The weekend after Kelly’s birthday, we all went Glamping in a Glampod on a nice camp site just outside of Ilfracombe. It was called Mill Park and it was a lovely place to stay.
We managed to get the Glampod for a good price as it was a last minute decision so we went straight from work on the Friday, which was a really hot and sunny day. The trip was straight forward and not really busy at all, which we were relieved about as it was a Bank Holiday weekend, so we got there in very good time. We picked up our keys and drove through the site until we got to the ‘Pod and parked up in our space just outside of it and unpacked.
The Glampod was basically just a wooden hut with enough room for us all and a small corner shelf with decking outside and a gas BBQ provided. It overlooked a lovely big fishing lake and you also had a good view back over the campsite. Behind the Glampod was a nice big field which the boys loved as there were lots of rabbits and a fox moving around the outskirts in the early evenings. So they had great fun exploring! It was only a 2 minute walk down the road to get to the toilet and shower block as well, so we were ideally situated.
Once we had unpacked and setup our airbeds for the night, we made some food on the BBQ and enjoyed some nice burgers and snacks in the hot evening sun. It was getting on in the evening at this point but we decided we had enough time to nip down to the onsite bar and get a drink. The seating area outside of the bar also had a really nice play park for the boys to play in, so they had great fun playing there until it started to get dark. We then walked back to the Glampod and the boys changed and went to sleep. They actually went to sleep fairly quickly as well as they (Ben and Aaron) had been to school as well so were tired from that. Kelly and I then got washed and ended up sitting outside in the dark on the decking until well past 11pm. I was still out in my shorts and t-shirt at that time as it just wasn’t cold at all. It was really lovely and very relaxing! Little were we to know what was in store that night!
After we had gone to sleep, I woke at about 1:30 and wandered down to the toilet block to go to the loo and when I was walking back (still in shorts and t-shirt as it was still that warm!) I noticed flashes of light in the distance that looked like a storm. It was very strange as it was clear skies above us, so I quickened back and got back into bed. As I was still awake after this for a while, I started to notice flashes outside, which I assumed were from people going to the toilets, but it turned out that there was a massive electrical storm going on! It wasn’t long before Kelly was awake as well and we started hearing rumbles of thunder but the lightning was just crazy as it was literally flashing constantly. We had never seen anything like this before. This went on for several hours and peaked at about 3:30am, I think, when the rumbling was louder (but not too loud which was strange) and the lightning was really bright and right over us. We ended up looking through the door windows and watching it for ages as it was an amazing sight really. We even saw a little fox stalking around just outside! We eventually managed to go back to sleep for a couple of hours but none of the boys even flinched! Amazing! 😉 It turned out that in Plymouth, it was the worst storm for years and was like a war zone in the skies all night and several buildings were hit by the lightning. Thank goodness it wasn’t like that in our little Glampod!
The following day was a mixed bag weather wise. We were originally going to spend the day at Watermouth Castle as Uncle Darren and Grandma were going to come as well, but they cancelled due to the storm, and as the weather turned very foggy and wet just after breakfast, we decided to postpone and go on the Sunday. So instead we went to Woolacombe and Ilfracombe and had a look around. We went in a few shops and arcades (which was fun!) and had a good walk around the places. Woolacombe was nice and the main street in Ilfracombe was nice as well, but if you went through the main shopping street of Ilfracombe, it turned really quite rundown and dodgy. After this, we went back to the Glampod and relaxed as the weather had cleared up by now. We had a nice BBQ for tea again and I watched the FA Cup Final on my phone. The boys were having a great time just being able to play in the field and around the local area. We then went up to the bar again and had a drink whilst the boys played in the park. It turned really cold that evening so we were quite chilled sat down outside this time. We also had to sort out a lot of our stuff as we needed to be out of the Glampod by 10am in the morning, so we did that and put as much in the car as possible, before settling down for the night. Whilst we were up at the bar, we did ask if we were able to stay the Sunday night as well but, unfortunately, the Glampod had already been booked out. Shame!
The next morning, the weather was much better, so we were up early and had our breakfast BBQ and packed our stuff up and rammed it all into the car, and then drove to Watermouth Castle, which was only a few minutes down the road. We parked up there and had a great day looking around the castle and other garden areas, and of course, going in the penny arcade and enjoying the many rides. We had a lovely lunch there as well (I had a massive burger that was delicious). The boys had a wonderful time on the rides and watching the water fountain show. The weather turned again mid afternoon and it started raining, so all we did was go on the water rides then, so we were damp anyway! The place was quite quiet by then so we had the pick of the rides and could stay on several times without having to get off. We eventually left right on closing time (6pm) after the boys spent some of their money in the gift shop. By this point, it was raining quite hard and everyone was quite tired out! Coby was asleep very quickly, followed by Aaron and even Ben nodded off! We got home late in the evening and unpacked and took the boys to bed.
We had had a brilliant weekend Glamping in the Glampod and the Mill Park Holiday Park where we stayed was excellent and we would very highly recommend it. It was very child friendly and extremely well laid out. We would definitely go again, and we will!
