Thursday 17 September 2009

CLIFTONS FARM - PRESTON [135]







Wednesday 19th August – Sunday 23rd August 2009

I didn’t find any problems approaching this site using the directions in the directory, but watch out for the speed cameras on the A6. The entrance gate [which is kept closed] is 100yds past the farm and has a long enough run off for most outfits. So there is no need to park on the road.

There are two pitching areas, one with 6 pitches which is apparently the C/L and a second one with about 9 pitches which had a few long stay caravans. The second area had grey water drains to each pitch and had good views towards the Fylde Peninsula

At some time someone had spent a great deal of money on this location. There are numerous fruit trees, a pond, pigs, cattle, geese, ducks, chickens and probably many more that I missed. The young couple who ran the farm were very friendly and sold a lot of the farm produce and meat, but the whole site had a feeling of neglect. The grass needed cutting and you had to brave the nettles to refill water containers or empty the rubbish. The free showers and toilet had the usual cobwebs and there was even a twin tub washing machine [tanglematic type that I hadn't seen since I was in the Merchant Navy]and a deep freeze attached to a room with a table tennis table. Unfortunately most of this had seen better times. A second toilet block on the adjacent larger field had a couple of banks of solar panels on the roof that must have cost a couple of thousand pounds to install. Inspite of this I think the block was unused.

The pricing structure is a bit confusing for a C/L and must have been devised by someone with a degree in mathematics. My wife and son joined me for a few nights during my stay which incurred additional costs of £2 per night for my son and £2 per night for his car. My wife was free as the basic fee included two adults, but no discount was offered for the nights I spent on my own. Does anyone find that unusual or is it just me.

The nearest shops, takeaways and regular bus service are on the A6, with more substantial facilities in Preston. We had a meal at the local pub which was good but the lady behind the bar [whom I believe was the owners mother] seemed to find the whole pub running business a bit stressful. I hope she never gets a proper job.

The run down feeling on what must have been at sometime a well thought out location, coupled with the complicated pricing structure probably contributed to the low occupancy during my stay.

Analogue TV signal good
Digital signal available

£9.00 per night [inclusive for 2 adults – additional adults, kids, dogs, awnings and cars are extra. If you go on a bank holiday - god knows]

1 comment:

Judy said...

I'll second all that , could have been a beautiful site with a bit of TLC