Mummascribbles – A trip to Cornwall with John Fowler Holidays – Mummascribbles

When I was contacted a couple of months ago to see if we would like to head off on a little holiday to a John Fowler Holiday Resort, it was very exciting. With baby number two on the way, we didn’t think we’d be having a holiday this year and so it was just the opportunity to grab with both hands, the opportunity to take Zach on a holiday. 

With resorts in Somerset, Devon and Cornwall, it’s not easy to make a decision on where to stay! After much deliberation, I decided that one of the parks in the furthest part of Cornwall was the destination to go to and we booked the Tolroy Manor Holiday Park in Hayle. It seemed like the perfect place for us, near to the coast, plenty to do on site and with easy access to other places in West Cornwall for a good old day trip. 

We decided to stay Monday to Friday and that we would stay overnight in Somerset on Sunday so that we could do half the journey and not have to do a full on six hour journey on a Monday! After breakfast on Monday morning, we packed up our bits and headed on a very wet journey. It was absolutely lashing it down but that stopped and the sun came out as we hit Devon with the rest of the journey being nice and easy. We were initially a bit worried about Zach and the need of the toilet but he did amazing bless him and it was mummy and her weak bladder that caused a stop off! 

We finally reached our destination at about 2pm, the sun was booming and we all needed to stretch our legs. Check in wasn’t techinically until 4pm but I thought it was worth an attempt to see if the accommodation was ready for us and luckily it was. The staff on the reception desk were so welcoming and they were absolutely wonderful with a very excited Zach, asking him his name and how old he was. We were given the key, our welcome pack and shown where to go. So off we went to find the little house we had booked for the next few days, via the outdoor play area that Zach immediately loved!

There are several types of accommodation to choose from at John Fowler and different locations have different ones. From camping to chalets to houses and lodges. We chose a little house because, well, I like my home comforts!

When we arrived at ours, I was really impressed. Walking into a little living room/dining area, a perfectly sized bathroom and a kitchen.

We then moved up the stairs to discover three bedrooms, one with a double bed, one with two single beds and one with bunk beds. Immediately Zach wanted the bunk beds and proceeded to explain to us that he could sleep on the top bunk and the baby (not due until September), could sleep on the bottom! Of course the top bunk was too high so his was to be the bottom bunk while we (obviously) took the double.

The linen was included in the bedrooms although it’s important to note that towels are not included (except one hand towel). We had done our research so took our ones from home. Also really important to note that there was no oven gloves (we used a towel) and there are no tea towels or cloths or sponges. We were glad we checked in before we popped to the supermarket (which is only 2 minutes down the road in the car!) so we knew to buy washing up liquid. The only other thing there wasn’t much of was coathangers but there are plenty of shelves and drawers so we didn’t have any issues. Otherwise, everything was there that we needed including the masher that we were wondering about when we decided to have mash for dinner on the night we got there!

We ate in our house a couple of nights and ate in the restaurant on another night. The food was better than we expected for a holiday resort, filling and quite tasty and served directly by the chef! 

So what did we do whilst we were there? 

We had lots of options that were decided on the morning that we woke up as it was all very weather dependent. The forecast was pretty much wrong continuously so we couldn’t go by what anyone was saying! Every morning we were woken nice and early, not by our child but by the seagulls making a racket! You know you are by the coast when that happens! We even had a really cheeky seagull who actually pecked on our door for food. Zach named him Albert!

On the Tuesday, we visited the very local Paradise Park. It is a 2 minute drive down the road and is full of hundreds of beautiful birds, penguins, red pandas and farmyard animals. Zach really loved it and the best thing was how involved the children can get. He fed the penguins, stroked a penguin (with me!), fed the donkeys and goats and came into the bird enclosure to watch us feed them.

We ate some yummy lunch there and then Zach spent a couple of hours running around The Jungle Barn, possibly one of the best soft plays I have seen. Do note that if you ever visit, do not let your young child go around the large section on their own! The other half went round with Zach from the start and discovered lots of drops and other general danger spots! The slides are pretty epic and even me, pregnant mummy had to have a go on one of them! 

On Wednesday we were planning on heading down into Hayle to have a little look around but then the sign posts guided us further, we went looking for a beach and found ourselves in St Ives. One thing to note about St Ives (and the surrounding villages), it is VERY hilly! There were some monumental moments in which I found myself dragging the car up very steep hills on what were quite narrow, windy roads…it was a tad stressful! We ventured down the very steep hill on foot into the town, saw the beach and then saw the almighty rain cloud appear on the horizon.

With a race against time and most people having seen the same cloud, we found all the beachside cafes and tea rooms full and found ourselves cowering under a shopfront! Once it calmed a bit, we went off in search of somewhere and dived into a place for lunch, only discover it was more of a dinner place! We had a quick drink and then went off to a nearby bakery to grab the freshest, tastiest sandwich I have had in a long time! It must have been good considering I’ve been off bread since being pregnant again! We were then about to trek the epic journey up to the car park and saw a bus that was going there instead! Boy did he save us some leg work (and probably a lot of pain!). 

Once we got back to the holiday park, it was time for Zach’s aqua gliding session. Being very quiet at the resort (out of season), he was the only one signed up so had the pool to himself. I wasn’t sure what he’d think of it but he loved it!

Once he had enough of that, the pool closed for a chlorine refill, we headed into the soft play area and then headed back to the pool for a proper swim time. Again, we had the whole pool to ourselves which was nice! We also enjoyed the best showers of our trip – the shower in our room wasn’t the most powerful and I was very glad that I’d had half my hair lopped off before we went! 

On Thursday we went off to Newquay which is about a half an hour drive away from the resort. We were so lucky with the weather and headed straight to the beach. It was glorious, the sun was shining, the skies were blue and it was perfect for some gorgeous shots!

Once we were done on the beach, we went to the aquarium and then headed to the nearby Frankie & Benny’s for some dinner before we headed back to the car. Perfectly timed as the rain came along at this point! 

Every night that we were there, we headed to the evening kids entertainment with the Stripeys. Unfortunately because it was really quiet, there wasn’t a huge amount going on but it did mean that Zach had them all to himself which he absolutely loved.

He’d dance with them, do magic with them, play hide and seek with them, then we might play bingo (or just bingo beats if there weren’t enough people) and then we’d head back and get him to bed. On the Thursday night there were plenty more kids there and the whole evening of entertainment was on. There was dancing, there were games, there was bingo and there was the family show. Zach had an absolute ball and we had to drag him out of there at almost 9pm because we just had to get him to bed! It was proof though that if this was in season, he would have had a very late night every night!

The stripeys do also do a morning kids club but again, there weren’t enough children to make it happen but it didn’t matter too much as we were always heading out somewhere. 

Friday came round and we were ready for our long journey home. We had decided to stop off half way in Bristol and take Zach for a run around a soft play but we didn’t anticipate it taking 4 hours to get there! This meant that when we then left Bristol, we still had two and a half hours of journey left and we also knew there was traffic problems ahead! With trouble on the M4 in the Reading and Slough area, torrential rain in parts and miles of traffic on the M25, we took a massive diversion to avoid said M25 issues and made it home just before 8pm (we left Cornwall at 10.30am!), and a whole 15 minutes before our Tesco delivery arrived at the door! So there I was, cooking fishfingers and waffles for Zach before another late night and unloading the shopping while the other half was unpacking the car, after I’d done an epic drive! I was exhausted, sore and desperate for the chinese we were getting, but the week away with our little man was totally worth it – especially when he made little friends! 

Here’s a little video of some of our best bits – most of which include some seriously funky moves from my little man! 

We were very kindly given a four night complimentary break by John Fowler Holidays. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to John Fowler for giving my little family a holiday this year.