Very sad for sure. But I get lost trying to parse the article. Google says “Caravan park” is like an rv park. Generally for recreational vehicles on vacation. But the image looks like a fixed structure type place. Google also says a caravan park is for spending holidays, and the article talks about them being excited to spend the holidays together. So I thought I had an idea of what this was. Then the article has a bingo caller saying that everyone behind the bar knew them well. And my first thought was… she’s 10… in the US, “behind the bar” means bartender. My second was that doesn’t sound like a holiday place. Can someone fill me in on what a caravan park is, what behind the bar means, and what kind of place this pub is. Thanks.
The caravans in this case are a type known as static caravans - basically the same sort of accommodation as a mobile, towed caravan, but usually bigger and more or less permanently positioned somewhere. They even sometimes have additional casings that hide the wheels underneath to make them look more like houses.
EDIT, as I didn’t answer your main question. A caravan park is a term used both for something like a trailer park, where customers tow in their own caravan, but also, as in this case, for a holiday park with these static caravans spread around, similar to small lodges.
Behind the bar - yeah, that’s what they mean here too, the people who serve at the bar. As it’s in a holiday park, it’s likely that it’s a family friendly bar where kids are allowed to be as long as their parents are with them, and can even probably go up and order snacks or soft drinks by themselves. It’s not a bar bar in the usual adults only sense.
Tragic story :-(
Okay, so the line about them being well known behind the bar seems odd to me if this was a holiday getaway. Is that implying that they vacationed there very often or something? In the US a comment like that would be reserved for people who live there.
Caravan owners will often holiday in them frequently, though others will mostly/exclusively use them as holiday lets. I believe that they can’t be occupied all the time (maybe 10 months in a year) so no permanent residents (I could be wrong on that though.)
I’ve only ever been to a caravan park in a caravan that you tow but my understanding is that you can live in a static almost all year round so I guess they probably spent most school holidays there or something like that
“Well known behind the bar” is sometimes a polite way of saying he was perhaps a very regular customer .