Beach fun is here in spades
STUART BRENNAN enjoys some traditional British seaside fun and countryside delights at a holiday park
BUCKETS and spades, eating ice cream while sitting on the harbour wall, fish and chips and card games on a rainy day.
Is the great British holiday about to make a spectacular comeback?
Holiday camp giants Parkdean clearly think so, having invested £50million this year on upgrading its chain of parks across the UK.
With the pound plummeting against the euro and dollar after the Brexit vote and some of us still too embarrassed to show our faces in Europe, the good old British holiday could experience a new dawn.
But can that tradition survive, with the last two generations now used to the guaranteed sunshine and exotic splendour of Benidorm, Barbados and Bodrum?
We headed to the north east, to Parkdean’s Sandy Bay resort, to find out, with excited seven-yearwell-equipped old George in tow.
Sitting next to the old pit village of North Seaton and within sight of the rusting industry of Blyth harbour, Sandy Bay does not instantly strike you as a holiday idyll, especially when you arrive under lowering, leaden skies.
But a short walk over the sand dunes to the beach rolls back the years to those childhood British holidays – mum and dad in foldaway chairs, the kids burying each other in sand and paddling in the sea. And with the sun blazing down, as it did in our three-day stay, you could be on any beach – although this one is sparsely populated enough to afford you plenty of privacy.
But what of the camp itself? Have they shaken off the old internment camp image? Absolutely.
There is plenty for the kids to do, even when the sun retreats behind the clouds – George loved the sci-fi quest staged by the friendly entertainments team, even though it was little more than haring around, finding clues and eventually having a Nerf gun showdown with an alien.
The pool is small and clean and also puts on scuba diving, waterwalking and kayaking, all at additional costs.
We were amazed on venturing into the clubhouse on our first night to find the bar virtually deserted – until a pint of beer and a pint of lager saw us get back a few coppers from a tenner.
We also fell foul of the ancient and sacred ritual of Linked Up Bingo, held every evening and in which all the Parkdean resorts play for some pretty big prizes.
This is serious stuff, as we soon became aware as we chatted away as the contestants sat, markers in hand, listening for the numbers and were greeted with stern looks and harrumphs.
The food in the camp restaurant was also over-priced, while one glance at the menu for the on-site chippy - £2.50 for a portion of chips – dissuaded us from giving that a go, too.
The caravans themselves are spacious and comfortable, with kitchens, and the staff were prompt and eager to help – after discovering a broken toilet seat on arrival, it was fixed within half an hour! The initial impression was that the caravans were a touch too close together, but the way they are situated means no-one is overlooking anyone else and we could see a stretch of the North Sea between the rows.
The gorgeous Northumberland coastline stretches away to the north, perhaps the most under-valued and unspoilt of our national treasures.
We had a glorious, blissful day at Alnwick Castle, one of the Harry Potter film locations and steeped in bloody English history.
And while you are there, don’t miss the adjacent gardens – George loved the Fairytale Trail where you have to follow the clues to defeat the Wicked Witch, while mum and dad simply enjoy the surroundings.
But be warned, take a change of clothes for the kids if you visit the Gardens, as the water features are hilariously interactive.
We rounded that day off with a trip to nearby Seahouses, for an ice cream and a stroll along the harbour, with views of the Farne Islands.
The drive back to the camp, along the coast, is rewarding in itself – people associate the north east with smoggy Middlesbrough, chemical plants and steel works, but that is a small part of the picture.
The coast north of Newcastle has glorious sweeps of deserted, sandy coastline fringing rolling English countryside.
And that lovely Geordie twang and the natural warmth of the people all adds to the experience.
We rounded off our three-day trip with a morning on the beach, followed by a dip in the resort’s indoor pool.
We also managed to fit in a bike ride along the banks of the River Wansbeck, our eyes peeled for the otters who have recently taken up residence, as the green fightback against the area’s coalmining past continues apace.