Serving Up Lobster Dressing
Shell clothing has taken on a whole new meaning at Ladram Bay Holiday Park in Devon, which has just launched its own exclusive range of casual wear. Lobster Blue is the brand name of the park’s first-ever collection of t-shirts and hoodies. Made from top-quality pure cotton and designed for easy care, the garments have a relaxed style and comfortable feel with a very distinctive look. The clothing’s striking logo isn’t just the creative inspiration of Ladram Bay’s graphics designer, for it recalls an eye-opening incident at the park a few years ago. It occurred when one of the directors of the family owned business, Robin Carter, landed an actual blue lobster from one of the pots he had tended in the bay for over 60 years, sparking a media frenzy.
The Hoburne Group has acquired a new holiday park on the edge of Bodmin in Cornwall, which will boast a new range of bespoke luxurious Hideaway lodges. Established in 1912, Hoburne is an expert in providing UK holiday breaks and holiday home ownership already owning seven holiday parks across the most picturesque counties in Great Britain, Hampshire, Dorset, Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and the Cotswolds. Hoburne acquired the new 17-acre site in the village of St Mabyn for its eighth park. With a primary focus on holiday home ownership, the new development at Hoburne St Mabyn will house ‘Hideaway’ lodges and aims to create an idyllic lodge escape for owners and holiday makers, enabling them to relax and unwind in an environment which offers a tranquil quiet space without the busier traditional park facilities and can be used as a base from which to explore the local area. The first phase of the new Hideaway lodges development includes 25 plots, 17 of which are available for ownership and eight for holidays, as well as a lodge reception for two full-time park management personnel.
Fragile areas such as the Lake District should be doing all they can to woo visitors in motorhomes, according to the owner of a major Cumbria holiday park. Henry Wild of the 130 acre, Skelwith Fold, in Ambleside, says that people using such vehicles are helping to drive up the use of transport considered more environmentally friendly. Buses, bicycles and two legs are the preferred ways of exploring Lakeland for many of Cumbria’s thousands of motorhome users each year, says Henry. As such, he says, motorhome visitors help reduce congestion on the roads, and minimise the release of harmful greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. Last summer, Henry reports, motorhome visitors to his park grew by 8% compared with the previous year, and are fast gaining ground with many younger couple and families. But despite their size, he believes, motorhomes should be hailed as green holiday heroes – as long as they opt for holiday park pitches and not roadsides or public car parks.
Located at the foot of the Penmaenmawr Mountain, overlooking the spectacular coastal views from Llandudno and across to Anglesey, Puffin Island and beyond, Craiglwyd Hall Caravan Park is truly a holiday location that stands out from the crowd.Surrounded by natural beauty, this secluded luxury park is perfect for a peaceful get away, but at the same time is close to popular resorts and attractionsand has easy access to lovely mountain walks. On site,Craiglwyd Hall offers visitors a play area, on site bar, games room, gym and is a dog-friendly location.The flag ship of the Thornley Leisure group, the park’s many awards include a top five-star tourist board grading – but according to managing director David Thornley, the latest Go North Wales accolade has an extra significance “The award is especially important to us because it recognises not just the quality of the park’s facilities and surroundings, but also the levels of hospitality and service provided to guests. “It’s our staff team which deserves the lion’s share of the credit for this, and they do a great job in making everybody feel welcome and helping them enjoy their stay. “It’s been a superb year for Craiglwyd Hall Caravan 
Park and the group as a whole, and I hope the publicity from this award will help benefit all tourism businesses here in North Wales,” added David. Situated on the north coast of County Conwy between Anglesey and the Menai Straits, the park provides tranquil landscaped grounds in a picture-postcard setting. It has long proved popular with families wishing to own a caravan holiday home in one of North Wales’s most popular areas for lovers of natural scenic beauty.
“Offering indoor play is a huge benefi t to parents holidaying in the UK. It is good to have an indoor weather attraction for children, so there is always something to do,” comments Clare Jackson of Hendra Holiday Park. The park’s soft play area, known as Henry's Play Loft is designed for children from the ages of 0-10 years old and has a tots area for the under twos. Meanwhile parents and families can relax in the comfortable seating area and there are refreshments available too. “We continue to update and maintain the areas as required to keep them clean and in tip-top condition,” says Clare. “The soft play area is generally popular among the smaller children, as is our Oasis indoor pool, which is one of the reasons we get many repeat bookings. There is a small charge for guests to use the pool facilities, but the soft play area is free.” According to the Play Providers Association (PPA), there are well over 600 independently operated indoor play sites across the country, with an increasing number of pubs, restaurants and holiday parks now offering indoor play equipment. “Over the last few years there has been a considerable increase in the number of indoor soft play areas. At the same time the scope of activities in these areas has increased and more adventurous items are constantly being introduced,” comments a spokesperson for the PPA.
Steve Sylvester, Managing Director of KOMPAN UK and Ireland agrees: “A cleverly designed indoor play space will have the end result of happier, more positive visitors who will thrive in your environment and forever long to return.” He adds: “Your play area can be part of your success story, inspiring great tales of the perfect family holiday or day out.” KOMPAN is a leading supplier of playground equipment for play areas, parks and sports areas. The company specialises in the design of innovative equipment for all ages and abilities. “Young children love a space filled with bright colours, friendly shapes and rounded edges. A well-planned play area can be one big play invitation to role-play; firefighter or princess one day and pirate captain the next" says Steve.
Searles' provides more than 800 holiday home and touring pitches, including luxury lodges to buy and rent, plus a raft of family-friendly attractions and outdoor activities. Attractions at Searles include an innovative new indoor ‘splash zone’ with a host of different water play features, a new outdoor gym, and an adventure play park plus nightly entertainment.The citation from the AA's award judges noted that Searles: “Never stands still, and every year offers something new to delight visitors seeking a truly memorable and high quality experience. "The park's success and popularity is thanks to the vision, passion and hard work of four generations of the Searle family, and their quest for ever-rising standards,” they continued.
National hot tub supplier Park Leisure Solutions has won the UK Pool & Spa Awards 2018 for Spa Product of the Year and Energy Efficient Product of the Year for its ground-breaking Climacube heat system. The arrival of the UK designed Climacube is set to revolutionise the commercial hot tub and spa industry, say creators, Park Leisure Solutions. In test results against current conventional heating systems the Climacube saved on average just under 60 per cent less time to heat up a Hot Tub and a massive 85.7 per cent reduction in energy cost, which is great news for both customers and the environment. With major UK Park Operators already using or ordering the energy effi cient design, saving them energy, time and money. Backed by a worldwide patent the Climacube works off a standard 13 amp power supply and can either be supplied from new or retro fitted to any contemporary hot tub or spa.Park Leisure Solutions, Managing Director, Stuart Mulcahy commented: “Our design offers the very latest energy saving heat technology, dramatically reducing running costs, reducing the carbon footprint and enables customers to use their hot tubs and spas all year round, at the desired temperature without the concern of cost.”
tablet erosion feeder, called SpaPodTM to make a highly effective combined, integrated hot tub water treatment system. The SaniStreamTM system offers a solution to the problem posed to holiday let owners and operators by Section 76 of health and safety guidelines, HSG282, which states that hot tubs installed in a setting where used ‘... as part of a business activity (eg in a holiday park rental unit or hotel bedroom(s) with their own dedicated spa, or as part of a rental agreement for a single family or group use)’ must be ‘disinfected using bromine or chlorine through the use of an inline disinfectant feeder’. The big issue with Sec. 76 of HSG282 is that few hot tubs sold on the UK market feature inline disinfectant feeders. Worse still, HSG282 made no legacy-exemption provision, meaning many thousands of hot tubs already in the fi eld became non-compliant overnight. Following much investment by Darlly Europe in R&D and fi eld-testing over the last eighteen months, the launch of the SaniStreamTM system at the Spatex 2019 expo heralds the solution to this issue. Heather Gilmore of Paith Holiday Cottages owns three holiday lets with hot tubs near Aberystwyth and sources the SaniStreamTM system from local supplier, Welsh Hot Tubs. Heather says: “The SaniStream gives me great peace of mind knowing my customers are in safe hygienic water conditions, and inspection and maintenance for us is easy and painless.”
The Camping and Caravanning Club will invest £7.5 million into its network of 106 UK Club Sites in the coming months, with large-scale capital works taking place at seven sites, including Wyeside near Rhyader in the Cambrian mountains of mid-Wales and West Runton on the north Norfolk coast. Money has been spent as part of the Club Sites investment programme which improves facilities for the future enjoyment of campers; both members of the Club and non-members. Proceeds raised by the Club through camping on Club Sites over the course of the year are invested into the site network annually as part of the programme. Bob Hill, Sites Director, said: “The site investment programme has been running in its current form since 2010 and in the last five years alone we’ve increased the number of hard-standings on our Club Sites by 7%, helping more members to enjoy camping year round – plenty to keep us busy.”