Premier Parks celebrate in AA Awards

The AA has announced the results of its Caravan and Camping Awards 2017 with Premier Parks sites picking up two of the three main awards. The England and Overall Winner was the Vale of Pickering Caravan Park, Allerston in North Yorkshire. The site features a new, state-of-the-art facilities block with six fully-equipped wet rooms and a very smart dishwashing room. Each one has underfloor heating, marble walls and floor-to-ceiling photographs (beach, woodland, polar bear, poppies). Elsewhere, many of the large pitches are hedge-screened for privacy. New electric posts and a dog wash, with shower, were also added for 2016.

The winner for Scotland, and a Premier Park, was the Blair Castle Caravan Park at Blair Atholl in Perth & Kinross. The site is set within the historic Atholl Estate, surrounded by mature woodland and the River Tilt. A large site, it has a choice of grass pitches, hard standing and fully serviced pitches; it is particularly suitable for the larger type of motorhome.

Over in Wales, champagne corks were popping for Fforest Fields Caravan and Camping Park, Builth Wells, Powys, which is also a Premier Park. The site has a spacious eco-friendly amenities block, fuelled by a bio-mass boiler and solar panels, which provides drying rooms and a commercial laundry. In addition to the reception, there’s a stylish café that serves local and home-reared produce.

Other, regional campsite winners, included Padstow Touring Park, Padstow in Cornwall. This Premier Park won the award for the South West. For the South East the winner was Sumners Pond Fishery and Campsite in West Sussex, The Old Brick Kilns in Norfolk won for Heart of England, Castlerigg Hall Caravan and Camping Park in Cumbria took the North West title while Cote Ghyll Caravan and Camping Park in North Yorkshire won for the North East.

All the winners appear in the new AA Caravan and Camping Guide 2017.  Over 860 campsites in the Guide have all been visited by one of the AA’s qualified Campsite Inspectors to look at touring pitches, facilities and hospitality before grading the site from one to five Pennants, including the Gold Pennants awarded to the best parks.  Each entry within the guide includes location, ratings, contact details, directions, prices, opening times, facilities and a description.

The AA Caravan and Camping Guide is available from The AA Shop for £12.99 and as a free app for iPhone, iPad and Android.

Find your perfect campsite with the OAL Campsite Finder.

For motorhome news and reviews, travel features and tech help, get the latest issue of MMM.

Find your perfect motorhome with our Motorhome For Sale Finder.

Check out our online Store for back issues, subscriptions and readers' offers.