CL SITES : TOURING

Kings ofcastles the Steve Rowe sets his sights on three CLs just a short

distance from some of the finest fortresses in MEET THE OWNERS

amous for its rugged and Wales, so you should have little trouble We chat with Stephen and Lynn Elson beautiful countryside, Wales finding somewhere to stay that’s close to Why did you set up the CL? also boasts some stunning the (s) you want to visit. “We moved to the farm some 20 years ago and have been man-made attractions, such as A good starting point is the Welsh running the CL for the past 15 years. The view from this field is its many . The country Tourist Board website (visitwales.co.uk), so good that we thought it would be great to share it with other people, plus the income is a boost to our farm business. We Fhas been home to some 400 fortresses over where you will find a map with the horses here and have some holiday letting accommodation, so the centuries, of which about 100 are still locations of all the castles highlighted. the CL complements our existing business.” standing, from Rhuddlan Castle in the far To find the nearest CL, just cross-reference north to Cardiff Castle in the south. this map with the CL listings on The Describe a typical visitor Fortunately for caravanners, there is also Caravan Club’s website or check your copy “We get a real mixture, but mainly older couples who come a good spread of Certificated Locations in of the new Sites Directory 2013/14. from all over the UK for the peace and tranquillity, plus the view. However, we also have some local families from Bristol staying here in the summer holiday season. We even had people last November who came to see the fireworks – from the site, you can see several displays taking place in the valley. People say CLEDD Y TAN FARM they also love the fresh air here, while some love watching Sites Directory & Handbook the horses we keep on the farm – for horse-racing fans, we are 2013/14 p530 not far from Racecourse.” The views over the lovely Usk What has it been like running your own CL? Valley from this CL near Chepstow “Apart from trimming are so good that they have even the hedges and adorned the front cover of the local keeping the grass telephone cut, there’s not too directory! Three castles are within Location: Newchurch, Chepstow, much work easy reach of the site – Chepstow, Monmouthshire involved. We love Call: 01291 650671 meeting the visitors Raglan (above) and Usk. The and socialising with pitches are on a gentle slope and Pitch type: hardstanding Facilities:electric hook-up, fresh them –we’ll often are all hardstanding, with electric end up taking people water and toilet/waste water down the hill to the hook-up. The site is just a short drain point village local pub for drive from the M4 River Severn Dogs allowed?yes an evening pint.” crossing, so is well placed for anyone Adults only? no visiting Wales or the West Country. Opening dates: all year

January 2013 The Caravan Club Magazine 31 TOURING : CL SITES GARN FARM Sites Directory & Handbook 2013/14 p515 Set within the grounds of a farm, this CL is well placed for visiting Cardiff and its famous castle. Also near is St Fagans Castle, a fascinating museum of Welsh life. The CL offers MOUNTAIN VIEW electric hook-ups and a toilet, Sites Directory & Handbook 2013/14 p540 Location: Bulthy, plus the grass pitches are well Just a couple of years old, this is one of the Middletown, near spaced out. The site entrance, most professionally run CLs you’ll come Welshpool, Powys off a main road, is easy to miss, Location: Wenvoe, Cardiff across – visitors are even given a special Call: 0174 3 885356 so follow the instructions in Call: 029 2059 4825 Pitch type: grass welcome pack in which they’ll find details your Directory or on the Club’s Pitch type: grass Facilities:electric hook-up, Facilities:electric hook-up, fresh water and of the site and local attractions. The site is website – punch the postcode individual connection to fresh toilet/waste water drain point, toilet in England, but literally a stone’s throw water supply and individual waste into your sat-nav and you’ll end Dogs allowed?yes from Wales, offering fabulous mountain water drain points, central toilet up at a golf course on the Adults only? no views. The pitches are all fully serviced, water drain point opposite side of the road! Opening dates:April to September with individual fresh water taps and Dogs allowed?yes individual grey water drains, plus hook-up Ad ults only ?no MEET THE OWNER points. Medieval Po wis Castle is nearby. Opening dates:April to November We chat with Marion Lakin, who was camera shy when it came to MEET THE OWNERS having her photo taken Why did yo u set up the CL? We chat with Peter Biggs and Joyc e Harper “We started the CL back in 1991. We weren’ t caravanners ourselves, so didn’t Why did you set up the CL? know about CLs, but a school teacher who used to store his caravan on our “We only moved here a couple of years ago, with farm suggested that we open a CL to make use of the land next to the the idea of starting a CL site already in our minds. farmhouse. He got the application forms from the Club for us, so we filled It’s a great location with stunning views, so we them in and soon opened.” thought other people would enjoy sharing this with us. We wanted to do things right, so spent Describe a typical visitor a year setting out the site, with its individual “We get a wide variety of people, including some who regularly come down hook-ups and fresh and waste water points, to make it as easy as possible from Leeds to watch motorcycle speedway at the stadium in Cardiff. for people staying here. Joyce has caravanned herself in the past and didn’t However, most of our visitors are older couples who want to visit Cardiff. like pushing the heavy water containers around, so that’s why we thought We also have what I call the ‘Gavin and Stacey’ effect, with many people fully-serviced pitches would be a good idea.” coming here so that they can visit locations used in the TV series, such as Barry Island and the houses.” Describe a typical visitor “Most of our visitors are older couples and we already have some who come back What has it been like running your own CL? here on a regular basis. We are next to a golf course and driving range, plus people “I enjoy meeting people and socialising with them. The Club members are a like to visit Powis Castle as well as Welshpool and other local towns and villages.” nice bunch and many of our visitors come back year after year.”

What has it been like running your own CL? “We’ve just had a horrible summer with lots of rain... and we had to close the site STAYING ON THE CL a couple of times due to the wet ground. But, other than that, we really enjoy running the CL and we’ve had lots of good comments from our visitors .” Kelv in and Jayne Yates are from Caldicot in Monmouthshire Why did you choose this CL? STAYING ON THE CL “We have been in the Club for about eight years now, but only came acro ss this site earlier this year. It’s not Alexander and Marie Kavanagh are from Chester too far from our house, so perfect for a short holiday. In fact, we have been Why did you choose this CL? coming here most weekends during “We stumbled upon it by lucky accident. We weren’ t happy with a site we were the summer!” staying on, so decided to look around and called this CL at short notice. They had vacancies and were happy to take us! We’ve been members of the Club for What do you like about 25 years and, for most of this time, we have stuck to using the smaller CL sites.” this CL? “It’s really quiet here , despite What do you like about this CL? being so close to busy Card iff. “T he main appeal of CLs for us is their peace and We have also got to know the tranquillity. We also enjoy meeting other CL users, who are owner, Marion, very well, so usually of a similar age and mindset to ourselves. Quite it’s always nice to catch up often we’ll find ourselves making new friends and sharing a with her again. We enjoy drink with fellow campers in the evenings. We’ve been visiting the local attractions back to this CL six times already, and would recommend it and love St Fagans Castle, to others, although we don’t want it to become too busy which is just down the road in case we can’t find space to come back here ourselves!” from here.”

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