Caravan Shows ….Open with lots of interest

Vanessa and I had a quick tour around the two Bridport shows this morning …a great selection of models are on display -hopefully they will be busy over the next 3 days. We are very pleased with the response so far and several families visited Larkfield where we have 4 vacant pitches and one ‘Special Offer’.

Today was ‘the day after the wedding’ with many people recovering from the excitement of yesterday and we soon sold out of newspapers which were full of pictures and reports. The bar was a very different place with Rugby and Football on the big screen.

P J Harvey appeared on Jools Holland this evening – she recorded her latest album in Eype Church

Royal Kiss above our bar

What a busy day. Sally and her team supported by members of staff from all departments pulled together to organise an excellent day to celebrate the Royal Wedding

Starting the day with ‘Royal’ full english breakfasts we rolled in the wedding service followed by lunch which rolled into the balcony kiss, which we managed to photograph on the TV above the bar, rolled into afternoon games on the lawn finishing off with a evening disco – a tremendous day with the catering staff waving flags late in the evening when they realised that they had exceeded our 2008 record by 8 meals.

We could not have wished for a better day co-ordinated by Vanessa, Sally and James with support from all staff and with everyone being able to view the wedding dress and ensuring that all our customers had a great day.

We even managed to photograph the Major of London on our big screeen when he was praising the various teams in London who worked so hard to make it a successful day and giving his best wishes to William and Katherine.

Next week we will be carefully taking down and packing the bunting and flags to be stored in the loft ready for June 2012 and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee – the organising committee are already booking the entertainment and planning our celebrations.

We are now looking forward to a busy bank holiday weekend and hopefully plenty of sunshine

Caravan Holiday Home Shows 30 April – 2 May

We hear that all the final arrangements are coming together for the TWO caravan holiday home shows in Bridport this week. Early this morning we had reports of traffic delays with the first caravan arriving at the show area near the football which were quickly overcome and the delivery of the remaining caravans over the next 24 hours may not be so precise as the Royal Wedding rehearsal but both shows will be ready for visitors Saturday morning – if you are interested in buying home this is such a good opportunity to view a range of holiday homes.

The local press have published our press release relating to the TV programme ‘A Place by the Sea’ which covered a couple looking for a holiday home in West Dorset who decided on a Lodge at Larkfield Holiday Park

Dorset’s Golden Coast

I attended the AGM of the Bridport & District Tourism Association today and it was great to hear that we now have over 50 members. The Association’s website gives you information about Bridport and the surrounding area – what we call ‘Dorset’s Golden Coast’ - which is in the centre of the Jurassic Coastline –  have a look at the website which will be improved shortly. All the various accommodation providers are working together to make it easier for visitors to find accommodation in our town.

This photo shows one of the first families to enjoy a holiday in one of the new hire caravans at Golden Cap Holiday Park – a unique park on the ‘Dorset Golden Coast’

Massey Ferguson TE20

Today I have been getting all the information together to apply for a new registration document for our Massey Ferguson TE20 which has been stored in a barn for 30 years. Luckily we have the old brown logbook issued in 1951, but overlooked to apply for one of the ‘new’ documents. Over the last 12 months Chris, Ben and Robert have been working on the restoration of the tractor as a part of our 40th anniversary celebrations this year.

The tractor was working on Highlands End when Vanessa parents purchased the park in 1971 so we have decided that it should be used again in 2011. Hopefully, if the DVLA accept our paperwork, we will be issued with the original registration number and on the road this summer.

My Easter Egg hatched this morning…

Most people have chocolate eggs at Easter filled with sweets, however, I woke up and found that one of our eggs had hatched…. in 6-8 weeks there will  be one more duck on our pond. I am always amazed to think that a few hours before the duckling was quashed into a such small egg. Hopefully, the others will hatch over the next couple of days.

Very busy Sunday lunch time in the bar followed by the live football match – the bar is looking good for the Royal Wedding with Vanessa finding more bunting and flags each day and we seem have an increasing number of childrens games arriving for friday afternoon. If the weather is fine it will be a memorable day.

Visited Sandyholme this afternoon – the park was quieter than I would have hoped for the Easter weekend - it was the first time I had seen the new play equipment which was installed last week.-The equipment will be ready by the May day bank holiday and hopefully the children will be happy with it.  All our teams have worked very hard over the weekend especially at Highlands and Golden Cap where we have been nearly full, but the suggestions in the newspapers that we will be busy for 10 days is looking unlikely at the moment with several vacancies mid week – so if you are looking to join us for a few days do not hesitate to phone our booking hotline – 01308 426947.

St George’s Day

St George’s Day………it may have been a busy bank holiday Saturday ……but with St George’s flag flying on our new flag pole, Sally and the bar team served a 3 course lunch to the local Royal Naval Association. They have held a celebratory event on the park for several years and it had to be on the day. With the exception of being short of car parking spaces and having to park a few cars in our garden, the successful lunch was a part of a very busy day on the parks and in West Dorset; the beaches looked more like August!

Walking around the touring field this morning, I was surrounded by happy campers and the smell of  egg, bacon and sausages. One regular visitor enjoying the morning sunshine remarked the weather today was so different to last Easter when it was cold and raining -  all we need is good weather.

The first visitors arrived in the new hire caravans at Golden Cap and three of the families have stayed on the park for many years, so we were waiting to hear their comments ……I am pleased to say that they were very happy particularly with the larger and more comfortable caravans ….perhaps we can now relax

What a view…….

With the beach cleaned and the sun shining we are ready for the Easter Weekend and the parks are nearly full – unfortunately the online booking system had a hiccup on Wednesday and we had to quickly switch to phone bookings; hopefully no one was inconvenienced. It is now up and running again but a reminder that we must not stop our phone hotline (01308 426947) with the personal touch.

Yesterday after a very stressful week with the park and family life – the two are never far apart – I decided it was time to have a rest and I remembered this photo and decided to go and look at the view for a few moments. Looking west from the cliff at Highlands, it doesn’t take long to get regenerated and ready for the next day. I know many of our regular visitors will be doing the same over the next few days.

Eype Beach Clean

Today we were involved in Dorset’s Biggest Beach Clean. The Great Dorset Beach Clean is now in its twenty third year and is coordinated by Dorset Countryside’s Coastal Ranger team for two hours from 1000hrs

I think we have been involved every year and for many years my father, Maurice, has enjoyed being the Beachmaster and responsible for handing out the bags, gloves and instructions. Each year the instructions, safety rules, risk assessments, first aid arrangements and the warnings all  seemed to get more complicated …..when we started years ago we simply handed out the bags! How the world has changed, but the rubbish is the same.

 Today he was little concerned that regulars would not find him because the car park attendant would not allow him to park in his normal place, but he didn’t have to worry he  helped  17 volunteers to collect 23 bags of rubbish.

Eype was one of 26 beaches in Dorset being cleaned today – a magnificent effort by all those involved, particularly Jenny Penney, Coastal Ranger, who organised the event.

As you can see from the photograph, it was a beautiful sunny day and this local father and his young daughter, who insisted on having a pair of big red gloves for the task, are nearly ready for the long walk along the beach to pick up the rubbish under Thorncombe Beacon one of our most famous landmarks.

This afternoon I visited Sandyholme to ensure that we are ready for the new play equipment to be installed tomorrow – two forts and two swings – should have a photo later in the week. The duck pond was very active and our new nesting boxes were being closely inspected by the ducks who will hopefully lay soon.

This afternoon I joined my family on a quick boat trip from West Bay to Eype and on such a wonderful afternoon with the sea so calm, I could only admire our coastline and it makes me appreciate the level of enjoyment experienced by our visitors and the importance of our jobs in tourism. If you would like to be reminded about the coastline – watch the video

New Inn ‘Pudding Club’ on River Cottage

What a surprise this evening – the New Inn Pudding Club featured on River Cottage on Channel 4 - if you missed it; view it now on 4 on Demand.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall enters the pudding club competition at the pub and you will see many local characters entering mouth-watering desserts.

The New Inn is a traditional village pub in Eype and a short walk from Highlands End.  A very popular walk from the park is down the coast path with its beautiful views of Lyme Bay to the beach and the up through the village stopping at the New Inn for a quick beer before climbing back up the hill – as you can image it is a familiar walk for many dogs staying on the park.

Hugh also prepares  a revamped afternoon tea for the Bridport Tea Dance and then showed his dancing skills.