What time can we arrive?
Please don’t arrive until after midday to allow the previous campers time to eat breakfast, pack up and leave.
If it is outside school holidays/weekends then we are much more flexible – drop me an email as it might be possible that you can arrive earlier.
Can I arrive later in the evening?
Yes, but some evenings Arya goes out to dog agility with Cem the wonder sheep-dog – we won’t get to Crufts if we don’t train. And she goes to bed early as well! So if you are coming later please make sure you know your pitch number and location there is a site map on the notice board by the toilet block), .
We don’t want to rush off on our departure day – can we just take our time packing up?
Yes and no. Please leave your pitch by mid-day so that new campers about to start there holiday can pitch up – people get quite cross if they can’t put their tent up when they arrive. However, outside of school holidays, if no-one else is coming onto the pitch you can stay for as long as you like and enjoy the day. Check with us to see if this is an option – generally it is.
Can we have a fire?
Yes, but you must follow our fire safety guidelines outlined in the T&Cs and the Fire Safety document. We want everyone to stay safe. All campfires must be in a fire pit that is raised off the ground so the grass doesn’t get scorched. You can bring your own or hire one from us at “Two-question cosy time”. Please return the fire pit when you are done. Please, please be super careful with your fire, I really don’t want anyone to get hurt.
Can we dump the ashes from our fire or BBQ in the bins or in the hedges?
No! Do not put the ashes in the rubbish bins, on the ground or in the hedgerow. There are metal bins next to the cafe for ashes or embers from your fire or BBQ. Only adults should empty ashes into the ash bins – should I even have to say this?
What is this ‘two-question cosy time” thing?
Very good question. Everyday we hire out fire pits and picnic tables, and sell fire wood, home-reared sausages, bacon, eggs, honey and home-made jam next to the Blue Rabbit Café on the campsite (see map). Times vary as Arya goes agility training with her dog twice a week
Saturday to Wednesday 4.30-5.30 ;
Thursday 3.30 – 4.15
Friday 6-7.30
Sometimes when the site isn’t busy Arya goes to the beach (or forgets about Cosy-time) – you can always text her in these situations and she will sort you out.
Feel free to ask Arya why on earth she calls the little shop this with one of your questions – or ask something else – extra points for totally random, quirky questions
What do you sell?
I sell home-reared free range sausages, bacon and eggs from our super happy, rarebreed pigs and hens; home-made jams, jellies, chutneys and honey; firewood and fire lighters. The sausages and bacon are frozen so allow some time for them to defrost. If you want eggs you can also just help yourself from the stall in the front drive and put the money in the honesty box.
Wait! Who is this Arya person? Where is Claire?
Don’t worry, i am still me, but with a new name – i changed it in autumn 2025 – I know it is confusing. I am confused and still getting used to it. I won’t mind if you call me Claire (but will be super happy inside if you call me Arya)
Do you have opening times?
Arya is around at “Two-question Cosy Time” – see above. If you have any questions you can also text Arya on 07867488955 and she will get back to you. If there is an emergency then text or phone at any time – you can also call our landline 01394411247 or knock at the back of the house.
Do you allow group bookings?
Yes, but please remember that Shottisham Campsite is a quiet, relaxed campsite. We want everyone to have a good time and that means we all have to be considerate of other campers. People like to enjoy being in our lovely rural laid-back environment so be mindful of other campers and keep noise to a minimum after 10pm as people like to sleep. It is easy if you are in a group and you are having a great time to forget that sound carries and tents are very thin!If If I have to come and ask you to be more thoughtful and considerate of other campers I won’t be the happiest bunny in the box!
Also don’t forget to look after your children – I shouldn’t have to mention this but ….
If you would like to make a group booking you will need to pay for all the pitches at the same time in order to reserve them. We ask that one member of the group take on the booking responsibility and email us with the booking details including how many pitches you want and for how many nights.
You mentioned kids – is it fine for them to just run around the campsite with no-one keeping an eye on them?
Not really. The campsite is a safe place and there is easy access to the village playground and a little wood which makes it a great place for kids to play – we love children having adventures, but we also like them to be safe. There are all sorts of potential risks in life so it is always a good idea to look after your children and the campsite is no exception. Definitely do not let them climb on or over the fences and gates into the smallholding – you can all come to the organised animal feeding extravaganza instead.
But you seem really good with kids Arya – won’t you look after our them for us?
No – too busy training my dog and thinking about getting a puppy.
What is this “animal feeding extravaganza”?
Animal feeding is the highlight of the week and of lots of people’s holidays. It happens at 5.30pm on Saturdays. Meet by the smallholding gates. Expect to get up close and personal with chickens, pigs, alpacas, and goats while Arya offers a rather sardonic and often eye-opening commentary on farm life. There is always a safe feeding option and the more adventurous version.
Can our children come without shoes on? (no really, I had to include this as so many kids were coming without shoes!)
No. It is a working farm with sharp things, poo and animals with heavy feet or pecky beaks – wear shoes – wear good, safe shoes. Arya learnt the hard way not to wear her sandals while flipping over a sheep – she always has boots on now! She will judge your footwear
Can I send my kids to animal feeding without coming myself?
No, the insurer had kittens when I said people sometimes try and do this. Animal feeding takes place on a working farm. Every children must have a grown-up with them who is prepared to look after them. Arya can’t possibly look after 20 children, herself and the animals. Plus animal feeding is fun, why wouldn’t you want to come and cuddle a baby goat?
Someone near us is making a lot of noise and it is after 10pm.
OK, that’s not very nice. If this is happening, please come and let me know. Even if it is late and we are asleep, please let me know as I don’t want your stay here to be ruined by inconsiderate people. I will get up and try to sort it out. I often can’t hear noisy people so it is up to you to let us know. If you don’t want to let me know in the middle of the night (and that is really sweet of you – thank you) please let me know in the morning.
Can we play our radio or amplified music?
Maybe more considerate to use headphones as sound carries and people on nearby pitches might not like your choice of music.
Is this a noisy campsite then?
No, it is generally a very quite place full of lovely considerate, respectful people. However, although we can’t guarantee how people will behave, if there is a problem we will try and resolve it.
Help, my dog got off its lead and bit/ate one of your chickens/animals!
If this happens please let Arya know as soon as possible. We do understand that accidents happen, but we don’t want our animals to suffer. A chicken that has been bitten by a dog might take days to die and if you don’t let me know I can’t help the animal. Do not assume that if your dog chased a chicken it didn’t get it, or only pulled a few feathers out – it probably bit the chicken too and if untreated it’s wound will get infected with maggots which is a vile way to die. Please keep dogs on a secure lead while on the campsite and don’t let children walk dogs unsupervised. Definitely don’t let them near the alpacas as these are guard animals and will kick an unknown dog if it comes in the field.
But my dog is really friendly with chickens, people, alpacas, or it is very well trained or old, do I still have to have them on a lead?
Yes. If people see your dog off a lead, they might let their not so friendly or well behaved dog off the lead and that would upset Arya as she is very scared of dogs.
But your dog isn’t on a lead
No he isn’t all the time, but when I go to farms or other people’s campsites he is. He is also fantastically well trained (although naughty at times). It is also my campsite and it is one of the perks of owning it – the down side is I have to sort out blockages in the sewage system!
Speaking of blocked toilets – the toilets are blocked, what should I do?
Please let Arya know as soon as possible – it is Arya’s favourite job to unblock the sewage system – no really – she is very good at it and has been practising for years – since she was a child! Seriously though we are not on mains drainage and have a series of cesspits and weepers. If something blocks the system we need to know asap so we can put it right – this is obviously the best bit about running a campsite.
Can I put weird stuff down the toilet?
No! Only human waste and toilet paper can go down the toilets. Absolutely no wetwipes, clothes, toys, nappies, whole toilet rolls, kittens or puppies. If you put anything other than toilet paper and poo down the toilet it will block the syste,m and to be honest Arya doesn’t actually like unblocking the sewage that much!
Do you have a place to empty chemical toilets?
Yes we do – it is next to the green toilet block. If it is blocked please let Arya know. Please, please please do not put any kind of wet wipe, cloths, toy tractors (yes really) or weird gel-type chemical toilet freshener things down there – tey get stuck i the horizontal pipe and it is a right drama to get them out.
Do you have internet access?
Yes – and it is free. It is not brilliant and it does depend on how many people are using it. The wifi network name and password will have been emailed to you in the booking ‘confirmation email’. I am trying to improve the wifi but I have the technological abilities of a recently deceased hamster and the company that installed the system and run it won’t answer the phone or emails – not helpful. I will try harder this year.
We bought lots of cheap camping rubbish from the petrol station as it seemed like a good idea at the time – we don’t want it anymore can we dump it in your bins?
No.
Can we dump it next to the bins?
No. Please take it all home with you – the bins are only for daily rubbish not disposing of sofas, BBQs, chairs, tents, duvets, carpets or any other crap.
Our disposable gas bottle is empty and we don’t think we should put it in the rubbish bin, can we put it next to the bin.
You are right, you can’t put gas canisters in the bin, but please don’t put it next to the bin – the rubbish collectors won’t take them away. take all gas canisters home with you and recycle them where you bought them or at your local recycling centre.
Do you have a place to empty gray water from washing up?
Yes we do – it is at the front the green toilet block.
Would you mind if we connect one of your hoses to a water tap and wash our car and caravan?
Err yes – we have very low water pressure so this would mean that other people having a shower wouldn’t have such a nice experience. Plus it is a little wasteful of water and we have a water meter.
Do you have a fridge/freezer that we can use?
Yes we do – they are in front of the black toilet/shower buildings and are always available. There are only a couple of small fridge/freezers so we encourage you to bring your own cool box and use ice blocks to keep it cold.
Can we fill up the fridges with our big shop for the weekend?
That’s not very considerate – there may be a lot of families all wanting access to a very small space so please try to be thoughtful and don’t fill up the entire fridge with your food
Do you have somewhere we can charge our phones?
Yes, you can plug them in to the charging points above the fridge/freezer outside the toilet block.
Oh can we just plug our cool-box or fridge in here as well?
No, these sockets are only for charging phones (and or inflating mattresses) – do not plug other electrical devices in here – Arya will just unplug them and cry inside.
Do you sell Calor Gas (LPG)?
Yes we do sell most standard sizes – If you can plan ahead then please come by at “Two-question cosy time” – see above – with your empty bottle. I am also understand if you are in the middle of cooking breakfast or dinner and have just run out – just text me and if I am here I’ll sort you out for gas so you can finish making your food.
Can I charge my electric vehicle anywhere on site?
No. My electrician had actual kittens when I asked him this – twice. We do not have a sufficient electrical supply to provide this service. If you do charge your electric car our electrician has told us it will overload our system and then there will be no electricity or hot water for anyone on the campsite until our electrician fixes it. The electrician is great, but scary so don’t upset them. Our electric pitch fee does not include car-charging. Car charging places are available at Honey and Harvey Cafe in Melton, at Tesco in Martlesham, Park & Ride in Martlesham and in various carparks in Woodbridge. I am planning on getting more solar panels and will try and get a grant for 3-phase to be installed but it is hard – being rural does have some disadvantages …. not enough electric, no mains drainage, rubbish phone connection …. but amazing starry skies, beautiful walks, bird song – and all the kittens ….
We have arrived and you are not here!
Sometimes I go out and swim in the sea or do agility with my dog. Check your email as it should have all the information you need to find your pitch. Or text me 07867488955 and I will sort out any issues as soon as possible.
We want to come by bicycle or walk to your campsite.
Fabulous – we offer a discounted rate for people who don’t use cars/motorbikes to come to the site. We also always try to make space for people who are on foot or bicycles if they just turn up.
Do you actually have any rules here?
Well we didn’t and then my insurers also had kittens and told me to put together some guidelines or rules in our T&Cs so we did. Mainly I ask everyone to stay safe and be mindful of others, so keep dogs on a lead, adhere to the fire safety rules and don’t make noise after 10pm. We kind of trust people to be kind and considerate of their fellow campers and of us.
Where are the water points?
Water points are where the red posts are (one is near the gates to the smallholding & the other is near the green building). There are no water points at the black toilet/shower buildings.
Oh no, my electric lead doesn’t reach the electric hook up point!
All of our electric hook up points are within 25 meters of the pitch so a standard 25 meter cable should reach. If you don’t have a 25 meter cable then we do have a few available to loan out. Please text Arya 0786748895 and she will sort you out. Please return them when you are done. Sorry, I didn’t think about this issue when digging the trenches and putting in the ehu boxes.
This is a good cable to have and this is a good hook-up extension lead
We would like to leave a review. Where & how can we do this?:
check out the reviews at
and also on google or pitch-up
What is your cancellation policy?
Please note that booking payments are non-refundable. If, for any reason, you cancel your booking, then we cannot offer a refund. If, due to unforeseen events beyond our reasonable control we have to close the campsite (including but not limited to the government closing our campsite) we also cannot offer any refunds. In this situation you can transfer your booking to any available dates later in the calendar year. If the dates available don’t work for you then the booking will be deemed cancelled and no refund will be offered. It is not an option to transfer your booking to the next season. We strongly recommend you take out holiday insurance to compensate you in these circumstances if you are concerned.
If you want to change your booking, you must let us know by email. Whilst we will do our best to accommodate you, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to meet any request for changes.