Caravan holiday offers plenty

IT’S

more the Old West than the Wild West but Shrewsbury still has a hint of Americana cool for me. Yes, this is the hometown of a clutch of British Victorian superstars.

Charles Darwin called this quaint English town his home. As did novelist Mary Webb, Major-general Robert Clive and war poet Wilfred Owen.

And yes, the town centre boasts so many Ye Olde-y type buildings and inns that you’d swear you were on the set of Shakespeare in Love. But there’s just something about the place.

Ok – it’s one thing.

And one specific spot – the caravan my family and I are staying in.

I’ve driven four-and-a-half hours to be here – and I don’t even like caravans that much. But boy, this caravan is a thing of beauty.

It’s an Airstream Missouri – the pinnacle of American style and class as far as I’m concerned. Looking at it, you can almost smell the tarmac from Route 66.

Sleek Aluminium curves and an over-the-top interior that boast so much modcons and faux-rawhide furniture, Desperate Dan wouldn’t look out of place. But not everyone shares my opinion.

The Airstream caravans – only recently re-introduced for sale in the UK by industry leaders the Swift Group and which comes with a whopping £78,000 price tag – have a reputation as the Marmite of the caravan world.

And my wife doesn’t like Marmite.

“It just looks like an empty tin can – and a tiny one at that! We’ll never fit.”

But fit we did.

Sure, squeezing five (plus a small yappy dog) in the confined space was on the decidedly cosy side.

But it worked out well. And it was probably helped by the fact we didn’t spend much time here bar sleeping. The Airstream is permanently homed in Love2stay caravan and camping park on the outskirts of Shrewsbury. The recently opened Love2stay park boasts it’s transforming caravan holidays. And it certainly feels that way. Stretching across 22 acres of prime Shropshire land, Love2stay has so many activities, cramming them in can almost be an ordeal. Kayaking, campfire cooking and den-building. And that’s just for my four-year-old son, James and daughter Anna-teresa, six.

For the older ones there’s just as much on offer.

My wife opted for a full body massage to get over the ordeal of staying in a caravan while I took my 15-year-old son Saul paddle-boarding during the four says we spent here.

There was also an outrageously complex assault course for older kids to do supervised (think Krypton Factor) which put my son through his paces.

And if you are feeling especially brave there is an outdoor natural swimming pool where you can take a dip.

But on a blustery Easter weekend we decided it was one step too far. Instead, we relaxed in the bar/restaurant area with a stone-baked pizza (cooked on site in a fabulous wood-burning oven) overlooking the pool and watched those far less timid than us brave the cool waters. Shrewsbury itself is as a gorgeous little – and walkable – town.

As a Scot there’s a fair few English towns who have had historic beef with Caledonia and my marauding ancestors. But not in Shrewsbury. Instead, that role has been filled by the Welsh and the shape of Shrewsbury is testament to the frequent raids from across the border. The Saxons who built the town designed a warren, complete with a complex web of town gates and bridges that spanned the River Severn. It makes the