had encountered this arbitrary 'one van' rule because I suspect that the publican made this one up when he thought he had caught us trying to stay without permission. It's his loss in the end. With pubs struggling for custom these days I would have thought that you cannot afford to turn people away. In future, when in the area, we will use one of the other excellent wild camping stopovers and eat at another restaurant or cook our own food.
Wanting to find somewhere to eat and to stay for the night we decided to kill two birds with one stone and the Angler's Rest at Millers Dale came up on the Tom Tom as the closest. We duly turned up and announced ourselves to a young lady behind the bar and, I thought, made it clear that we wanted to order a meal and stay the night. We had noticed, when we drove in that there was already a Chausson in one corner of the car park. This had encouraged us into thinking that it would be a good location. I have to say that the meal was excellent and good value for money. We polished off a nice bottle of Merlot between us in the anticipation of not having to drive anywhere afterwards.
We duly paid for the meal and decided to retire for the night in the van. We had hardly settled in when there was a rap on the door. On opening it the publican appeared with the exclamation: "You're not intending to stay the night are you?" Our impression was that he thought that we had just turned up and decided to stay. We explained that we had spoken to the young lady behind the bar to which he retorted: "Oh her, she's only been with us a week!" He then went on to explain that he was limited to one van a night (by whom he didn't explain), but muttered something about 'the neighbours'. He had no intention of being flexible about this so we were forced to move on and find somewhere else.
This whole episode left a sour taste and we most certainly will not be returning to the Angler's Rest and I doubt if we will try any other pub stopover again. I just wondered if anyone else had encountered this arbitrary 'one van' rule because I suspect that the publican made this one up when he thought he had caught us trying to stay without permission. It's his loss in the end. With pubs struggling for custom these days I would have thought that you cannot afford to turn people away. In future, when in the area, we will use one of the other excellent wild camping stopovers and eat at another restaurant or cook our own food.
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