Good morning campers!

The day starts bright and early at 07:00 with the early morning clean, checking the bottom, middle and top toilet blocks, ensuring they are spick and span, topping up the hand cream and arranging the flowers. The toilet blocks are now primed and fresh for the busy day ahead.

Then it’s up to the shop, receiving the delicious delivery of freshly baked bread and croissants from the local bakers. Next the newspapers… all laid out and ready. From 07:45 we start seeing the happy faces of our first visitors. The shop officially opens at 08:00, now fully prepared for the morning rush. Guests start flooding in, eager for their newspapers, croissants, bacon and eggs – we are tortured later by the smell of cooking whilst touring the park!

The phones start ringing with guests searching for their perfect holiday, desperate to find a spot for the next bank holiday weekend. The next guest on the phone is after everything available in the local area – we are tourist information one minute, camping connoisseurs the next and 5 minutes later we are Google maps! It is a very diverse job and involves everything from pushing caravans to repatriating lost children and naming ducks!

Then a departing family pops in bringing a delightful box of chocolates for the team to say thank you, farewell and see you next year. We are so spoilt. In exchange for some of our eggs, our lovely neighbour Pat brings us cakes and flapjacks galore! Soon we won’t be able to fit through the doors though, so next time please bring some wine (!)

Meanwhile the chaps are busy mowing the lawn, trimming the hedges and watering the flowers, getting the pitches neat and tidy in preparation for our new arrivals at 12:00. Most guests really appreciate the grass has had a haircut ready for their stay. At this point everyone has definitely earned a tea /coffee and the men are complaining there’s a drought in Lytchett Minster. The orders are taken and someone heads over to the staff room, known affectionately as the Wendy house, with an itemized list of what everyone fancies, usually looks a bit like… ‘Tea sweetener milk, coffee black sweetener, builder’s tea milk…’ etc.

Throughout the day we are very familiar with all the little faces popping into the shop and squirreling away the 10p sweets. They bring their little bag of sweets up to the till ready for the doomed question, “And how many do you have there?” Only to be answered with a shrug and a blasé “I dunno”, resulting in some very sticky fingers and some very tempted staff!

Then as soon as it hits 12:00 there is the mad rush of arrivals. The shop is frantic, the phones are ringing, and people are being shown to their pitches. Everyone is delighted to be here, always full of smiles, but you can tell on their faces what type of journey it has been. If it has been a horrific journey we usually get the “Phew, can’t believe we are finally here.” But generally it’s happy faces all around as the guests are taken down to their pitches.

The hustle and bustle of the campsite means the afternoon quickly passes. Soon enough it’s 17:00 and the late shift commences. Occasionally this involves a quick trip down to Domino’s for pizza, inspiring jealously amongst all the campers who usually all end up ordering Domino’s too!

20:00, it’s time for the late clean. Typically, the busy routine of campsite life means numerous loo rolls need replacing and a good top up of the trusty hand cream is required.

22:00 and it’s closing time for the shop, everything is locked up and put to bed, and the staff embark on the late night walk around – ready to remind guests about the quiet time at 22:30.

23:00 after a busy day at South Lytchett Manor the large iron gates are closed and the campsite sleeps ready to start all over again tomorrow.

Sleep tight campers!