Parkers Farm is a caravan and camping site situated on a farm near to Ashburton in Devon. We stayed there in September 2005 from a Friday to Monday.
GETTING THERE
The caravan park was very easy to find, being just off the main Exeter to Plymouth road, the A38. A detailed map and instructions were sent to us with the booking form, but basically we just had to look out for the "Plymouth 26 miles sign" before taking the second left turning. Beware of missing this turning, however, as if you miss it, you have to turn around twice, because you can only access the road when travelling south. This was, frankly, a bit of a pain in the mornings, when we wanted to travel towards Exeter and had to drive down to Ashburton first to turn around.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
When we first arrived, at around 6.30pm, there was no-one at reception, where we were supposed to collect our key, and there didn't seem to be anyone around. The light was fading, but we spotted two people in farm overalls, whom we approached, and they said that they were busy unloading some calves but someone would be along shortly. True to their word, a man arrived to give us our key; he then collected his car and drove ahead to show us the way to our caravan. I thought this was very considerate, as most sites just give you a map and a key and let you get on with it, but then again we might never have found it, as our temporary home seemed to be situated at the furthest point from reception.
THE SITE IN GENERAL
The
park is situated on a hillside overlooking the A38, and across to Dartmoor in the distance. The site straddles the lane that leaves the A38. Most of the facilities, including reception, the shop, and bar/café, as well as the camping and touring caravan pitches are situated on the left hand side, along with some static caravans. On the other side, and further up the hill, lie more static caravans, and the farm "cottages". This was the area that we stayed in. You couldn't see or hear the main road from here.
ACCOMODATION
Parkers Farm offers 25 static caravan types for hire, which are graded A to G. In general, these are available for hire from Saturday to Saturday, but there are 2 caravans available for hire from Friday to Friday (or like us, from Friday to Monday). Unfortunately, this meant that we only had the "choice" of a type G van, which was 10ft by 28ft.
Now, I have to confess that I have seen a few mobile homes in my time. Not only have I stayed in a couple on holiday, but my first job was cleaning them on a Saturday morning at a well-known site in Cornwall.
Never had I seen one this small.
Don't get me wrong, it was nicely decorated and immaculately clean (except for possibly the cat brains on the walls - just joking). But it felt very cramped. The lounge/dining area was at the front of the van, then there was a kitchen area and the "twin" bedroom across from the shower room, with the main bedroom at the back. I use the word "twin" lightly, as the beds were so narrow that even my three year old fell out of bed twice. We managed to get the travel cot into the bedroom by standing one of the beds on end, and putting the mattress under our bed, but in the end we just let the baby sleep in the lounge, because he found it hilarious to pat his brother on the head while he was sleeping. I would say that, if you travel with children, you would be well advised to book one of the larger van types. And don't even consider an adult trying to sleep in the twin bedroom.
The kitchen was fully equipped, including a gas cooker with hob, microwave, kettle, toaster, fridge, crockery and cooking utensils, although we had to remember to take cloths and washing up liquid. The living area was the only part of the caravan that felt relatively spacious, with a U-shaped seating area and a separate dining area with a table large enough to seat four adults (which we tested on the Saturday night when two friends came to visit with a take-away). There was a gas fire in the lounge area, and electric heaters in the bedrooms and shower room, so it was plenty warm enough, even in September. All gas and electricity was included in the price. Duvets, duvet covers, pillows and pillow covers were provided, but we had to take our own sheets, as well as towels. We opted for the "luxury" of renting a TV, but the reception was pretty poor.
As well as static caravans, Parkers Farm has several cottages available for hire, which vary in size from one to four bedrooms. I have to say that these were not the most attractive buildings, and not particularly "cottage-y", but I can't comment on what they were like inside.
The touring caravan and camping pitches appeared to be well laid out on the main part of the site, which was terraced. You could hear some road noise from here though.
We don't have a dog, but if we did, he could have accompanied us on our stay, as dogs are allowed in some of the accommodation, including Type G vans.
FACILITIES
We were staying at Parkers Farm because we were looking for a house in the area, so we didn't make full use of all the facilities. However, we strolled around the site one evening and looked at the farm animals, which included horses, pigs and piglets, cattle and sheep. Next to reception, there was also a fenced "pets' corner" which contained rabbits and a couple of very friendly ewes, and there were chickens and peacocks scratching about. This all made for a very pleasant atmosphere. We could also have joined a farm walk to meet and feed the animals, but unfortunately we got back too late in the day.
There were several play areas dotted about the park, including one right in front of our caravan. This contained two swings and two large trampolines, which were a lot of (supervised) fun. The largest play area, next to reception, had a climbing frame and four trampolines. There was a sign stating that a maximum of four children should use each one at any time, so I would imagine that it gets reasonably busy in high season.
There was also a shop, which sold basic foodstuffs and breakfast items, and a bar/restaurant. Unfortunately, despite the family-orientated nature of the site, the restaurant didn't open until 6.30pm. We also found out the hard way, on Sunday, that it only opened on Friday and Saturday evenings when we were there - I'm not sure whether this is the case in high season. Fortunately, we discovered that there is an excellent curry house in Ashburton, just a couple of miles away. Alternatively, you can buy provisions in one of the two small supermarkets in the town.
PRICE
We paid £110 for our three-night stay, and £10 for a TV. Prices for a week vary from £135 (type G) to £235 (type A), to £375 (type G) to £475 (type A) in peak season. There are extra charges for dogs, and you may negotiate a discount if there are only two adults. For more information, please see the Parkers Farm website: http://www.parkersfarm.co.uk/caravans.htm. We booked approximately two weeks in advance, which meant that we had to pay half of the price when we booked, and the other half on arrival. You could arrive after 2.30pm and had to vacate by 9.30am.
The cottages were more expensive than staying in a static caravan, please also see the website for details. The price for a touring caravan pitch varies between £9.50 and £14.50 per night.
OVERALL
One thing that did spoil our stay at Parkers Farm was that, on the first evening that we arrived, after a long drive, we could not get to sleep before 1am. This was because of really loud music coming from down the hill. Apparently this was from an annual "Young Farmers" bash at the neighbouring farm. Obviously we would have liked to know about this before we booked, but I guess that I can hardly blame them for not mentioning it. Apart from that, it was a peaceful, pleasant site, and the accommodation was very clean. Due to the location it probably won't be my first choice for our next trip, but I would recommend it for a short family break.
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