DING! DING!

Remember last year when we had several visits from FTI Cornwall Information in their 'Info Bus'. They have a new blog for comment and photos here:

http://www.cornwallinformation.co.uk/news/?p=3#comment-5

Perhaps you've got some interesting shots of Cornwall from your visits that you can share. The digital revolution has made us all think we can be David Bailey, but there are certain pictures which just capture a moment or say it all. FTI have some great pictures on their website, most of them are possible by just being in the right place at the right time.

This year is the right time to be in Cornwall. Get snapping!

ARE WE MAKING THE GRADE?

As many of you know, there are numerous grading schemes out there which are supposed to give you a clue as to the 'quality' of the holiday accommodation you are planning to stay at. Thistles, Roses, Dragons, Ticks, Crowns and Stars...take your pick. It's a fairly old fashioned system whereby a matronly character with a clipboard who has never been camping in her life comes around the site and checks whether your curtains match your saucepans and that there are the correct number of teaspoons in the drawer. Bizarre. We were part of the Visit Britain scheme until last year and were rated at 'Four Stars' for what it's worth. What you probably don't realise is that we had to pay for those inspections, which ran to several hundreds of pounds and to be quite honest, hardly any of our customers took any notice of the rating at all, preferring to go on their own instinct and research they had done on the Internet to make their holiday choices. For us, it was just another industry 'tax' using money which could be better spent on site improvements so we pulled out. However, there has to be a system in which you can check what sort of outfit we are running and give us the feedback we need to make any improvements or changes to our service. Over the years, a number of feedback sites have become available on the Internet and we are quite happy for you to post on these and let other people know how you got on at Lower Treave. One of the best known is Trip Adviser, but there are also more camping and caravanning specific ones such as http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/ which can be helpful in making your decision. It is also helpful to us because every post you make improves our profile on the net and effectively is free advertising. Remember though, if you do have a problem with our service, either before, during or after your stay at Lower Treave, please bring it to our attention immediately and we will do all we can to sort it out.

WHY NOT TRY eBOOKING?

For a couple of years now we have offered an on-line booking service direct from our website. This is proving to be more and more popular, enabling guests to check availability and make bookings at a time of their convenience. The system recently went through an upgrade to make it even more secure so that all payments are now made in line with PCI DSS compliance. Don't ask me what all those letters mean. All I know is that there are now a lot of codes, scrambling and cyphers involved which makes Bletchley Park look like a Sun newspaper word search!

Thanks to those customers who have spotted the odd problem with the website. We have hopefully sorted out those few little glitches now and things should be clearer. For instance, the booking screens were still stating that the caravans were 2002/3 models but as many of you will know, all of the caravans will be new 2009 models this season.

BACK TO WORK? - TIME TO THINK ABOUT YOUR HOLIDAYS!

Just spent a busy day catching up on the bookings that have come in over the weekend. As the industry is predicting, this looks like being an interesting year for all of us...and certainly not one that can be judged by the usual standards. Our bookings are definitely up on this time last year...and there are a significant number of new names on the guest list which probably indicates that people are looking for something a little closer to home for their holidays this year. We will do our bit to try and ensure that you get the right holiday for you.

For those of you that haven't booked yet, particularly our regular high-season visitors, now is the time to get out your diaries and decide on those dates. Remember, we don't double-book or overcrowd so once we're full (and probably a little before that because we always keep a few pitches in hand to make the changeovers run a little easier) then the booking sheets will be closed. Why not try booking on-line? It's easy, secure and quick and guarantees you a place at Lower Treave this summer. We look forward to seeing you all.

CHRISTMAS....Brrrrrrr......

Firstly, a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all family, friends, customers, guests, visitors, creditors, tradesman, Pirates fans, the Duke of Cornwall, the VAT man, ex-pupils of Southwell Minster Grammar School, those who took the King's Shilling and Fidel Castro. If you fall into more than 3 of those categories, then help is available on the National Health. If you are Fidel Castro, then we will be going to your revolution celebration on New Year's Eve at the Union Hotel, Penzance...hope to see you all there (although I understand Senor Castro does not travel well these days). Have a good Christmas?... The Lower Treave crew went down to the beach for a swim (as you do) joining a couple of hundred other maniacs for a bracing dip in the North Atlantic! Brrrr!!! Happy New Year from the West Cornwall Hospital Hypothermia Ward! (Pete, are you sure we're not going to be penalised for incorrect binding?) .

M.O.T.....R.I.P

...the old Toyota truck had a terminal MOT today. This will be a sad day for all of you who used to enjoy watching it pull cars and caravans out of sticky spots, whose batteries were given the kiss of life by its mighty alternator and whose luggage was transported about in its beautiful and capacious body. Born in South Africa in 1989, raised in Quetta on the Afghan/Pakistan border and sent to England to find fame and fortune in 1992. Eleven loving owners, one miserable camp site manager and a stiff, salt-laden south westerly breeze later it is bound for the big scrap heap in the sky....unless Jeremy Clarkson is doing another programme about indestructible vehicles...because surely F613 LMR will ride again...if not in this world, then in a better place.... I'm gutted...in 30 years of motoring its the only vehicle I have ever loved...it has let me down very badly...just because it never got washed or serviced and once had the indignity of being loaded with so much concrete that the front wheels literally did not touch the ground... oh well...anyone got a copy of Auto Trader? .

MINACK THEATRE 2009 PROGRAMME PREVIEW

...if a trip to Cornwall isn't complete without a show at the Minack, here is their 2009 programme preview:

EASTER HOLIDAY Anything Goes . . . . April 9 to 14 SPECIAL EVENTS Music and Comedy events - details to be announced . . . . May 20,21,22 Evita . . . . May 25 to 29 A Chorus Line . . . . June 1 to 5 Tartuffe . . . . June 8 to 12 The Mowgli Tales . . . . June 15 to 19 The Greek . . . . June 22 to 26 The King Of Prussia . . . . June 29 to July 3 The Happiest Days Of Your Life . . . . July 6 to 10 La Traviata . . . . July 13 to 17 A Midsummer Night's Dream. . . . July 20 to 24 Treasure Island . . . . July 27 to 31 Coram Boy . . . . August 3 to 7 The Crucible . . . . August 10 to 14 Amadeus . . . . August 17 to 21 The Music Man . . . . August 24 to 28 Third Week In August . . . . August 31 to September 4 Othello . . . . September 7 to 11 The Mikado . . . . September 14 to 18 Proms at Minack . . . . September 19 and 20

Click on the title above to be taken straight to the Minack hompage.

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WHAT'S COOKIN' AT NEWBURY?

...anyone live near Newbury? Why not pop along to Monk's Lane this Saturday and watch the Newbury Blues take on the Cornish Pirates. Bring your own pasties, but don't get too close to the visiting side's Loose Head....he'll eat them!

Can't be there this week unfortunately....little known fact....I am deeply superstitious and do not travel well on the 13th of the month.

Those of you that do go will need to know the words of the Pirate Call...

'Give me a 'P'...(your go) ...'P'.

'Give me an 'I'...(you're getting the hang of it now)....'I'

'Give me an 'R'...(wait for it) ....'Aaaaargh'!

Sounds better after a couple of pints! Good luck Pete and the Pirates!

MATCH CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER! TOLD YOU NOT TO TRAVEL ON THE 13th!

SMELL THE COFFEE?

...all the 'visitor gifting' contributions you made in exchange for a nice cup of Fairtrade coffee have been sent off to the Cornwall Wildlife Trust...a big thank you all round...here's the story... http://www.cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk/news/News_pages/Caravan_park_goes_wild_about_wildlife.htm

BADGER WATCH

We are often asked...'what do you do in the winter?'...well, apart from our 3 month break at our holiday villa in Mustique (not), moving a few caravans around and painting that makes the efforts on the Forth Rail Bridge look like something you could do with a match pot and a pastry brush...we are going to the annual trade association conference. This year, the BHHPA will meet up for 2 days of presentations, workshops, speakers and a bit of a knees up in Blackpool.

Last year I made a personal decision to boycott the event on the grounds that the key speaker, one Clarissa Dickson-Wright, did not have the same view of the countryside and its management that I did. So having made a stand for the much-maligned fox, imagine my surprise to discover that one of this year's speakers is a badger! Ruth Badger to be precise...straight-talking salesperson and TV star of 'The Apprentice' and 'Badger or Bust'. I suspect she will go for something dark and business cut rather than hunting pink and I look forward to hearing her own personal take on 'selling'. However, she will have to go some to top one Mick Seal, who helped us out on the site in the year of the Eclipse (1999) and managed to sell 3 Bicycle Puncture Repair Outfits, that had been sitting on the shelf for decades, as 'De-Luxe Eclipse Viewers'. I still remember the screams as we tried to peel the patches off that poor bloke's eyes. Still, it was the only excitement we had that day, given the cloudy conditions.

Joining the Badger on stage at Blackpool will be Carol Thatcher, straight out of the jungle, and Professor David Bellamy...who always looks as if he got dressed in a jungle. He's a top man, he just doesn't shop there!

So, if you live in the Blackpool area, expect us to call in for a cup of tea in February and remember, next year's theme at Lower Treave is 'It's a jungle out there...get the grass cut Norman!'

FLYING HIGH

Have a look at the video bar at the bottom of the blog for a great aerial film of the pennisula. Also try this link for something which you could do when you visit http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=9_75xT9WVkA&feature=related ...remember last year the Scenic Pilot stayed with us at Lower Treave for the summer...well rumour has it that we will also be hosting next year's pilot! If you want to do something really special, then how about a massive banner in the sky...ask her to marry you...order a curry...get the kids to stop mucking about...the possibilities are endless. This is how they pick the banner up...Pilot Officer Pike at the controls...well done Mark! http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=vWiVifv5Tnk

PIRATES SWASH WELSH BUCKLE

London Welsh 23 - Cornish Pirates 38 Pete Cook on in the second half finds himself in the unfamiliar role of No8! If you're in Cornwall over the festive season, why not come along and see the Pirates play against Peter's home city of Coventry on 21 Dec at Camborne Recreation Ground. Further details on http://www.cornish-pirates.com/

A THOUSAND WORDS...

...well that is what they say a picture is worth, and this link http://simplygreencornwall.com/index.php will take you to some lovely shots of Lower Treave taken in Spring 2008 by the team at Simply Green Cornwall. Just click on the 'Photo Reviews' bit of their webpage and enjoy our little bit of Cornwall.

BOGWALL BUGLE ARCHIVE

For those of you who missed this years publictions...and for Dick who is in DRC with nothing to read... have a little watery reminder of the 2008 season...

The Bogwall Bugle was so named because that is where it was posted...on the bog wall. Its sponsors and benefactors are the Honorable Lord and Lady Bogwall KFS (Knife, Fork and Spoon) of Bogwall Towers.

BADGERS WITH RED BOXES

Hi everybody. As promised earlier, a quick update on the VAT situation. As you will know, the Chancellor has decided to lower the rate as of 1 Dec, so our new prices are now published on the website inclusive of 15% VAT. For those of you that made a booking before 1 Dec, we have given you a 5% discount as well and you should be receiving details of your booking and the revised charges by post and email very shortly. Please confirm your booking as soon as possible so that we can re-let any accommodation that you don't require. The new Holiday Hire Caravans are already pretty much fully booked for August, but if you would like to join a waiting list for any vacancies that arise then drop us an email. Off to a big meeting tomorrow about tourism in Cornwall. If there's anything you want mentioned from a guest's perspective..let me know. More about the Badger later. Cheers for now, Norman

SPORTING LIFE

This year, we're having great fun sponsoring a player in the Cornish Pirates rugby team. Not just any player, but Lower Treave's very own Peter Cook. Those of you who have been coming here for about 25 years may well remember Peter as a youngster spending all of his holidays here with parents Ken and Sue. Well, he ate all his greens and now he is a Prop Forward for the National Division One side, currently lying 8th in the table. Find out more about Peter and the Pirates at http://www.cornish-pirates.com/player_profiles_08-09/cook_peter.htm

WELCOME TO THE BLOGWALL BUGLE

Hi everybody, Following on from the popularity of the Bogwall Bugle this summer, we are going to carry on with this electronic version, bringing you all the latest news and views from Lower Treave. Hope you enjoy it and look forward to seeing all your comments on the various topics. Those of you that have arrived here via the website will have noticed lots more information on there this year. Many thanks to Ken at http://www.templenet.co.ukfor all his efforts, which include setting up this Blog. Right, must go...got some VAT percentages to change...more about that later. Carry on camping...!