Brand New Park - Newnes Touring Park, Ellesmere, Shropshire

Just up the road from both Emral Gardens and Plassey Leisure Park is Newnes Touring Park, a brand new adult only touring caravan park owned and run by Robin Bebb. There’s something of a family thing going on in this part of the world, because Newnes is owned by another member of the Brookshaw Family (albeit by marriage) - see earlier blogs.

We didn’t stay on Newnes, but Robin had invited us to stick our nose in whilst we were in the area, have a look round and hear the story of how the site came to be. Situated in the tiny hamlet of Newnes, where Robin and his ancestors have farmed for generations, The Newnes is a medieval name for "the new ones" which comes from the old English "neow-ones" and is said to relate to new people being put in the property formerly occupied by Welsh rebels.

This is one of those increasingly rare new privately owned sites and it occupies an enviable elevated position above the town of Ellesmere, Shropshire, with far-reaching views over the Shropshire countryside toward Wales. Robin has worked very hard, and jumped over many hurdles to get his site up and running and it was great to see it fully booked.

The pitches are laid out around the edge of a large camping area, backing onto mature hedgerows and trees, and despite being open, is south facing, which means loads of sun and shelter from the prevailing wind. There’s a huge amount of space in the middle so there’s no chance of your view being spoiled by someone pitching in front of you.

Hook-ups are provided for each of the 10 pitches which are to the highest safety standards, and plans are in hand for a shower, toilet block, washing up and information area to be built this season, which will make this site just perfect.

The attractive town of Ellesmere is within 10 minutes walk from the site and Wikipedia has this to say about the town: "Ellesmere lies on a spur of the Llangollen Canal, which eventually terminates in Froncysyllte, Wales. It was originally known as the Ellesmere Canal. Thomas Telford was overall director of its construction. Work lasted from 1793 to 1805 with the aim of reaching Ellesmere Port, but never got that far due to costs. During its construction, Telford lived in a house next to the canal in Ellesmere, which still stands today".

Just as we were leaving, Robin let us into a secret – a cottage nearby is allegedly the former home of Dick Whittington who lived there before he and his cat donned their backpacks and headed south for the streets paved with gold in London. So now you know!