By Tom Morton

Copyright falkirkherald

And while I love my children dearly, being as they are six and eight years old, it’s a sad fact that our respective ideal leisure activities rarely overlap. However, despite that, we have found a place where every box is ticked and – it turns out – in whatever weather.

To mark the end of the summer holidays, we headed west to Ladram Bay in south Devon. The holiday park is at the end of the Jurassic Coast – the stretch that starts at Studland Bay, just south of Bournemouth in Dorset, and runs about 100 miles west to Exmouth in Devon; Ladram Bay is up the western end, between Budleigh Salterton and Sidmouth.

We were hoping for the pleasant warmth that often arises in September after the bank holiday, but this summer’s hot weather had to have some kind of payback, and as we drove down the car was sporadically battered by the remnants of Hurricane Erin which had been flung across the Atlantic – weather which set the scene for the days where the temperature didn’t really drop, but you were likely to be caught in torrential downpours at any minute. Luckily for us, though, we had plenty to do without even leaving the park.

We had pre-booked some activities, and the two that the kids were most excited about were the Crazi-Bugz and the Water Walkerz. The Crazi-Bugs are mini all-terrain vehicles which can be operated by even very small children (my just-turned six-year-old Rosanna managed perfectly well, and she’s no beanpole) as they are controlled by joysticks rather than pedals, so there are no problems with legs not reaching. The Bugz zoom around a short muddy circuit and even if they are crashed into the sides there’s no harm done. The looks of concentration on the children’s faces said it all – they could have sped around for a lot longer than the allotted 20 minutes.

But the favourite attraction on site was certainly the swimming pool. It’s big, warm, and not that deep, while there’s a gentle slide and some toys in the indoor toddler splash pool next to it. As well as spending general swimming time there every day – a favourite game was to get out, run around the outdoor splash park and then get back in the indoor pool for a hot and cold experience – Water Walkerz sessions are run there. These are the water equivalent of zorbing, with the children trying to keep their feet and then master running around like a hamster in a wheel (to various degrees of success). Certainly Rosanna made a brave fist of trying it, but also realised that falling over was just as fun as staying upright. During that session they also had a go with a sea scooter – a handheld motor that can whizz you around the pool.

Other indoor activities that we tried were pottery painting, keyring making and jewellery making. One note on the pottery – the organisers glaze your efforts so that they actually look good, and make you want to keep them. If you’ve done pottery painting before you’ll know the results can be… underwhelming… and are always unpleasantly scratchy to touch; how lovely to pick up a smooth, shiny object the following morning. Jewellery making and keyring making sessions, also in the new art studio, were also pitched just right. Tasks not too fiddly, session not too short, and creations that make good presents.

Throw in the adventure playground in between the showers and a lovely (fenced) cliff top field which is perfect for football or in our case kite flying, and crazy golf (which we didn’t try) and you can busy yourself easily throughout the day.

Across the week we took a couple of short trips out to Exmouth and Sidmouth and had an afternoon at the National Trust house and grounds of Killerton, just north of Exeter. All were within a 30-minute drive, meaning that we could easily get a change of scenery and be back in time for the Kids’ Club and the entertainment in the showbar in the evening.

One night we went to the onsite chippy to get our dinner, and without wanting to sound gushing, sometimes it really is the small things that win you over. I appreciate that neither the chippy nor the site shop chooses to rinse you on prices just because the nearest alternative is miles away. A chippy tea for four – including fish for one person, a battered sausage and two kids’ meals – was about £30, which is not far off what we’d pay at our local. Food (and some local beer such as Devon Dumpling) in the shop also didn’t impose a “campsite tax” – it was all sensible and reasonable.

It didn’t rain all day every day, and while it was never “beach weather” that doesn’t mean we didn’t walk down to the beach or indeed along the cliffs. What a privilege to have a beach within a five-minute stroll – and indeed to be able to join the coast path within minutes. The Jurassic Coast cliffs and rock patterns always take your breath away on first sight, and the bay’s stone pillars created by erosion have their own beauty. We searched – unsuccessfully – for fossils, although we may have found a preserved dinosaur tail tip (or worm, or plant stalk, or perhaps just a rock wrinkle) and we certainly saw something exciting and non-human in the sea that could have been a dolphin or more likely a seal. It just added to the feeling that every day we spent there was an adventure – with discoveries to be made and experiences to be had.

On our last evening, the changeable weather gave us a wonderful view of a rainbow with one end in the sea and the other touching the roof of the entertainment complex. I stuck a picture on Facebook and tagged in Ladram Bay, then a friend of mine spotted it and messaged an hour later. He wrote: “What’s it like there? We’re going in the next May half-term and I’d never heard of it but since we booked everyone who’s been says it’s great.” And to be honest, I’m not sure I can sum it up any better than that. It really is the standard by which holiday parks should be judged.