Shaw Farm Static Caravan Park in the Peak District

Description from the owner

At Shaw Farm Static Caravan Park we have six Self-Catering static caravans available for short breaks and longer lets year round. Our holiday accommodation is in the grounds of a working family dairy farm in Derbyshire, set in open countryside on the edge of the Peak District. Hidden away from the town and neighbours each caravan has extensive views over fields and hills.

Each static caravan is well-equipped to cater for your needs including up to three bedrooms, kitchen with four gas hobs, oven, grill and microwave plus all cooking utensils and cutlery for 6 people. Bathroom with shower, basin and toilet. Lounge with dining table, comf...ortable seating and colour TV. Outside there is a garden, picnic table and ample parking next to each van.

We welcome children to our farm and provide a sandpit and swings for their enjoyment. We also invite you to watch the cows being milked and see the baby calves at close quarters.Read more

Additional Location Information

For a map and written directions to Shaw Farm please visit our website at www.shawfarmholidays.co.uk
From Shaw Farm a five minute walk by a wooded valley leads you to our local pub The Fox Inn, at Brook Bottom which serves food. Our local town New Mills has good small shops and two supermarkets plus train and bus links.

We are in a perfect location for exploring the hills, dales and towns of the Peak district which hosts many sights set in attractive countryside perfect for walking. Manchester is only a half hour train journey away and offers a wide range of activities including shopping, museums, art galleries, excellent cinemas and a wide range of foods and nightlife to suit all tastes.

Location Type Away from it all, Rural

Additional notes from owner

Please visit our website for full pricing information for our static Caravans. Prices range from £200 to £440 per week depending on the time of year and caravan chosen.

What Past Guests Are Saying

• YorkshireJollie
  Yorkshire

  Disappointing

  Left on 02/18/2012 for a stay in February 2012
  
  

  We have just returned from a weeks' stay in caravan 1. We thoroughly researched the reviews before booking and all but one were good so we thought we were in safe hands. We arrived in the dark on a freezing February evening to find that the fire had been lit and the heaters were on in the bedrooms which was welcoming. However, we didn't find anything else very welcoming. The caravan was dirty and had a stale smell. The lamp shades in the bedrooms were disgusting, filthy, covered in mold, dust and stained. There was a thick layer of dust along the top of the bedheads which we cleaned off using our supply of wet wipes (always handy for cleaning anywhere). The curtains in the bedrooms had mold stains on them and the windows were covered in green mold around the edges, they quite obviously had not been cleaned prior to our arrival. The mattress protectors on the beds in the twin room had mold dots all over them. Fortunately we had taken sleeping bags for the kids to sleep in, we would not have been happy making a bed up without them and putting sheets straight onto the beds as they were. Although advertised as a 6 berth caravan there was no duvet or bedding for the put up bed in the lounge. The toilet had urine stains on the lid which I cleaned as soon as I noticed .The plates were covered in grease as were the baking trays, the cutlery didn't match, it was a collection of miss matched knives and forks, huge knives with small forks etc. The glasses too were dirty, we basically had to wash everything before we dare use it. Two big wine glasses and three small wine glasses, odd sized plates etc. The hob was filthy and quite obviously had not been touched since previous guests left, as was the inside of the oven and the wall at the back of the oven covered in food splashes. There was only one shelf in the oven, no shelf in the grill part, we had to ring the farm at 6pm at night as we had only just noticed and were warming up pizzas, the farmer did get us one from another caravan promptly but it was covered in white fungus so we had to wash that too. On the positive side the double bed had a new mattress and the twin room had a pair of brand new pillows.
  We were asked by the farmer on Sunday morning (he never introduced himself so not sure if he was George or Graham) he came knocking at the caravan door asking for the balance, never had that before and we have stayed in many caravans. We would have expected to be trusted and had the opportunity to pay ourselves when we had settled in.
  We didn't really see anyone else, Nicky who had dealt with me by email and taken the booking never showed herself, we didn't feel very welcome, there was no offer of the kids seeing the cows being milked or the calves. Also the outlook from caravan 1 kitchen window is just a mess, scratty baths filled with water, unkempt, not a view to relish on holiday. We did feel that perhaps with this being the oldest caravan less care and attention had been given to it. However, we had paid good money £195 for the week (as we were bringing a dog we had chosen the older caravan,) more expensive than a lovely 2007 caravan that we stay in at the lakes at Easter each year and pay only £180 for the week.
  We are not cleaning fanatics, we just expect a clean caravan, clean windows, lamps, toilet, bedding, oven and utensils. Neither do we want to start complaining on holiday it leads to a bad atmosphere for the rest of the stay! The last thing you want to do on holiday is clean before you can even have a cup of tea. The caravan was 100% cleaner when we left than when we arrived!

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  Would you recommend this vacation rental to a friend? No

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  Was this review helpful? Yes

   

  Response from Nicky Burgess - 02/26/2012

  

  Nicky Burgess

  Owner

  Hi I’m Graham Burgess, George and Nicky’s son, first of all I would like to apologise about the caravan, the conditions you describe clearly were not acceptable. Nicky has sent you a letter with a £50 refund. You make many other points about the caravan so I’ve tried to respond to these as best I can:
  
  "We have just returned from a weeks' stay in caravan 1. We thoroughly researched the reviews before booking and all but one were good so we thought we were in safe hands. We arrived in the dark on a freezing February evening to find that the fire had been lit and the heaters were on in the bedrooms which was welcoming.
  However, we didn't find anything else very welcoming. The caravan was dirty and had a stale smell. The lamp shades in the bedrooms were disgusting, filthy, covered in mold, dust and stained. There was a thick layer of dust along the top of the bedheads which we cleaned off using our supply of wet wipes (always handy for cleaning anywhere)."
  
  Regardless of the fact Caravan 1 is our oldest and cheapest caravan there is no excuse for it not being thoroughly cleaned, so again I apologise for this.
  
  "The curtains in the bedrooms had mold stains on them and the windows were covered in green mold around the edges, they quite obviously had not been cleaned prior to our arrival."
  
  The older caravans are only single glazed which leads to condensation during the winter and mould building up. We had a lady staying in the caravan for several weeks who departed on the day you arrived, my dad spend several hours cleaning the caravan plus at least an hour removing dog hair from the carpet and upholstery before your arrival. This did not leave time for thoroughly cleaning the windows.
  
  "The mattress protectors on the beds in the twin room had mold dots all over them. Fortunately we had taken sleeping bags for the kids to sleep in, we would not have been happy making a bed up without them and putting sheets straight onto the beds as they were."
  
  We regularly replace the protectors and have a large supply of them in the farmhouse, if you had asked we would have been happy to replace them. Again, in the winter due to the condensation mould build up is a problem in the older vans.
  
  "Although advertised as a 6 berth caravan there was no duvet or bedding for the put up bed in the lounge."
  
  Each caravan is equipped for 6 people, however as you know space is limited and as the majority of people staying in the two bedroomed caravans do not often use the fold out bed in the lounge so we keep the bedding for it in our house and it is available on request. We have obviously not made this clear enough on our website but have never thought it a problem as people normally either let us know in advance or come and ask us for more bedding if they want it.
  
  "The toilet had urine stains on the lid which I cleaned as soon as I noticed."
  
  This is clearly unacceptable, my dad says he did clean the bathroom but obviously missed this.
  
  "The plates were covered in grease as were the baking trays, the cutlery didn't match, it was a collection of miss matched knives and forks, huge knives with small forks etc. The glasses too were dirty, we basically had to wash everything before we dare use it. Two big wine glasses and three small wine glasses, odd sized plates etc."
  
  My dad says he thought all the crockery and utensils seemed clean and he checked that nothing was missing or broken. There are several reasons why the caravans don’t have fully matching sets.
  
  Firstly things regularly get broken and over the years it has become impossible to replace like with like. This is why every time we replace one of the caravans we buy an entire new set with spares for it. However this means the older cheaper vans do end up with a mixture.
  
  Another reason is we often have groups of people staying in more than one caravan which means everything gets mixed up. As you can imagine this is very hard to keep track of and we often end up with the wrong stuff in different caravans.
  
  Finally, we have to provide a large range of utensils to meet the tourist board guidelines. Some of these guidelines are fairly ridiculous for a caravan with limited storage space. For example we have to provide a set of dinner forks and a set of desert forks, as these are all in one cutlery draw I agree it does look like a mess!
  
  "The hob was filthy and quite obviously had not been touched since previous guests left, as was the inside of the oven and the wall at the back of the oven covered in food splashes. There was only one shelf in the oven, no shelf in the grill part, we had to ring the farm at 6pm at night as we had only just noticed and were warming up pizzas, the farmer did get us one from another caravan promptly but it was covered in white fungus so we had to wash that too."
  
  Again my dad says he cleaned the kitchen but obviously did not do a good enough job.
  
  "On the positive side the double bed had a new mattress and the twin room had a pair of brand new pillows.
  We were asked by the farmer on Sunday morning (he never introduced himself so not sure if he was George or Graham) he came knocking at the caravan door asking for the balance, never had that before and we have stayed in many caravans. We would have expected to be trusted and had the opportunity to pay ourselves when we had settled in."
  
  It was my dad George who came to see you. I admit like him I’m also guilty of not properly introducing myself so will try and improve on this in the future. We make it very clear on both our website and brochure that the balance is due on arrival. However as you arrived on the Saturday night my dad waited until the Sunday morning before coming to see you to ask for the balance and check everything was ok.
  
  "We didn't really see anyone else, Nicky who had dealt with me by email and taken the booking never showed herself, we didn't feel very welcome, there was no offer of the kids seeing the cows being milked or the calves. "
  
  I have to question this point, I, Graham, spent the entire week you stayed with us working on the building next to your static caravan! I said hello to who I assume was your husband /partner several times. The best response I got was a smile, the other times he seemed to ignore me. This was no problem; I wrongly assumed you just wanted to be left to your own devices to enjoy your holiday in peace! I was also stood next to my dad when he apologised to you about the building work and hoped we were not disturbing you, you said it was fine and could not hear us in the caravan. You gave us absolutely no indication you were not happy with either us or the caravan, and you never mentioned that you would like to see the cows. I’m sorry you felt you were unable to ask us as we would have been more than willing to help. We do not like to go around pestering people or checking up on them too often as many of our visitors like to do their own thing. We make it quite clear in our literature you are welcome to see the cows and milking and enjoy showing people around.
  
  "Also the outlook from caravan 1 kitchen window is just a mess, scratty baths filled with water, unkempt, not a view to relish on holiday."
  
  Caravan 1 overlooks both a field and our farmhouse, we have planted shrubs to help screen the house but during the winter they loose their leaves. The part about the “scratty bath” made me smile; this is actually the calves’ water trough, hence why it’s full of water. However during the winter all the animals are inside so this would not be obvious. We do make it very clear that the caravans are on a working farm not a holiday park. During the winter there will always be some mud in the fields rather than just grass and flowers. This is why we have made a garden for each caravan and planted hedges to try and cheer the place up.
  
  "We did feel that perhaps with this being the oldest caravan less care and attention had been given to it. However, we had paid good money £195 for the week (as we were bringing a dog we had chosen the older caravan,) more expensive than a lovely 2007 caravan that we stay in at the lakes at Easter each year and pay only £180 for the week."
  
  We feel our prices are very reasonable and Caravan 1 is our cheapest to reflect its age and condition.
  
  "We are not cleaning fanatics, we just expect a clean caravan, clean windows, lamps, toilet, bedding, oven and utensils. Neither do we want to start complaining on holiday it leads to a bad atmosphere for the rest of the stay! The last thing you want to do on holiday is clean before you can even have a cup of tea. The caravan was 100% cleaner when we left than when we arrived!"
  
  I’m sorry to hear you felt you couldn’t approach us either about seeing the cows or to complain about the caravan. There were plenty of opportunities for you to do so since I was next to your caravan for virtually the whole week. I know it’s a personal choice but I would always rather ask someone to improve the situation rather than suffer in silence!