Rickinghall caravan site wins top Caravan and Motorhome Club award

A couple who opened a caravan site at Rickinghall just over a year ago have won a top award with the Caravan and Motorhome Club.

Roger and Pauline Dixon have been in farming most of their working lives and decided to use a 15 acre field to create a small haven in the countryside for caravan enthusiasts.

Barn Owl Meadow has now won Best Newcomer CL (Certified Location) at the club's annual awards.

Roger said: "We are really pleased and delighted with this award. It has put us on the map."

He added: "We are caravan club members ourselves and realised how much people would enjoy soaking up the peaceful tranquil setting we have here."

The couple, aged 71 and 68, live close to the site which has a custom built five star amenity building boasting underfloor heating plus air source heat pumps and solar panels.

The site has five fully serviced pitches, hard standing or grass, which can accommodate a caravan/motorhome, awning and car.

The amenity building has two large bathrooms with showers and disabled access plus a washing up room. There is also an information room with books to borrow and information on nearby places of interest.

There is an enclosed field edge walk for exercising dogs and an office which doubles up as a small shop for essential food supplies.

The couple's daughter Shelly is very involved in the business and runs a small holding at Finningham. Visitors can enjoy free range eggs, rare breed sausages, bacon, burgers, pork and lamb which she supplies. Shelly also cleans the caravans and looks after the site when Roger and Pauline are away on trips in their own motorhome.

Roger also runs his own small baled haylage company at one end of the meadow. The couple's son Matt, a former Ipswich Town FC youth player, now runs his own window cleaning business in Bury.

For more see www.barnowlmeadow.co.uk