Wonderful walks on your door step

Goodness me, we have had a wet 24 hrs, however I am very pleased to report the sun is out and it is looking bright and feeling warm.  Luckily the rain has drained away very quickly and left everything looking nice and refreshed now.  The outlook for the week is good too, so we are looking forward to a bit of a bright week now (fingers crossed!).  Which is brilliant news for the Charlestown Regatta and the Fowey Regatta.

I always think after a good dumping of rain is a good time to get put and go for a walk as everything is lovely and refreshed and looking at it's best.  There are so many brilliant walks in Cornwall it is hard to know where to begin but we we stumbled across one that strokes the edge of the site.  Why not start it from Little Winnick and enjoy a beautiful circular walk?  If you would like to explore a little more how about the Hall Walk - my all time favourite walk I have to confess; taking in a magical cove and the village of Polruan, with a river taxi back to Fowey at the end -  it is real adventure walk.  Or why not venture onto the North Coast with a circular walk from Rock.  The tiny village has become 'the' place to be seen in Cornwall with exceptionally high house prices.  The circular walk will let you enjoy some stunning houses.

As for our day off on Sunday; the rain stopped play so we didn't make our day out.  Instead we had our friends round for a big hearty breakfast and let Jessica play with her friends.  In doing so we got to eat whole heap of the Kittows Bacon I keep raving about that we sell in reception and eggs from the chickens we have outside reception.

Talking of chickens we have some news.  We recently acquired Joan to keep the others company, sadly both Joan and Doreen decided to sit on eggs and refused to eat, which is very common in bantams, so sadly they passed away.  However the very, very exciting news is that Shelia is proud Mum to 7 chicks.  We are keeping an eye to see how many are girls and how many are boys but so far mother and chicks are doing fine.  They are in a small run until they are big enough to walk the ladder up in the big pen.

Camping resets the body clock

I am not making it up, according to the BBC camping is good for you, so why not coming and reset your body clock!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23530408

a wall of ice cream

Many things happen in this job that make you have a smile, today it was the wall of ice cream boxes that I looked up to after processing a booking - 18 boxes to be precise, now I know I am short but I couldn't see over the top of them.  We stock the utterly delicious Callestick Farm Ice Cream, and despite my best efforts we sold out this week so I have ordered  a few extras to ensure that doesn't happen again.  I have also ordered in the weather to accompany the ice cream.  We also have daily bread, milk, and Kittows bacon, burgers and sausages. The smell of the bacon in the morning is so lovely!

I have to tell you we are pretty overwhelmed at the moment with the amount of bookings and people we have on site.  Obviously we had hoped we could make Little Winnick a success and had a few plans up our sleeves, but in our first season we never expected things to take off quite as they have, and to all of you who have come and stayed or who are coming, thank you, we really do appreciate your custom.  We are operating at all most capacity at the moment, which is fantastic and I can not put into words the atmosphere around the site.  It is heart warming to see how quickly children who have just arrived, make new friends and play together like they have known each other forever - nationality, language or age seems no barrier for children playing together.  The play park is being well used, and the box of toys, sports equipment and games field are proving hugely popular.

There is lots on in Cornwall in the coming days if you are coming to stay.  The Charlestown Regatta gets under way next week, with a children's sports evening on Tuesday and much more lined up.  If castles and knights are more your thing then head over to Pendennis Castle for Medieval Jousting on 7th - 8th August.  Or if your prefer admiring horses then why not pop along to the Tregony Heavy Horse show on the 11th August.  A particular treat coming up is the St Ewe Country Fair.  Despite being a very small village the Fair is a highlight of the local calendar and well worth a visit.

If you would like to have a care free holiday why not hire you bikes while staying from Pentewan Cycle Hire, they will deliver your bikes to Little Winnick so you can go off exploring.  Or how about walk the Coastal Path which you can access by walking to Pentewan - if your legs aren't up for walking back you could always walk a section of it and then hop on the bus back!

This weekend sees Richard and I have a well deserved (even if I say so myself) day off.  As our youngest staff member (our daughter) turns one on Saturday.  So despite making her work on her birthday we shall be  off on a family day somewhere on Sunday, our final destination is yet to be decided.               

Happy Campers at Little Winnick

You do have to laugh doing this job sometimes.  I just wrote a whole section about how the weather men get it wrong and how we have had no rain at all despite storms everywhere else.  Well I just went to take our signs in and you guessed it...it's raining!  Only slightly and it is nice gentle warm rain - the nice type of rain.  To be fair I have had some very sun burnt people int the reception today as we have had a glorious day.  The moral of the story here is don't worry about the Cornish weather - what ever the weather man says is wrong (unless he says it will be hot) and if it is raining here, a mile down the road it probably isn't!
On site at the moment we have a lovely mix of people, from our seasonal pitches, who have become good friends with us and other campers to the local children staying with their families from St Austell and Mevagissey to the good selection of Belgium, Dutch, German and Swiss.  We need to learn more languages!
We have been pointing many campers in the direction of the trail this week.  With paths going directly from the site to Pentewan Beach where you can enjoy the Driftwood Cafe or pick up the South West Coastal Path.  Or you could walk or cycle back up towards St Austell going via the vast Kings Wood.  Or how about wandering up to The Lost Gardens of Heligan to enjoy a lovely slice of cake. 
If you would like to explore Cornwall without the hassle of taking you car don't forget you can catch the bus from right outside the site, it takes the worry out of the skinny roads for you.
Right now Cornwall is relatively quiet, despite some local schools breaking up the Friday just gone many children don't finish until this week so we have an influx of people from Friday.  We have spent the week stocking the shop, ordering more tea in fact as Smugglers Brew is proving very popular with guests.  We have a large ice cream delivery coming on Thursday (I will have to sample for quality control again), cutting grass, putting up the new football goals posts for you to enjoy, getting even more toys for the toy baskets in reception for you to borrow whilst staying here and much more!
Can't wait to see many of you in the coming weeks.

Summer season begins

The summer season well and truly starts this weekend with the children breaking up and what stunning weather to welcome you with.  Having run River Valley Holiday Park for almost 20 years as a family we have a wealth of experience and love the summer season - even if is a little busy.  So you can be reassured that when booking with us we can offer you all sorts of nuggets of information gathered throughout our lives here and from visitors; including interesting places to visit, places off the beaten track, secluded beaches, how to get cheap entrance tickets to attractions, local garages should you need one (hopefully you won't), camping advice and numerous local walks.

With so many of you arriving in the coming weeks I guess now is a good time to introduce the team we have.  So, the Clemo family own the site, made up of John & Judith and their grown up children Alison (who looks after River Valley) and Richard.   You will see John and Judith around the site. I am Heidi and I am married to Richard, and along with our daughter Jessica who will be one in a few weeks, we are at Little Winnick most of the time. Steve & Jude are our on site wardens who live in the park home with their dog Tia and are always very happy to help.  We really look forward to welcoming you to the site.

So how can you get the most out of Cornwall?  Firstly, we are always here to help, with reception open 8.30am - 8.30pm we can point in the direction that you are thinking of heading - even look up things such as whether the Mevagissey to Fowey Ferry is running or as proper locals, give you directions which your Sat Nav might miss!

You might like to consider planning you stay a little and booking things in advance to save some pennies. For example you can book Eden Project tickets here and save nearly £10 per ticket.  Or if you are thinking about visiting some of Cornwall's stunning gardens pick up a Great Gardens of Cornwall leaflet in reception. You pay full price with the leaflet at your first visit then after that you get discounted rates at all other featured gardens.  As Eden is the most expensive visit one of the other gardens then head there to enjoy a discounted rate! To see the featured gardens click here.

A number of places offer a 7 day ticket once you have visited one, such at Newquay Zoo, Kidworld, Springfield Fun Park and Pony Centre or an annual past if you Gift Aid at The Maratime Museum in Falmouth or The Eden Project.

Don't forget if need supplies for your days out we have freshly prepared sandwiches, fresh bread, rolls, cakes, drinks, cheese, tuna, crisps and much more do keep you going on day.  Perhaps most importantly in this weather we have a very well stocked ice fridge.

HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT

The heat wave continues in Cornwall and we love it.  But we must let you know that bookings are coming in thick and fast so if you want to come and stay over the summer holidays book soon to avoid disappointment.  If you want to see what others think of us then have a look at UK Campsites or Pitchup.com

I am sorry I have not blogged for a week or two - I was given a week off to visit my parents in Norfolk.  I flew from Norwich to Newquay - it took less than an hour and was brilliant!  Why not consider visiting us by plane or train

to avoid all the traffic?  I took the picture opposite of St Austell Bay - I was a little gutted we didn't fly over the site to be honest.

So what is the news from Little Winnick?  Well the ground works has been completed for the new barrier we are installing.  Guests will be issued you a barrier pass in exchange for a £10 refundable deposit with the barrier being positioned on the entrance and exit to the touring field.  This will give you added security and ensure the site remains lovely and quiet without too many cars - many guests have already expressed delight at this improvement.

I also have news on Shelia the chicken - she is sitting on some eggs and has been for two weeks so we could hear the patter of tiny claws early next week - although this very hot weather could make it really tough for the chicks to escape their shells, so keep everything crossed for her.

We love people to have fun here so we have installed goal posts on the rally field, so you can enjoy a good kick about away from the tents - or why not borrow the rounders equipment from reception and have an old fashioned game - we may even organise a game or two in the coming weeks.

26 degrees - we are smiling!

You read it right, 26 degrees was recorded on the wardens thermometer today that sits outside their bungalow - it is official - Little Winnick is a sun trap!  It has been glorious today.  Now there is a little fly in the ointment, in that tomorrow is meant to be wet, but after that the weather man told us it is going to be hot, hot, hot!

This seems like an ideal time to remind we are still offering 7 nights for the price of 5 so why not make the most of the weather and quiet Cornwall before the school holidays and come and have a lovely break with us, starting from as little as £60 for the whole week.