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Reviews of Field 51 Campsite Apollo Activities Centre
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Field 51 Campsite Apollo Activities Centre
Springfield Farm
Old Parkbury Lane
St Albans
Hertfordshire (Browse area)
AL2 2DY
Tel: 01923 850317
Visit their website Check Digital TV coverage See Weather Forecast
   
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Pitches: 30
Open: 01/01/2024 to 31/12/2024
01/01/2025 to 31/12/2025
Rating: 
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Photos (17)
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 Tent Pitches |
 No Caravans |
 No Motorhomes |
 No Campervans |
 No Glamping Units |
 No Statics for Hire |
 No Statics for Sale |
 No Seasonal Pitches |
 No Electric Hookups |
 No Hardstandings |
 No Fully Serviced Pitches |
 Show Full Facilities |
| Who's it for |
 Families Welcome |
 Not Members Only |
 Rallies Welcome |
 Not Naturist Site |
 Dogs Welcome |
 No Dogs Allowed |
 Groups Welcome |
 Motorbikers Welcome |
| Facilities |
 Toilet Facilities |
 No Showers |
 Washing Up |
 No Bathroom |
 No Baby Changing |
 No Laundry |
 Drinking Water |
 Disabled Friendly |
 No Chemical Disposal |
 No Battery Charging |
 No Gas Exchange |
 No Recycling Facilities |
 No Kitchen Facilities |
 No Freezer / Fridge |
 No Motorhome Point |
 No Wifi Access |
 Shop <1 mile |
 Bar On Site |
 Restaurant or Cafe or Takeaway <1 mile |
| Activities |
 No Playground |
 No TV Room |
 No Games Room |
 No Evening Ents |
 Fishing <5 miles |
 No Wild Swimming |
 Indoor Pool <5 miles |
 No Outdoor Pool |
 No Horse Riding |
 No Cycle Hire |
 No Golf |
 Tennis <5 miles |
 No Beach |
 No Watersports |
 No Boat Launch |
| Other Features |
 No Sea Views |
 Not Working Farm |
 Campfires Allowed |
 Open All Year |
 No Waterside Pitches |
 Public Transport <1 mile |
 Offroad Dog Walk On Site or Direct Access |
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Reviews:
22 in total, now showing 11 to 20
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| Date of Visit: March 2015 |
Unit: Tent |
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| Reviewer: Heidihi |
3 reviews from this member |
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 Nice, peaceful little camp for a couple of nights away. Owner was welcoming and friendly. There were only a couple of other families camping when we were there and we enjoyed an evening by the communal fire and use of the owner's barbeque.
The shower situation was a little strange (curtained area in corner of 'doggy hydropool' building with lots of glass: not sure if we could lock the sliding doors?) but I did enjoy a good long shower. Would not be keen on repeating it during busier times though. :o
A little odd that I've read some complaining of the noise. I found it very quiet considering where it's located! (though we did have a bit of a 'mare finding it! lol) 
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| Date of Visit: July 2014 |
Unit: Tent |
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| Reviewer: Marcode |
1 review from this member |
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Our group: 6 tents, 12 adults, 5 children & 2 cats
The camping area itself was amazing: the grass well tendered and the ground soft. The M25 is only a short distance away & you can hear the constant sounds of traffic though this does become white noise and you eventually don't notice it.
Toilet facilities were not as good as the description suggests, I'd rate them as acceptable.
The showers were also not as good as the description suggest; there is a dog pool right next to the showers, the water temperature was not constant (either burning or cold). I'd rate the showers as poor.
There is no wash-up area, so had to boil water to was the dishes. It would be nice to have a wash-up area with running hot water.
We were encouraged to have the breakfast that is provided by the side after a mouth watering description by the owner. We tried it on the Sunday & regretted not making our own breakfast. Again, owner's description did not match the real thing.
Garbage collection was good; a quad-bike-type vehicle came to collect our waste at least once a day.
There are only 3 communal fire-pits on the campsite. If you are going as a group and want to keep to yourselves, this might be a slight downer
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| Date of Visit: June 2014 |
Unit: Tent |
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| Reviewer: Sparklies |
1 review from this member |
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This was our first ever family (with our four young children!) camping trip with our own tent (although pre children both of us had camped before and we did 'glamping' a few years back) We live nearby and in case anything went horribly wrong we decided, having read the great reviews, to give Springfield Park a try for two nights.
It's difficult to compare the facilities to other sites as it has been a long while since we last camped, but they seemed perfectly adequate and were clean. There were two toilets and a shower in a 'portacabin' style arrangement with tiling on the walls. No mirror on the washbasin but that's not a big deal. There were also other showers next to the canine hydrotherapy pool but we did not investigate those.
There's no EHU or playground, but there's lots and lots of place for children to play as the owner likes to keep the middle of the field clear for games. He offers archery too but we did not have time in the end to give it a go.
There was constant noise from the M25 but it's a personal thing as to whether it bothers you or not. In terms of disturbing me, no, it did not (it's like a white noise) but if you want peace and quiet and want to hear birdsong in silence then yes, it's an issue. And in the middle of the night it did keep me awake as I'm not used to traffic noise at home but everybody is different. Having said that, the location is pretty great in terms of geography and definitely a great place to stay if you're visiting London. Unfortunately there is not much nearby in terms of shops unless you're intending to drive - there's a fabulous Sainsburys at Colney Fields about ten minutes away.
The owner was very friendly and helpful with the tractor getting our stuff to and from the car, and came round to check we were okay etc. The breakfast (a rather spicy sausage and egg in a bap!) and tea/coffee in the morning were brilliant and a very novel idea.
There are fabulous locations for pitches - really individual nooks and crannies and the grass was kept in an amazing state. It's very spacious and the owner told us he does not take too many bookings as he wants people to have privacy, which is very important to us. The stream and ducks/geese and woodland all around made for a truly picturesque location.
Whilst our first night was great, unfortunately our second night was marred by another group of campers (at least six teenage girls) pitching practically on top of us whilst we were out for the day. Given we had chosen this campsite based on it being described as spacious and lots of privacy (and reviews suggested the fields divided campers into different groups) this was extremely annoying and upsetting. The rest of the field was practically empty yet there was not much distance between our guy ropes - it was like they were in our tent with us in terms of sound. There was also no responsible adult in the unit with them, she was camped a good 30m distant, at least 4-5 times further away from their tent than we were. Several times we had to complain to her (waking her up!) about their noise levels (screeching, swearing until at least 10pm, then loud talk that continued long after midnight) and it ruined what would otherwise have been a really lovely stay.
My reasons for mentioning it is that the owner did not seem too fussed when I complained to him the following morning and pretty much shrugged and commented along the lines of 'what can you do?'. Given when we arrived he was pretty clear which field was for which group (including one for teenage groups) which seems like a really good idea, I was amazed they were in 'our' field (for young families) at all, let alone right in our faces. There was no responsible adult in their unit as per site T&C either. So I am very surprised he had not told them to move to another spot and enforced the responsible adult rule.
As relatively inexperienced campers we were unsure of the etiquette over asking them to move (or asking the owner to tell them to) so we had said nothing at the time, especially as it was near dusk when we returned from our day out so little time for them (or us, especially as we needed to cook dinner!) to move by that point.
So in summary, a really lovely campsite but I wish the rules had been better enforced as these other campers ruined our stay. I realise we were (hopefully) just unlucky and in the future we will complain to the owner if this happens again as we now know having talked to other campers that it's not really acceptable. However I am also surprised nothing was said to them by the owner when they pitched given space and privacy is a site feature and he would have been aware of where they were pitching as he was around quite a lot.
So as long as you don't get really odd and selfish people pitching right in your face you'll have a lovely time here!
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| Date of Visit: April 2014 |
Unit: Tent |
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| Reviewer: Amcderm |
1 review from this member |
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Spacious flat site surrounded by woods with a large stream running through. Just returned from a two night camp with my partner and two nine year olds. My son said it was the second best campsite he has ever stayed at and as a seasoned camper that is a good endorsement! The owner offered first class customer service and was a camper himself so seems genuinely interested in making sure his guests have a good time. After a hectic day visiting London on the Saturday (half an hour on the train from nearby station) we did not arrive back until gone 10pm and thought we were too late for the camp fire wood we had ordered the previous evening (£5 for a wheel barrow load!)but the owner had started the fire for us and the wood was piled waiting for us to add - Great stuff!
Will definitely return to this site and next time will try the on site archery and air rifle shooting.
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| Date of Visit: February 2014 |
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| Reviewer: DaveHardy1 |
1 review from this member |
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This weekend my girlfriend and I stayed at the Campsite to celebrate valentines day. There were another two couples who must have thought the same. The weather was cold and wet, however, the owner got a fire going for us in the evening and we all had a great time. We all found the owner to be very approachable and helpful as we were first time campers.
Toilets and showers were very clean and even brought coffee over to our tents in the morning as it was so cold the previous night - fantastic touch.
This is the first time we had visited St Albans and were amazed at how vibrant a city it is. We will definitely be visiting again.
We were made very comfortable throughout our stay and will be highly recommending this campsite to all our friends - even the first time campers!
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| Date of Visit: July 2013 |
Unit: Tent |
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| Reviewer: Colin Irwin |
1 review from this member |
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My son asked for a camping birthday party, so I had a look around for sites close to where I live in Hemel Hempstead and stumbled upon Springfield Park.
The party isn't until mid August, but I decided it would a good idea to do a recce to make sure it would be a good location to take 9 kids camping, so I booked in for a night in a 3 man tent with myself, my son and one of his friends.
The site is pretty easy to find - you drive onto Ventura Industrial Estate and, as the paved road bears to the left you see a track ahead that goes over a bridge. Follow the track for about half a mile and you find the site.
The owner and the members of staff I met were all friendly and incredibly helpful. They offered to load my gear into a trailer and take it to the pitch for us, and also offered me assistance with pitching the tent if I needed it.
The main camping field is enormous, with various nooks and crannies around the edges that people can pitch in. The result of this is that although there were about 10 tents in close proximity to my pitch, I could only really see 3 of them. This gives a nice uncrowded feel to the site.
To cover the amenities:
* Toilet block is a Portakabin style building with laminate flooring. It has 2 toilets and a wash hand basin in it and is spick & span. The shower in that block is now out of use. There are foundations for a second block.
* The showers are in separate building that also houses a small swimming/plunge pool.
* Fresh water is available from a tap near to the area where the toilet block is.
* Pot washing facilities are basic - there's a horse trough under the cold water tap. When I asked the owner about this he said 'just take a bucket or washing up bowl and fill it with hot water from the showers. ' A decent compromise, I thought.
* Waste bins - there are bins all over the site that are changed pretty regularly.
* Fire pits - As well as a large communal fire, there are a number of firepits recessed into the edge of the site for a private campfire/cook out.
Overall I found the stay to be relaxing and enjoyable, with loads of space for kids to play and explore and an easygoing, helpful staff.
There is noise from the M25 but, as another reviewer stated, it's more of a white noise sound that you filter out. It's certainly no louder than some fast moving rivers that I have camped by.
We'll be back in August for the kids party, but I think we'll also pop over pretty regularly as a night under canvas only 8 miles from home is a very convenient option.
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| Date of Visit: July 2013 |
Unit: Tent |
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| Reviewer: Chrissamsdad |
10 reviews from this member |
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Well, first I can echo what everyone has said about it being very friendly: the owner and staff can't do enough to help and the communal bonfire and barbecue is great for meeting your fellow campers. I don't think I've ever socialised so much at a campsite in our 30 years of camping.
The barbecue was possibly a bit dear at £15 per head, but you do get a very nice and big plateful of food for that. If you compare it to going out to eat locally it's not bad, especially as you can all drink and not have to worry about getting back to the site.
The site itself is lovely, there are lots of quiet private and sheltered places in the bushes and trees. And huge open areas for games.
It was a shame the small river had dried up due to the heatwave, as it would have been great for kids to play in.
We actually chose it because we wanted a cheap visit to London. It's about 10 mins from the nearest railway station (Radlett) which has free parking and there are several trains each hour, taking about 20mins to St Pancras. With a railcard it cost £10 return for a family of 4.
Best of all is that there's no checkout time, they're quite happy if you don't pack up until evening time, so you can have a weekend break for £30. We arrived late on Friday - about 11pm and the owner didn't bat an eyelid, just loaded up our stuff into his trailer and found us a nice spot, then strung up lanterns while we put our tent up.
We'll definitely be back, next time it would be nice to spend some time on site just chilling out and looking around St Albans. This time we'll make sure we have enough booze to stay around the campfire drinking into the small hours!
There is a fair bit of traffic noise from the M25 nearby, but it's white noise like surf so it's not a problem unless you're particularly sensitive to it. In fact, it drowns out other noise, like people laughing, dogs barking, owls hooting etc, that at a very quiet site, would wake you up. This is the only time I've slept without earplugs while camping.
The shower and toilets are OK (although a lock on the shower door would be nice considering there's only about a foot of floor space in front of the shower in which to get dressed and It kept opening while I was trying to get dried and dressed, still it kept the women in the queue amused).
The owner said they're building another shower block soon and you can see the foundations already so perhaps a bit more space?
The only facility I missed was a sink for washing up.
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| Date of Visit: June 2013 |
Unit: Tent |
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| Reviewer: Lucas Barnes |
1 review from this member |
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Been to this campsite once now and I'm going back for my anniversary - its that good. The owner is a great guy and to be honest, I'm hesitating to tell everyone just how good this place is and hope it remains unspoilt and uncrowded.
The location is incredible; so close to the M25 and M1 and a very shallow stream running past the camping area.
Really friendly people and beautifully maintained by the hard working staff. The toilet and shower block was clean every time I went in and seems to have staff working around the clock keeping these clean.
The open field was great and kept in an amazing condition and is by far the best Ive ever seen at a campsite. Loved the communal openfire and even made a few friends here.
The archery we did was fantastic and the morning breakfast was really tasty. The fact it was brought to us with a cup of coffee was just icing on the cake. Didnt try the evening BBQ, but it sure smelt nice! Ill definitely be giving the BBQ a go next time.
Going back for a second time within a month!
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| Date of Visit: June 2013 |
Unit: Tent |
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| Reviewer: Paul freeman |
4 reviews from this member |
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I book here for a father and son camp with my 10 year old,
When we arrived we were welcomed and our gear was transported to our pitch and were shown around the site, we had the whole site to ourselves to start with so we could do as we pleased,
We found some wood and had a camp fire and more campers joined us as they arrived.
The following day we explored the area and collected wood as we were going to cook on the fire that night. The owner took my son off for some great archery with 3D targets he really enjoyed himself.
The owner came over for a chat saw that I was cutting wood said leave that I will get that cut and turned up with a chainsaw and cut all my wood for me. We had a great camp wonderful showers and toilets.
I would recommend this site to anyone as I know that will be really well looked after.
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| Date of Visit: June 2013 |
Unit: Tent |
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| Reviewer: Firesrus |
1 review from this member |
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Positives:
We received a lovely welcome,
Children were even taking a turn at driving the tractor!
A communal fire enabled mingling with other campers,
'alcoves' in the bushes (nettles) around the fields perimeter (to pitch tents in) provided some sense of privacy,
Showers were warm and maintained temperature as it would at home and were in a relatively clean block.
Grass was as short as a golf course.
Negatives:
£5 for a tasty breakfast bap (that wasn't served until 10:30) was steep and a little late for us - much preferred to use my own stove and food,
Walks and wildlife seem less accessible than we were led to believe,
Tricky to find initially.
Overall:
If you want to stay close to London, want peace, quiet, cleanliness, a field to play games and a fire to keep you warm, then this has all you need. If you want to explore nature a little more, then this site is a little too close to the M25 and an industrial site.
Great site in many ways. :)
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Common Questions
Is Field 51 Campsite Apollo Activities Centre child friendly? YES, it accepts children View all facilities
Where is the nearest shop to Field 51 Campsite Apollo Activities Centre? There is a shop within 1 mile View all facilities
Is Field 51 Campsite Apollo Activities Centre dog friendly? YES View all facilities
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