The Anxious Book Worm

Campsite Review: The Firs Club Campsite 🚐

Location Details

Site Name: The Firs Club Campsite
Location: Crich Lane, Belper

Overview

⭐ Overall Rating: 9/10

This was such a beautiful site and definitely one of the better locations we’ve stayed at so far, particularly because there were actually places we could walk to straight from the campsite.

Now, anyone who knows me knows that I like things to be organised.

Planned.

Booked.

Preferably labelled.

So naturally, I booked the wrong campsite.

And not just slightly wrong.

I booked one in Southampton.

Oops.

Thankfully, I spotted my little geographical error a few days before we were due to travel rather than when we actually arrived in Southampton wondering where the Derbyshire hills had gone.

Crisis averted.

The Firs booked.

Normal service resumed.

First Impressions

We loved it from the moment we arrived.

The site itself was lovely, but the location…

Oh. My. Goodness.

If you’ve never been to Derbyshire before, please go immediately.

Rolling green hills everywhere.

Beautiful countryside.

Peace and quiet.

Little villages.

Birds everywhere.

And definitely not me sitting in the passenger seat looking at Rightmove wondering how much it would cost to move there…

Ben has learnt to ignore me when I start saying:

“Imagine living there…”

Every three minutes.

Pitch & Setup

Well.

I don’t want to speak too soon…

But we bloody smashed this one.

Our setup?

10/10.

And possibly the biggest achievement of all…

WE DIDN’T EVEN ARGUE.

We just naturally fell into our little roles, knew what needed doing and got on with it.

Who are these people?!

Our new outdoor kitchen station was also an absolute game changer.

Everything had somewhere to live, cooking was easier and — perhaps most importantly — I didn’t hear…

“Kaaaaate… where is this?”

ONCE.

Not once.

I think we’ve finally cracked it.

There was, however, one minor issue.

The pegs.

Apparently the ground was a little too hard for Benjamin, who nearly destroyed our poor mallet trying to hammer them in.

Personally, I think he just needs more training at the gym.

Ben disagrees.

Apparently we need a drill and the proper drill bit for putting awning pegs into hard ground.

Fine.

This is supposed to be relaxing after all.

I’ll buy the bloody drill bit.

Facilities

The facilities were great.

They were a little more old-fashioned compared with Wyatts Covert, but they were clean and well maintained, which is ultimately what matters.

Obviously, I couldn’t possibly write this review without consulting our resident shower expert.

So on the drive home, I asked Ben for his official verdict.

The shower was…

Powerful.

And apparently the “shower-to-head ratio” is something he’s now learning to adapt to.

Excellent news.

Hopefully this means my ears will no longer bleed listening to a detailed analysis of campsite shower dimensions every journey home.

Progress all round.

Location & Things To Do

This is where The Firs really stood out for us.

We loved being able to leave the van where it was and actually walk somewhere.

On our first night, we headed to the pub.

Lovely.

Easy.

Very civilised.

Then we had to walk back.

UP THE HILL.

I don’t know who decided to casually install Mount Everest between the pub and the campsite, but that walk nearly finished me off.

Still, I was distracted by all the fresh raspberries and blueberries growing along the way, so apparently nearly dying on a hill is fine if there are snacks.

The main reason we’d chosen this area was because we were heading to Bloodstock Festival on the Sunday for a day of heavy metal.

Because nothing says peaceful campervan weekend in the Derbyshire countryside quite like finishing it with a heavy metal festival.

Balance.

Food & Coffee Nearby ☕

There were plenty of options around for food and coffee, but we decided to save our proper coffee stop for the journey home.

We headed into Ashbourne and found the gorgeous Little Shed.

Such a beautiful little coffee shop and exactly the sort of place we love finding on our travels.

Lovely surroundings.

Lovely coffee.

A perfect little post-camping debrief.

There was also a slightly grumpy gentleman and an incident involving his dog biting a woman.

The dog.

Not the man.

That’s an entirely different blog post.

Moving swiftly on…

What We Loved ❤️

Honestly, so much.

The location was gorgeous.

Our setup finally felt like it properly worked.

We slept AMAZINGLY.

And yes, the proper memory foam pillows came with us this time.

We have officially decided that comfort is one area of campervan life we’re simply not willing to compromise on.

We woke up feeling refreshed rather than like our necks had been folded into an origami swan overnight.

Everything just felt easier.

We knew where things were.

We knew how we wanted to use the space.

We were comfortable.

And then came perhaps our greatest achievement yet…

We got the awning back into its bag.

WITHOUT me having to collapse on top of it and use my entire body weight to force the zip closed.

If that’s not campervan progress, I don’t know what is.

What We’d Change 🛠️

Honestly, there isn’t much anymore.

Which feels slightly terrifying considering our first few trips produced shopping lists the length of my arm.

The main issue this time?

Those bloody pegs.

They annoyed Ben so much that the mallet nearly became a casualty of war.

So yes, Benjamin…

I will order the drill bit.

Hopefully next time you can effortlessly drill the pegs into the ground and conserve your energy for more important activities.

Like analysing shower pressure.

Other than that?

I think we’re there.

Famous last words.

Would We Stay Again?

Absolutely.

We loved the site and we loved Derbyshire.

I’d happily come back and spend more time exploring the surrounding villages, walking, cycling and finding more little coffee shops.

Although next time I’m booking it, I will double-check we’re heading to Derbyshire and not accidentally spending the weekend on the south coast.

Final Thoughts

We just loved it here.

The location was spot on.

Our setup finally feels like our setup.

We know what we need.

We know what we actually use.

We know what can stay at home.

And we’re learning how we want to live when we’re away in our little campervan.

Every trip feels less like we’re “trying camping” and more like this has genuinely become part of our life.

And something else we’ve noticed is that these weekends give us time to reflect.

Life slows down a little.

We talk more.

We sit outside.

We listen to the birds.

And inevitably, we talk about Millie.

About how much she would have loved all of this.

The countryside.

The walks.

Being with us constantly.

And yes, sometimes those conversations make us sad.

We wish more than anything that she was physically here to experience this chapter with us.

But they also make us reminisce.

We talk about the funny things she did, the adventures we had together and the incredible life she shared with us.

In a strange way, slowing down gives us the space to remember her properly.

So she’s still part of these adventures.

Just in a slightly different way.

And as we sat surrounded by those Derbyshire hills, feeling rested, comfortable and completely at home in our little van, I realised something…

We’re not newbies anymore.

Okay…

Maybe we’re slightly still newbies.

We do still need a drill bit.

But we’re getting pretty bloody good at this. 🚐🤍