To mark the 200^th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin (on February 12^th), Darwin Forest Country Park is launching a new club for nature detectives  Membership includes a Starter Pack with everything needed to get the outdoor learning experience underway.  This includes Charles Darwin themed activity cards which cover: how to be an explorer and learn more about flora and fauna; how to spot tracks and work out what creatures are around; how to recognise different types of tree and how to identify and draw birds.  Others will be added over time.  Items such as bug jars, pond dipping nets, bird books and small microscopes will also be made available in the Woodland Store to help children develop their understanding of the great outdoors.

Darwin Forest are proud to have won this year’s top diamond award for Hoseason’s Best Holiday Park in the Heart of England.  The award is particulary pleasing as it is based on the response that Hoseasons received from their customers who stayed with us during 2008.  This latest success follows on from a similar award made to Sandybrook Country Park last year.     

Several hot-tubs were introduced on the verandas of lodges at Sandybrook earlier this year.  Our guests have really enjoyed using them - so we have decided to invest in some more, this time at Darwin Forest too.  From January you will be able to stay in a lodge with your very own private hot-tub at both parks.  Book early to avoid disappointment! 

During this summer we have introduced a new category of 6 berth lodge at Darwin Forest, the Peveril Skyline.  This new lodge has a contemporary styling with long windows to let the light stream in.  Modern fitted bathrooms and kitchens give the lodge a real touch of luxury - as do the flatscreen televisions and twin doors that open up onto the decking area.  The lodge complements the Riber & Hartington Skyline lodges which were introduced last year, sleeping 4 and 8 respectively.

Treat yourselves to a short break or longer holiday in one of these top of the range lodges - from as little as £40 per week on top of the usual Peveril price.  Three night weekend breaks are just £308 for 6 people.  Once they appear in the 2009 brochure we expect them to be very busy, so do book soon.  

We’ve a wildlife wonderland you’ll love!  No wonder David Bellamy has chosen Darwin Forest Country Park for a special Gold Award for the environment - for an 11th consecutive year!

From time to time we have lodges available for sale to individuals.  At the moment we have four and six berth lodges available - new contemporary styled Riber and Peveril Skyline lodges, from £119,000 fully inclusive, at Darwin Forest Country Park.  We organise all visitor bookings, laundry, cleaning and maintenance for owners, who receive an attractive income stream from their investment.   As an owner, you also get your own holidays free of charge!    If you require more information, please email bwarwick@pinelog.co.uk or telephone 01629 814481 for an information pack.

We have now added new video style tours to the website.  Simply click through to the Darwin Forest or Sandybrook ‘home’ pages and from there you can open up the video presentation on each park.  If you are not already familiar with the parks and our lodges, they help give you a good introduction to each of them. 

The rhododendron are in spectacular bloom at the moment adding some lovely pink, blue and purple tones to the greenery of Darwin Forest.  Come and visit us soon to witness this delightful sight!

We have now developed and written an Accessibility Statement for Darwin Forest.  You may access it by clicking the link at the bottom of the following page http://www.pinelodgeholidays.co.uk/darwin_forest.ihtml.  This should help all guests with mobility problems assess the suitability of the park’s facilities for their own particular needs.
This is a new venture for us so please give us any feedback that you may have on any aspect of the document to help us improve it’s content for the benefit of future guests.  In particular if we have missed out any important information please let us know. Or let us know if you have any suggestions for improving the accessibility of our facilities for all.

A similar Accessibility Statement is being developed for Sandybrook and will be published shortly.

Over the relatively quiet winter period we are pressing on with refurbishing all the Hassop lodges at Darwin Forest.  The whole interior of each lodge is being upgraded with new furniture, bathrooms, kitchens, flooring etc.  The new contemporary styled interiors will be finished off with  flat screen televisions - FAB.  The new look will be unveiled in time for the February half-term holidays.