Wigley Orchard and St Michaels Caravan Parks

Flying

2012-03-03T13:08:00.000Z

Spring is here.

The daffs are out + and a solitary bumble bee came to visit

There's a cock pheasant patrolling in the garden. He's only got one thing on his mind.

SO with every incentive to stay at home Sandra has decided to visit the grandchildren in New Jersey

On Thursday morning March 1st we left home at 6.00am and arrived at Birmingham Airport at 7.00 in good time to check in for the 9.00am flight to USA. Unfortunately, there were technical problems and the flight was delayed - and an announcement would be made at 10 O'clock, 11 O'clock, 12 O'clock. Around 1.00 O' Clock a decision was taken to move passengers to Heathrow so Sandra was queuing for a bus whilst I was enjoying a pub lunch in Wales (It was St David's Day).
She eventually took off at 18.15hrs and arrived in New Jersey in time for bed and not in time to play with the grandchildren.

Lessons to be drawn?
Avoid Continental? - but they are closing for good this week-end after nearly 80 years in business. I think the return flight will be branded as "United" I hope the service is better.
Avoid Birmingham - at least at Heathrow there are more options for alternative flights. The next one leaving Birmingham was 6.00am on Friday.
Stay at home

I don't think I can persuade Sandra to not visit the grandchildren but - for many people I can recommend a holiday in the UK which will avoid all the stress of air travel and airports.

Activity levels

2011-12-30T11:55:00.000Z

One of my Christmas presents was a pack of Berocca tablets which claim to increase energy levels. (It may just be quackery.)
On Wednesday I tried one and sure enough - energised, I set off to walk round to the Stoke Bliss church and back across the fields. (About two miles)
It was a nice dry day and at the church I stopped to inspect my mother-in-law's grave and the new organ. In about an hour, home again - I sat in the best chair - went to sleep - woke up three hours later
just in time for supper.
So much for "increased energy".

The Firm's Christmas Party

2011-12-29T14:44:00.003Z

We only employ one permanent part-time member of staff - so we invited all of the partners (and their partners) plus most of the people we call on for extra help during the year to make up a party of sixteen to join us at The Baiting House in Upper Sapey for our first ever -

Works Christmas Party

The highlight of the evening was the announcement of our recent award from Hoseasons : for exceptional quality and outstanding customer service

Here's a picture of us with Alison (reception) and Christina (house-keeping) who have been instrumental in this achievement.

The most pleasing part of the award is that it is selected by reference to online feedback from customers after completing their holiday. We hope they enjoyed their visit so much that they will shortly be booking for Wigley Orchard again in 2012.

Culture evening tonight

2011-11-17T16:05:00.000Z

We're off to the Warwick Arts Centre tonight to see Britain's Got Bhangra
Get a taster online at http://www.warwickartscentre.co.uk/events/theatre/britains-got-bhangra-2011

Our friends have a family member performing so we are going to support.

We don't go to the theatre as often as maybe we should - but this one looks as if there could be dancing in the aisles before it finishes.

My gout is playing up today so even if I enjoy the music I will have to remain seated.

Crib star

2011-11-17T15:56:00.000Z

Sometimes when playing games you need skill and sometimes lady fortune smiles upon you.

Last night in a highly competitive crib match against The Live and Let Live at Whitbourne we needed about 25 points to win and our opponents needed 6. We did the pegging and they still needed a few but it was my first down.

I was still trying to count my hand as I held a four, a five and two sixes. When I first turned them over I thought - "that's a lot"... but then the turn up was a four as well .... so that was eight for 15s, twelve for runs and four for pairs = a total of 24. And a win for me and my partner.

I've played crib for nearly 30 years and never scored higher from a single hand.

You can only play the cards you are dealt - it's perhaps a metaphor for life.

I concede last night was a teeny weeny bit lucky.

2011-10-18T12:41:00.001+01:00

Today I've been mostly publishing our latest newsletter on line

NEWSLETTER

Emergency call out

2011-10-17T20:15:00.012+01:00

The telephone rang at 9.40pm last night.
The caller wanted help.
He had visited our park to meet his sister who was here on holiday and had parked his car on the grass (sloping away from the tarmac)
During the evening it had rained. (We haven't had heavy rain for more than six months in this sunny corner of Worcestershire) As a result, when he set off for home he could not - his car would not grip on the wet grass and he was stuck.
Taking the Landrover Discovery to deal with the problem I found he was so far onto the grass that I could not reach him with my tow strap unless I also drove onto the grass. Once onto the grass the Landrover would not grip enough to move the car.
I returned to base and collected a longer tow strap, plus shackles, plus winch.
Success, the car was back on the road - our visitor apologised for causing the problem and thanked me lots, and departed for home. I don't even know his name.
I was back indoors in time for Newsnight.
I haven't had the courage this morning to inspect the damage/mess we created.

Rugby

2011-10-10T22:33:00.002+01:00

I have spent today reading about the problems in the RFU and whether Martin Johnson is up to the job, and what a terrible performance England produced in their defeat by the French.

Did anyone ever think England were good enough to win the cup? The overwhelming favourites were always New Zealand, and the betting money was also following Australia and South Africa. I haven't put a bet on Wales but they might now just be worth a fiver providing the odds were good.

...but back to England... It is only a game; nobody died; with 20 teams in the competition there would always be 19 losers. Why is our British press so excited? The shame has come from some silly off field antics but on field we should always have been prepared to meet a better opposing team.

My analysis - for what its worth is that the team should have found a proper number 7 (McCall and Pocock do it nicely for example) - and then find a more definite pattern of play at half back and inside centre. A couple more players who run round people not through them would also have helped.

My overall impression is of a team that is over coached and without a single player prepared to break the mould and think outside the box. I enjoyed my time playing - some of our England team look as if it's a full time job.

Victory on the TRACK

2011-09-19T14:20:00.000+01:00

Our main man at St Michaels Caravan Park is John - his stage name is Ron and for racing lawn mowers he is Big Ron - man in charge of Big Ron Racing.
Stanford Bridge on September 10th saw the final round in this season's Lawn Mower Race series when he needed to gain 9 points to overtake the leader.

4 Winners on the podium

The leader Son of Bucko (Neil Sparey from Clifton on Teme) had a bad day with mechanical failures and lots of bad luck. Not only was he overtaken by Big Ron Racing but he also lost 2nd place to Rob Silver racing as Fat & Co

The final table

Ron started racing in 2004 and in 2010 gained a first 1st place. Look out 2012!!

More market research (written by Sandra)

2011-09-14T11:23:00.002+01:00

Four go to Llandeilo
It was a mad idea, dreamt up by The Boss and our Nephew. “Let’s take Grandma on a train to the middle of Wales for lunch.”
That’s how the four of us (The Boss, his mother, our Nephew and me) came to be standing on Bucknell station at 9.30 on a drizzly early September morning. Promptly at 9.40 the train appeared in the distance. Bucknell isn’t a scheduled stop so Nephew waved the train down enthusiastically, but I think we had already been spotted. It wasn’t going very fast. And it wasn’t very big. The driver gave us a cheery “Good morning” as we climbed aboard. We found seats, Grandma and The Boss on one side of the aisle, me and Nephew on the other. We were surprised that there were so many other passengers, and a man with a trolley selling tea and coffee.

Knucklas Viaduct

    The Boss had booked the train in advance and had 21 tickets (four out, four back, eight seat reservations, four for payment and one with his address on it).
    After an uneventful journey through the wet Welsh countryside we arrived at Llandeilo, where we got off. A taxi was waiting for us, booked by The Boss who had also arranged lunch. The taxi took us to The Plough in Rhosmean and promised to come back for us.
    The Plough, a large blue-painted self-styled boutique hotel in the middle of absolutely nowhere, was surreal. A smart receptionist greeted us, a smart waiter took us to our smart table in the smart dining room, and we spent the next two hours happily eating our way through a very good three course lunch in a room full of other happy lunchers.
    We had a slight panic when the taxi was late and we had to stand in the rain for five minutes, but we caught the train with time to spare and rattled back through the wet Welsh countryside, this time with a table. When the ticket inspector came by The Boss laid out his 21 tickets and invited him to “pick a card, any card”. The ticket inspector’s lips didn’t even twitch.
    And so we arrived safely back in Bucknell and agreed that we had had a very nice, if rather unusual, day out.

September

2011-09-05T18:11:00.001+01:00

Brian & Janet - old friends (from the days before we ran a holiday caravan park) came to stay with us for the week-end and we road-tested a couple of local tourist attractions.
On Sunday pm we visited Lower Brockhampton (NT) a medieval moated manor house surrounded by beautiful parkland and fruit trees. The place dates back to 14th century with a gate house added for effect. The chapel is a ruin but dates back to the 1100s. In the shop we had a damson gin ice cream but the marmalade was deemed too expensive by the ladies. If you are in the area it's just off the A44 about 2 miles east of Bromyard.
The family had made so much money that they built a new mansion, church and stables etc at the top of the hill in the mid 1700s and left Lower Brockhampton for good.

In the evening we dined at The Live and Let Live which was an old Herefordshire cider house. In recent years the building has been extensively refurbished with a new thatched roof and a smart restaurant upstairs amongst the rafters.
We dined in the bar area on the ground floor by candlelight. The food was ordered after a few false starts when the waitress returned to explain they were short of some of our chosen items. We agreed that if the food was all fresh it was reassuring that some items were not available late on a Sunday. Eventually the food came and it was good and the wine too.

If you call in during the day a lunch outside on the lawns might appeal.

Wedding Anniversary

2011-08-31T18:15:00.000+01:00

It was our 36th wedding anniversary on Monday so I took Sandra out for a bit of a special celebration.

Yes - to The Baiting House - for a pint of HPA and a glass of white wine - for only £5.20.

They don't do food in the Bait on Monday Tuesday or Wednesday - and there's not much in the way of entertainment - and the landlord can be a bit grumpy. (Mark did buy us a drink when he knew we were in celebration mode. So he's not that bad)

We usually visit on Wednesdays (for crib) and Sundays (for respite after a busy week-end) so this was a real treat - to go to the Bait on a Monday!

When we arrived we met Bruce, Neil, Gerald and Tyrone - who had all been there on Sunday. Nevertheless, an interesting conversation ensued covering topics such as last Saturday's lawn mower racing results, the big music do on Saturday night, the old class mates who last week turned out for Neil's school reunion - and what different directions their lives had taken. This could easily have spun off to the meaning of life (& more) but we reigned ourselves back to discuss floods in New York, and golf.

I enjoy a pub visit when conversation is the main point of the evening. Sandra was okay as after 36 years she has learned not to get too excited when I offer to take her out!

Stroll ON

2011-08-31T17:46:00.000+01:00

Ready for the starter's gun

We completed our walk on Sunday. Fourteen people and three dogs left Wigley Orchard at 10.30 am and arrived at St Michaels eight miles and three hours later. There were some aching legs afterwards. I was the oldest participant (& the heaviest) - but there was no prize for these categories
Money is coming in from many generous sponsors and when it is all in we expect once again to exceed £1000.
We will share the proceeds between two charities - Kemp Hospice and Healing Hands Network.
If you've been involved at all - then thank you

Onibury Junior C of E School has been saved

2011-08-04T11:19:00.000+01:00

Shropshire County Council has reprieved the threatened closure of my old school so I thought you might like to see a picture of some of the illustrious old boys who were educated there in the 1950s

Stroll on

2011-07-26T11:33:00.000+01:00

In 2009 on the last Sunday in August we walked from Wigley Orchard 8 miles across country to St Michaels and raised about £1500 in sponsorship for Kemp Hospice.

In 2010 on the last Sunday in August we walked from St Michaels 8 miles across country to Wigley Orchard and raised nearly £2000 in sponsorship for Healing Hands Network.

The plan for 2011 is to walk from Wigley Orchard to St Michaels on the last Sunday in August and to raise sponsorship funds to be split evenly between Kemp Hospice and Healing Hands Network. We will leave Wigley at 10.00am and expect to arrive at St Michaels around 1.00pm. Transport will be on hand to return walkers to base.

Kemp Hospice is a locally based hospice

Healing Hands Network is a UK charity dealing with post traumatic stress suffered by victims of war. Much of the work has been based in Bosnia dealing with the aftermath of the 1990s conflicts.

I'm now well into my training programme and walking to the Baiting House twice a week. It's not quite 3 miles - but "every little helps"!

Trading on line

2011-07-26T10:58:00.000+01:00

This week we have taken our first ever online holiday booking.
(I forget if I was sleeping or in the Baiting House at the time!!)
We've taken some time to get ready for this event as our decision to develop the facility was only made in January 2011. At present we have on line bookings for our St Michaels Caravan Park only.
The system has been designed by my brother Edward with his team at Torque Business Systems Ltd based in Auckland New Zealand and it is very flexible to suit both large and small holiday businesses. It caters for many categories of accommodation, all dates and lengths of stay, pets or no pets, and then a whole host of varying discounts - such as long stays, short stays, small parties, early booking, money off promotions etc etc.
At the moment we are offering £100 off a week and £50 off short breaks for the remainder of 2011
We will continue to test and develop the system this year so that we can be well into our stride from early 2012.
If you are involved in holiday lets and have a web site in need of an interactive booking system tied to payments on line then please contact me to discuss. (01885 410331)
If you need a holiday JUST GO ON LINE to http://www.stmichaelscaravans.co.uk/

New York New York

2011-04-25T14:11:00.000+01:00

Life’s tough in New York City.
    Son David and his wife and three children have been living in a rented apartment in Brooklyn for just over a year. It costs about $5,500 a month. For most of this time they have been looking for somewhere to buy. At first they wanted to stay in Brooklyn, but a three bedroom apartment with no outside space costs over $1 million, and not surprisingly the Bank of Mum and Dad, which is involved in this project, has some serious issues with this.
    So they find a house in Westchester, very upmarket, very leafy suburbia, for a similar amount of money, which seems more sensible as it had four bedrooms and a big garden.
    They put in an offer, it’s accepted, they have the survey done, they’re gazumped, their landlord gives them notice to quit.
    Back to the drawing board, with sixty days and counting before they will be homeless. David pictures them all sitting on the pavement with their bags piled up around them, his babies crying, his wife ...
    They move their househunt to New Jersey, still leafy suburbia but not so upmarket and, surprise surprise, not so expensive.
    They find a house. They put in an offer and have a day to wait to find out whether it’s been accepted.
    David phones to give us this news on his way to the airport. It’s a quarter to five in the morning and he’s flying to Chicago for three morning meetings and a business lunch. Some time later we receive this email:
    “Since speaking to you pre 5 am I have suffered two cancellations, a flight to Charlotte, N Carolina, another cancellation, a delay, a bumpy two hour ride to Chicago sitting next to four very badly behaved toddlers with idiotic parents, a 25 minute delay at the gate whilst waiting for a gate agent to open the door and am now in the back of the hottest cab ever.
    “Unlikely to make my lunch at 1 pm having already missed three meetings and needing a drink!”
    So that’s how tough life is in New York City.
    It’s not all bad, however. He did make his lunch and the offer on the house has been accepted.

script by Sandra - David's mum

Badgers

2011-04-25T14:06:00.000+01:00

I read with interest Charles Clover’s article in The Sunday Times about badgers (24th April). Mr Clover argues that “badgers are plentiful, overprotected and play a significant part in spreading disease among cattle” and should be culled. But there are some aspects of badgers in the countryside which he failed to mention.
    Last year in the middle of the night my sleep was disturbed by a tremendous fuss outside my bedroom window. In the moonlight I saw two badgers fighting. They were locked together, rolling backwards and forwards in the driveway, emitting blood curdling screams and screeches. I was pleased to be indoors and at least 15 feet away as their size, strength and ferocity were truly frightening.
    This year foraging badgers have rotavated our driveway edges so that the grass has disappeared and the verges look like a ploughed field.
    There are so many badgers on the roads at night that they present a clear risk of damaging motor vehicles.
    Those that have become road-kill smell. No, stink. The regular clearer-uppers of dead things seem not to touch a badger until it is well into its decomposing process.
    In discussion with local heritage experts I learn that nearly any wildlife species can be turned into food – jugged hare, pigeon pie or rabbit stew. No one can ever remember being hungry enough to eat a badger – or even badger-flavoured crisps.

Open house

2011-04-19T11:47:00.000+01:00

The new home for John arrived on April 5th and 6th. It is now fully assembled, sited and connected. The timber decking should be completed today.

Although it is a caravan construction it is designed for year round use and is capable of meeting the needs of high-end leisure users or for permanent living.

We are having an open house week-end shortly so if you would like to visit St Michaels (WR15 8TW) and inspect this new home please come along.

Nice to see you

2011-04-19T11:40:00.000+01:00

We think that most of our visitors enjoy their stay - but it is always reassuring when they tell us.

Although the sunny dry spell through most of the month has been too much for the daffodils (which are mainly wilting and past their best) we are now enjoying brilliant displays of blossom from all the fruit trees, hawthorn and many more.

Mid April is definitely the time to see Worcestershire countryside at its best (or is it late September when the autumn colours are on display?) On balance I think April.

New home for John

2011-04-08T17:03:00.001+01:00

The Tingdene Woodland Oak comes in two sections
On Wednesday evening the first half arrived and the second half on Thursday morning.
By lunch time Thursday it was joined together and in its new position - and here's the picture to prove it.

In the next few days we will connect drains, water, electrics, satellite dish, and deck and then we can look forward to open house and John's house warming party!

Caravan sales

2011-03-13T19:41:00.000Z

In olden days the caravan season in England started around Easter and finished at the end of September.

These days things are more advanced.

I choose my word carefully because our local caravan dealer - Salop Leisure - (Stourport branch) - is promoting its "Mid Season Sale" - from March 25 to 27th.

If you are interested in caravans (statics) there will be 30 new models on display and big money-off offers on 2010 stock. Tel 01299 871361 or visit www.salopleisure.co.uk for more information. The show ground post code is DY13 9QB

I guess the end of season will be upon us by June and next season underway by September!

One shouldn't really wish one's life away at such a pace.

My telephone's journey (in February)

2011-03-13T19:37:00.001Z

It's now FIVE days since I reported to the phone company that there was a fault with the line and my phone doesn't work. Without this facility running a business has been very frustrating.
Help is now at hand... I received the following email

Dear Mr. Griffiths
Thank you for your email to TalkTalk, my name is Paul. Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding. We always aim to provide a high level of customer service and will respond to mail as quickly as possible. I understand that you have been experiencing problems on your phoneline. I am very sorry to hear that, but please rest assured that I will do all I can to help you with this now.
I have investigated this for you and I can see from your account that this issue has already been escalated to our engineers who are looking into the issue. The work has been assigned to a specific engineer and we are currently waiting for an update on the fault from him. The fault is in the implementing solution phase of the fault journey and will be resolved as soon as possible
I hope this helps, and hopefully we can resolve your issue for you as soon as possible. Again I sincerely apologise for the long delay and for any inconvenience this issue has caused you.
For any further queries, please visit the TalkTalk Helpdesk at http://help.talktalk.co.uk/app/home for answers to common broadband and landline questions. Alternatively, if you have any further queries, please don't hesitate to get back in touch with me, and I will be more than happy to help you further, as I have kept ownership of your case so all of your replies will come directly back to myself.
Thank you again for contacting TalkTalk Support XXXX, and have a nice day.
Kind regards,
XXXX,
TalkTalk Customer Relations

Did you like the bit about the fault's journey ?

They're off

2011-03-10T09:44:00.000Z

Four men, five wheels, two escort vehicles (with drivers) were waved off this morning from Sapey Golf Club. Their destination is central London by mid day on Saturday. The highly tuned athletes weighed in at 198 stone and have an average age of 50.

We send Neil, Bruce, Paul and Robbie our best wishes for the journey and trust that escorts "Dangerous" and Andy keep them on the right side of the road.

There is a charity involved http://www.thelilyfoundation.org.uk/ where you can find a way to contribute

Upgrades

2011-03-06T14:33:00.000Z

It has never happened to me before...

I went to Heathrow airport to say goodbye to our son David and his family, and recover my Land Rover which he had borrowed. He was returning to New York with his wife and three children - plus luggage sufficient in quantity for the England cricket team, at least. So the check-in process took some time.

Whilst waiting a pleasant lady from the airline approached us and made small talk about the lovely children, activities on the flight, etc etc.

Then it happened....

Another uniformed attendant approached and asked me if I would like to be upgraded to business class.

Unfortunately I could not accept and had to explain I was travelling to Stoke Bliss in Worcestershire - not New York City.

My old school is closing

2011-02-08T14:37:00.000Z

My alma mater, - Onibury C of E Junior School - (now known as Onny Primary School) is falling victim to the cuts.

Shropshire Council has announced today that the end is nigh. It can no longer be afforded.

According to its web site the school was established in the 16th century and the present building dates from 1836. So despite 175 years (or over 400 years if you take the earlier start date) of nearly continuous economic growth this basic village facility can no longer be afforded.

I was there from 1953 to 1959. My four brothers and two sisters followed and I think, by and large, we all enjoyed it. In 1953 there were more than 100 pupils, the school catered for children until they were old enough to join the world of work and the numbers were also swelled by the post-war baby boomers plus some refugees left over from WW11. Declining rural numbers were partly made up for by amalgamating with Bromfield School in 1983.

A village school is of course a matter of choice and priorities. It is much more efficient to teach children in larger institutions - and as most people now live in towns - village schools have moved way down the priority list of our governing classes. The accountant says - close the school, flog the building, bus the kids to town. He doesn't say that the children may be traumatised by the big school environment or that the village will lose one of its main pillars which binds its society together.

The school in Stoke Bliss was closed before we moved here in 1985 so I know what a village without a school feels like

Sunday Newspapers

2011-02-06T15:15:00.000Z

Although my wife is a champion of crossword puzzles in The Times (we have it delivered six days a week on a long term contract with Rupert) on Sundays I am single handedly making every effort to bring News Corp to its knees by buying a newspaper from other publishers.
Last week I went to a shop in Tenbury and picked up a copy of the Sunday Independent.
It took some finding as it was the only copy in the shop and it was lurking behind an Observer.
I went to the checkout where the young man commented that he thought it was the first time he had ever sold one of those.
I replied that I was not surprised as it had been a bit tricky to find. He then told me that they only ever had one delivered to the shop anyway!
He made me feel "nearly unique".
Sandra didn't much like the paper content.

Offside

2011-01-25T17:12:00.000Z

I've just read an article about how the knowledge of the offside rule in soccer defines your status in the game. Or certainly your competence to comment.

I've never really played soccer because I was introduced to rugby at the age of 10 and took to it like a duck to water.
In rugby the rule on offside is clear and simple "if it's too good to be true - you are offside".

With Andy Gray being fired for being offside about offside I can report that I received a cold call today from an Indian sounding person who wanted to establish before proceeding further that he was "speaking with the man of the house".
I assured him that I was the man in the house - but if he wanted an executive decision he may well have to speak with my wife. We left it there.

Christening Annabel and Megan

2011-01-09T17:24:00.000Z

Tuesday 28th December was a very special day for us - it was the day we were baptised in Stoke Bliss Church. Mummy and daddy told us that we were being welcomed into the family of the church, but we didn’t really understand it so they’ll explain it to us properly when we’re older. We’re only six months old now.
    We had come all the way from Brooklyn, New York with mummy and daddy and our big brother Henry for our special day. It had taken a lot of organising, Grandma said, because two of our godmothers live in New York and one lives in Abu Dhabi and one lives in Switzerland, and they all wanted to be at home with their families for Christmas, but Revd Barlow was very kind and let us be baptised on Tuesday. So it was a pity that our American godmothers couldn’t come in the end because the snow was too bad in New York, and our Abu Dhabi godfather had to stay at work. But there were plenty of people to stand in for them, so we didn’t mind.
    We would like to thank Revd Barlow for the lovely service, which everyone enjoyed. We would also like to thank our grandad who played the organ, and Mrs Middleton for warming the church up for us, and for warming the water, which she brought in a big red thermos flask. Revd Barlow said that in the olden days babies were baptised by total immersion when they were only one or two days old. We're glad that didn't happen to us! It was a very cold day but we were warm and snug in our white snowsuits. We were very good when Revd Barlow poured the water on our heads, although our big brother wanted to pull the bell rope and our Uncle John had to ask him not to.
    Thank you to all the people who came to help us be baptised – all our godparents and grandparents (especially our Nana Ida who had a long and difficult train journey from Aberdeen to come and spend Christmas with us at Grandma and Grandad’s house), our great grandmother and our uncle and all our friends.
    Everyone had a lovely lunch at The Granary afterwards, so we would like to thank Mr and Mrs Maiden for that, even though we just had boring milk, and thanks to Charlotte Bateman for our beautiful christening cakes which everyone enjoyed – except us, as usual! We can’t wait to get something a bit more interesting than baby rice to eat.
    Altogether it was a very special day, and we are very happy that we could be baptised in Stoke Bliss church, where our big brother was baptised two years ago. Thank you to everyone.
Annabel and Megan Griffiths
as told to Grandma (Sandra Griffiths)

Happy New Year

2011-01-03T19:39:00.000Z

2011 looks pretty grim - if you believe the pundits.
For my part I suspect that the COALITION chaps in our government have a vested interest in making the CUTS seem worse in prospect than they will be in reality.

If they can say by early next year - "there, that wasn't so bad after all" they will be well pleased!!!

The VAT rate increases to 20% at midnight tonight, fuel duty increased two days ago and NI increases in April YET..... all bar one of our private caravan owners have confirmed their wishes to reserve a caravan pitch for the 2011 season, so all we have to do now is sell 600 holidays and a few caravans!!

I guess life will carry on - even at £1.50per litre for unleaded - and, our biggest plus - our holidays should appeal to people because we fit the "staycation" model of not being too far to travel and not too expensive.

Measuring happiness

2010-11-16T20:17:00.000Z

We've just returned from a week-end trip to New York to visit family and inspect our twin grand daughters who are now over four months old.

On returning we hear the PM telling us that money does not necessarily measure happiness and he would like to develop a non-monetary measure.

Two good things about money is that it often works and you can measure it.

For my own happiness it is important to have some control over stuff. This was evidenced on Thursday when my happiness levels plummeted sitting on an aircraft being delayed for an hour because of heavy rain in the Manchester area. And again on our return on Monday morning whilst sitting with 400+ people in a Boeing 747 on the runway at Heathrow, very tired and full of a head cold, and waiting and waiting for a gate to be made available. (Had they not expected us?)

Having control is obviously relative and could be virtual or real.

On week-ends in Brooklyn (Cobble Hill since you ask) all the young Turks, (CEOs, CFOs, Marketing Executives and Account Directors) take over from Nanny, become REAL mummies and daddies and go to Carol Park with their little ones. Two year olds wear helmets and protective gear and there is a lot of rubberised floor covering in case of accidents. Adults carry huge cups of coffee and chat away just like being down the pub. Somebody said it was like a zoo. The children uncaged from their luxury apartments run about and shout to their hearts' content

For the children the lack of control = happiness. But control (a mummy or a daddy) is not far away.

So you can achieve happiness if you only think you have control over stuff.

Quite wrong yet quite happy.

Half price holidays for 2011

2010-11-16T20:08:00.000Z

We completed the purchase of our first caravan park in Worcestershire on December 16th 1985 so in one month's time we will be celebrating 25 years running the business.

In order to mark the occasion we are making available

25 half price holidays in 2011

at St Michaels

We can't offer extra discounts but if you find the relevant price on the link below - and then half it, the result will be what you pay.
http://www.stmichaelscaravans.co.uk/holidayBookings.php

This offer is limited to 25 holidays and they will be allocated on a first come, first served basis and will also be subject to availability.

Call me on 01885 410331 to make a reservation

Fireworks at Wigley - Saturday October 30th

2010-11-01T21:15:00.000Z

The last Saturday of October saw our traditional bonfire end-of-season party. About 100 guests - (mostly private owners) joined us for drinks and hot dogs and some fire works to celebrate the completion of our 25th season at Wigley Orchard.

Bonfire just starting

A big sparkler

Drawing to a close - Our 25th caravan park season

2010-10-26T20:04:00.000+01:00

Today we've shown nine families into their caravan accommodation. This leave one arrival for tomorrow and we have finished our 2010 season.
The total this year is 640 holidays (we think it would have been another 40 or so if 2010 had not been disrupted by the General Election and the soccer World Cup).
I use the word "soccer" advisedly so as not to confuse readers with Rugby Football which has its World Cup in 2011 in New Zealand - and is a man's game.
I don't think we will be able to able to blame rugby for any shortfall in bookings next year.
Sandra has carved the pumpkin and we are nearly ready for our end of October bonfire.

Draining down your own caravan for winter.
For free advice go to DRAINDOWN

A view down the valley this morning

2010-10-23T11:30:00.000+01:00

CRIBBAGE

2010-10-21T19:49:00.000+01:00

Another successful Wednesday night out last night for the Baiting House Crib Team.
When I say successful I mean that we had a full squad again - eight players all on parade in the right place at the right time. A fine achievement for the skipper (that's me)
Unfortunately, we lost 11-9 to The Kings Arms in Bromyard - so as well as losing in the cup we have also lost two and drawn one in our league. With one point to our name we are probably bottom.
Despite the result we had a good evening with lots of witty? banter from Mark the landlord who like Rooney came off the subs bench at the last minute to play a blinder.
If anyone in the area would like to play just get in touch 01885 410331.

Newspapers

2010-10-16T14:05:00.000+01:00

One of our caravan owners visits our park nearly every week-end.

He telephones ahead on Thursdays to confirm his newspaper requirements which are usually: Sun, Sun, News of the World for Friday, Saturday and Sunday respectively.

Last week he surprised me by asking for a Mail on Sunday.

This week he is reverting to a News of the World for his Sunday reading - on the grounds that the Mail is too left wing!

The weather is turning colder

2010-10-16T10:50:00.000+01:00

We've just had a really good week for weather (dry and mild) but I detect in the tone of the weather man a hint of pleasure as he announces that winter is on its way... temperatures down to zero, wind and rain coming in from the Atlantic etc etc

We have a choice of three types of holiday caravan

Tenbury - with a basic gas fire in the lounge
Elgar - with a gas fire and some electric heaters in bedrooms
Housman - full central heating systems and double glazing

Which type of caravan is best suited to cold weather?

Why have seven out of eight bookings this week chosen a caravan without central heating?

Bonfire

2010-10-13T18:07:00.000+01:00

We're having a bonfire on Saturday 30th October and Blonty has been constructing it today.

As ever (with bonfires) is what time should it be lit? Too soon and it's all over before guests arrive or too late and the guests are ready to leave before its half burnt.

We aim to get it going about 5.00pm so should have a good flame by sundown.

I went outside to photograph the bonfire - but the horizon looked more attractive.

My first blog entry

2010-10-12T20:33:00.001+01:00

I've been to the Hindlip Suite at Worcester Warriors rugby ground today to be taught about blogging and social networking for my business.
The free lunch was courtesy of Business Link and rivalled the feast at the Salop Leisure Caravan show last week!
The person in charge was Susan Hallam who had far more to say than I could absorb.
We'll give it a go and see where it leads.

I wrote down five things to do as a result of the course. Number one was to make sure that our two caravan parks were shown on Google Places. When I returned to base I found my son John had chosen today to do that task. Coincidence or what?