Review by paulmagoo on 4th May, 2009

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Should say right from the get-go that I was never that impressed by Cairnsmill Caravan Park. Against my better judgement I joined 3 other family and friends and the 4 caravans spent the May Holiday Weekend at Cairnsmill. My wife and van arrived before I did on the Friday, when I did arrive I was astonished by the ¡§new¡¨ layout. Cairnsmill Management had decided that Caravans WITH Awnings should be on the gravel hard standing and the caravans only on the grass. We had been on gravel before but nothing like this. 4-6 inches of top gravel with another 6 inches below with hard rocks. Bring plenty Heavy duty metal pegs with you. (Or buy the from the site shop who seem to have plenty in stock ƒº. You may also need to purchase a heavy hammer or hiliti gun to get them in. Without a doubt this one action alone has wasted this site. Over the weekend I overheard a number of others complaining about the same issue. The next set of issues relate to the over-zealous jobs worth who resembles a traffic warden or ¡§Parkie¡¨. ¡§No driving over the grass¡¨ to go straight to your pitch (allowing easier pitch down). Instead you¡¦re allowed to drive round to your pitch, THEN DRIVE ONTO THE OPPOSITE GRASS to reverse your van back. Ehhh????, Somebody want to explain the logic behind that?? Next, do not dare to unhitch your van and leave the car on the road or on adjacent grass¡K. The Parkie¡¦s back round on your shoulder wanting your car moved before you¡¦ve even got the legs down and the kettle on. (At this stage my wife told him to ¡§to go forth¡¨). Moving on, it ¡§appears¡¨ that there is a huge speeding problem on the park as a number of drivers throughout the weekend were targeted by the Warden (obviously wishing he had been a traffic officer), by him jumping out in front of you at the gates and flagging you down to tell you that you had been seen ¡§flying around the park at excessive speed¡¨. Don¡¦t try and argue with him though as you will be there all night. He will tell you that he has a speed gun. Which begs many questions like: - Has he or not? - Is it a Home Office Prescribed Device? - Could it be used in any litigation? - Has he had any training on the device? The reality is that regardless of how much you disprove him you were not speeding, its probably easier just to tug your forelock say ¡§aye, ok¡¨ and move on to enjoy his fantasy life. It also appears that certain rules do not apply to him as his dog is allowed to wander the site without being on a lead? Moving back to the site. Showers have often appeared in the number of reviews I have read. One set has only one ¡§shower unit¡¨. It is a proper shower unit with seating area. Unfortunately, you either need to stand in long queue for it or when you do get there the water is freezing. (So was the dishwashing water area on bank holiday Sunday as well). The other shower area has two showers but not enough hooks for clothes and no seating/dry area. Wait to get back to the caravan before putting your socks on! They have a bizarre cleaning ritual for the showers and toilets which begins right smack in the middle of mid morning. SO, even though you get to the front of the queue you might find yourself turfed out until the abrasive mouthed cleaner allows you back in. Looks like you need to be up with the larks to get a shower in quick time and hot water¡K.. The loosely termed ¡§fishing pond¡¨ is only for fly fishing only. God knows how any fish can see the flies as the water is mudder than mud. On the plus side there are a number of dog poo bins but a number of them are pretty full, so not sure when they were last emptied? Another thing that the ¡§Parkie¡¨ fills his time with is the enforcement of 1 car per caravan. You are allowed a second vehicle on site (chargeable) but it has to be parked in the spare car parks, not at the caravan side. At the beginning of the review I noted Cairnsmill was not a favourite. To conclude, I would give reference to Kinkell Braes, a site less than 12 mile away on the cliff edge above St. Andrews. With panoramic views, easy pitching, constant hot water, awning and groundsheet cleaning area, good restaurant facilities and a nice walk straight onto the beach means that I will never be back at Cairnsmill and never again have to put up with the jobs worth over zealous warden who obviously needs to go on ¡§working with the public¡¨ training.

Date visited: 01/05/09