anyone been to haggerston castle Haven (or any Haven i suppose..)

[peanutbutter]

Me n dh and our 71/2month old ds are going to haggerston castle haven for a week at beginning of may. neither of us have done this kind of holiday before & certainly never been on hols with a baby before, so we're feeling just the slightest bit apprehensive. we've booked a cot and highchair so don't need to worry about those. Do other people do a big shop and then just make meals and stuff as if they were at home? Don't these caravans only come with a microwave though? we got a half-price deal so we're staying in a gold rated caravan but am i being daft thinking there might be an oven too? What other things do we need to take into consideration?

The gold caravan i stayed in was nicer than my house! It had two bathrooms and three bedrooms. Central heating, oven, microwave, gas fire, dvd player, music centre and large colour TV.

That was a haven site in Yorkshire. They have a lot of places to eat on site but it can be quite expensive. They always have a shop and usually a bakery. Have you looked at the place on the web?

Someone in work has a caravan there that they rent out- it has to be in pristine condition! I'm sure there is a full kitchen in it. They go there for their main summer holidays and she says it's lovely. She was just there at the beginning of the hols making sure that everything was ok for the season.

oh now that does sound interesting. this is a 2-bed, and we have looked on line and in the brochure and it just says "fully fitted kitchen with microwave" would you take that to mean including an oven then? it does give a list of what to remember, like washing up liquid and cot linen.
haggerston castle now has a luxury spa so i can go and puff and pant in the steam room and come out looking like an overdone turkey.

There will definitley be an oven. Don't worry.

take tea towels and basic food (milk, marg; tea/coffee and sugar and cereal)and baby's food if still on slush - there won't be a blender -- eat out at lunch and buy evening meals as you go whether eat in or out. we also tend to take the first evenings meal so we don't need to worry and can just relax.

in every s/c place i've been the mugs are usually tea cups so I always take our favourite mugs. -

another thing to think about is if your ds is not quite sitting up properly - the highchairs that are usually provided are ones suitable for 12mths plus (i.e. high, solid back)so think of what else you could do here - we took our bumbo for 51/2mth dd in march as she was quite there. oh, take your bath seat too.

great advice re the bathseat and bumbo (and mugs). i wouldn't have thought of these & would have been kicking myself for a week. thanks!

we went to haggerston last year on a sun deal and upgraded to a gold caravan and it had a really good oven and a microwave, the kitchen was really well equipped.
we are going back again this year in june and have requested the same caravan.
you can hire highchairs and travel cots and (i think) safety gates to go across the doors
don't forget your umbrella/waterproofs as it is a huge site and friends of ours were located miles away from the main area(not like usevil)and had a few unwanted showers....

chatee oh that must have been a naughty but enjoyable feeling!

do you park next to your caravan at haggerston?

chatee oh that must have been a naughty but enjoyable feeling!

do you park next to your caravan at haggerston?

yes, you can park next to most of the caravans but i think there are a few where there is group parking just at thr bottom of the cul de sac where thry are located.

the shop on site is expensive but it's not too far to drive to berwick(about 15 mins iirc)and there is a supermarket there...safeway i think?

there is another thread somehere about haggerston/ northumberland area try to find it(i will have a look over the weekend too)as there were lots of good ideas for nice food and days out around there(i think i posted about a beach on it)

Haggerston is great.

Places to visit

Berwick
Bamburgh
Morpeth
Newcastle
Seahouses
Holy Island check \link{http://www.northumberlandlife.org/holy-island/default.asp\here} for crossing times

Also look \link{http://www.northumberland.gov.uk/vg\here} for more.

thanks rbj949703 (had to cut n paste that name )

No problem. Just ask if you need any more info. I used to live in Morpeth and was up there earlier this week.

we went to haggerston 2 yrs ago in May and it was so warm we spent loads of time at the outdoor pool. we had dd1 (who was 2 at the time) with us

there was lots to do, the only down side was the slot machines - full of young teens, really noisy etc, but you just do a sprint through that and you can get to the pool etc. at nighttime we would have our tea then head down to the centre - there is a little disco for kids and you can sit and have a drink while they boogie on down.

we ate once at the restaurant and it wasnt very good - v expensive for a shite menu - burgers or curry - that was about it. better to make your own in the caravan (because you have a gold one the facilities will be excellent and clean)

there is a supermarket on the site but use this for emergencies only - there is a safeway/morrisons on the main route heading north - 5 mins drive.

there are pedalos, trampolines, horseriding, loads of stuff to do

and about 15 mins drive (north) there is a fabulous farm called conundrum farm - v v clean with a gorgeous tearoom working farm where there will be lots of baby animals (lambs, rabbits, goats etc) for you to ooh and aah at. and you can feed them too
\link{http://www.conundrumfarm.co.uk/\if you only do one thing, make sure its conundrum farm!}

really useful that, thanks nailpolish. we fully expect a depressing menu in a plastic restaurant on site so intend making our own food as much as possible. thanks for the link to conundrum farm. for a minute I began working out whether conundrumfarm is a conundrum ..

any last minute handy hints- we are off there soon and would love to know any good pubs/restaurants within a short drive ...thanks(smile)

Hi chatee long time no see, been offline for ages.hope you and yours are ok.talk to you soon.
Leander xxxx