Hillhead Holiday Camp
Brixham
Devon
TQ5 0HH

Tel: Office  01803 842336
 Site 01803 853204

Since this review was written Hillhead is now a Caravan Club Site

New Review Anyone

 

 

The site is easy to find if you follow the instructions on the back of the brochure. From Newton Abbott you follow the A380 towards Brixham via the Torbay ring road. At the end you turn right onto the A3022 towards Brixham, turning right onto the A379 Kingswear Road after 8 miles, and then left onto the B3205 where the camp is ¼ mile along on the left. The reception office is open from 8am – 8pm daily.

The site is set in twenty acres of camping and playing fields with panoramic views of Mansands Bay, the English Channel and the South Devon countryside, and has been running for over 25 years. Facing south, the playing fields overlook the whole of Torbay. The site has been extensively terraced with shrubs planted to divide the camp into many small sections and individual pitches. The site does slope downwards once one is away from the main section of the camp, but they have terraced each pitch as level as possible even in the bottom sections. The larger and flatter pitches are closer to the main facilities and seem to be reserved for ‘vans and motorhomes. You may well find that you are further away from the clubhouse, shower blocks, etc, if you are tenting. All communicating paths and roadways within the camp are metalled, and the land seems very well drained even in very heavy rain. A word of warning – make sure that any guy pegs you use are strong - rocky ground is only a few inches below the surface, and the wind can be quite strong. Grass is mown as soon as a pitch is vacated.

There are two separate toilet/shower blocks on the site, with free hot water 24-hours a day during the season supplied on a timed basis via push-button. I still can’t work out how the water is heated, maybe a combination of solar panels and electricity, but the temperature can be very variable from day to day! And watch out for water on the flag-stoned floors – bruised bottoms could be the least of your problems! There is also a laundry/launderette room with coin-operated washers (two £1 coins), dryers (20p coins) and irons (20p coins), and this is open all day.

Within the clubhouse complex there is a fully stocked shop/off-licence  I found that you can get most food, newspapers and camping items there, including recharged replacement gas bottles, . If you fancy someone else doing the cooking for a change, then there is the café . There is a fully licensed bar which is open from 7pm daily, plus Saturday and Sunday lunchtimes during the main season. The clubroom has a varied weekly programme in the evenings, including dancing and cabaret acts – no entrance fee. There is also a television room, an amusement arcade for the children, and a heated open-air swimming pool.

There are two routes from the camp to Brixham, both about 15 minutes drive, one of which is downhill all the way, narrow and winding, and not suitable for towing.  Brixham doesn’t have as much to offer as its bigger sisters of Torquay and Paignton. It is quainter with some nice restaurants and pubs and banking services, but there’s not much in the way of beaches. However, my main reason for staying near Brixham is its good selection of professional skippers and sea-fishing charter boats – get out and catch conger and bass!

 

Colin Smith.

CLIC. August 1999

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