Monday 30 June 2008

BEECHWOOD GRANGE – YORK [78]


FRIDAY 20th JUNE – TUESDAY 24th JUNE 2008.
I’ve always thought of this site as “The Other Caravan Club Site in York” and now I realize how wrong I have been. During my many years caravanning I have tried on several occasions, without success, to get a pitch at Rowntree Park. If you look on the club website you will find that it is fully booked at weekends for the rest of the year. I sometimes wonder if this is because of the ease of booking online, and being able to cancel at the last minute without penalty. Perhaps the club should devise a system that members are penalised for regular last minute cancellations. This should give more genuine members a fighting chance of booking.

Anyway because I was unable to get into Rowntree Park I’d booked Beechwood Grange and was pleased I had. I’d only travelled from a C/L listed in Market Weighton and arrived around Midday. Reception was the usual ease associated with Caravan Club Sites even though I’d booked for one adult, and on this occasion my wife and son would be joining me for part of my stay. I’ve always thought that not being able to declare extra persons for part of your stay when booking online would cause a problem, but in reality have found that wardens don’t have trouble with this.

According to the website the site was fully booked for the weekend, but there were plenty of pitches available when I arrived. I pitched on a level hardstanding and set up, which usually takes a little longer because I am on my own. I’m not bad at reversing, [my son who is a HGV driver thinks I’m rubbish] so don’t usually hold up any traffic and was soon on my way to reception to get my barrier key. Having been told that only one car was permitted on each pitch I left my car in the small car park so my visitors would be able to park on our pitch. The site was starting to fill up and seemed to be popular with families with younger children. This site has plenty of facilities for children of all ages with play equipment and a field dedicated to ball games etc.

To take full advantage of the attractions on offer in and around York you need to spend at least a fortnight in the area. Monks Cross Park and Ride is just down the road for attractions in town, with shopping close by. Other places out of town are easily reached by car. We chose to visit Castle Howard on Saturday which is well worth the travel, and was good value using the clubs two for one offer. I am a member of the National Trust so on Monday I visited Beningbrough Hall. Which has an audio guide available if you require?

So if you want to visit York don’t be put off by not being able to get in Rowntree Park. This site is not good for visitors that want to travel out of town, the traffic can be horrendous. Use Beechwood Grange you won’t be disappointed.

Charges on club sites vary and can easily be calculated from information currently available. However I intend to show the nightly charge so it gives me a comparison. The information after the charge indicates the number of people staying for the whole visit with guests staying for part of the time shown in brackets.

£15.60 1 adult [2 extra adults for 2 nights]

Analogue TV good
Digital signal available

No comments: