Old Oaks Touring Caravan And Camping Park

Overall View

The Old Oaks site is part of the Tranquil Parks Association. It is conveniently placed just outside the historic and famous town of Glastonbury in Somerset.  Please see the Site Arrival Video.It is a 5* rated site and has a vast range of services to cater for all the needs of its adult only clientele. The site is divided into different areas with some offering premium additional, payable services.

There is also a section of camping lodges, glamping pods and shepherds huts available to hire which enables adults to have their friends along who do not caravan.

Two other areas of interest are the fishing lake – this is a big draw for people who wish to fish and is fully set up with little stands around the lake. For our four-legged friends, there is a massive, secure dog run by the entrance to the site. It also boasts a dog shower and dryer unit at one end.

Facilities

Apart from the usual facilities blocks, which provide a range of services, individual shower rooms including a toilet in each, hair drying facilities – there is a laundry, dishwashing facilities, kitchen area with freezer allowing you to freeze freezer blocks if necessary. There are chemical toilet disposal points in each block. All of these are of an exceptionally high standards as befits their 5* rating.

In addition, there is a comprehensive food offer – breakfast club with everything up to and including a full English cooked breakfast. Each night there is a food option, gourmet burgers, Mexican, hog roast, Indian cuisine to name a few. Some of these are produced on site and others are brought in from local takeaways in Glastonbury. We should also mention the daily, changing, slices of home-made cake for sale – they are delicious and usually sell out quickly. Two slices of home-made Victoria sandwich cake were road tested – a big thumbs up, generous portions too. Finally, there is an option to pre-order freshly baked croissants for the following morning – again very tasty indeed, warm from the oven. It should be noted that not all these food offers are available year-round and vary from season to season.

There is no public transport direct from the site.  The nearest railway station is Castle Cary.  Nearest petrol station is the Esso Garage on the A361 roundabout on the outskirts of the town and is at the front of a small retail park.  There is a small, cottage style hospital near the site, West Mendip which offers minor injury unit, not 24 hours.

There is a comprehensive information room and pool table, fee payable.  There are also a selection of walking trail leaflets to be borrowed.  It should be noted that there is direct walking pathway, to the rear of the site up on to the Tor.  I am reliably informed that it takes about 25 minutes to climb up – a very physically fit person informed me of this!

There is also a Reception and Shop.  The shop sells basic goods, including spares for the touring parts of the site.  Tea and coffee are also available here.

Review of Site Pitch

We have previously stayed on tourer pitches at this site, and they are all generously sized allowing for a caravan and awning and vehicle at the front or by the side. Full serviced pitches include water, grey waste, TV booster and some have internet facilities hard wired. Specialist pitches have a picnic bench, bird table and fire pit/chimenea for your individual use.

The variety of lodges, as mentioned above, are considerable – on this occasion we were staying in a Wooden Lodge. These are like log cabins and have full self-contained facilities, indeed some have their own hot tub. The standard of equipment, furnishing and fittings is, as befits a 5* site, of an exceptional level.

Around and about

The obvious place to start this part of the review is the world-famous market town of Glastonbury. Famous for the music festival – which incidentally is held a few miles outside of the town itself. There are an impressive range of shops which relate to the King Arthur and Avalon story. Mystical and spooky – they cater to an audience who come to explore the mystery and myths surrounding the story. There are also a good range of pubs, cafes, restaurants, and supermarkets. Glastonbury Abbey is worth a visit but is a ruin – very interesting, nonetheless.

The other main attraction of Glastonbury is the Tor, a mystical building which overlooks the Somerset Levels and the Isle of Avalon. Many tales abound about secret passages, religious visitors, and various Knights of the Round Table. It should be noted that there is no vehicle access to the top of the Tor, but a disability friendly pathway is available – we did not try this on this visit.

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/glastonbury-tor

We did a Treasure Trails around Glastonbury which, once again, took us off the beaten track and to areas that we perhaps would not have thought of going, rewarding our efforts with some fine views of the Somerset Levels.

The internationally famous Glastonbury Music Festival is a regular event on the calendar but due to recent COVID issues, it has not been held for the last couple of years.  You are advised to check the website for the next confirmed event.  When the festival is on, be advised that traffic on roads, Glastonbury and surrounding areas is extremely heavy and queues are lengthy.  If, however, your visit is timed to coincide with the festival then the site is very well placed.  Residual noise from the festival is minimal and depends upon the prevailing winds at the time.  www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk

Slightly further afield is the famous cathedral city of Wells.   This is about a 30-minute drive from the site.  Here you will find a traditional high street with a good range of independent and the usual high street stores.  There is a Waitrose supermarket on the outskirts of town.  Parking is plentiful, charge payable and the one by the bus station has both toilets and easy level access to the town.  No visit to Wells is complete without visiting both the Cathedral and the Bishops Palace/Gardens, charge payable for the latter.  www.wellssomerset.com/wells-visitor-service.php

There are several National Trust properties in the vicinity – on this occasion we visited Montacute House – about a 45-minute drive from the site.  A very pleasant house, gardens and cafΓ© are available and is well worth a visit.

Finally, for those who enjoy shopping the nearby Clarks Village Shopping Centre is a must-visit.  It is built on the original site of the Clarks Footwear Factory in Street, a short 10-minute drive from the site.  There is plenty of parking, payable up to 6pm.  There are several restaurants, cafes and a very good range of shops including high street names and to suit all pockets.

Summary

The site is an excellent example of a Holiday Park.  It is in a central location within Somerset and accessible from a wide area of places.  The additional extras offered by the site are the β€˜icing on the cake’.  They have literally thought of pretty much everything anyone could ever need.

The options away from the site and are plentiful and suit all interests and budgets.  It is not possible to do everything on one visit, so return visits are commonplace.  A highly recommended site we will return to.