Due to the current restrictions upon us all due the the Coronavirus outbreak we were thinking of a choice a little closer to home this year, somewhere familiar and within around a 30 minute drive. This wasn’t an easy choice for us. But after much thought and deliberation we decided on one of our favourite campsites Holmevalley in Holmfirth.
Holmevalley is set in exactly what the name refers, ‘in a valley’ this site is set in a beautiful location surrounded by woodland with a river running through it.
So we decided on Holmevalley for our weeks break this year. We booked the family field and paid in full. I was then quickly advised that the family field was only available for those campers who were hiring the porta loos on that field. My response was that we needed a flat pitch on grass with EHU. The owner was quite accommodating and sorted us “the Riverbank pitch” which is located directly behind the motorhome hard standing pitches.
This was an amazing pitch for the scenery and very idilic, it also had the advantage of being secluded and private, in fact it was probably the most private pitch on the whole site. Our only reservation was the fact that this pitch didn’t get hardly any sun, so we made up for this by taking walks around the campsite, we often do this anyway to nosy at other camping set ups! If we are honest we all do this 😁.
So the pitch time was 1:30pm at Holmevalley and we arrived at 1pm on the Saturday, I’m not sure about you but we are always excited as we arrive on the campsite whether we have been before or not, it’s just the feeling of freedom and relaxation, oh and we love setting up! (Packing up is a different mater 😩)
We never rush our set up, we just take our time without stress or frustration.
So we pitched our tent, we have a Vango Edoras 600xl Airbeam which is a huge tent but so easy to pitch. We pitched as close to the river bank as possible, so opening our side door on a morning revealed the river view which was stunning! All in all our full pitch and set up time was about an hour and half, not too bad considering the amount gear we took. Due to us being here for the week we took our camping wardrobe, kitchen units with integrated sink basin, utility tent with shower and toilet.
It was now around 3pm following fully setting up, so as a priority we always crack open a lager or bottle of wine and sit and just take in our surroundings.
The Wildlife
We were quick to learn that we were not alone! We had regular visitors, a family of ducks, at least 3 times a day these ducks consisting of 6 visited our pitch and we could not resist the temptation to feed them. We also had a visiting squirrel 🐿that we often came across foraging for food.
Holmevalley has a rich wealth of wildlife including ducks, squirrels and Jays.
Our Bathroom
Once we had fully set up our main tent and kitchen and had a drink break we then decided to set up our utility tent, ours is a Quest Elite pop up pole style utility tent which all clicks into place just by lifting it from the floor. We have a power shower which incorporates a pump on the end of the shower hose which is dropped into your bucket of hot water, we heat the water using a 1600 watt heating element which we place into the bucket of water and set our timer for 20 minutes, after this time we have a hot shower. Our toilet is a flushing Thetford 165.
About the campsite
The campsite is located in a valley just outside Holmfirth in Brockholes. The site is set in the centre of a woodland and surrounded by trees. The site has 4 fields, two of these are EHU and two are non EHU. Most of these fields are flat with the exception of the top field which has a slope.
The site has a large natural duck pond surrounded by the occasional tree and seating areas. When all amenities are fully operational the site has two shower and toilet blocks, one of which is new and award winning. You can hire a private bathroom for which they have 3 of.
The site has a camp shop, free freezer use, Kampers kitchen serving food, occasional pizza van visits to the site serving freshly baked pizzas. The site has a river running through it and you can paddle down the river at your leisure as it is very shallow in many parts.
All in all we really enjoyed our holiday at Holmevalley but we feel a different choice of pitch would be considered next time due to the lack of sun on the Riverbank and as I said we like to nosy and be around other campers! 😉
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