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Top Devon touring site is 50 this year!
Stowford Farm Meadows, one of the UK’s top touring parks, is celebrating a unique half century of success this year.
It was exactly 50 years ago that brothers Redvers and Denzil Rice set up a limited company in their own names. The initial business was farming, but within ten years Stowford had set itself up as a touring park, taking full advantage of a Devon Council Structure Plan that had identified a need for a Touring, Caravan and Camping Park in the area.
It was Winston Rice, Redvers’ son, who was the driving force behind Stowford becoming the multiple award-winning touring site that it is today. In an early indication of his far-sightedness, he organised the widening of the approach road to the farm, ostensibly so that – in future – caravans could make the approach easily.
Key Stowford milestones include:
*1978 Stowford Farm Meadows Touring Caravan and Camping Park opens, with one field (Barn Park), amenities block and holiday shop, soon followed by a take-away and The Old Stable Bar. It takes £8,000 in its first year of trading.
*1981 Consistent growth sees the opening of Fields 2 (Bulls Field) and 3 (Broad Meadow), plus more amenities blocks.
*1984 The Old Stable Bar gets an extension.
*1987 Field 4 (Great Western Park), originally one of several rally fields, is redeveloped and given its own amenities block. Building work also starts on an indoor swimming pool.
*1996 Stowford purchases a further 70 acres of woodland, adapting it to provide over three and a half miles of walkways for its campers. In the decade running up to this, Stowford has planted some 40,000 trees, creating over 50 acres of new woodland.
*2002 Field 5 (Bridge Park) moves on from its previous role as grazing land for ponies, rally field and quad bike zone to become another full-time touring area. Its amenities block is built to winter specification, with underfloor heating, full double-glazing etc. Stowford becomes an open-all-year site.
*2004 The Caravan Workshop is opened, paving the way for the Stowford Caravan Centre retail outlet.
*2005 Time for another new project. Work starts on Stowford Farm Country Lodges, a project headed by Winston’s son, Bud Rice and his family.
*2011 More expansion, as Stowford South Wales opens, selling new and used caravans and motorhomes.
*2013 It’s another first for Stowford, as a sophisticated and highly environmentally-friendly biomass heating system is introduced for the whole campsite.
*2014 Stowford begins production of its own, exclusive range of VW campervans.
Winston Rice today still oversees what has become one of the UK’s most successful camping and caravanning park operations. He says: “I never dreamed, when we set out on this amazing journey, that Stowford Farm Meadows would develop into what it’s become today.
“It’s been hard work, but always enjoyable, and the fact that we’ve given so many happy camping and caravanning memories to hundreds of thousands of people is what really makes it all worthwhile. To be in business and still thriving after 50 years is an almighty achievement.”
Stowford Farm Meadows has a rating of 8/10 from 154 Reviews, check them out and visit their website from here
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Carbon Monoxide Staying Safe Advice
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Topic: A happy half century for Stowford Farm
