There was plenty of talk about trying staycations rather than holidaying abroad last year, so Jason Collie and family decided to say au revoir to France and try out Devon

The weather gods can be particularly kind sometimes. Surely the biggest fear for anyone deciding to spend their summer holiday in Britain instead of the continent is that those nasty rain clouds will just cruise overhead and let rip – especially at a caravan park.

The previous couple of years, after all, had been spent in France with all that near-guaranteed Gallic sunshine.

Certainly there was a fair bit of cloudy sky above Torbay in Devon in the last week of August last year, but somehow we escaped with only the odd downpour during the night.

Only once were we inconvenienced and all that amounted to was sitting in the car for an extra five minutes waiting the rain to stop before going into the excellent Paignton Zoo.

After that there was brilliant sunshine again, so those pre-holiday weather worries never materialised as we explored this intriguing little corner of Torbay between Torquay and Brixham for a properl English seaside holiday.

Base was Hoburne Devon Bay camp, located in the hills just to the south of Paignton.

While quite hilly, it is a functional site with night-time entertainment that is packed out every time.

It is one of those camps where, no matter what time of day, it always seems very peaceful and then at night everyone seems to at the Sammy the Seahorse show for the kids and deadly serious bingo sessions that follow.

The caravans are kept very well, although the main building is beginning to show its age a little, almost giving off the appearance of a Grand Dame taking her restorative break in the seaside air.

Away from the site, Torbay holds plenty of variety for a week’s break.

You have the large town in Torquay at the northern end of the area we kept ourselves to, the seaside resort feel of Paignton in the middle and the gorgeous fishing ‘village’ charm of Brixham in the south.

As well as just wandering around any of these towns, Torbay has high-quality attractions for the kids. Paignton Zoo, as mentioned, is excellent – its crocodiles were more than a little scary for the youngest in the family.

A few miles out is Woodlands Family Centre, easily a day’s worth of rides. While not as large as Paulton’s Park in the New Forest, it has some excellent atttractions from the toboggan run to the (very busy) watercoasters and the water gliders.

Nine-year-old Dylan though was far more intrigued with the indoor slides – three vertical drops that I took one look at and decided I was too old and sensible to follow him down on.

Brixham is a little further down the coast but is well worth the effort. It’s a lovely little town that a morning is well spent strolling around or trying to catch crabs off the sea walls.

And it can lead to an afternoon at the beach at St Mary’s Bay, as long as a lengthy cliff path walk is part of your plan.

Discovery of the holiday had to be Richard’s Fish Cafe, a block back off the promenade at the northern end of Paignton.

Fish and chips on the beach at the end of the day while the kids run about in the shallows. Now that is something France finds hard to match.

Other attractions in the area are Paignton Zoo: family pass £48.95, paigntonzoo.org.uk.
Woodlands Park: £7.15 per person, woodlandspark.com.
Splashdown Waterpark: All-day family pass £45.40, quaywest.splashdownwaterparks.co.uk

Hoburne has seven parks in the South and South West, including Hoburne Devon Bay.
A week this August at Hoburne Devon Bay for two adults and two children in a caravan can typically cost between £775 and £1,300. Go to hoburne.com