Haggerston Castle (Northumberland)

Haggerston Castle, Northumberland, has been my families choice of cheap-week away holiday, for the past 4 years, and in this time we have been 4 times. Twice in the summer, once at Easter, and the last in the October Holidays.
Our first experience here was absolutly fantastic, and so we have continued to return, each year.

Haggerston Castle, is situated, in the heart of Northumberland. The caravan site, is brilliant for everybody, ...
...week of fun and excitement. Haggerston is filled full of exciting things to do, such as day entertainment, kids entertainment, night entertainment, show bars, restuarants and fast food places, swimming pools, kids clubs and lots more.


_ACCOMIDATION_ at Haggerston Castle, ranges from the very basic, to the ultra-luxurious. Every holiday-goer, here is based in a Caravan. The caravans are extremely varied, starting with the very ... more

Haggerston Castle, Northumberland, has been my families choice of cheap-week away holiday, for the past 4 years, and in this time we have been 4 times. Twice in the summer, once at Easter, and the last in the October Holidays.
Our first experience here was absolutly fantastic, and so we have continued to return, each year.

Haggerston Castle, is situated, in the heart of Northumberland. The caravan site, is brilliant for everybody, ranging from couples looking for a cheap weekend getaway to familys ready for a week of fun and excitement. Haggerston is filled full of exciting things to do, such as day entertainment, kids entertainment, night entertainment, show bars, restuarants and fast food places, swimming pools, kids clubs and lots more.

ACCOMIDATION at Haggerston Castle, ranges from the very basic, to the ultra-luxurious. Every holiday-goer, here is based in a Caravan. The caravans are extremely varied, starting with the very basic, to the almost hotel like. However although some caravans are extremely basic, they are in no way uncomfortable, or uneasy to live in.
There were 5 of us staying in our caravan, and I do have to say, I think anymore bodies and it would have been a bit of a squeeze. Our caravan had 2 bedrooms, a lounge, a small kitchen, a dining area, a toilet, and a shower room.
The lounge was a good size, with a wrap around couch surrounding the very front wall of the caravan and placed directly infront of the window. In the lounge, we had a small television (channels; bbc1, bbc2, itv, channel 4 and a tempromental channel 5). There was a coffee table and a set of drawers among a couple of other peices of furnature. At the top of the lounge, there was another, smaller wrap around couch, this being the seating area for the "dining" table. When we first arrived, our dining table wasn't in perfect condition, and we did find it had sticky marks and fingerprints all over. We tried not to let this put us off. Oppositte the dining table, there was a small kitchen. We had about 5 worktops, all with drawers and cupboards, and above on the wall, there were also around 4 more cupboards.
We also had a small fridge, but sadly no freezer. Placed on one of the counters was also a microwave, though it took us about 2 days to figure out how to work it.
A door is joined onto the living room wall, which leads to a narrow "hall". Coming off the hall, there were the shower and toilet and the two bedrooms. The toilet consisted of a toilet (really!?) and a washhand baisin. Next door was the shower room, a simple room with a reasonable sized shower. The first bedroom was the largest, it had a double bed (a small double bed at that) which took up most of the room. There was a small bedside table next to the bed with a lamp on. Built into the walls were small cupaboards, with shelves above. The next bedroom was small, it had two single beds, with around a 2-3cm gap inbetween. There were no cupboards in this room.
Our caravan was quite clean, and our first impressions were good.
The caravan had central heating (though i'm not sure the very basic ones do). When the central heating didn't seem to be working, the fire in the lounge warmed the caravan up.
Overall we were impressed with our caravan.

The COMPLEX is within walking distance of all the caravans. Though this could take a 5-10 minute walk if you are in the farthest away caravans. The complex is very large, and caters for everybodys needs. When you first enter in the main door, you will be asked to show your pass, or you'r wrist band. The wrist bands are given to you on arrival and you must wear them at all times in the complex- simply to show you have infact got the right to be in the complex.
When you first enter, to the righthand side is a giftshop. Then you will come to the arcade area. In the complex, are the main entertainment bars, the indoor pool, restaurants and much more.

There are 2 SWIMMING POOLS- one indoor and one outdoor. The indoor pool is heated, although it can sometimes be a bit chilly. The pool is a reasonable size, with a shallow end which leads up to a deeper end. At the top of the pool is a jacuzzi, which I wasn't allowed in, as only over 15 year olds were allowed in. There is also a large chute, that opens at particular times of the day. The pool isn't that great for actual swimming as it is usually extremely busy and heaving with people. However it is good for familys, and little children.
The changing rooms are few and far between. There are only around 6 cubicles at the side of the pool, which can be quite offputting for some people. Though I think most people just opt to put there swimming gear on underneath there clothes and strip off poolside. There are also toilets at the pool, and for some reason there are more toilets than changing cubicles. The floors of the toilets are usually soaking wet, so i'd reccomend going BEFORE you get changed back into your clothes. There are also 2 showers, and there is usually a 5 minute wait to use them.
There is also an outdoor pool, which is opened in the summer months. This pool is sometimes heated, however on other days it is freezing cold. In my experiences it has 90% been heated, which sometimes displeased me as it was hot weather, (I got sunburned). The pool is larger than the indoor one, and the chute is alot higher. It is more of a "twisty" chute, and has a large set of stairs to get up too.
There are lifeguards on hand at both pools, all the time, and are always happy to help. The swimming pools are closed for an hour, in the middle of the day (i think between 12.30pm and 1.30pm). We always spend quite alot of time at the pools as there is no time limit on your swim.

After a swim, you may be feeling peckish. Haggerston castle has this covered. The complex has a huge range of RESTAURANTS, which cater for everybodys needs. There is a Burger King, a fish and chip shop, chinese restaurant, a restaurant, a cafe bar, and in the summer, barbiqueues are held outside. We have been to each of the different places and have been pleased with them all. The Burger King, is just as a burger king usually is. Though I do find that the haggerston Burger King, provides hotter food than the ones I go to at home. We sometimes come here for a quick lunch, or a snack throughout the day. The fish and chip restaurant was surprisingly nice. Each time we have been the food has been to excellent quality and is consistantly hot and enjoyable. The chinese restaurant is usually purchased by us at midnight by us, when we are retiring to our caravan for the night. There isnt a great choice of food, and one time we went, they had ran out of chicken which was a great disapointment. The Aqua bar is the main restaurant in the compelx which provides, meals, starters and desserts. They also do special kids meals, though not all of the staff make this clear. The eating places are normally really family friendly and the service and staff is usually of top quality. They provide highchairs for babies too, which adds the easiness of the whole dining experience.
Haggerston also has a small grocers/newsagents, which provides some frozen ready meals, sweets and snacks such as Pot noodles.

ENTERTAINMENT is brilliant at Haggerston. There is seperant entertainment for kids, which is on all throughout the day, and in the early evening before the adult and older kids entertainment begins. Carnabys is the place where all this happens. This leads onto the sports bar on the right handside and the Aqua bar on the left. There is also a small bar in the actual Carnabys room. There is a stage, and a large "dancefloor" where kids go to sit and watch the entertainment. There are plenty of tables and chairs around the room too for adults too sit and watch.
The other bar is the showbar, which is mainly aimed to older children and adults. This is where the majority of the nightly entertainment happens. There are musical numbers, dancing, singing, competitions, comedys, interactive shows etc performed here everynight, with a disco normally. There is also a bar here which provides chilled cold drinks, alchohol, slush pups etc.

FUNSTARS are the name given to the holiday reps. Funstars are almost always on stage providing entertainment. For kids, alongside Bradley bear, Rory the tiger etc, they provide great entertainment and by the end of the holidays the children almost always no the names of all the funstars and look up to them hugely. The funstars are great with children and are very pursuading when asking parents to join there kids on the dancefloor.
The funstars are equally purseuding when trying to convince the older generation to go up onto the stage in the showbar, to take part in competitions and such like.
They are always wandering round the complex, and are happy to help with any enquries or problems you may have. They are all round very friendly and you feel extremely at home!

The ARCADE is extremely popular with all generations. Aswell as the penny machines, airhockey and such like, there is also a bowlplex, where up to four different families can play at a time. There is sometimes a wait to get to play, however in the morning its usually empty and ready to play!! Also, there is a bungee for children. This is situated on the upper floor. The "bungee" seems to prove popular with all ages of children, and it seems to be very safe, and risk-free (or as risk free as a bungee can be).

Haggerston also provides horseriding, quad bike and many more fun activites for the whole entire family to enjoy.
There isn't much surrounding the site in terms of days out. However we did take a trip to the castle in which the Harry Potter movies were filmed, and we thouroughly enjoyed it.
This would probably be one of the only down sides to this holiday.

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The cost for each caravan varies. The basic caravans are normally very cheap, however the luxury caravans, are obviously a lot higher in cost. However when you do pay for your holiday, things such as entertainment is payed for. A downside is that, if you think you are getting a really cheap holiday, it usually turns out to cost a fortune, as meals, restaurants, arcade games, and groceries all have to be payed for seperatly. Costs for the pools are included also.

Overall, I have thoroughly enjoyed my holidays to Haggerston and I think we will continue to go back in the coming years. Although it suits everybody, I think i'd mostly reccomend it too familys with young and old children alike.
You can spend any amount of time here, from a weekend break to 10 or 11 days. However I think any longer than 10 or 11 days and you will begin to get a big fed up.

Overall, 4 stars!! 

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