Cornwall holiday park toasts a triple triumph of awards

The family owners of Tehidy Holiday Park near Redruth are celebrating after learning that they can now boast a hat-trick of awards to launch the 2017 season.

This month, business owners Richard and Julia Barnes heard that, for the fifth year in succession, their Illogan park has topped a national poll of holidaymakers.

The vote was taken among readers of top-selling magazines Practical Caravan and Practical Motorhome who voted it their favourite place to stay in Cornwall.

In doing so, it beat scores of other holiday parks across Cornwall which were eligible to be nominated.

The accolade follows the presentation to the park earlier this year of the prestigious David Bellamy Conservation Award at its top gold level.

Professor Bellamy said that Richard and Julia fully deserved his “green tourism” honour, and had shown themselves to be true friends of the countryside.

Their raft of conservation initiatives at Tehidy, he said, made the park a haven for wildlife and a valuable source of natural discovery for holiday guests.

Then, to complete the park’s triple triumph, David Bellamy also designated it as an official “Honey Bee Friendly” park as part of his new initiative to help protect the threatened insects.

He praised especially the park’s wildflower meadow where high nectar-bearing blooms provide valuable foraging resources for honey bees as well as butterflies and other pollinators.

Visitors to Tehidy can bring their own touring caravans, motorhomes or tents – or rent a luxury caravan holiday home or cottage.

There is also the option to go glamping in one of the park’s timber wigwams which come fully furnished with heating, lighting, TV and decked porches plus a barbecue.

Richard and Julia bought Tehidy ten years ago, and decided from the outset to put sustainability and the preservation of wildlife on the top of their agenda.

Since then, they have taken a raft of initiatives including maintaining the park’s hedgerows as a food and breeding habitat for wildlife, and the planting of hundreds of native trees.

David Bellamy also applauded the park’s siting of many bird boxes, the harvesting of rainfall in butts to provide irrigation, and its use of solar energy.

Richard said that the three awards are important as they highlight different aspects of the park which visitors most value:

“We have a special appeal to holidaymakers who enjoy natural and unspoiled surroundings, and David Bellamy’s award underlines this crucial element of Tehidy,” he said.

“Our Best Park in Cornwall award from readers headlines not just the high standards of our facilities, but also the quality of hospitality we provide and the friendly atmosphere.

“We are delighted that we can now kick-start the tourism year with these awards, and to help put the publicity spotlight on this lovely part of Cornwall as a whole,” he added.

There is more information about the park at www.tehidy.co.uk