Well, its been a long hard slog to get to our opening day! Blood sweat and tears have gone into Bonnie Park. Bonchester Bridge Riverside Caravan & Camping that is!. Turning dreams into reality is never easy, but we are having a go…
More than a year ago is when we started to transform Bonnie Park into what it is today, but there is still lots to do and we will continue nurture it in the coming years!. Bonchester Bridge Riverside Caravan & Camping was closed over 20 years ago, and more or less left to the elements. We were told that we are a little bit mad to take on such a project along with our day jobs, and perhaps we are?? Looking back at some of the photos when we first arrived is a little overwhelming and if asked if we regret it, the answer is ABSOLUTELY NOT. When asked if we would do it again.. the answer is ABSOLUTELY NOT!
So, when we found Bonnie Park, we immediately felt at home, and we thought it had great potential! The location next to the river was a dream come true in all honesty. We walked along the bank of the river with Libby (our small Lurcher cross) and fell in love. We inspected the building that housed the showers, kitchen and toilets. That is once we had fought our way through the over grown bushes and trees. We expected a derelict mess, however, although it had been stood for over 20 years, and vines were snaking their way into the building through a few broken windows, and a mountain of leaves that near by trees had discarded over the years lay around creating a whole new habitat for the colossal amount of creepy crawlies.. it wasn’t too bad at all!
So the challenge began, what did that look like?? Well, a lot of driving. 5 hours each way from our home in North Wales to start. Most of the work was done on our days off (yes, we still have day jobs!) and some ‘holiday’ leave, although we are still in need of a holiday!. We had help from Rob, one of our partners in Bonnie Park and our boss in North Wales and his wife Steph (who I think has forgiven us for the hard labour we put her through), family and friends Nicola and Charlene and who could not believe how hard it was doing a little stone picking! Although they loved the wild swimming and were also rewarded by the appearance of our resident otter, plus the amazing BBQ we made for them! A BIG thank you all of you. ❤
The positives we have taken from the journey.. I can paint like a pro, fall asleep almost anywhere and I am now on level 100 of how to multitask, whilst juggling bananas standing on one foot. Aaron, is now a professional tiler, carpenter, builder, plumber and self professed fish spotter. Don’t you mean bird spotter I hear you say.. Nope, I don’t. On his birthday, in October last year (2021) we took a walk down to the cauld (weir) where we were amazed and transfixed by our first ever sight of Salmon jumping up the Salmon ladder. I’m am sure you could hear us for miles as we gave them encouragement to succeed on their merry way.
Pictures of how Bonchester Bridge Riverside Park used to be.
