This first Meet of Sheffield DA's 2020 camping season saw 10 units pitched on a flat and well-prepared site owned by and adjacent to the Royal Oak at Car Colston, a convenience of which the members took full advantage, sampling the impressive menu of real ales and well-priced traditional food.
Despite the inevitable liquid sun interruptions, there was time for a pleasant river walk and a trip to Wollaton Hall; the imposing Elizabethan mansion occupying its prominent hilltop location will be familiar to Batman fans as Wayne Manor in the 2011 film 'The Dark Knight Rises'. The 500 acre deer park not only provides a number of trails to explore but is also home to a herd of red and fallow deer, which have grazed the parkland since the fifteenth century.
Never should a gift opportunity be missed, so the canny campers took off for Lowdhams Leisureworld for early season essentials and the member offer reward of free hot drink and cake at the appropriately named Millie's Coffee Shop.
Topping off the weekend and with Mother's Day on the horizon, it was time to head for the garden centre on Sunday for a spot of shopping.
With 5 star reviews on Trip Advisor for the Royal Oak and 5 star reviews as a Camping and Caravanning Club CS location the standards were set, and Car Colston did not disappoint, for this first time visit from Sheffield DA.