“You’re tops!” Sun readers tell Cumbria park
A Lake District family-run holiday park has been named as the overall winner in a nationwide poll to find Britain’s top-spot among caravan fans.
Park Foot Caravan and Camping Park in Pooley Bridge near Penrith took pride of place in a vote organised this spring by The Sun newspaper.
Readers had a choice of over 3000 parks in the UK to go for, and a panel of judges at The Sun whittled these down to just 10 of the best loved.
The voting ended in mid-May, and it was Park Foot – under the ownership of the Allen family for over 60 year – which trumped all the others.
A “fun day” has been organised at the park on 28 May when the family will be presented with their £1,000 prize – and a lucky voter will be announced as the winner of a £17,000 touring caravan.
But this wasn’t the only honour received by the park this spring, for it was also named in May as one of the three shortlisted parks in the Cumbria Tourism Awards 2016.
The finals will be held on a date yet to be announced in June, and the winner will then be fast-tracked to the Visit England Awards for Excellence 2017.
Park Foot is also marking almost exactly twelve months since it achieved the overall UK “Holiday Centre of the Year” award from the AA in the motoring organisation’s annual honours.
Park Foot is today run by Barbara Allen and Fiona Bell, the daughters of Jimmy Allen who founded the park more than six decades ago, along with Fiona’s husband Malcolm.
Originally a farm, Park Foot first started welcoming campers in the early 1950s. Now it has around 130 caravan holiday homes spread throughout the 40-acre grounds, and 400 touring pitches.
Guests have use of the park’s country club with its bar, restaurant with takeaway, games zones, and a variety of daily entertainment including discos and cabarets.
Speaking on behalf of the family, Fiona Bell said that Park Foot’s new award from readers of The Sun was a fantastic start to the new holiday season:
“Like many other tourism businesses, we were badly hit by road closures following December’s flood – but we’re now very much in the recovery phase,” she said.
“We know from the many comments we receive on social media that people love not just our location and facilities, but also the friendliness and welcoming atmosphere.
“Great credit for this must go to our staff team for helping to create the amazing loyalty which Park Foot enjoys among customers – and we thank everybody who gave us their vote.
“I hope the publicity from this award will also help other local tourism providers by shining the spotlight on North Cumbria as a holiday destination,” added Fiona.
The poll was organised by The Sun in conjunction with insurance providers Towergate. There is more information about Park Foot at www.parkfootullswater.co.uk
