Date of Visit: Easter 2023
Overall View
This is an 18-pitch site at the rear of a pub in the village of Cawood, near Selby, North Yorkshire. There are four roads to the village, I approached from the East turning off the A19. The bridge was fairly narrow as were the roads at the following traffic lights. Please see site arrival video HERE.
When I left the site I headed West towards the A1, via Broad Lane, Long Lane and avoided most of the village. This would be a much better way to approach the site if possible.
The site is accessed through the pub car park, please be aware of the black metal steps to your left as you enter. Once you have entered the site, you pull up and check in is at the pub itself.
Facilities
There was only one fresh water tap free and this was located behind another pitch. There were other taps on site, but these appeared to be permanently connected to caravans whom appeared to be on seasonal pitches.
Grey water disposal was at the facilities block by the wash-up area and was one brick high round the edge, necessitating lifting the Wastemaster up over the edge.
The Elsan Disposal Point was at the back of the facilities block and was raised by several feet of the ground. Whilst there was a tap to rinse out your cassette, the flush mechanism did not work during my stay.
Entrance to the toilets/shower block were for the exclusive use of holidaymakers and was keycoded. The men’s consisted of one toilet, one urinal, one shower and a wash hand basin. The shower was push button and spacious, looked clean and water was hot. It was, however, prone to flooding. The toilet seat was hanging off and broken and the urinal was overflowing leading to a very unpleasant aroma in the block.
There was an accessible toilet, although this was not checked during my stay.
The dishwashing area was outside to the elements but was clean and functioning.
The rubbish and recycling bins were sited behind the facilities block and given they filled up quickly, they were at times overflowing.
During my stay I ate in the pub once and found the food to be particularly good, the ale was excellent, and the staff were very friendly and attentive – this was a real plus point of the stay.
Review of Site Pitch
My pitch was hard-standing and was of a decent length and could accommodate the caravan, my car and any awning would be on the grass. The pitch was fairly level, and no ramps were required. The gravel was acceptable and not too deep.
The pitch had electric hook-up which was rated at 6 amps. Electricity was metered via pre-paid cards which you have to purchase from the pub. At the time of booking, there was no mention of this requirement or that electricity was an additional charge to the nightly fee. However, I note that as of today, (14 April), this omission has been rectified on their booking page and clearly states the additional charges. In addition, when I came to leave, I was made aware that there would not be any refund of previously bought cards and this is still not clear on their booking page.
The pitches were in two straight rows facing each other, albeit staggered so you were not looking directly into each other’s vans. The site is sandwiched between private gardens with a high hedge on one side and a slightly lower hedge opposite. As a result, there were no real views to be had.
TV and radio reception were fine, there was no Wi-Fi reachable on site.
Mobile phone wise, I used the 3 network, the signal was poor and was unable to stream any sort of video without buffering. However, the other major networks report a good signal, better outdoors. 5G is not currently available.
Around and about
The site is approximately 11 miles south of the City Centre of York. For all the many attractions in York, please visit www.visityork.org
It is possible to catch a bus into York in one direction and Selby in the other. The bus stop is right outside the pub, buses run normally every two hours – however, they finish early and do not run on a Sunday.
It is recommended that you use one of the several P&R services around the edge of York if driving. An alternative is to drive to Selby and catch the local train into the city. Official car parking is chargeable, although there appeared to be some unofficial parking opposite/nearby which was not. The National Railway Museum is a short walk from York station.
There is a local shop in the village which stocks basics. There is an Aldi, Tesco Express and Morrisons Daily in Selby. Selby was also the nearest place for fuel with Tesco to the south of the town being the cheapest at the time.
The pub on site closed early on Sundays at 8pm. There is another pub, a short walk away, called the Jolly Sailor – which stocked ales brewed in nearby Selby and were very competitively priced, at the time of writing, at £3.50 per pint.
Outside of York, the North Yorkshire Moors are close by. www.northyorkmoors.org.uk
Slightly further afield – but easily accessible by train from Selby is the city of Leeds. For tourist information, please see www.visitleeds.co.uk
Summary
The site and pub are located in a very picturesque area and its proximity to York and good transport links make it a good choice. However, until the issues raised in this review are addressed, then I am unable to recommend the site as it currently stands. It is, however, pleasing to note that the owners have made a change about electricity charges on their booking page since I was at the site a week ago.