White Water Park Caravan Club Site

Saturday:
A relaxed start as we’re only a short drive away from the site, where the arrival time is >1pm.

We picked up the ‘van and headed north to the A1 as the A19 was closed due to ongoing roadworks for Testo’s roundabout. A short detour, but it avoided the congestion that would surely be there at the A19.

We arrived prompt at 1pm and checked in. We took pitch 29 and set-up, after a little drama with the motor mover. Keys and bands for the toilet block were given, we are now up to 6 persons allowed in at any one time, an improvement from 3 from the last couple of outings.

We enjoyed the first evening of our first long holiday for quite a while.

Sunday:
Weather not too good so I decided we would visit the ‘Head of Steam’ railway museum in Darlington, which was on the agenda for this trip. Here you can see and learn about the beginnings of the railway in the UK and indeed the world. Covid restrictions are in place so you have to pre-book before going, but that was straight forward. After perusing the museum we walked to Skerne Bridge, the first railway bridge in the world.

Monday:
Humid weather, so a walk along the river Tees was in order. We walked from the site down to Newport Bridge, very pleasant, spotting a few seals along the way. I had planned to cross over the bridge here and return on the other side, but vertigo got me on the stairs and we stayed on the same side!

Weather turning lovely at the evening, following a trip to Asda just up the road, we had ourselves a BBQ – very much reminded us of being in France. The site is very nice, good sized pitches with nice small hedging and lots of flowers. Wardens are very friendly too.

Tuesday:
Weather terrible, so we stayed in the ‘van – did a bit of cleaning and just relaxed.

Wednesday:
Weather improved, we headed out for another walk. This time it was on the south side of the Tees. There are lots of walking opportunities from the site, so scores highly in that respect. Indeed, with cycling, walking, canoeing and access to the seaside for beach and other water activities, this site has a lot going for it.

Thursday:
The best of the waether was to be had today, so we headed out for the coast to Staithes and Saltburn-by-the-Sea. Staithes was very bust, but we managed to get parked and headed down (steeply down) the the harbour. It’s a picturequsque place with a few shops and eating opportunities. We relaxed here for a good hour and then returned to the car (steeply uphill).

The next stop was due to be Saltburn-by-the-Sea. We got there but it has heaving and coudn’t find a place to park. Not surprising as the weather was so good, it’s the summer holidays and it’s a seaside resort! We accepted our fate and returned back to the site, where we walked through the site and took some photos.

Friday:
A relax day as it was our last day, weather not good anyhow, rain and strong winds!

Rant time:
The site doesn’t have a dog walk and states so specifically. However, we encountered numerous dog owners who paraded their dogs around the site, allowing them to defecate/urinate on any available stretch of grass, which are all basically pitch related. This I find annoying and should be something that is reinforced better. Indeed, our pitch had dog excrement on it during our stay.

During COVID-19, as we all know toilet blocks are accessed via wrist bands. Place on entry and collect on exit. The number of times I have been to the block and there are bands outside and nobody inside is unreal. This reduces the capacity of the block no end and causes frustration with campers. The procedure is simple, be more aware and helpful to your fellow campers and use the system correctly!

Site Report:
Very clean well maintained site. Although it’s in an urban environment, you could be anywhere when on site and indeed the nature environments around.