Ryland Caravan Festival 2026 in Birmingham: festival review

My Shrewsbury editor Claire Pocock spent two nights in a static caravan at Min-Y-Don Holiday Park in Harlech, Wales. The park is located between Harlech Beach dunes and Snowdonia mountains, a two-hour drive from Shrewsbury. The family of four stayed in a Willerby Severn with two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a living area. The park is open March to January and offers a children's play area, football pitch, bike track, laundrette, free Wi-Fi, and a dog walking area. Min-Y-Don is part of the Salop Caravan Sites group, sister company to Shrewsbury-based Salop Leisure.

Gozney has launched the Arc Lite, a compact gas pizza oven aimed at campers and travelers. Priced at €399.99, it features a cordierite stone and simple knob control. In IMTEST's review, the oven demonstrated excellent temperature stability (only 1 °C variation over 30 seconds) but struggled with cooking: at maximum heat (~400 °C), the crust burned while the dough remained undercooked. Optimal results require 300–350 °C and frequent turning. No accessories are included; a basic set (peel, thermometer, cover) costs nearly €200 extra.

Visitors to South Ayrshire Council’s motorhome parking area at Ayr Esplanade have repeatedly complained about late-night cruising, engine revving and antisocial driving. An analysis of around 70 online reviews since the site opened in 2022 found that well over half refer to evening vehicle noise or antisocial driving, with more than 20 reviewers specifically mentioning “boy racers”. Complaints have come from UK visitors as well as tourists from Germany, France, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands. The council said it is liaising with the community, Ayrshire Roads Alliance and Police Scotland to address the issues.

Andrewshayes Holiday Park near Axminster in East Devon, UK, marked 90 years since receiving one of the country's earliest camping licences in 1936. The park, believed to be one of the UK's oldest continuously family-run licensed holiday parks, held a special event with a barbecue, traditional Devon cream teas, and live music. The park's history began in 1929 when Stan and Marjorie Lawrence moved to Andrewshayes Farm and started hosting passing campers. In 1960, the park was upgraded with mains water, toilets, and washing facilities, and obtained licences for static caravans. In 2020, the park won Holiday Park of the Year at the Devon Tourism Awards, and in 2025 it earned Silver and a TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Award. Now managed by the fourth generation, Josh and Grace Lawrence, the park offers luxury self-catering caravans alongside pitches for touring caravans, motorhomes, and campers.

Go Outdoors has launched the budget OEX Vertex Lite 130 roof tent, priced at £695 with membership. The tent weighs 39.5 kg, measures 220 x 135 x 98 cm when open, and sleeps two. It pitches in about five minutes, with a waterproof rating of 3000 mm for the main fabric and 6000 mm for the rainfly. However, the mattress is firm, the ladder feels less robust than rivals, and interior headroom (93 cm) is lower than the TentBox Lite (105 cm). Overall, it offers good value for beginners but with trade-offs in comfort and finish.

A caravan allegedly used for prostitution was destroyed in a midnight fire on Ambleside Drive in Southend. Firefighters extinguished the blaze, and no injuries were reported. The cause of the fire has not been determined, and authorities are not treating it as deliberate. Residents had repeatedly complained about the caravan's alleged use for prostitution, and local officials had been working to have it removed.