CAMPSITES | Tackeroo Campsite Cannock Chase – Review

August 18, 2020 Shell Robshaw-Bryan

Campsite Reviews, Homepage Feature, Reviews

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I set off on a last minute solo camping trip on a Friday after finishing work and settled in for a night in the forest at Tackeroo campsite, Cannock Chase. Read on for my full review.

Campsite details

Tackeroo Campsite
Chase Camping
Tackeroo
Penkridge Bank Road
Rugeley
WS15 2UA

Pitch costs

£20 per night

Site facilities

Water standpipes
Chemical toilet disposal points
Rubbish bins
Picnic benches located throughout the site
Adherence to “Go Good” Covid-19 guidelines including hand sanitiser points located throughout the site

What we thought

In case you couldn’t tell by the short site facilities section above, this is a basic, no-frills campsite, but what it lacks in facilities, it makes up for in the location.

The campsite is in the middle of a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Cannock Chase, just outside of my old home town of Stafford and somewhere I used to visit frequently for walks when I lived there, so I was delighted to learn of Tackeroo campsite and was just as delighted by the name – which I say in my head with an Australian accent.

**Chemical loo disposal, standpipe and waste bins**

Turns out I got lucky too, not only did I book online and manage to find a pitch just a few hours before arriving, but I later found out that Tackeroo had reopened following lockdown just days before.

Only an hour away from home in Cheshire, the site looked perfect nestled among the trees and utterly beautiful. I grabbed my camping essentials, packed an evening meal and some drinks in my cool box and bolted out of the door as soon as I finished work at 5.30 on Friday.

I arrived at the site in plenty of time (last arrival time is stated as 7pm on the website, but people did seem to arrive after this cut-off point) and as I drove onto the site, I was grinning ear to ear. It was exactly what I’d hoped for.

Pros

Cannock Chase makes for a stunning campsite setting
It looks and feels a bit more like a US style campground
Very popular with mountain bikers as there are great trails running through the site and close by
Lovely site warden who is super friendly and helpful
Really relaxed vibe
Amazing clear skies for stargazing
The site is mostly very flat
No extra charge for bringing a toilet tent or small gazebos

Cons

As with all campsites, sometimes you can get unlucky with anti-social guests like I did
You’ll need to bring your own toilet tent and means to wash too

Arriving on site

There’s no site office or reception, you just drive right onto the site and pitch up where you like. They request that people leave at least 6m of space between pitches, but on the date I camped there, this wasn’t an issue. The campsite was far from busy, and there were huge gaps of a good 20 metres or so between many campervans and tents.

Choosing a pitch

The site tends to attract families and mountain bikers, but there seemed to be a good mix of campers whilst I was there, most of whom were well behaved and respectful.

I purposely pitched far away from the large noisy group I drove past when scouting for a location and chose instead to make my only neighbour (about 15 metres away) a lone man in a campervan.

***The very noisy campers in the black campervan and white motorhome***

Once pitched up, later in the evening I was visited by 2 site wardens. Both very friendly and chatty, who were happy to tell me more about the site.

Turns out I chose the wrong place to pitch up. The noisy crowd were indeed noisy during the evening, but by around 10:45pm they were quiet. The same can’t be said for the innocent looking lone camper, who was joined an hour after I arrived by a friend.

Despite wearing earplugs, I was woken up at 2:10 am with angry shouting. I thought a fight was about to start the shouting was so heated. After 10 minutes of listening, I realised the men were just very drunk and obnoxiously loud. By 3am they had finally quieted down enough for me to go back to sleep.

Before I went to bed for the evening (and before my rude awakening) I went for a lovely little walk in the forest and then once back at my tent, I sat gazing up at the night sky. The skies are impressively dark there, and watching the stars through the trees felt really magical.

Although I had broken sleep, I awoke late and even at 9am the site was still pretty calm and peaceful with just the sound of kids playing. I made myself a cup of cinnamon tea and sat quietly enjoying the forest, gazing up at the trees, taking time to be still before I started to pack down.

Final thoughts

Any campsite can suffer from anti-social guests, so I think I was just unlucky. I had a wonderful night here and I can’t wait to return. It has a truly magical feel to it, but please remember, if you’re thinking of camping here, you must have your own toilet facilities.

It feels like I’ve found a truly special gem. Despite me usually favouring campsites next to rivers, lakes or the sea, Tackeroo campsite is truly beautiful, and I’ll absolutely be camping there again, but hopefully for longer next time!

Find out more about Tackeroo campsite.

DISCLOSURE | This camping trip was booked and paid for independently. We were not paid to write this review.

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Shell Robshaw-Bryan

Editor & Owner at Camping with Style

Shell loves all things travel and outdoors and is a nature-loving, comfy-camping kinda girl. Shell started the Camping with Style blog after a serious snowboarding accident which left her with a broken back. Despite this she used the outdoors and healing power of nature to aid her recovery and she continues to spend time outdoors whenever she can.

From open water swimming, snowboarding and kayaking to hill walks and meditation, Shell shares her travels and microadventures here on the blog and in various publications she's written for, Shell has a particular interest in promoting wellbeing and the many benefits of nature therapy.

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