It pays to get up early round here...

Helsbury Park Dog Photo Competition 2008/09 Entry 11

Jim Mundy sent this great shot of Jake, watching Mum putting the washing out in the farmhouse. Jim said "As you may have already guessed Helsbury is Jake's favourite place in the world!"

Barn owls on site...

We've been very lucky with wildlife this year and even more so recently when we've had a paid of barn owls hunting on the land every evening. They are lovely and quite enchanting birds with total confidence and presence, they are not scared of being approached and have flown extremely close to get a proper look at us while we're walking Solly.

Cornwall - Top of the British Holiday Destinations

It's long been a belief of those who live and visit the county but hard facts are now available to prove it - Cornwall is Britain's favourite holiday destination. TripAdvisor, the world's largest travel community, conducted a poll of over 500 British travellers to find out what they think are the best and worst of Britain's coastal resorts, lakes, mountains and cities, and Cornwall come out as the clear winner. Not only did the county scoop the top title as favourite destination it also featured in all, but two, of the 'Best for' categories outshining the likes of the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales.

Cornwall pulled in most votes in the 'Best for Families' category and came in a close second in the food, accommodation and value stakes. Teresa Timms of VisitCornwall couldn't be happier with the results: "The quality of Cornwall's tourism industry has never been better and this survey shows that we are leading the field. Not only does Cornwall have some of the best accommodation and places to eat in the country but we also rank highly for our warmth of welcome which is really great news. The industry should be really proud of themselves!"

Favourite Destination
1.Cornwall
2.Scottish Highlands and Islands
3.Lake District

Best Food
1.London
2.Cornwall
3.Scottish Highlands and Islands

Best Accommodation
1.London
2.Cornwall
3.Lake District

Best for Good Value
1.Blackpool Pleasure Beach
2.Cornwall
3.Scottish Highlands and Islands, Yorkshire Dales

Best for Getting Away From it All
1.Scottish Highlands and Islands
2.Lake District
3.Cornwall

Best for Families
1.Cornwall
2.Blackpool Pleasure Beach
3.English Riveria

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Helsbury Park Dog Photo Competition 2008/09 Entry 10

Richard and Sarah Topps sent these great shots in of Gertie, their labrador enjoying her week here at Helsbury. Sarah emailed to say "Thank you again for another super holiday at Helsbury!"

Its GOLD for Helsbury...

We're delighted to announce that we picked up the top award at the 2008 Cornwall Tourism Awards last week. Standards are extremely high in these competitions nowadays so we're particularly pleased to have pulled it off. We've since learnt that we also made it into the top 6 self catering estabishments in the whole of the south west region. This shows that we're investing in the right areas and that our business model is sound so we're alread looking forward to next year!