Birch Hiill Farm

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Birch Hiill Farm

TitleBirch Hiill Farm

Site DescriptionBirch Hill Shropshire Caravan Club CL

Birch Hill is a prize-winning Caravan Club CL Certificated Location for members of the Caravan Club. It is a quiet rural caravan site in the heart of England for up to 5 touring caravans or motorhomes, offering pleasant views across a wide expanse of Shropshire, Cheshire and North Wales. A good base for a short stay or longer holiday; there are plenty of electrical hook-ups, mains water supply, chemical waste disposal point and we have recently added 3 grassed hard-standing pitches. Caravans park on a spacious area of about 2 acres of grass which is mown regularly throughout the growing season. (To give you an idea of size, many CLs try to cram 5 caravans into a quarter of an acre, so Birch Hill is 8 times bigger for the same number of caravans).
Pitches Open All Year for Caravans and Motor Homes

We are open for Summer and Winter Caravan holidays all year round, subject to firm ground field conditions - please telephone to check in advance during Winter months. We have recently added 3 areas of hardstanding 'EcoGrid' matting to help when the ground is soft: this should improve life for Winter visitors, particularly those with motor-homes. Trailer-tents are welcome, but we do not accept tent-only campers ('no tents' is a Caravan Club rule).
Camp Site Access

Access for caravans is good, with wide gateways and a Tarmac drive. The drive is about a quarter of a mile from the lane, which reinforces the feeling of a quiet secluded site. Birch Hill is close enough to a quiet 'A' Road to give easy access, but far enough to be away from road noise.

Set in green rolling countryside, Birch Hill farmhouse is 1 mile North of Ellesmere in North Shropshire, just 2 miles from the North Wales border.

* The nearest main road is the A528.
* The caravan site is on Ordnance Survey 1:50,000 map sheet 126, Grid Reference SJ 397365

For programming Satellite Navigation (SatNav), Birch Hill Farm road entrance is at:

* Postcode SY12 0LP or use the following GPS map co-ordinates:
* Grid Reference SJ 397365
* Latitude 52:55:20N (52.9222), Longitude 2:54:09W (-2.9025)

Caravan Facilities

* Pleasant views across Shropshire, Cheshire and North Wales.
* Two-acre mown site (bigger than most).
* Ten full power 16 amp electric hook-ups (EHU). Please note that we only accept 5 caravans at a time and the additional electricity points are to allow visitors to spread out.
* 3 grassed hard-standing pitches (or you may spread out on other grass areas).
* 2 mains water taps.
* 2 chemical disposal points.
* 2 waste disposal points.
* Tourist information packs and local recommendations for visitors. Ian & Janet Kelly enjoy having visitors to their Caravan Site and recommending local places to visit and eat in and around Ellesmere, Shropshire and North Wales. Not only CL owners, they are active caravanners and members of the Caravan Club in their own right.

Dog Friendly Caravan Holidays
Dogs are welcome and we have a nice woodland walk that dogs enjoy. Although we are 'dog friendly', please be prepared to keep your dog on a lead. The fields surrounding Birch Hill are used for agriculture (grass grown for silage in the Spring, cows in Summer & sheep in the Winter).

Our Dog. We have a friendly 5-year old Golden Retriever called Tara who wanders around the site. To keep her to a healthy weight, please do not feed her. We appreciate that some people are afraid of dogs or are allergic to dogs, so please do not allow her into your caravan as she may think that she is welcome everywhere.
Booking

We are very strict on the '5 Caravan Rule', so advance booking is recommended, especially for Bank Holidays.

* We only accept bookings from Caravan Club members - another good reason for joining the Caravan Club. You will find us on page 414 of the current Caravan Club Sites Directory and Handbook.

Shropshire Caravan Storage

We offer caravan storage out of sight and under cover in our barns. This is subject to available space with a maximum of 13 stored caravans.
Caravanning in Ellesmere

If we were to attempt to describe our typical visitors, we would say, slightly tongue-in-cheek, 'a semi-retired couple with a rescue-dog, and perhaps bicycles, here to relax and walk in the countryside'. Having said that, children are welcome and we are starting to get more families with small children who come to feed the ducks by the Mere. Being realistic, Ellesmere does not have enough noise or 'bright lights' to attract teenagers. An increasing trend is for visitors with motor-homes / caravanettes.

This is a genuinely quiet and relaxing CL, with no car-door slamming at pub closing-time, no static caravans, no seasonal pitches or adjacent commercial caravan site, and we have no intention of holding caravan rallies.

The site is well-maintained with no sheep droppings or cow pats between the caravans (although you may see cows, sheep or horses in adjacent fields).
Prize Winning Caravan Site.

We were delighted to be told in April 2007 that Birch Hill is the 2006 Regional Winner of the Caravan Club CL of the Year Competition, based on votes received from Club members. We can truly say that we are voted the best CL in the region that covers the whole of Wales, the West Midlands and Northern Ireland. There are around 2500 Caravan Club CLs in the country, and only 6 Regional Prizes. Birch Hill is also a past-winner of the runner-up prize for 'National CL of the Year', making it one of the top Caravan sites in the UK.
The Birch Hill Farm philosophy is simple - we aim to make you welcome so that you:

* have a nice time,
* find plenty of things of interest,
* stay longer,
* come again and
* recommend us to your friends.

Please call at the house on arrival to collect a folder of local information and maps.
Holidays in Ellesmere

Ellesmere Shropshire England Meres Mosses Canals Lakes Caravan HolidaysEllesmere is a friendly quiet lakeside market town dating back to Saxon times. The town's floral displays won 'Britain in Bloom' prizes in 2000, 2001 & 2003. The market is on Tuesday, with the market charter granted 800 years ago. Car parking is free of charge and it has shops, banks, pubs, restaurants, cafés and tea shops. Camping gas is available from the local petrol station or builders' merchant. Don't miss the Bread and Butter Pudding at the local baker's shop!

For antique collectors, there are two antique shops, an antiques auction about once a month plus a Sunday antiques fair in the new Town Hall about once a month. You may also find a bargain at the massive Chirk Airfield car boot sale on Sunday mornings throughout the summer. Nearby Chester and Shrewsbury also have lots of antique shops.
Shropshire's Lakelands

The lakes (called 'meres') around Ellesmere have resulted in the area being called Shropshire's lake-lands. They are famous for their water fowl, with nature trails to observe the bird life. Swans, geese, ducks, coots and herons are the most common. Ellesmere has various events centred around the meres including festivals, the annual sailing regatta and carnival.
Shropshire Walking Holidays

Ellesmere is a lovely place for quiet country walks and cycling. The canals are quiet and peaceful with an abundance of wildlife, especially for bird-watching. Local public footpaths are well maintained, following an extensive renewal of signposts, stiles and footbridges in 2005.
Cycling around Ellesmere, Shropshire

* The Land's End to John o'Groats 'End-to-End' bicycle route in the 'Bike Britain' cycle guide book goes past the end of our farm drive.
* We are within ½ mile of National Cycle Network Route 31 (you can see Route 31 from our farm).
* Cycling is allowed on the canal tow-paths if you have a British Waterways cycle permit. These permits are available free of charge from the local tourist information offices and the British Waterways office in Ellesmere. The free cycling permits also apply to other British Waterways canals. You can download a free cycling permit from the British Waterways website. Please note that not all towpaths are suitable for cycling.

Birch Hill is also convenient for visiting friends or relatives at the Robert Jones & Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital, or Derwen College both at Gobowen, about 8 miles away.
History

Birch Hill was opened as a CL for touring caravans by Mrs Gwen Copnall on 1 March 1982. In 1987, she went to The House of Commons to collect the runner-prize as Caravan Club National CL of the Year. Sally-Ann Burgess continued to run the CL from about 1993, doubling the size of the site to about 2 acres, spreading into an additional field to offer wider views. On 31 July 2002 Birch Hill was bought by Ian and Janet Kelly, who now live in the farmhouse at Birch Hill with their young son James. Ian and Janet have worked hard to improve the site and like to make people welcome when they arrive; we are proud to have been awarded one of only 6 Regional Prizes in the 2006 CL of the Year Competition.

Units Allowed Tents : No Caravans : Yes MotorHomes :Yes Large Motorhome 30ft+ : No

Caravan Park Location (Tip: press satellite to see aerial view)

Caravan Site Facility Information : (hover on icon for KEY) Identifies if the park has hookups available