Living in a holiday area means that we can enjoy holiday type activities all year round regardless of the season. The only places we can’t access are holiday parks because they are reserved for residents only which is a great shame because the swimming pools there are fantastic. For some reason Grange – Over – Sands has not been very good at looking finding good companies to build maintainable swimming pools so they seem to go into disrepair and are either listed as a grade 2 building that is too dangerous for people to used or knocked down to make way for affordable houses. The only other alternative are the many hotels in the area or in leisure centres a good drive away. The Haven Holiday Park in Flookburgh is only walking distance away and would be the perfect pace to go swimming if we could have access.
This weekend we were very lucky to be able to spend an afternoon in the Haven Lakeland Holiday Park, thanks to a family friend. Getting there was a very short journey in our Bongo with our swimming gear in tow. We parked in the car park near an amazingly stocked Spar shop that had everything you could possibly want, if you chose never to leave the site during your holiday. At first we didn’t know where our tickets would let us go and getting into the complex seemed to be a little bit tricky so we ended up going to the reception area. We had to go through a small arcade to get to the swimming pool, our son, Alistair, learned the hard lesson that grabbers don’t grab and that you waste all of your money in the slot machines. We were a little early for the opening of the swimming pool and sat in the bar/cafe are and had a drink and bowl of chips. I felt so relaxed and in a holiday frame of mind pretty quickly. Alistair played on the playground equipment until it was time to go into the pool.
Before we went into the changing rooms we had to take our shoes off and were really pleased to find that there were family changing rooms so all three of us could go into the same big cubicle at the same time. It was going to be the first time that Alistair had gone into a big swimming pool because he hasn’t felt ready until now. I am so glad that we waited until he was ready because his experience in the pool was a fantastic one – he enjoyed every minute and didn’t use goggles because wearing them was more uncomfortable than getting his face wet. The pool was perfect for those who wanted to swim and those who just wanted to get wet. All children under 8 are given a red band around their wrist so that the life guards know to pay extra attention to them in the pool. The toddler swimming area was great for children who want to try new things out in safety. We had a fantastic time bobbing about and playing and stayed in the pool for two hours.
We went to see the lake before we went home because we were curious to see which water-sports were available and what it looked like. The lake was a good walk away from the pool meaning that it was situated in a quiet out of the way place. It was a beautiful setting and the chalets situated around the lake would have enjoyed peaceful tranquillity. There was a Lakeside owners exclusive restaurant and you felt privileged to be able to be in this area. We really liked what we saw.
When it was time to go we felt as if we had had a fantastic holiday and wanted to come again so that we can enjoy the facilities more. We decided that the best option was to come and stay in our Bongo because we would have access to everything, the price would be cheap and Alistair wouldn’t be car sick. It is great knowing that there is somewhere so close that can make you feel miles away from home without the traffic jams.
heydaysandholidays 