Eco-friendly Cumbria holiday park pulls plug on dirty dish chores

The estimated 95% of men who do the family’s dishes when on holiday have been handed a reprieve by Lake District holiday park Skelwith Fold.

Super-fast automatic dishwashers for touring guests

That’s because the Ambleside business is providing its touring guests with free use of an automatic dishwasher which takes just five minutes to clean and dry a full load.

Specially designed for touring caravan and motorhome users, the super-fast machines have recently become a familiar sight on many parks in mainland Europe.

But Skelwith Fold, according to the Dutch manufacturers Easy Be, is now the first UK park to install the eco-friendly facility for its guests.

It means that the party’s official washer-upper can now jettison the J-cloth in favour of a cup of coffee while technology takes over the toil.

But according to Skelwith Fold director Henry Wild, the benefits of the machine are measured not just in terms of pulling the plug on sinks-full of dirty dishes:

Cutting energy consumption using technology

“The dishwasher provides a substantial saving in the volume of water used and the energy consumed when compared with doing the job by hand,” he said.

“This is very important to us as a business because we are constantly striving to minimise our impact on the environment in a raft of different ways.

“We estimate that our touring guests carry out at least 40,000 washing-up sessions every year, so the potential for cutting our electricity and water consumption is enormous.

“In addition, machine washing is shown to be more hygienic – and there’s another bonus in being able to use those five minutes for socialising instead of splashing about in suds!” added Henry.

The Dutch firm’s technology allows a thorough cleaning and drying cycle to take place in a far shorter time than that required by domestic appliances.

Its dishwashers are even connected to the internet, and able to self-diagnose any issues, find the solution on-line, and alert the park about any attention they need.

Users of Skelwith Fold’s premium pitches are given free tokens for the machine, and others pay just £1.00 to swap the sink for a swifter and less soggy experience.

Skelwith Fold‘s commitment to the natural world has for over fifteen successive years earned it the prestigious David Bellamy Conservation Award at its top gold level.

The park was also crowned two years ago as Lakeland’s top holiday park in the Cumbria Tourism Awards when it took the overall top spot in the competition.

In addition to 150 pitches for touring caravans and motorhomes, Skelwith Fold provides luxury glamping pods, safari tents, and holiday homes to own.

There is more information about Skelwith Fold on its website at www.skelwith.com