Reviewed & Rewarded

All our hard work building brand new facilities on the park this winter have been rewarded with our latest AA Quality Standard 2015 inspection as we have been upgraded to Four Pennants.  We are so pleased and grateful that the inspectors liked the new facilities.  They were particularly impressed with the cleanliness of the new facilities and commented on the impressive family bathroom and disabled facilities.  Coupled with this we have had some lovely reviews on Pitchup.com, ukcampsite.co.uk, and Facebook.  If you stay with us please do leave us a review - we read them all and they help other guests when booking to stay.

This week has been a mixed bag of weather.  Monday we were hit by high winds, which saw me having to try and remove a tree from the middle of the road on the way home after the evening in reception.  Obviously myself and the two other people who tried to move the tree were never realistically going to lift a tree...but we tried!  Luckily cars could just squeeze past it.  After the storm has come the sun.  It has been glorious.  On Wednesday we walked to Charlestown and had a lovely lunch at The Rashleigh; Richard had a burger and lobster and I had a crab and lobster sandwich.  We can highly recommend the Rashleigh, they cater well for everyone with a lovely children's menu and enclosed garden suitable for dogs and children.  We then walked on down to the harbour and enjoyed an ice cream on the beach.

It really is an ideal time to visit Cornwall especially if you prefer it when it is a bit quieter, but want to make the most of the gloriously long days.  If you are bringing your four legged friends with you why not make the most of the local area.

Dog Friendly Beaches:

Caerhays Beach - or Porthluney as it is also known is a lovely bay, with the Caerhays Castle as it back drop.  The settled cove is often very warm even when there is a breeze as it is nicely tucked away.

Par Beach - This long sandy beaches has a number of carparks and toilet facilities.  The beautiful beach is a short drive but well worth an explore.

Polstreath Beach - for those more adventurous and after a quiet secluded beach then venture to Polstreath,  Accessed via the South West Coastal Path, this side of Mevagissey it is a bit of a walk and the final descent to the beach is via steep steps, but the walk will reward you with a quiet, dog friendly haven.

Dog Friendly Attractions:

The Lost Gardens of Heligan - walkable from the campsite via teh cycle trail, up the old coach road to Heligan House.  The walk is all up hill and takes about 40 minutes, but it will be all down hill on the way home!  Dogs are welcomed at Heligan.

The Eden Project - whilst The Eden Project says it is dog friendly it is worth noting that you cannot take dogs into the Biomes (the big greenhouses) and as this is the main attraction you will miss quite a lot.  You can of courses take them around the vast outdoor gardens which in itself will take the good part of a day.

Lappa Valley - a family steam train attraction with steam train rides, a huge array of play equipment and rides for young and old to enjoy are dog friendly - even allowing logs to travel on the trains.

Dog Friendly Pubs:

The Ship Inn, Pentewan is walking distance from the park down the Pentewan Cycle Trail.  About a 20 minute away, along a flat wheelchair and pushchair friendly track.  If you are going to come home late take a torch as the trail is very, very dark with no street lights!

The Polgooth, a good 45 minute walk away or a 10 minute drive away this proper Cornish Inn provides excellent food along with good Cornish ales.  Well worth a visit.

The Fountain Inn - Mevagissey is a true Cornish fishman's pub, although small it provides a brilliant atmosphere, great food and a warm welcome.

Painting and digging

I am currently sitting in reception surrounded by piles of files, books, stationary and other bits and pieces as the back office is given a lick of paint - a job we have been trying to do for a while but time has not allowed. The back office is Richard's domain; as the accountant of Tregongeeves Farm Cottages, River Valley Holiday Park and Little Winnick he has a great deal of paper work and organising to do so he deserves a snazzy new office to do it in!  Along with that outside there are holes being dug and drains up, with a small project to improve drainage on the site.  We are already blessed with excellent drainage here so it is not a huge worry, however we have noticde a bit of standing water when we have down pours so John is busy digging French Drains (I always thought a drain was a drain) and inspecting existing drains to work out where they go.

This week has been fairly quiet for us in terms of outings.  We did visit The Eden Project on Friday for a wander - it is magically there at the moment with Father Christmas and reindeers.  Jessica is still a little bit too young to understand it all but we really enjoyed watching lots of excited children.  It is worth keeping an eye on the Eden website as they organise such brilliant events and activities for the whole family - we are looking forward to the World Pasty Championships in March!

Jessica and I headed into Charlestown on Thursday.  We took our flask and biscuits again and sat on the beach watching the waves crash and the tide coming in. Which was all very lovely until the sea got a little too close to us and the pushchair for my liking - I had to work out who to move first to avoid complete soaking.

Having been away a bit recently we are appreciating even more how child friendly Cornwall is and how much places cater for little people.  In St Austell Tengo Cafe now has an upstairs playroom which parents can sit and enjoy a coffee whilst the little ones play with the good selection of toys.  The Eden Cafe, also in St Austell run a huge amount of free sessions which you can drop into such as Tots Rocks (we love this) and nursery rhymetime, always a hit with children especially if you need a little bit of a break.  A short walk from Little Winnick Touring Park, Pentewan Sands has a soft play area which you can use for free if you buy a coffee - it is huge and a great way to burn off energy.  If you are planning a visit don't hesitate to ask us about child friendly places - we have a long list of recommendations.