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Does anyone know of any good tent display in or near Dorset. We have been to Forest Camping but would like to look at some more.

If not does anyone know if there are any good shows on?

Theres Campers & Leisure Ltd which is very close to Forest Camping.Its behind Oakdene Holiday Park, quite well signposted

www.campersandleisure.co.uk

Theres not much room to park but plenty to look at

Homebird

Thanks for the replies. We went to Campers and Leisure a couple of weeks ago. I think they were still finishing their displays, but it is a good place to go.

My dad has a small camper van and is also looking for an awning neither of those places had much of a choice.

Costowld Leisure did a tent exhibtion at a local school last year, I do not know if they are oding one again this year.

We have spent several Sundays doing the rounds of these places morph27 and Campers & Leisure have been head and shoulders above everybody else, including Forest, Hitch 'n' Pitch and every branch of Oswald Bailey (all advertising a tent display upstairs but all strangely with a large staff only sign at the foot of the stairs) within a twenty mile radius of Bournemouth.

Excellent prices, for instance our unit was £40 cheaper than H'n'P, loads of advice both in person and over the phone and a 10% discount on the peripherals! Could not speak highly enough of them.

No pretensions, no mucking about. Top people

Quote: Originally posted by wendle on 28/3/2008

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We went upstairs in Oswald Baileys in Poole a couple of weeks back.

They've got about 6 tents on display, nothing spectacular so i wouldn't make a special trip to visit.
Poole is our local shopping centre thats why we were there

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Just our luck Wendle !

What do you think of the Hitch 'n' Pitch place in Lagland Street? And whilst we are at it, somebody mentioned a camping shop along Castle Lane, I have never heard of one but do you know different?

I think the camping shop being refered to along Castle Lane is Cotswold Leisure. Last year they had 1 tent outside and 1 inside. They do have a small amount of camping equipment but not a lot. They mainly sell clothing.

My dad went to Hitch and Pitch in Poole last week and said hey were very helpful and even though they did not have the item he wanted were still happy to offer lots of advice. They have another shop on a campsite just outside Wimborne and I beleive have a small tent dislay there.

A quick update.

We drove out to Forest Camping today (Sunday) and they have quite a few tents up, mostly under an inch or two of water, mostly very expensive Cabanons (these did not appeal at all, very kitsch, almost 1970's drapes and curtains) but also a couple of Vangos including an Orchy 500 which looked very soggy

Loads of staff on duty but it does strike me as very pricey. For example, a single ring cooker (which we use as a benchmark for prices) was £14.99 as opposed to a tenner in C&L.

We drove back past Cotswold and they look, from the far lane of Castle Lane, more of a "lifestyle" shop than a camping gaff. Kitting out the masses for the further massacre of my beloved Hengistbury Head I suppose

A further quick update!

Went in to Cotswold yesterday and it most definitely is a "lifestyle" shop, to be fair to them they only really pay lip service to campers, and not for me. But this does lead me to a question.

This particular retailer had a single ring cooker up for grabs at a sphincter clenching £20, whilst places such as Oswald Bailey and one or two of the more "swanky" joints retail at £15. Your common or garden camping shop knocks them out for a tenner. How and why? I love capitalism and if folk are daft enough to pay double bubble then that is their fault but do people actually shop there or am I just incredibly tight fisted and people generally just look and laugh?

Also, this is more than one question, I know, how much do these things wholesale for?