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Here at South Lakeland Parks we have a luxury lakeside lodge for sale that is the “closest you can get to the lake without actually being in it”.

The luxury lodge at Fallbarrow Park in the popular holiday town of Bowness on Windermere is the largest property on the site and boasts 1,144 square feet of living space - more than a typical city apartment.

Priced at just under £675,000, it is also the most expensive holiday lodge in the UK.

However, the unique selling point is the location. Looking directly out onto England’s largest lake, Windermere with split level decking reaching the waters edge, it also has the exclusivity of being the last ever lakeshore lodge to be built on this site.

The three bedroomed lodge comes with modern open plan kitchen, dining and living areas, which all have uninterrupted views from floor to ceiling doors onto the lake and stretching out to the impressive Lake District fells. 

The master bedroom has the same view from the king sized bed as well as having a spacious dressing room and ensuite wetroom with underfloor heating.

It is the most technically advanced of its kind available today and has been fitted with all the latest mod cons; from dial-in controlled lighting and heating to an integrated FM sound system that runs throughout the entire property.

The Lakeside lodge is part of the new Lakeside Development - an exclusive 23-lodge development set in a private and secluded area of Fallbarrow Park with properties ranging from £295,000 to £674,995.

Fallbarrow is a peaceful, relaxing five star holiday park set in extensive private grounds yet situated just a couple of minutes’ walk from the shops, bars and restaurants of Bowness on Windermere. It has held a David Bellamy Gold Award for its commitment to conservation for the last 13 years.

To enquire about the Lakeside lodge and other properties on the Lakeside development, call 01539 261455.

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The David Bellamy Awards and what they mean to us

Every year each of our parks are independently assessed by experts from the David Bellamy Conservation Award scheme on behalf of the British Holiday & Home Parks Association. It is one of the longest running green tourism awards in the UK and Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards are given out to recognise the work the parks do to protect the environment.

We’re delighted to report that now seven of our nine parks have managed to achieve Gold Award status, the top accolade awarded by the scheme and we will continue to invest in our parks to ensure that we maintain these high standards in future years. Protecting the environment and overall corporate social responsibility is an important part of our day to day business at South Lakeland Parks and is intrinsic in our values as a responsible company.

Our two parks with Bronze Awards, Regent and Ocean Edge have made great strides in recent years as has been highlighted by the positive acknowledgments of the scheme’s assessors. Ongoing investment in landscaping, tree planting and gardening as well as aesthetical improvements such as picnic benches and external decorating have taken place during the Winter.

But there is a lot more to the Conservation Award scheme than just looking after the greenery of the Parks. The assessors also review our progress on energy, water and use of other resources; reducing, reusing and recycling of waste and what we do to support our local communities.

As Mr Bellamy says: “The best holiday parks are mini nature reserves and are helping to drive Britain’s green tourism revolution.” So you can relax in your homes safe in the knowledge that South Lakeland Parks remain committed to being at the forefront of environmental and sustainability excellence.

Here is what our assessors said on their last inspections:
Fallbarrow Holiday Park
“The entrance area at Fallbarrow is particularly attractive and there always appears a great change when entering, between the hustle and bustle outside and the relative peace and calm inside. The working together of all concerned has evolved the park to the high standard that it is. This is a credit to all concerned.”
Result: Gold Award

Gatebeck Holiday Park
“Gatebeck is an extremely pleasant and environmentally friendly park. It is extremely well screened and there is much evidence of strong links with the local community. There is plenty of evidence of the activities of mammals, birds and insects within the area of the park together with a splendid array of wild flowers. Gatebeck residents over the years all say the same thing – the peace, the wildlife and the way the park is run contributes greatly to their wellbeing and enjoyment.”
Result: Gold Award

Hawthorne Holiday Park
“Tucked away down a sleepy lane in the Lancashire countryside Hawthorne Park is a little oasis for its customers. It is secluded, well hidden and has almost no impact on the local landscape. The park has benefitted from significant investment over the past 12 months with new sewage systems, a new play area and the surfacing of access roads. All of these have improved the park significantly.”
Result: Gold Award

Marina Holiday Park
“Marina is an attractive park located by the Lancaster canal close to the village of Galgate. It has the feel of a self contained community with strong familiarity amongst customers and staff. The park is extremely well screened and low level lighting ensures minimal light pollution. Traffic control is excellent and there is a general feel of peace and quiet on the park. Very attractive floral displays create an excellent first impression.”
Result: Gold Award

Limefitt Holiday Park
“Limefitt has changed quite dramatically over the years yet retained its character – a park set in superb Lakeland valley scenery, keeping its old buildings and of course its position alongside the fast flowing Troutbeck. The overhaul of waste and recycling arrangements has taken place and been so successful that the amount of unrecycled items has been significantly reduced. The park now recycles used printer cartridges and any old mobile phones – this to support the Roy Castle Cancer Foundation.”
Result: Gold Award

Todber Holiday Park
“Huge improvements have been made at Todber since the last assessment. The Park should be commended for their achievements. The development on the higher levels is stunning. Some great work has been undertaken since the last assessment with some valuable planting schemes of native species of hedges which have added great aesthetic and conservation value to park.”
Result: Gold Award

White Cross Bay Leisure Park
“It was encouraging to see the improvements that have taken place at White Cross Bay in recent years. The park has matured and there was and continues to be, an obvious desire to do everything possible to improve the place for the benefit of the environment and park users. From the park entrance to lakeside shore, thanks to the planning and work undertaken, much of White Cross Bay is green and inviting; a good deal of planting up has taken place.”
Result: Gold Award

Regent Leisure Park
“Regent Park is a popular holiday home park which has had a number of physical improvements since the last assessment. New landscaping has greatly enhanced the park and an excellent reception area with stunning floral displays makes visitors welcome on arrival.”
Result: Bronze Award

Ocean Edge Leisure Park
“Ocean Edge has seen some investment since the last assessment with touring caravans stopped in favour of holiday homes and with that change has come favourable improvements in landscaping. The park’s prime coastal views and the wildlife are a valuable asset and the park has really begun to improve physically.”
Result: Bronze Award

 

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South Lakeland Parks launch lowest ever priced holiday home.

Holidaying at home is set to become even more affordable at four Lancashire holiday parks when their new, lowest ever priced holiday caravans are launched this weekend.

Ocean Edge, Regent and Hawthorne holiday parks on Morecambe Bay and Todber holiday park in the Ribble Valley, all part of the South Lakeland Parks group, will be unveiling the brand new caravan over this Easter weekend, 6th-9th April 2012.

The ABI Seashore, priced from just £19,995 is the group’s lowest ever priced new holiday home and is exclusively available only on these four seaside and countryside parks.

The two-bedroom caravan is fully equipped with everything needed to enjoy a break away from home including gas fire, 4- hob cooker and twin oven, shower, family dining table seating, and an extra pull out bed in the lounge.

The 36 by 12 foot model also comes with a separate en-suite to the master bedroom and uPVC double glazing and full central heating as standard.
With the average cost of a one-week family holiday to Europe being around £2000, a family of four could easily recoup the cost of this great value home within just five years. 

The seaside parks of Ocean Edge and Regent have a wide range of facilities for all the family to enjoy including indoor heated swimming pools and saunas, indoor and outdoor play areas and family cabaret lounges complete with entertainment and live shows.

For those looking for a more peaceful and laid back way of life, the smaller Hawthorne Park on the shores of Morecambe Bay is the perfect place to relax. Owners also have the added benefit of being able to use the leisure facilities at nearby Ocean Edge.

Todber holiday park in the picturesque rural setting of the Ribble Valley is ideally placed for exploring The Trough of Bowland and the Yorkshire Dales whilst the park itself has all the charm of a private countryside hideaway.

Caroline Farrer, Group Marketing Manager at South Lakeland Parks, said: “Holidaying at home does not have to be an expensive option and with the introduction of these exciting new homes on four of our parks, we are making it more affordable than ever.

“So, if the idea of limitless holidays and short breaks appeals to you then come along to our unveiling events at the parks this weekend and be one of the first to take advantage of these brand new, great value homes.”

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So the Olympic Torch route through South Lakeland has been revealed.

On the afternoon of June 21st, the torch will arrive in Grasmere – then travelling along the A591 to Ambleside.

Local events have been planned at this point of the route, including a tea party in Borrans Park.

The Torch will then set sail down Windermere to Bowness Pier, arriving just before 8pm, where a huge event to mark the occasion is being staged on the Glebe.
After spending the night in Bowness the Torch will set off from Kendal Castle on the morning of June 22nd – heading through Kendal and Milnthorpe before entering North Lancashire.

Here’s the South Lakeland route in more detail:
The torch will come from Keswick to Grasmere along the A591 arriving in Grasmere at approximately 5.38pm. The Torch will then leaves Grasmere and continue on the A591 to Ambleside.

Grasmere Primary School is tying its sports day in to coincide with the Torch’s visit. The sports day will be held at Broadgate Meadow so that the local community can be involved. The sports day will be followed by a British style afternoon tea picnic. Children will be performing traditional British Isle songs and special piece of music will be commissioned to welcome the Torch’s arrival.

To celebrate the Torch’s visit to Ambleside local schools and community groups are planning several events. Including a tea party picnic in Borran’s Park which will feature music and the park ‘dressed’ for its arrival and areas planted in the Olympic colour. Pupils from local schools will also perform an especially composed song welcoming the Torch to Ambleside.

After this the Torch will board Windermere Lake Cruises boat MV Tern at Waterhead Pier and will sail down Windermere to Bowness Pier where it will disembark. at 7.57pm where it will be centre stage of a series events planned at the Glebe featuring celebrities, dignitaries, music and food from Taste Cumbria.

The Olympic Torch Relay celebrations will take place in Bowness on the evening of 21 June. The event will give the local community and visitors to the area a chance to welcome the Olympic Flame and share in the excitement and celebrations that the Relay will bring.

The evening will finish off with a breathtaking performance organised by Lakes Alive in conjunction with Les Commandos Percu with the world premiere of ‘On the Night Shift’. This is a newly commissioned spectacular show to mark the start of the Festival 2012. This incredible open-air production combines music, pyrotechnics and drama to dazzling effect, sending streams of colour and light soaring through the skies above Windermere.

After spending the night in Bowness the Torch will set off from Kendal Castle at 8.20am on the 22 June. It will travel through Kendal and then will set off for Milnthorpe where it will be met by hundreds of school children as it passes out of South Lakeland and into Lancashire.

Milnthorpe community leaders are inviting all local schools to line the route as the Torch passes through. Two local residential homes have also been invited. Schools in the area are to be given a colour from the London 2012 colour palate to create banners and flags and to wear t-shirts so a ‘Relay of Colour’ can be created along the route. Milnthorpe Primary School will create a musical farewell moment as the Torch leaves the town as the last community in the district.

The Torch will be in carried by a torch bearers it processes through towns and villages. It will be on what Locog are calling convoy mode, when it not in these areas.
Cllr Brendan Jameson, Leader of SLDC, said: “This is a fantastic event over two days that businesses and communities can be involved in. It will showcase South Lakeland and its attractions to the world.”

The details of the route can be found onLocog website at www.london2012.com/olympic-torch-relay-map.

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You’re shore to have a great time in the Lakes

It’s hard to imagine tranquil White Cross Bay was home to the top-secret manufacture of Sunderland flying boat bombers back in World War Two. 

The MoD moved the plant from Kent on the basis that the shores of Lake Windermere were as off the beaten track as it was possible to get.  These days, you don’t need a high-security pass to get in and wooden lodges have replaced the Flying Boat Factory. 

In fact, all that remains of a largely forgotten part of the war effort is the long concrete slipway leading into Britain’s largest lake, from which you can now launch your own boat.  But the awesome Lakeland scenery is pretty much unchanged, as stunning now as when the war effort was moved here in 1941.  Or for that matter, when William Wordsworth was wandering lonely as a cloud back in the early 1800s.  White Cross Bay today is home to a laid-back and well-kept holiday park with more than 40 available to rent.

It’s a few minutes from the tourist hustle and bustle of Windermere town centre, but very peaceful, when the only noise you will hear, is the sound of children (mine included) roaming around the park on their bikes.

We are staying in a three-bedroom superior lodge, complete with a large patio and a fully equipped kitchen area and lounge.  My wife and I and our three kids had so much space that my wife summoned a friend and her three children to come and join us for the day.

If your idea of holiday parks is round-the-clock entertainment and children’s shows, then White Cross Bay might not be for you.  But our kids loved it, especially since they could maraud about on two wheels without having to worry about traffic.  There is a bar, shop and restaurant on site and a quiz night once a week and the occasional singer.  The food is reasonably priced pub grub, handy if you can’t be bothered cooking.  The complex has a decent-size indoor pool (go early if it’s raining as it does get busy) and a gym.

But the main attraction here, aside from top-notch lodges, is the great out-doors which White Cross Bay is well placed for exploring.  We took the kids up Loughrigg Fell which is a 10-minute drive around the lake at Ambleside.  With great views from the 1,000ft summit, you feel like you’re on the top of the world.  There is a well-signposted path, so you really don’t need to be a mountaineer or to have fancy walking gear to get up there.  We did it in trainers and wellies and it only took an hour or so to get to the top.  To our mild surprise, the kids loved it….. especially the decent!

As you’d expect there are watersports centres dotted along the lake but after getting quotes of up to £20 per child and adult to go kayaking for an hour, we opted for more manageable £11 per hour for a two-seater kayak at the Youth Hostel at Waterside.  We took to the water in our life jackets and followed a route across the lake in brilliant sunshine up along the River Rothay which leads into the northern end of Windermere.  Even though it was hard work at times in the wind, it was great fun.

But the biggest test of any UK holiday is how well it copes when it rains, which of course it does in the Lake District – often, in buckets.  Fortunately there is plenty to do in the area around White Cross Bay.  There is an indoor play area for younger kids in Ambleside and two brilliant, old-school, cinemas one in Ambleside and one in Bowness.  Watching Mr Popper’s Penguins on a tiny screen in a room not much bigger than a large lounge at the Royalty cinema simply made the evening all the more enjoyable.  Unsurprisingly it was a sell-out – the audience seemed to be a sea of anoraks drying out from the wet weather outside – though it has to be said, our children were quite happy to splash in wearing their wellies and macs.  Almost as happy as when they were having their nightly scrap about who was sleeping where in the lodge ….

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Sunday Mirror Homes & Holidays Supplement – issued 5th February 2012 by Stephen Martin

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