AWARD-WINNERS

AWARD-WINNERS

We visit Southwaite Green Mill in the Lake District...

EACH OF THE 60 PARK HOMES in-situ has its own private drive and garden

 

The Lake District’s award-winning residential park Southwaite Green Mill Country Park has an interesting backstory. Originally a Corn Mill which ceased production in the 1950s, Southwaite Green Mill was then owned by the Bardgett Family who ran a caravan site in its picturesque grounds on the outskirts of the market town of Penrith. Another local family, the Heaths, who were well-known in the caravan trade having run Lakeland Caravans for several generations, purchased Southwaite Green Mill in 1973. Jill Heath takes up the story: “My husband’s father John used to site and sell caravans in the local area and the Bardgett family was one of his clients,” explains Jill.

 

“After taking ownership of the park, our family continued to operate the site as a caravan holiday park, alongside developing a fish farming business that continued until the early 1990s.” In 1994, the Heaths purchased a plot of land from Lowther Estates that lies behind the original park and decided to develop Southwaite Green Mill as a residential park. “We had noticed that residential parks were starting to become more popular in the southern parts of the UK,” says Jill. “But there didn’t seem to be many developments in the north, so we set upon making our own.” At first, the Heaths thought that their new residential park would attract potential residents from elsewhere in the country who wished to retire in the beautiful surroundings of the Lake District.

 

THE HEATH FAMILY work closely with their preferred supplier Stately. Pictured in the foreground, a Stately Carolina Lodge.

 

Southwaite Green Mill is superbly located alongside the scenic River Eamont, just a few minutes’ drive from England’s second largest lake, Ullswater. Instead, Jill explains, they were inundated with enquiries from local residents. “We were really surprised by the amount of local interest. Our aim was to create a nice, village-type environment for the over 50s with private homes and gardens that didn’t require too much upkeep. “We expected people who had perhaps visited the area on holiday to enquire but in the end, many of our residents are people who have lived in the Lakes for a number of years. It makes for a lovely atmosphere here, a real home from home.”

Southwaite Green Mill currently has 60 park homes in-situ. Each of the homes has its own private drive and garden. Most of the plots also have space for a garage subject to local planning. All of the homes have underground piped LPG, metered electric, and mains water services. Great emphasis has been placed on ensuring the residents’ security and peace of mind. The park has electronic entry gates, and its careful landscaping has, in part, led to the park being honoured with the David Bellamy Gold Conservation Award. Such is the success of the park that Jill and John Heath and their family are currently working on the second phase of Southwaite Green Mill, which will comprise an additional 40 homes when completed.

 

FLOWERS IN BLOOM at Southwaite Green Mill.

 

The new ‘Watersedge’ development will be phased in gradually over the next few years. The first row of plots, which offers the added attraction of lovely river views, is the first area under development. “The market is pretty buoyant at the moment and there’s been a lot of interest in the new homes,” says Jill. “Recently we had a unit sold on the park within just two weeks!” Timescales for completion are dependent not only on sales but on manufacturers’ ability to fulfil orders for residential homes.

 

 

Jill says that their close working relationship with preferred supplier Stately has ensured that Southwaite Green Mill is ahead of the game. “The industry has seen order dates being pushed back due to the pandemic,” explains Jill, “but we thought ahead and booked manufacturing slots in advance with Stately which has enabled us to be more responsive to customer orders. We work with a number of different manufacturers according to each home-owners wishes but we have always found Stately in particular to offer great quality building and furniture, as well as excellent after sales.”

 

GREAT EMPHASIS has been placed on ensuring the residents’ security and peace of mind.

 

Jill and John Heath have two sons and two daughters who are all involved in the running of Southwaite Green Mill, as well as its sister park, Hillcroft, in nearby Pooley Bridge. The family acquired Hillcroft Park in 2012 and have developed it into a multi award-winning holiday park, covering over 50 acres of land and including 200+ privately owned luxury lodges and holiday homes, as well as traditional camping pitches, pods, glamping, and two fully-equipped, self-catering cottages and a large house in the heart of the lakeside village.

 

THE NEW WATERSEDGE development will comprise an additional 40 homes and is situated next to the picturesque River Eamont.

 

There’s no doubt that Southwaite Green Mill and Hillcroft Park owe much of their success to having such a superb location in the heart of the Lakes, but personal service has a lot to say for their continued popularity. The fact that Southwaite Green Mill is a family owned and family run park is an added attraction to potential home owners and an asset to residents. Jill and John lived in the old Mill House on site for more than 20 years and like nothing more than stopping by to have a chat with their old neighbours. Such is their commitment to residents that Jill can even be found chipping in and driving their weekly private minibus service into Penrith on Mondays!

 

AN INSPECTOR CALLS

AN INSPECTOR CALLS

AA unveil latest national destination gongs…

 

SOUTH EAST ENGLAND regional champions were Swiss Farm Touring & Camping, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire

 

Returning for the first time since 2019, the AA has unveiled its UK’s top campsites and caravanning UK destinations with the announcement of the 2021 Caravan and Camping Award winners in a virtual ceremony.
This year’s Campsite of the Year for England, and Overall Winner, was revealed as South Lytchett Manor Caravan & Camping Park, Poole, Dorset. Brighouse Bay Holiday Park, Brighouse Bay, Dumfries & Galloway took the prize for Scotland and Pencelli Castle Caravan & Camping Park, Brecon, Powys won the top award for Wales.
In addition to regional campsite categories, other awards included Holiday Centre of the Year, which was awarded to Park Foot Caravan & Camping Park, Pooley Bridge, Cumbria and Glamping Site of the Year, which went to Concierge Glamping, Chichester, West Sussex, which previously won Regional Campsite of the Year South East in 2019.
“We are delighted to announce the winners of the Caravan and Camping Awards 2021 and have the opportunity to celebrate those sites offering holidaymakers the highest quality camping and caravanning experiences,” Simon Numphud, Managing Director at AA Media.

 

 

“As the hospitality industry has reopened over the past few months, we have seen British tourists exploring the UK more than ever, enjoying incredible campsites and caravan parks across the country. We hope that our latest Caravan and Camping Guide helps them discover even more fantastic holiday destinations, including our wonderful winners.”
All Caravan and Camping Award winners are featured in the 54th edition of the AA Caravan and Camping Guide 2022, the ultimate guide to the UK’s best camping and caravanning destinations.
Each site included in the guide have been visited by one of the AA’s experienced Campsite Inspectors, grading sites from one to five Pennants, based on their facilities and hospitality.
Only the parks of the very highest standard are awarded the coveted Platinum Pennant award. Each entry within the guide includes location, ratings, contact details, directions, prices, opening times, facilities and a description to help select the right site for your needs.

 

CARBON BUSTERS

CARBON BUSTERS

Leading holiday parks share their green credentials…

 

THE QUIET SITE is located near the shores of Ullswater in picture-perfect Lake District countryside

 

When it comes to combating climate change, the holiday park industry stands loud and proud above most other sectors when it comes to carbon neutral investment.
Before you undertake your carbon footprint assessment, there are some outstanding examples from our peers who are putting their green credentials into action.
You will be well advised to follow their example and add your eco-friendly performance to this year’s marketing themes as customers love nothing more than investing in a planted-friendly holiday.
For instance, The Quiet Site, a family’s holiday park on Ullswater, in the Lake District, has been celebrated at the recent COP26 climate change conference for its fight against global warming.
The park, in Pooley Bridge, was highly commended for its carbon neutral initiatives, and hailed as a Hero of Net Zero at the UN conference’s awards ceremony. The award is part of the Together For Our Planet campaign which recognises original and creative actions taken by small businesses to cut their own greenhouse gas emissions.
Park owner Daniel Holder and his family travelled to the COP26 awards ceremony to receive the judges’ commendation from Andrew Griffith MP.

 

 

CLIMATE HUB
More than 160 businesses entered the competition, making a commitment at the UK Business Climate Hub to achieve net zero by 2050, in line with the Government’s own climate commitment.
The Quiet Site was highly commended in the small business category for demonstrating a range of measures taken on their journey to net zero. These included prioritising nature by planting wildflower meadows and native trees, building accommodation that generates more energy than it uses, and opening a zero-waste shop.
“All businesses need to become Heroes of Net Zero if the world is going to have an impact on climate change,” said Daniel.
“Our journey has been fascinating, bringing technologies and techniques together in a unique energy mix to enable us to be carbon neutral.
“We started introducing sustainable practices twenty years ago, not because we wanted to save the world but because the initiatives we introduced were based on elegant engineering and made good business sense.
“Our focus is now to enable our customers to visit us without using private cars. Great holidays don’t have to cost the earth,” added Daniel.
The Quiet Site won over the competition judges by not only reducing its own energy consumption and environmental impact, but also encouraging customers to be more environmentally friendly.

 

DEVON-BASED COFTON HOLIDAYS has been recognised for its rewilding efforts.

 

QUEEN’S AWARD
The business provides quality holidays in the heart of the Lake District, offering pitches for tents, camping, motorhomes and a variety of glamping options. Earlier this year, the park became Britain’s first holiday park to win a Queen’s Award for sustainability which was presented by Her Majesty’s Lord- Lieutenant of Cumbria, Claire Hensmen.
Not to be outshone, multi award- winning South West holiday park Cofton Holidays has scooped the Environment and Sustainability award at the Western Morning News Business Awards 2021, recognising its sustained conservation efforts during the pandemic.
Set within 80 acres of glorious Devon countryside, Cofton Holidays has been a family-run holiday park for over 40 years. Guests return year after year to enjoy its beautiful and convenient location, extensive facilities and wide choice of accommodation types for all the family.
Visitors to Cofton can choose from a range of holiday homes, cottages and lodges in the heart of the main park, or cottages and apartments on the estuary-view Eastdon Estate. Cofton also offers a choice of pitches for touring caravan holidays including hard- standing and RV pitches.
Cofton Holidays offers a variety of accommodation to suit all guests including luxury lodges, dog-friendly cottages, Georgian-style apartments, modern holiday homes and camping and caravanning pitches. Facilities include an indoor pool heated by a biomass hub with a splash pad area and hydrotherapy loungers, a gym, restaurant, pub, steam room, sauna, fitness studio, soft play area, playground, sports wall, outdoor pools and much more.
Guests also have access to five coarse fishing lakes, miles of cycle paths and nature trails that take visitors through woodland to the golden sands of Dawlish Warren beach and nature reserve.
Sustainability and green initiatives have always been at the top of the agenda for Cofton Holidays, but its rewilding project really took of during the pandemic. With 20 years’ worth of David Bellamy Conservation Awards under their belts, the team saw lockdown as the perfect opportunity to give the park back to Mother Nature.

 

WINNING THE ENVIRONMENT and Sustainability Business Award has been a fabulous achievement for the Cofton team.

 

REWILDING PROJECT
Enhancing the park’s carefully considered planting, extensive woodland, wildlife-friendly hedges, wildflower zones and on-site bug and bee hotel, Cofton has planted additional hedges, shrubs and trees to strengthen wildlife corridors across the site, bringing nature to the doorstep of its visitors. Wild deer, buzzards, butterflies, hedgehogs and a range of fascinating migrating birds can all be spotted thanks to the biodiversity on site. As well as planting perennial flora to attract more insects and pollinators, new hedges provide enhanced nesting environments and food for a variety of birds and bats.
A further scheme that gave Cofton the edge over its competitors is its £60,000 investment in 16 electric car charging points. No other business in the South West has more electric vehicle charging points in one location.
Added to that, Cofton has invested in 144kw of solar power units for the park’s 12 luxury lodges, an electric vehicle for housekeeping, an outdoor lighting review, and the planting of 36 mature trees, making it one of the region’s leading sustainable holiday parks.
Helen Scott, Director at Cofton Holidays, is thrilled with Cofton’s success: “Winning the Environment and Sustainability Award at this year’s Western Morning News Business Awards is a fabulous achievement for us.
“It’s testament to the hard work the team have put into our sustainable initiatives this year, and strengthens our reputation as a holiday park that puts the environment at the forefront of all that we do.”

 

DEVON-BASED Cofton Holidays has been recognised for its rewilding efforts.

 

MOTHER NATURE
Helen continued: “Throughout lockdown, we concentrated all our efforts on making improvements to the park. It was the perfect opportunity to enhance the natural landscape whilst our guests were away, ready for them to marvel at Mother Nature’s handy work once they returned.
“Our sustainability efforts have been recognised by a number of award bodies now including iTravel, VisitEngland and VisitDevon, but this is by no means the end to our investment in green initiatives.
“We will continue to nurture our local environment, fulfilling our sustainability commitment with plans to review our outdoor lighting to reduce light pollution overspill, investing in more charging units for guests staying at the cottages and participating in the tree planting scheme which will celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022.
“As the recent climate change summit, COP26, has highlighted, it’s more important now than ever before that businesses take responsibility for operating in a sustainable way that will protect the environment for future generations. We take this seriously at Cofton and will continue to do all that we can to protect our beautiful corner of South Devon.”

 

 

CARBON BUSTING
Skelwith Fold, an Ambleside holiday park, has cut the green ribbon on a new office complex which can generate all of its own energy – and still have some to spare.
The 3,000 square foot building adjoins the park’s existing offices and has been designed for total self- sufficiency, powering everything from air-conditioning to espresso machines.
Its secret is a bank of high-efficiency solar panels on the roof which will deliver up to 14 kWh per day, even under the gloomiest winter skies.
Skelwith Fold’s Henry Wild says the two-storey complex has taken the park a huge step closer to its goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2024:”We wanted to see if we could make the building entirely carbon neutral, and found this was possible by using the latest solar technology to generate electricity.

 

SUSTAINABILITY AND GREEN initiatives have always been at the top of the agenda for Cofton Holidays.

 

“Even in use seven days a week, the building will still produce surplus power to harness elsewhere on the park and further reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. With the help of other solar panels elsewhere on the park, we are nearing our goal of all our buildings being self-sufficient in energy.
“I also hope that within two years we will create a state of carbon neutrality, and guests will be able to enjoy totally green holidays, even after their journey by car to the park is taken into account.”
The new building’s sustainable credentials are further enhanced by the use in its construction of recycled timber from larch trees grown in the park’s 130-acre grounds.
Skelwith Fold was forced to fell more than 200 larches last year after the Forestry Commission found them to be suffering from a fungal plant disease called Phytophthoras. Many of the areas left by the trees are now subject to an ambitious rewilding scheme.

COMPANY CONTACTS

Cofton Holidays
www.coftonholidays.co.uk

Skelwith Fold
www.skelwith.com

The Quiet Site
www.thequietsite.co.uk

Dredging Debate

Dredging Debate

Pooley Bridge holiday park owner, Barbara Allen, has launched a parliamentary petition to try and force MPs to debate dredging

Pooley Bridge holiday park owner, Barbara Allen, has launched a parliamentary petition to try and force MPs to debate dredging.

Fears for the future of Cumbria’s tourism industry have prompted the owner of an award-winning Pooley Bridge holiday park to launch an online Parliamentary petition.

Barbara Allen, director of Park Foot Caravan and Camping Park, hopes to try and force a debate among MPs on the halt of river dredging in the UK. If her petition passes the 100,000 signature mark, it’s likely that the House of Commons will examine if blocked river beds are at the bottom of Cumbria’s flooding problems.

Park Foot is among many tourism businesses in the Lake District hit hard by December’s deluges.

“We’re busy ticking the EU’s box of not interfering with the flow of rivers in their beds, and ignoring the simple fact that rainwater comes from the sea and needs to flow back there,” said Barbara. “I hope we can achieve the signatures we need for a debate before the referendum in June as we are unable to reverse this directive whilst we remain members of the EU.”