August 2026 news
What’s happening across our adult only campsites?
It’s been a long hot summer for many, and it’s racing by. There’s still plenty happening in and around our Tranquil Parks – here’s our latest news round-up.
Top photo: New Lodge Farm in Rockingham Forest, where the team not only have guests to look after, but also livestock to feed. Northamptonshire was one of the counties officially in drought at the time of writing.
New giveaway
Stretton Lakes are kindly offering a 3-night stay at their beautiful 5-star touring park in Rutland to one lucky winner!
Enter this month’s giveaway for your chance to enjoy a superior lakeside pitch in beautiful countryside, with excellent fishing and luxurious 5-Star Gold facilities. (Pitches are suitable for motorhomes, caravans and campervans – not for tents).
Dogs are well catered for too, with a spacious exercise area and their own washing facilities.
Thank you if you entered our biggest ever giveaway to celebrate the book launch of St Christopher of Atlantis. We’ll be announcing the winners on our website after these popular YouTubers announce them on their YouTube channel in their 20 August video.
Recognition and awards
Congratulations to the Tranquil Parks that have been recognised for their outstanding quality.
Green Acres Caravan Park near Carlisle in Cumbria has retained its AA 5 Gold Star grading for 2026/27.
Somers Wood Caravan Park is celebrating another VisitEngland 5 Star Gold rating with a quality score of 94%, following its latest inspection.
York Caravan Park has also retained AA 5-Star Gold, while its caravan storage facility has received the highest possible CaSSOA (the Caravan Storage Site Owners’ Association) rating of 5-Star Platinum. This facility offers outstanding security through indoor storage, HD CCTV and controlled access. Their park’s Store & Stay service means you can keep your caravan there and have it ready and waiting for your arrival.
Grooby’s Pit near Skegness in Lincolnshire has achieved the prestigious 5 Star Quality in Tourism award, recognising the team’s continued commitment to providing an exceptional holiday experience. Here are owner Tracy and warden Debbie with the certificate. Campsites.co.uk has also named Grooby’s Pit outstanding with a score of 4.97/5 and 100% recommendations.
Briarfields Touring Park near Cheltenham in Gloucestershire has also received the ‘Outstanding’ title from campsites.co.uk. There are some exciting developments underway at this park and we hope we’ll be able to share them with you next month.
Availability for late summer and beyond
If you’re still planning a summer getaway, there are still opportunities to enjoy some late sunshine. The following parks all have availability through late August and into September:
- Moor View Touring Park, overlooking Dartmoor in South Devon
- Parkland Site near Kingsbridge in South Devon
- Long Acres Touring Park in the Lincolnshire countryside near Boston
- Somers Wood Caravan Park on the outskirts of Meriden in the West Midlands
Somers Wood is reopening for Christmas and New Year! There is good availability for the festivities.
- Fields End Water Caravan Park, Lodges and Fishery in Doddington, Cambridgeshire has plenty of availability for the week before and after the August Bank Holiday.
- South Wales Touring Park in Llangennech near Llanelli – see the park’s late availability page for details
- Eye Kettleby Lakes near Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire has good availability for September midweek breaks and throughout October.
- Red Kite Touring Park near Llanidloes in Mid-Wales is almost full for August, with just a handful of pitches remaining before the Bank Holiday and only two pitches left for the Bank Holiday weekend itself. September is also filling quickly.
Winter seasonal pitches are now available at Red Kite Touring Park from 1st October to 30th April. A Standard Fully Serviced Pitch is £1,575 and a Premium Fully Serviced Pitches is £1,840. This is a great way to keep your unit in use throughout the year and it means you can be on site for two of the park’s popular charity events – Bonfire Night on 7th November and New Year’s Eve.
Cartref Caravan & Camping Site near Shrewsbury has limited availability for the second half of August and is fully booked for the bank holiday. There is also availability during September, which is limited at weekends. If you’re looking for a Christmas break, New Year’s Eve is already fully booked.
With its well landscaped grounds, mature trees and hedging, Bath Chew Valley Caravan Park is a great choice for the late summer Bank holiday 27th-31st August, for which there are a few remaining places available.
Special Offers
Planning your next escape?
Somers Wood continues its popular Sunday -Thursday three nights for the price of two offers (code MID342) until the end of November.
Parkland Site is offering Tranquil Parks guests an exclusive discount between 15th September and 20th October on all pitch types and accommodation::
- 7 nights for the price of 5 (code TRANQUIL745)
- Midweek 3 nights for the price of 2 (code TPMID342)
What’s new in and around the parks?
There’s a new covered dog wash at Brookside Country Park in Burton-upon-Stather, Lincolnshire. It’s already proving popular with guests, since the park is surrounded by woodland walks.
What’s in the Box? Old Oaks Touring & Glamping Park near Glastonbury in Somerset has introduced a fun new feature. Hidden somewhere around the park is a mystery box containing games, such as boules, croquet, giant Jenga and badminton. Occasionally the lucky guest who discovers it first will even find a surprise gift waiting inside.
Delph Bank Touring & Glamping Park in Fleet Hargate, Lincolnshire has expanded its tempting weekly food line-up with homemade pizza on Thursdays. The 10-inch pizzas come with two toppings of your choice for £9.95 and delicious homemade coleslaw is just £2.50. There’s also a popular Fish & Chips van on Fridays and authentic Thai cuisine on Saturdays.
At Eye Kettleby Lakes, the food van lineup is now: The Burgerologist on Tuesdays, Fire & Embers Pizza & Quiz Night on Thursdays and Howe & Co Fish & Chip Van on Saturdays.
Guests at South Wales Touring Park don’t even have to leave the site to stock up on local produce. Every Friday morning the G W Watkins mobile shop visits with fresh fruit, vegetables, locally produced meats, cakes and much more.
Staying at Somers Wood? Nura is a luxurious new Indian restaurant in the local village of Meriden, serving beautiful food in elegant surroundings.
Bath Chew Valley guests have given a positive ‘thumbs-up’ to the newest bus services connecting the local village, Bishop Sutton, to Bath, Bristol and many of the other pretty villages around the Chew Lake and Yeo valleys.
These services are dog-friendly too. Find bus timetables on the Bath Chew Valley Caravan Park website: Bath is a magnificent city and UNESCO World Heritage Site that really does have something for everyone.
Coming up at the parks and nearby
Blue Rose Country Park in Brandesburton, East Riding of Yorkshire, will hold its popular annual BBQ on 29th August. (Photos show last year’s event.) There will be live entertainment from 1pm until 11pm, plus bingo, a raffle and a free barbecue. A few pitches are still available if you’d like to join in the fun.
A pub local to South Wales Touring Park, The Bridge Inn, will host ‘Wingin’ It’ on 13 September (for which the park has availability). . This is a live music event by a local guitar and vocal duo and entry is free for patrons.
Dog parents might also enjoy the National Botanic Garden of Wales’ popular Doggie Days, held every Monday, Friday and the first weekend of each month, while staying at the park.
If you’re planning an early autumn break at Eye Kettleby Lakes, you might be interested in the Melton Beer, Cider and Gin Festival taking place on 18th-19th September. Not only does it include an exhibition hall full of beers, ciders and gins, there’s also entertainment and street food stalls.
The East Midlands Food & Drink Festival takes place on 3rd and 4th October, where you’ll find around 200 food and drink stalls from the East Midlands and beyond, plus a food theatre showcasing professional chefs and food from around the world.
Bookings at Green Acres Caravan Park in Cumbria are open for next year, and they are already getting busy for early July next year when the Tour de France Stage 1 will start in Edinburgh and end in Carlisle on 2 July.
Looking further ahead, Bath Chew Valley Caravan Park is a great base for the Bath Foodies Festival 4th-6th September, and the city’s famous Christmas Markets which open on 26th November this year. (See details about the new bus service to Bath above).
Cartref has several onsite events lined up for the rest of this year:
- Holiday Home Park Open Day on Saturday 19th September
- Art with Anna M Felting Workshop on Saturday 26 September in ‘Bartref’ the onsite bar (£15 per person including prosecco and materials)
- Seasons Edge at Halloween on Saturday 31 October celebrating the end of the summer season and welcoming the autumn/winter with live music.
- Christmas Wreath Workshop Saturday 21 November (more details to follow).
(The photos are of a fabulous recent ABBA night in Bartref – more celebrations TBA.)
Seen on site
Every now and then a truly iconic outfit arrives on one of our parks such as this beautifully restored mid-1970s Volkswagen Westfalia campervan which recently arrived at Parkland Site. Would it have been called a dormobile back in the day?
Red Kite Touring Park played host to a gleaming American Airstream trailer. It’s great to see that these style icons are still in use.
We love to see a tortoise on holiday! This one was staying at Grooby’s Pit and he has an unusual name – ‘Ebay’! Inherited 25 years ago, the owners said that if he ever became too much of a handful, eBay is where he’ll go! Park owner Tracy has offered to step in and give him a home if that ever happens.
Everybody loves the sunshine…
There has been a definite Mediterranean atmosphere around the Chew Valley Lake cafés within a comfortable walk from the park. It looks more like the Côte du Chew!
Sun is crucial for butterflies as they use the heat from the sun to warm up their flight muscles. These beautiful specimens were photographed at Red Kite Touring Park.
… to a point!
Dogs can overheat only too easily. Fortunately the dog exercise area at Bath Chew Valley Caravan Park is cool, shaded woodland.
At Somers Wood, four-legged guests are not the only ones keeping cool in the park’s new doggie splash pools, their two-legged owners could not resist making the most of them too!
This long, hot summer has created challenges for wild animals, as well as pets. At Grooby’s Pit rabbits have been looking for fresh grass, the hens have been seeking shade and woodpeckers have come out of the trees to forage.
At Blue Rose Country Park an unusually bold fox was scouring the park early one morning.
We are supporting the campaign to ban disposable barbecues. Even when used responsibly, they can scorch grass and damage habitats, but after a spell of dry weather, they can quickly cause devastating fires, causing suffering for wildlife, destroying precious habitats and even putting people at risk.
Fond farewells at Fields End Water
Colin & Sandra who run the park café are retiring at the end of the season. The park team are very grateful for all their hard work, and wish them all the best in their retirement. There will be some exciting news about the future of the café which we hope to share next month.
The park said goodbye to a very special resident recently – Peggy, the disabled Greylag goose. Having made the park her home for the past three years, she sadly passed away and will be fondly remembered by staff and guests alike.