Gold, Silver, Bronze or Rosedale, Glaisdale, Farndale?

Caravan Parks around the country categorise their caravans in many ways whether by name - Bronze, Silver, Gold or numbers - 2012, 2011, 2010. It shows our guests that there are differences in the type of caravans we have available to hire.

When we moved to the park in 1999, the established names were Farndale, Rosedale and Dovedale and it would have been foolish for us to change them as we felt that we had to make gradual changes in order to retain the number of repeat guests to the park.

As the years have gone by it has been necessary to add to that range of names as the range of caravans available to hire has grown. It was important to us that we use the names of “dales” within Yorkshire and so the discussions began.

Glaisdale was the first category added. An extra category was needed to bridge the gap between our economy caravans and the new ones. Beki liked the name Glaisdale – no other reason it was chosen.

Kingsdale is the latest category to be added. It’s the new name for our 3 bedroom caravans - the ones that sleep more than others – the kings of the hire fleet but it nearly wasn’t called that...........

#Yorkshire Hour

On Wednesday evenings, from 8pm – 9pm, Tweeters from all over Yorkshire come together for #Yorkshirehour and Beki asked our followers what they thought the new name should be:

Denise Howard - Thornton le Dale, Coverdale, Madeupdale (where Mrs Victor lives)
Yorkshire Farmer - Bransdale, Dale Winton (?)
Rebecca Horner - Coverdale
Paul Raines - Emmerdale
Mrs Victor - Bransdale, Baysdale, Commondale, Danbydale, Fryupdale,  Ugglebarnby-cum-Eskdale (shame it would take over the price list!)
North York Moors - Kirkdale, Fryup Dale, Whispers Dale, Troutsdale
Susie Brindley - Emmerdale, Bilsdale
Walking Books.com - Ryedale, Troutsdale, Westerdale, Wheeldale
Debra Tyson - Sunnydale, Airedale
Craig Nattress - Ryedale, Bilsdale

There are some really great names in there - you can tell the Emmerdale 40th Birthday Live Special was on at the time! And we loved the thought of Ryedale with it being the area we belong to. However, we wanted it to be a specific name of a place that our guests can visit if they wish hence Nick coming up with Kingsdale.

And you can book stays in the Kingsdale caravan for 2013 by visiting our website.

Another season almost finished..

Not long until the park closes for the season. I look back at Sophie's posts and smile - she did have a very busy summer and they had some great days out - so many that she didn't have time to finish off the blog.

We are still very busy - four caravans have moved from the park this week and a further four/five are due to move from the park in the coming weeks. Its exciting times and we are really looking forward to the new ones arriving at the beginning of next year. For our guests it means that all caravans that are booked directly though the park are centrally heated - just what is required at this time of the year.

I'm still here!!

Today we spent the day rock pooling with Daddy in Filey.

We had out buckets, spades and nets. I found 4 crabs. We had lots of fun paddling in the sea but I cut myself on a rock (ouch).

We had some yummy ice cream and donuts (don't tell Mummy) then played mini golf - I came 2nd.

After that we went to visit my Grandpa at Crows Nest Caravan Park before coming home.

See you laters

X

A Day in York

Hi Sophie here,

Yesterday we went to Yorvik Viking centre in the centre of York. I am going to rate it 4 star because although I enjoyed it my little sister cried all the way round. It was very dark for her. It smelt very funny but was realistic to how things would have been a long time ago.

After that we met up with my Grandma and she took us for lunch at Red Chilli - a Chinese restaurant. It was really yummy - I shared with my sister.

In the afternoon my sister went home as she had a break-dancing class but I stayed in York with my Auntie.

We went to York Castle Museum. I loved it and it gets my 5 stars but the policeman was a little creepy.

That's me over and out.

See you laters

X

A Wet Day!!!

It's been a fab today - we've had the paddling pool out for most of the day as have many of our guests. It's the only way we could think to cool off.

Like many of our guests we also had a BBQ for tea - yummy!

We've also spent the evening playing with other children on the site. I love living on a caravan park as we are always meeting new people.

Heading to York with Mummy tomorrow so will have plenty to report back on.

See you laters

X

New Writer!

Hello, my name is Sophie and I am 9 years old. Mummy is letting me write the blog for the school holidays so I can tell you exactly what there is to do around here.

Today I've mostly been at my dance classes. I have been looking forward to coming home to see all my friends. I get to meet different friends everyday on the caravan park which is super duper fun.

Later in the week we will be going out but I have to wait for Mummy and Daddy to have some time off.

See you laters

X

An afternoon off.....

We are lucky to live so close to many attractions - theme parks, forests and stately homes. We are only 5 minutes away from Nunnington Hall and with the chance of a couple of hours to ourselves we headed there this afternoon.

We had no idea that is was actually their summer fete this afternoon which was a huge bonus. The girls enjoyed snail racing, sand art, Birds of Prey and the coconut shy.

This sand art stall has given me a great idea for future birthday parties. The girls have done this particular craft at home before but always end up making a mess all over the kitchen. Its great to know that someone would organise it for us and clear the mess away when the kids have all finished.

Snail racing! What a fantastic idea - we must use this at a future PTA event. 50p a go and if your snail comes first you win £1.

---------------

 We did have a quick look round the house - but by the time we got indoors it was almost time to come home. On piece of advice I would give is to go when the children's trails are on. Whilst the kids are busy looking round the rooms for clues the adults have time to wander around the rooms and have a good look at the exhibits.

We've had a giggle.....

Over the last few weeks we have chatted to other accommodation providers about the quirky guests we all have and some of the things they do and things we would rather they didn't do. We all decided that together we could probably write a book - possibly even a trilogy.

Lets start with the guest that unpicked every other curtain hook from every curtain in the caravan they were staying in? Why would you do that? How long must it have taken to do that? And how long did it take for us to put back!?! If you are that guest - I'd rather you just asked me to buy you a bag of curtain hooks - it would certainly have been cheaper ;)

Or are you the guest that accidently managed to pull the door off a static caravan last weekend? You must be very strong as it took two of us to hang it back on again.

Maybe you are the guest that thought washing your jeans in the toilet was a good idea - but they got stuck didn't they? They got stuck in the sewage pump that controls sewage from the whole site. Caused hours of problems for other guests and poor Damian had to sort it all out.

No two days are the same here - we can plan what we are going to do for the day and then something happens to throw us off course. We love our job - we love our quirky guests and can't wait to find out what they do next!

Food Glorious Food

The 4th Annual Malton Food Festival took place over the 19th and 20th May. 

It was a really good afternoon with lots of fun for all the family. 

First stop for us was The Pizza Farm - fresh stone-baked pizza made in front of your eyes. Littlemiss9 was mesmerised by the whole process - from the lady that took our order, to the guy that made the bases, another that sorted our toppings and finally the gentleman above that cooked our lunch. And it tasted extremely yummy - hope they are able to visit us here one day.

We had a list of products that we needed to re-stock and The Chilli Jam Man was first on this list. We have enjoyed many of the Chilli Jams and the Jammonaise is a family favourite. Click here to visit his website for online ordering or to find out where he will be next.

There was allsorts going on - the Welcome to Yorkshire Taste Trail went down really well with us all - chocolate and ice-cream for the kids, pigeon, beef and crab for the parents. It was also great to see Dee Marshall, Gary Verity, Sarah Barrowby and Janet Deacon from Welcome to Yorkshire and Craig Nattress looked fab in his pinny!

Are the awards worth it?

Why have you entered so many awards?

I’ll be completely truthful with you – marketing, PR, publicity – put it however you want, at the end of the day the publicity we have received as finalists in so many awards has been priceless. Whether we are a winner of not we are allowed to use a finalist logo on all our publicity material which can make us stand out from other parks in the area.

We also get so much more from them – the learning curve has increased sharply since we started entering. Each award has its own judging process – but for each of the caravan park/self-catering awards this process has included a mystery visit and a mystery phonecall. The feedback we get from these visits has been invaluable. We see the site everyday – the mystery visits make us see it through a completely different set of eyes.

 Judges have come up with new ideas that we have been able to put into practise, they have given us advice on where modifications could be made. Extra signage is on order for our tourist information area specifically due to a comment made in the feedback report in an award application last year. Both shower blocks shown on Look North in October last year have now been completely retiled as we could see they needed brightening up.

No-one has run a course on how to run a caravan park – 12 years later we are still learning –  we can’t build new ideas sat behind a desk – we have to find new ways of learning. The only cost involved in the awards is time (plus new dress, bag and shoes) but the rewards are incalculable.

How do the Outstanding Customer Service awards differ?

We were nominated for the customer service awards by guests and they mean so much to both of us. Last year a child fell over on the park – no fault of ours I hasten to add – his parents had been drinking outside their tent so had been unable to take him to hospital. Instead Damian took them all – he waited with them at Malton hospital and when a transfer to York hospital was needed Damian stepped in to help again. He waited at York hospital with them until all x-rays were completed and then brought them back to the site. Damian didn’t do that because it’s part of his job – he did it because he is a genuinely nice guy (although when I sprained my knee back in February it was 2 days before he would take me to hospital).

Will you be entering more?

To be honest we haven’t made that decision yet. There is alot of time that goes into each entry and its knowing what to put into each entry. Obviously we have made huge improvements to the shower block this year so there is scope for an entry this year but a time will come where we can’t do that. We will just have to wait and see – if Nick enters we will have to J A younger guest has asked if he can enter the girls into an awards so we may have to hold our own.

It's raining............it's pouring........

I’m sure we aren’t the only ones that are getting fed up of the constant rain. So many things we want to get on with outside and they are almost impossible in this weather. We can do most things in the wind and cold but add a bit of rain and things come to a halt.

I’ve also noticed that the phone is really quiet on days when the weather is poor – no-one is in the right frame of mind to be thinking of their summer holidays. Once the sun starts to shine again camping will seem like a really fun thing to do once more.

So, what are we doing?

You may think that with so little to do on the park we are sat indoors with the heating on relaxing and taking the time to rest. Nope!!! Since I started this morning I’ve dealt with three repair men, four advertising salespeople, ordered some uniform, made sure adverts are running in all the right places, worked on the website, helped with a newsletter and made a cup of tea. Thankfully its now lunchtime – and time to make a list of all the things I’ll do this afternoon.

Yorkshire - When are you coming?

Can't decide where to go on holiday this year? Let me help you make up your mind!

Y12

Seems we've gone through all seasons since I was sat in the garden writing the last blog. Sun, sleet, wind and rain - we've had them all - but thankfully no snow.

Its been a busy few days since my last blog. On Wednesday I attended Welcome to Yorkshire's Y12 conference at the Barbican Centre with over 1100 others wondering what the year had in store for us.

The chat show style event was hosted by Rob Walker (may have to start watching the snooker now) with guests Gary Verity - Chief Exec for Welcome to Yorkshire, John Penrose MP - Minster for Tourism, Mike Finnigan and a couple of llamas.

The day is always very inspiring and this year was no different. Gary and his team have a lot planned for Yorkshire:

• Back le Bid - A bid for the 2016 Tour de France to start in Yorkshire. You can help by backing le bid at www.yorkshire.com/backthebid
• "On Ilkla Moor Bah't'at" Rap
• Product Placement in Emmerdale
• Bronte's Yorkshire Garden at Chelsea

The finale was emotional for everyone attending. The first champions of Yorkshire "The Yorkshire Regiment" were welcomed onto the stage to collect their Y badges with a standing ovation and a few tears from Row B.

 



A little treat....

Treating myself to a lunch break today - albeit whilst blogging. Sat in the garden with a sandwich and cup of tea listening to the birds singing and the distant humming of a lawn mower.

These peaceful times will pass us by if we aren't careful. It's these snatched hours that make us lucky to be doing the job we do. Damian is at Crow's Nest plumbing in countless new static caravans so he probably isn't feeling as content as I am. To be fair, half an hour ago when surrounded by accounts and the constant ringing of the phone I wasn't as calm as I am now.

But right here, right now, enjoying the Spring sunshine I'm very happy I do the job that I do.......

What should I blog about?

I've read alot of advice on blogs over the last 7 days - looking for that niche - looking for that something that I can talk about that no-one else can and to be honest haven't got very far. Then I thought about the title of our blog and realised that by just writing a diary and by letting people know what happened this week I can give my account of whether it really is a dream job.

Working for yourself/family and illness aren't two things that can go together so despite this steaming cold that I, and everyone I know has, I've battled through the week sorting through accounts, bookings and social media updates. Has it been a dream job this week? Yes and no - I've not taken any time off work, I've sat behind my desk in my pjs and no-one has known - we've still taken lots of bookings but on the other hand I've not had the time off that maybe I could have had if I was working for someone else.

Feeling a little more human this morning, I've spent the morning updating the facebook sites for Jasmine and Crows Nest. So often we don't take full advantage of having the three parks in our marketing efforts so I've made sure that photos of Jasmine and Robin Hood appear on Crows Nest's facebook page and vice versa. If a guest has enjoyed their stay at one of our parks they are (hopefully) more likely to look at staying at one of the others.

If you follow us on facebook - any of us - what do you want to see on there? Why do you read my blog? What tweets do you like reading? I really want to extend the communication between ourselves and our guests/potential guests - stats show that people are reading our blogs and browsing our website as a result - how can I build on that? Comment below, email or tweet with your opinions and help me make the best of our blog.

Scoial Media/PR Workshop

Scoial Media/PR Workshops always leave my head in a spin and yesterday's was no different. Thanks to Denise Howard from Welcome Training, Carol Arthur from Northern Lights PR and Visit York my head is filled with so many new ideas about how we could promote the business.

The event, attended by finalists of the Visit York awards, begain with an interesting talk on PR and how to successfully get your story into the public eye.

On the back of last year's sibling rivalry story, Denise and I spoke about the fantastic media coverage Nick and I got from last year's White Rose awards. People remember the Radio York and BBC Look North items - they don't seem to mind that neither of us won the actual award nor do they know who actually did - but they remember our "fights" and the fun we had.

Denise and Carol spoke at length about the importance of having professional photos taken and I didn't like to mention that our Dad took the photo of Nick and I whilst running in and out of reception sorting guests (or maybe they realised that). Our brochure will be redesigned over the next few months so maybe we should call in the professionals.

Carol spoke about all the different social media sources that could be used and I'm happy to say that our Twitter and Facebook pages were used as good examples of how to do it - phew! I've just got to look a bit further into linkedin and pinterest so watch this space!

I've just got to find a way of keeping up with it all now as, in its own way, all social media tools work for us:

Our facebook site is a great way of keeping regular/previous guests in touch with what we are doing and discounts can be offered but we have to find a way of reaching new/potential guests.

Twitter is a fab way of keeping in touch with people that work in our industry and I've met some great people through it that have helped promote the business. We've been able to share ideas of best practise so twitter has been a great learning resource.

We use foursquare to promote attractions that we have in the area - showing our guests that we are a great base to use for getting out and about in the area. We had such fun fighting over mayorships last year and hope to again this summer. Using a #family2follow we can incorporate foursquare into our tweets.

The one thing I'm not sure of is this blog - but you're reading it and hopefully whether you stay here or recommend others to stay here you will realise that we are a friendly site to use, we  are approachable and we enjoy connecting with our guests.

Tile-tastic

If you've been following us on Twitter for the last few weeeks you will know what a nightmare we have had choosing and locating tiles for the shower block.

Have you ever tiled your bathroom? Was it difficult finding something that you liked? Was it then difficult persuading your other half that they liked it too? Imagine finding a tile that you would hope 100s of people would like - one that was in-keeping with existing furniture (cubicle doors, sink units etc) and that you could get in large quantities?

I'm not going into details about the exact tiles we chose as we need to have some secrets from our guests - until the gates open that is - you know that the main ones are white but how daring have we been with the others ;-)

I just have to say a huge thank you to Lee from Tile Town for all his help with supplying the white tiles when so many other companies were unable to help.





It has been a stressful few weeks but as I sit and write up this blog I know the tilers are keeping busy - feeling fairly relaxed about it at the moment but with just 8 days until we open will we get it done in time?