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A Welsh road trip


I'm currently sat in a Vango Capri 500 tent on a little Certificated Site in Wales. It's not much after 6am and the dawn chorus is in full song having warmed up some time ago. Thankfully it's dry this morning though the same could not be said about yesterday.

The lake at Hereford Club Site

I'm on a visit of Club Sites with three colleagues, Paul Jones, the Club's Marketing and Communications Director, Rob Ganley, the Senior Communications Manager and lastly Dylan Griffiths, our Senior Brand and Marketing Manager.

We try to get out of the office each summer and pick a region to visit, camping along the way. This year we chose Wales, also stopping in at a few a Club Sites on the English side of the border.

Our aim is to spend time with our friendly holiday site teams talking about the sites themselves, the season ahead, you name it. It's also a great chance to meet members out on holidays themselves and chat to them about the Club.

We're well equipped for our big tour. Paul is using Camping & Caravanning's long-term test unit, a Bailey Approach Advance 615 motorhome while Dylan is camping in a Swift Rio. Rob, like me, is in a tent - a Robens Midnight Dreamer.

Our first stop was Hereford Club Site, large and pretty with a 3.5 acre fishing lake as its centrepiece. We moved on to a new site in mid Wales before pitching up at Rhandirmwyn set in the Towy Valley.

After a thorough drenching the next morning as we packed up camp we were off to the lovely St David's Club Site close to the Heritage Coast, which overlooks the sea. It's a small site in a corner of Wales but what a beautiful location.

St David's friendly site team, Geoff and Lynn Carruthers with Simon McGrath

Then up to Cardigan Bay Club Site where the sun finally shone for a while on this larger site with a large playing field and located just two miles from the beach.

Our site teams always give us a warm Friendly Club welcome and with Holiday Site Managers Paul and Angi Cartwright it was no different. We chatted about subjects such as site development work, wi-if coverage and how the season's going so far.

Our last stop for the day was Glangwy Farm Certificated Site at Llanidloes, a tranquil setting surrounded by hills and farmland. And that brings me back here to the tent.

The sun shines over Cardigan Bay Club SiteWe've got a busy day ahead and will be camping at Oswestry Club Site tonight, which means I'd better get the breakfast on. I'm the unofficial quartermaster on these trips, the only trouble is our cooking kit is spread across two motorhomes and a couple of tents.

A Welsh road trip... continuedRob's going to pick up the story from here. In the meantime, I'd better get the bacon on. Now where's the Cadac barbecue gone?


Simon McGrath Now Editor-in-Chief for Camping & Caravanning magazine, Simon has been a journalist for more than 20 years and a magazine editor for at least a dozen of them. Simon has a love of the great outdoors, not to mention camping in all its forms, which is a great way to get out there. But he doesn't just like admiring the countryside, he loves getting active by sailing, trekking and walking, canoeing (when he gets the chance) and mountain-biking. Read other posts by this author