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Silverdale park set for £1m caravan carnival

Michael Holgate (above) will be giving visitors a sneak preview of the shape of holiday home living in 2017
Michael Holgate (above) will be giving visitors a sneak preview of the shape of holiday home living in 2017

More than £1 million worth of luxury caravans will be ushered through the gates of Silverdale holiday park in Cumbria this week (from 03 Oct) for a major unveiling of next year’s models.

And the park’s owner, Michael Holgate, is inviting local residents to come along (on 08/09 Oct) and deliver their verdicts on the shape of holiday living in 2017.

All five of the UK’s biggest caravan holiday homes makers have been persuaded to send their next year’s models to Silverdale in advance of their official launch.

It will be the biggest free event of its type in the county, and provide a sneak preview of the latest ideas which manufacturers have been working on this year.

All the models, totalling at least 20, will have their doors thrown open for inspection by visitors – and Michael predicts that there will be some surprises in store:

Many holiday homes on the park enjoy sea views
Many holiday homes on the park enjoy sea views

“Anyone unfamiliar with recent advances in holiday caravan design might not expect to walk into somewhere looking more like a five-star hotel suite,” he said.

“Standards of luxury and the range of modern equipment they incorporate have made Britain’s caravan holiday home industry the envy of the world.

“Today’s models are also very environmentally friendly with many energy saving features and superb levels of insulation to keeping heating costs to a minimum.

“We were delighted when the makers agreed to send us their latest line-up, and we’ll be very interested to see what’s on offer and hear visitors’ comments,” added Michael.

Last year, Silverdale park supported its trade association, BH&HPA, in a design project with TV architect George Clarke to re-imagine the traditional caravan holiday home.

The presenter of Channel 4’s Amazing Spaces, said Michael, came up with some great new styling ideas which have inspired aspects of the 2017 models.

Michael’s family itself can claim to have helped to make caravanning more amazing as his grandad Billy ran a touring caravan manufacturing business at Silverdale 60 years ago.

It formed the basis of today’s holiday park, but the then forward-looking designs helped win export orders from across Europe; a fully restored original model is on display at the park.

The weekend holiday home show is open to all at no cost, and there is also a café-restaurant on the park plus children’s play areas and more than 100 acres of grounds to explore.

There is more information about Silverdale Holiday Park, and the five other Cumbria and North Lancashire parks belonging to the Holgates group, at www.holgates.co.uk

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