Posts Tagged ‘caravans’

An East Yorkshire Caravan Park has become the latest acquisition of Wakefield based Blue Sky Resorts

Spring Willows Caravan Park, just off the Staxton Roundabout on the outskirts of Filey & Scarborough, has just become part of the Blue SKy family and offers a fantastic, family friendly environment with great access to all that the Yorkshire Coast has to offer.

The park used to be a touring only park but has in the last few years developed into a mixed holiday park with space for static caravans, touring caravans, and even a few tents. Holiday home owners at Spring Willows enjoy a lovely family friendly club with seasonal entertainment, as well as a pool and adventure play ground for the kids.

Blue Sky Resorts, which also operates parks in Wakefield, West Yorkshire and Hexham, Northumberland strives to offer customers a five star holiday experience at all its parks and has built a reputation for excellent customer service and five star park presentation standards.

Spring Willows Caravan Park

Mark Alston, Director of Blue Sky Resorts: “We’re very excited about the acquisition of Spring Willows. We aim to improve the already high standards on the park even further, adding value for our customers, and developing Spring Willows standards so that it becomes regarded as the best park in Yorkshire – it’ll face stiff competition from Nostell Priory though! We see Spring Willows as fitting perfectly into our existing small group – it is a small park where we can improve the standards, provide exceptional, personalised customer service, and which is small enough to offer our customers a unique, select environment in which to spend their leisure time.

“We already knew the park very well, having assisted the Spring Willows management over the last 3 years in developing their static caravan sales. It’s a great place to be, especially if you are looking for a safe, secure, friendly family park and we’re looking forward to developing the park over the coming years.”

Spring Willows has just over 50 static caravan plots, alongside 60 touring pitches. You can contact the park direct on (01944) 711938 or email ian.springwillows@bluesky-resorts.co.uk.

Nostell Priory Holiday Park held it’s annual Easter Bonnet Parade and Egg Hunt this weekend and had a record turn out.

Park manager, John Conlon explains, “We started with the Egg Hunt whereby we hid 20 decorated hard boiled eggs (The eggs were decorated as Julie has not yet got the knack of being able to boil eggs!!) We also put plasters on all the burnt eggs, and anyone returning an egg with a plaster on got an extra Cadburys cream egg! It was great fun!

“One egg in particular was disguised as HULK HOGAN (this was Julies worst attempt at boiling eggs!). The finder of this sorry looking egg also received an extra prize of a normal size Easter egg.”

All the eggs were accounted for and Julie took them home for some cooking practice!!

“The Easter bonnet parade was the best we have ever had at Nostell with 16 child entrants and 2 adults. There were three Independent Judges, 2 of which were members of Marks family (which meant that poor Molly could not be picked as a winner!)

The third judge was enjoying a relaxing time in her touring caravan before the promise of a Cadbury’s cream egg and the chance to be like Simon Cowell persuaded her to become the third judge!

We took advantage and halted proceedings to introduce Geoff (our resident Sales Advisor) to all the Mums and Dads and opened up our stock for a leisurely tour.  This created lots of interest as people discovered how nice the new style caravan holiday homes were.

Nostell Priory Play Area

The park is set in a wonderful natural setting of the ancient woodland that forms part of the Nostell Priory Estate. Managed by the Nation Trust the Estate attracts visitors from all over the country and beyond. The caravan park has proven very popular for people who are looking for a peaceful, relaxing retreat and want to buy a static caravan in Yorkshire.

Andy & Christine serve up a treat at Springhouse Country Park

The holiday home owners at Springhouse Country Park enjoyed a treat this weekend as park staff put on a complimentary BBQ outside reception at the caravan park in Northumberland. The weather was really kind and meant that the owners were able to enjoy a fine array of traditional BBQ foods whilst basking in the Spring Sunshine.

Springhouse is a privately owned caravan park in Northumberland, situated in the heart of Slaley Forest, just 6 miles from Hexham. It enjoys a truly wonderful rural setting and the peace and tranquility attracts many of the static caravan owners, many of whom travel the short journey from the nearby major conurbations of the North East to enjoy their weekends at their caravan. Hexham has recently been voted as The Best Market Town in Britain and has a great deal to offer – history, culture, entertainment, even horse racing!

Many people who live in the North East like the idea of being on a caravan park in Northumberland and Springhouse is a great place to be. There are lovely country walks, beautiful scenery and if you are interested in buying a static caravan then the friendly staff will be happy to help.

Happy Caravan Owners at Springhouse!

As you can see there were many happy owners at the BBQ, enjoying their day and relishing the relaxing weekend ahead! 

Caravan Park in Northumberland

Springhouse Country Park has a small number of static caravans for hire through Hoseasons and is mainly dedicated to providing a five star environment for it’s 79 holiday home owners to enjoy their leisure time. The friendly staff really enjoy helping their customers make the most of the time they spend on the park and there is always an activity or two for the children to enjoy.

For more information please contact park manager, Andy Blackie on 01434 673241 or visit the web-site at www.springhousecaravanpark.co.uk.

At Last! Spring has arrived and the sun is starting to shine again!

Here at Caerwys View Holiday Park we plan to celebrate Easter Bank Holiday and our first anniversary with a bang! After an incredible year since opening for the first time last March we would like to celebrate all our recent success and share our lovely park with everybody who has shown us so much support and interest in the past. Truly, the response we have encountered has been beyond our wildest expectations and we are extremely proud to be over half full after only twelve months. It seems we are not alone in our vision for the park and our owner’s here are as proud of our David Bellamy Gold Award for our Conservation work as we are!

Caerwys View

Nostell Priory Holiday Park, near Wakefield and Spring Willows Caravan Park, near Filey & Scarborough have released details of their special Easter offers.

At Nostell Priory, which nestles in the ancient woodland that forms part of the Nostell Priory Estate run by The National Trust, the holiday park owners are offering a special fixed site fee offer on selected models over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend. The annual site fee is being reduced to just £995 including VAT for three years – a great saving! The park is as popular as ever but unusually there are holiday homes available from as little as £11,995.

Nostell Priory Play Area

The holiday home development is split into 9 small Glades each with its own unique character. This maximizes the privacy of each holiday home and also breaks up the layout of the park. It means that there are no rows and rows of caravans on this park.

There’s only a handful of plots available on this beautiful park and for more information on this park in West Yorkshire, caravans for sale, and details of the special offers then please contact John on 01924 863938.

Spring Willows which offers touring holidays near the coast in East Yorkshire, caravans for sale, and luxury lodges to buy is also running special promotional offers over the Easter Bank Holiday Weekend.

The park is handily placed near to Scarbrough, Filey & Bridlington and is a small, friendly, family park, with great facilities for all the family including a pool (indoor and heated), a lovely restaurant and lounge bar as well as family entertainment throughout the season. The existing caravan owners and touring guests love the friendly nature of the park, the proximity to the Yorkshire Coast and the easy access from home.

Spring Willows used to be solely a touring park but recently has been developed as a mixed park offering touring holidays as well as caravans for sale. The new development of static caravan pitches has been thoughtfully planned and the layout and design maximise the space between the caravans and every effort has been made to make each plot as private as possible.

Full details of the special offers are available from park manager Ian, who can be contacted on 01944 711938.

For those people interested in West yorkshire or East Yorkshire, Caravans for Sale, and Caravan Holidays then these two parks would seem to offer a great starting point for exploring your options.

Coast or Country?

When thinking about the perfect location for your caravan holiday home many people first consider whether they want a coastal location or a countryside setting. For many the attractions of the Yorkshire Coast are obvious – miles of golden sandy beaches, plentiful tourist attractions, traditional seaside towns and lots for all the family to see and do. Scarborough, Whitby & Filey have a special place in many people’s hearts and have long been a mecca for West Yorkshire folks looking for a holiday destination. 

Spring Willows Holiday Park is ideally located to take full advantage of all that the Yorkshire Coast has to offer. Handily located between Scarborough & Filey and just off the A64 from York you can get out and explore easily from the park. The park itself is a great place – a quiet family park with a really nice bar, restaurant and indoor swimming pool. And because the park is small with just 100 holiday home owners and touring customers, your sure to be on first name terms with all the staff and be sure to enjoy friendly, personal service at all times.

If you’re not looking for a coastal location there probably isn’t a better place that you can be than amongst the 200 acres of the Nostell Priory Estate between Wakefield & Pontefract. There’s a holiday home park set in the ancient woodland that has been runner up in the Best Park in Yorkshire for 3 of the last 4 years. 

The park is a haven of peace and tranquility that offers a lovely base and the owners at the park are permitted to roam throughout the 200 acre estate which is slowly being restored to its natural state. The park is divided into separate glades giving the holiday home owners additional privacy as well as a beautiful setting to sit and enjoy the abundance of wild life that the park is home to.

The park boast a David Bellamy Gold Conservation Award as well as a Five Star “Exceptional” Grading given by the English Tourist Board. As a private owners park you will soon be making friends with like minded people enjoying the good life at the park. 

New for 2009 the park will soon have it’s own bowling green to go with a lovely children’s play area, woodland walk, and the famous obelisk!

Whether your passion is for the coast or the country then these two lovely parks could offer you the dream setting for your new holiday home.

A BOOM in caravan holidays as the recession bites is paying dividends for family businesses in Scotland.

The credit crunch and collapse of the pound against the euro has prompted a surge of bookings at caravan parks and holiday homes sales as families opt to stay at home.

Many of these businesses are family-owned and have survived downturns through several generations, according to the Scottish Family Business Association.

They include Cairnsmill Caravan Park at St Andrews, run by third generation owner John Kirkcaldy with his sisters Margaret and Caroline, niece Michelle and son Alan.

John’s great uncle originally ran the site as a dairy farm and introduced the first caravans around a reservoir on the land in the early 1950s. Cairnsmill now comprises 200 static caravans and space for around 60 touring caravans.

“Because we’re a family business, we’re prepared to go that extra mile to keep the business moving, and that often means rolling up our sleeves and doing more work ourselves rather than relying on employees,” John explains.

“You’ve got to be pretty resilient and be prepared to anything, including working late at night, early in the morning and at weekends. It’s not a nine to five job which doesn’t suit everyone.” John says his father also believed in trying to meet people’s budgets rather than running the business for pure profit. This tradition has helped to keep prices competitive.

Normally Summer bookings wouldn’t start until after Easter, but the park’s phone is already ringing off the hook.

“We’re already taking bookings for July, August and September,” John says. “We usually get bookings about a month in advance, but now they’re happening at least two months’ in advance. Enquiries have definitely gone up.”

The Caravan Club recently announced that advance bookings are up 40% on last year. The Camping and Caravanning Club has also reported a 15% rise in advance bookings and expects new member signings in 2009 to rise above last year’s 53,000.   

The British Holiday and Home Parks Association tells a similar tale.

Colin Fraser, BHHPA chair in Scotland and owner of Colin Fraser Park Home Estates, says: “The credit crunch is good and bad news for the industry. Sales of caravan holiday homes are flat, which is bad news for the manufacturers, several of whom have gone into liquidation. I am very concerned tat once sales pick up we will not have a big enough manufacturing base to meet demand. Holiday parks are seeing more people coming in with touring caravans, motorhomes, tents and bookings for hiring caravan holiday homes are well up. I know that touring parks and caravan holiday home parks are going to do very well this year.”

Colin bought his first caravan 46 years ago for £95 which he rented out at Banff Links. He bought his first park 37 years ago and has never looked back. He now owns 6 parks in Aberdeen with 320 residential pitches and 67 touring pitches. His son, Kris, owns the holiday park at Buckie which has 70 caravan holiday homes and touring pitches.  

“I think the family ownership element does give the industry more resilience, because people treat the business as their baby in a way,” Colin says. “If you’re in the caravan industry, it’s something you enjoy and get great job satisfaction from. It’s not a job where you wake up in the morning and wish you weren’t going to work. Owners are proud of their caravan holiday parks. The grading of parks is done by VisitScotland ranks about 75% of them as either four or five star. So they’re kept in really good order. Many also have conservation awards from David Bellamy, with those involved having either Silver or Gold Awards.”

Competing at the quality end of the leisure market, Scotland’s 200-plus holiday parks – most of which are family owned and managed – are major players in generating the country’s annual £4.5 billion tourism income. The sector also helps to sustain many of Scotland’s estimated 200,000-plus jobs which are tourism related.

Martin Stepek, chief executive of the Scottish Family Business Association, recently gave a presentation to members of the BHHPA and believes deep family roots can help businesses survive, evolve – and thrive – through multiple downturns and generations.

“Nearly all of these holiday parks emerged from land-owing farmers, themselves family businesses, who were looking to use their land more productively,” Stepek says. “A lot of the owners now represent third, fourth and fifth generations who have lasted through as many recessions. Holiday parks came into their own after the war when people were just emerging from poverty and could really only afford a holiday for the first time. Now they’re enjoying a new resurgence as people cut back on costs and opt to stay at home rather than going abroad.”

“With improved access to education, training and professional advice specific to their distinctive model of business, we believe family firms will be the key to a strong, stable, and ethical foundation for Scotland’s economic recovery and this is where we should be investing our economic development strategies and resources.”

2009 has started with plenty of doom and gloom in the news as the Government wrestles with the problems created by the weak pound and financial chaos caused by the difficulties faced by the banking system. Amidst all this though you might be surprised to discover that interest in owning a caravan or lodge in the UK is higher than in any time since Blue Sky sold it’s first holiday home back in 2004.

We are finding that an increasing number of our customers, many of who are either retired or semi-retired are looking to caravan or lodge holiday home ownership as a way of getting value from teh money they have saved over the years.

Interest rates are at their lowest ever and that means that savings are actually losing money when inflation is taken into account and for those with tracker mortgages they are many hundreds of pounds better off.

The cost of traveling to the Continent or America is becoming prohibitive with the exchange rate increasing the cost of being abroad by 30% in the last 6 months and even with the ”cheap” airlines, flights to Spain often come up to over £150 per person once all the charges are taken into account.

So people who once thought that a holiday home on the “Costas” might be ideal are realising that something closer to home might be the answer – something they can use often, and that the family can take advantage of too.

And Blue Sky offers luxury lodges and caravans for sale all over the country and in some of the finest countryside the UK has to offer – from Inverness to South West Wales, the Cotswolds, Northumberland, The Lake District, Scotland and Yorkshire – there is something for every discerning customer looking for that perfect retreat!!

It might be that 2009 is actually the perfect time for you to look at buying your own caravan holiday home or luxury lodge. The standards of the parks and the accommodation have never been higher and this kind of holiday home offers fabulous value for money when compared to investing in overseas property, or other types of “use once” holidays (hotels etc.)

New Hampshire Luxury Lodge