Four fire crews were called to a blaze at a caravan site in Pateley Bridge in the early hours of this morning.

Firefighters from Knaresborough, Grassington, Ripon and Harrogate rushed to the scene at 1.12am on Monday, March 18.

An investigation into the cause of the fire at the unnamed site is ongoing, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said.

A spokesperson added:

“The fire caused damage to a toilet block at the site with an attached workshop also suffering slight fire damage. Crews prevented the fire spreading any further.”

Fire crews extinguishing the flames in Pateley Bridge

Grassington Fire Station posted on social media:

“In the early hours we were sent to a building fire near Pateley Bridge alongside, Harrogate, Ripon and Knaresborough Fire Station.

Crews worked hard to prevent the fire taking the adjoining building before extinguishing the flames.”

The campsite engulfed in smoke

Grassington fire services at the scene last night

The wreckage at Pateley Bridge Caravan site

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A festive fundraiser ending this weekend is set to raise around £1,500 for a group of Scouts near Harrogate.

1st Pannal Scout Group will be collecting Christmas trees from households on Saturday for the fourth time.

This year, the service has expanded – and the team also added in tree sales int he run-up to Christmas to further boost its fundraising.

Deputy group Scout leader Andy Bielby said they sold 34 trees in one day, and it was such a success they hope to turn it into more of an event next Christmas. He said:

“It was great to meet our customers, some of whom told us they were former Cubs and Scouts from Pannal.”

Now, the volunteers will be out collecting trees from pre-booked households on Saturday as the final stage of what is expected to be the biggest fundraiser of the year by some margin.

Proceeds from the project will be put towards ensuring young Squirrels, Beavers, Cubs and Scouts at 1st Pannal, along with the partner Explorer unit, have valuable experiences in the coming year.

The children, all aged between four and 18, have already been able to go on camping trips thanks to the money raised by previous tree collections.

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This year, there are two gold and one bronze Duke of Edinburgh award scheme expeditions planned, as well as a group summer camp, and an autumn Scout and Explorer camp with more than 1,000 young Scouts taking part.

1st Pannal members will also be learning vital life skills in their weekly sessions and working towards the Chief Scout awards.

Mr Bielby said demand for places was as high as ever and the group was always keen to hear from anyone who could volunteer to ensure as many young people as possible could benefit from the experiences of Scouting.

He added:

“The experience of camping and becoming more independent has never been more important than for the young people impacted by the lockdowns of the last couple of years.

“We have seen the changes that they have gone through, with many having their first opportunity to be away from home much later than they would usually have had if it wasn’t for the pandemic.

“In our Scouting, we aim to provide access to events and opportunities they might otherwise not have such as trips to the fire station, talks with local services like the police and activities like scuba diving and even gliding.”

The owner of a Nidderdale campsite has called for more regulation of “pop-up campsites” which she claims are impacting established businesses.

Louise Pullan co-owns the Breaks Fold Farm camping and glamping site in the Washburn Valley, next to Thruscross Reservoir, in the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

She said the pop-up campsite trend was having a big impact on established sites and needed regulating by local authorities.

A change in regulations to allow landowners to establish pop-up campsites for up to 56 days was introduced in July 2020, to help the rural economy recover from the covid pandemic.

Previously, they were able to operate for only 28 days a year without applying for planning permission.

This 28-day rule is now back in place.

Ms Pullan said:

“It should be being enforced by local authorities, as many are operating well over and above this. It is time for the rules to stop being bent to suit now.”

A spokesman for Harrogate Borough Council said:

“Should anyone believe an area of land is being used as a campsite for more than the allocated number of days per year they are advised to get in touch with us by emailing planningenforcement@harrogate.gov.uk.”

Ms Pullan said outdoor accommodation search and booking platform Pitchup.com had a lot to answer for in relation to the issue.

Encouraging people to support the #bookdirect movement, which encourages customers to book direct with businesses to avoid fees, she said:

“People are setting up sites thinking they can make a massive profit. They are encouraging this trend of unregulated sites and pushing for the 56-day rule to be made permanent.

“We feel these sites are a risk to public health, in the same way an unregulated food business is, and they are ruining places like the national parks and AONB areas.

“If people want to support small accommodation businesses book direct, not through booking agents. They should support their favourite established sites to help them get through and recover from the impact of covid, when we only had a very limited window to open our businesses.”

She said that she was grateful to her client base for their continued support, but added:

“At the moment it is a fight to keep going, especially after we lost a huge part of our business in the form of our bistro Flock to the Fold. But everyday we feel lucky to still be here, because many haven’t made it through.”

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Pitchup.com founder and managing director Dan Yates said booking platform currently lists more than 3,100 sites and aims to be the most “comprehensive and user-friendly” online resource for outdoor accommodation in the UK.

He said that as a result, it includes detailed listings for sites that take bookings through the platform, as well as basic listings for sites that don’t.

He said:

“Pop-ups are a recent innovation and represent only a small part of Pitchup’s business (less than 10 per cent).

“In the past two years, pop-up campsites have brought desperately-needed revenue to farms and rural businesses across the UK as they negotiate the double whammy of a farming crisis and the aftermath of the pandemic.

“Following the reduction in the permitted development rights (PDR) allowance for pop-up sites to open from 56 to 28 days in England and Wales, a quarter fewer popups are using Pitchup this year and our popup bookings so far this year are down 27 per cent on last year.

“Although camping searches in the UK for 2022 are slightly down (-6 per cent) on the record volumes of 2021, double the number of Pitchup bookings by Brits have been made compared to 2019, equating to 720,000 additional customers – the vast majority of those are for established sites.

“From our side it’s great to see more and more people enjoying the beautiful UK countryside, ensuring the camping and caravan sector is best placed of any accommodation type to enjoy a bright future.”

In the past few years high end camping or “glamping” as it is more commonly known, has become increasing popular, with a number of new sites springing up in the district.

Now as families weigh up whether to risk airport and port chaos to go abroad or remain in the UK, how is this relatively new holiday industry faring?

Some providers in the Harrogate district have reported an increase in trade, others have seen a downturn.

This has been put down to an increase in the cost of living, as well as last year’s demand being “unprecedented” due covid travel restrictions.

The local glamping industry

Tom Sterne, owner of Yurtshire, between Ripon and Pateley Bridge, said advance bookings for the luxury glamping and wellness retreat have been growing by the day.

He said:

“Since the news about flight cancellations and chaotic scenes at airports hit the media, the number of enquiries we have received has increased markedly.

“When we opened last July, we benefited from the sudden switch to staycations, from people across the Harrogate district and further afield, who would normally fly off to the sun and we are witnessing a repeat this year.”

A break in Nidderdale

Lindsay and Chris Morrell, whose annual summer holidays in Tuscany have been on hold since the covid lockdowns began in March 2020, have booked Italy next year.

But the couple, who used to live in Harrogate and have since moved to Northumberland, decided to take a break in Nidderdale for their 2022 getaway.

Ms Morrell said:

“With the problems people are encountering at airports, we didn’t want to risk booking for Tuscany this year and hope that issues affecting overseas travel will be sorted out by the time we are ready to venture abroad.”

Chris and Lindsay Morrell

For friends Carroll Shaw and Annie Brown, who live in Ripon, overseas holidays are no longer on the agenda.

Ms Shaw said:

“Why would anybody who lives so close to the gorgeous Nidderdale countryside, want the hassle of flying thousands of miles to lie on a crowded beach?”

A slow start

Louise Pullan co-owns the Breaks Fold Farm camping and glamping site in the Washburn Valley, next to Thruscross Reservoir, in the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

She told the Stray Ferret that the beginning of the year had been very quiet, but it had started to pick up.

Breaks Fold Farm.

Ms Pullan, who runs the site with her husband Richard, said:

“It has been a very slow start.

“We were 60 per cent down in May and June based on our 2019 bookings.

“However we have seen a rapid uptake in bookings into July and August in all our accommodation.

“People are watching their finances and holidays maybe aren’t top of their priority lists.

“We have noticed we are getting a lot of local guests from Harrogate and Skipton, so maybe the fuel prices are also having an impact on people’s choices.”

Ms Pullan said the campsite’s main customer base is short stays of two to three nights.

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A difficult financial time

She said the price had been kept the same for the last three years, with discounts on longer stays to try and help people out during what is a difficult financial time.

She said:

“This is difficult as we as a business are now seeing increasing costs. For example our waste emptying costs have gone up 30 per cent, a bottle of gas has gone from £55 to £85 and our business insurance is double last year’s.

“We can’t afford to employ somebody this year due to soaring inflation, which is putting a huge pressure on us as a two-man band.

“Energy prices are just completely unbelievable and some of our fellow owners are up on 57p per kw, seeing their energy bills over double on previous years.

“We are only going to be able to absorb this for so long, unless hospitality businesses are offered some form of relief such as a VAT cut, like they were through 2021.

“Some sites have tried massively to capitalise on the staycation boom from 2020 and have made their prices unreachable for some.”

Cutting back

Claire Jones, owner of Strawberry Safari shepherds huts, in Wormald Green, between Harrogate and Ripon, said she had also seen a quieter year compared to last year.

Strawberry Safari.

She said:

“We believe this is due to a combination of people going abroad and also cutting back on short breaks in between their main holidays, due to cost of living increases.

“That said, last year’s demand was unprecedented and so it’s hard to compare the two.

“We have still seen some lovely guests this year, many of whom are here to enjoy the many events happening in and around Harrogate.”

An historic naturist club in Harrogate is to hold its first open day since covid.

Valley Sun Club, which dates back to 1937, has a caravan site in a secluded spot on the outskirts of Harrogate.

The club, which is situated on five acres of land, is looking to reach new people in the area during its open day, which takes from 10am on Sunday, July 18.

It hopes that those who have missed the secluded naturist beaches in Europe will try out their Harrogate club as part of the staycation boom.

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To protect privacy, the precise location of the club has not been divulged, other than it is on the outskirts of Harrogate.

Those involved also requested to only use their first names.

Anne, who is in charge of membership at Valley Sun Club, told the Stray Ferret:

“Naturism is growing in popularity around the UK but it is probably not as popular as we would like it to be around Harrogate.

“We are just trying to reach out to anyone who might be interested, it might not be for everyone but I think there are lots of benefits to getting involved.”

To book your place, or for more information, contact richardatvalley@gmail.com or call 07340 177142.

As well as sunbathing, the club has boules, miniten, a nine-hole pitch and putt golf course and a bar at weekends with a pool table, darts and karaoke.

Many members have a caravan on site during the summer season, which allows them to stay as often as they wish but caravans are also available for rental.

Campsites, caravan parks and holiday homes across the Harrogate district will reopen tomorrow.  With uncertainty over foreign travel, the UK staycation business is set for a bumper season.

Toni Fernandes, general manager of Lido Leisure Park in Knaresborough, says that their 500 holiday home owners are “dying to come back”.  Many have not been able to use their second homes since the November lockdown.

“We think over the next two years we’ll be very popular. There’ll be lots of holidays in our own country; I think it will be very good for the economy.”

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Graham Thompson, general manager of the Harrogate Caravan Park has told the Stray Ferret that bookings have been “crazy busy”. The caravan park is now almost fully booked with bank holiday weekends totally booked out.

“There’s an appetite for people trying to get out of their houses and into the countryside. I think people will be staying in this country to holiday – I think we have a lot to offer.

We had a very successful year last year with lots of visitors saying they felt very safe.”

In Killinghall, Tanya Umpleby of The Cud Life campsite has been inundated with booking requests despite her website showing that her weekends are booked up.

“The demand has been much higher this year but when you’re full you’re full.

“We’re really looking forward to welcoming everyone back. Our regulars are already booked in and excited to return.”

The Cud Life are opening up both of their rental cottages and five caravans and open ten tent sites in July.

A Yorkshire glamping pod manufacturer has expanded into Knaresborough with a new warehouse space of 4,000 square foot.

Anthropods & Co Ltd’s new premises – its largest yet – is on Hambleton Grove industrial estate in Knaresborough. The company’s previous warehouse was in Killinghall, but it needed more space to keep up with its orders.

Over lockdown, the company had to suspend production for four months. Its return to production comes as people are favouring staycations and working from home and the company hopes its range of products will suit the surge in demand.

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Doug Adamson, executive chairman of Anthropods & Co Ltd, said:

“We are manufacturing from the plot now – we moved in a couple of weeks ago and we are now set up. We have expanded the workforce too. The reason to move was because we required more space to up production capacity and grow our workforce. We managed to just get the site – we wanted to stay in the Harrogate district.

“We had to shutdown for four months but luckily we didn’t lose any orders. Now the staycation market is growing so rapidly, it may be beneficial for us, but there is normally quite a long period of time between enquiries and final production as people are making a big investment with us.”

The company hopes to increase production within the new estate, where it took the last remaining unit of a total of seven units.

Models like these pods are installed in Europe.

The 14-day quarantine rule for holidaymakers returning from Spain to the UK may spell disaster for trips abroad this summer but campsites across the district have told the Stray Ferret they are inundated with enquires.

Camping in the North Yorkshire countryside has become a popular alternative for many who can no longer go abroad, or who may be deterred by the cost of a seaside holiday cottage.

Studfold’s caravan, camping and glamping park in the Yorkshire Dales has seen enquires quadruple. Ian Walker, who owns Studfold told the Stray Ferret he has been “shocked by the surge of interest in staycations”.

‘We have had quite a few families coming that have never ever camped before, but due to the uncertainty they just didn’t feel comfortable going abroad. We have had phone calls this week from people who had holidays booked in Spain but now want to come to us instead.’

We spoke to a family at the campsite who should have been flying to Spain.

“The thought of travelling with the children and having to wear a mask etc just wasn’t really an option. As soon at the quarantine announcement came we started to look for staycations. We were lucky to manage to get a pod here for a night and we have also booked a little break at a site in the Lake District later this summer.’

Monk’s Meadow Glamping, Harrogate

Barbara Bradley, owner of Monk’s Meadow Glamping site near Pateley Bridge, said it had noticed a “significant increase” of interest.

“Our glamping pods are booked right the way through until September, which is unusual as people would normally see what the weather was doing and book a couple of weeks in advance. This year if you don’t secure a place well in advance you just wont get booked in.

“People have had to change their way of thinking as over the years they have got into the habit of going abroad, but this year this has become a lot more difficult, especially with the Spain quarantine rule. People are just too anxious. I think people are just desperate to get away and have realised that there is so much to offer on their doorstep.

“The busy long weekends are having to make up for the fact that we aren’t taking midweek bookings as we are leaving 72 hours between guests checking out and us cleaning the pods.”

The Cud Life campsite in Killinghall.

The Cud Life campsite in Killinghall is only open to motorhomes and caravans as it has not opened the toilets and showers.

Tanya Umpleby, who owns the site, told us they made the decision for safety reasons and because they do not want a surge of campers that “do not understand campsite etiquette”. She said:

“We are a quiet site and we just don’t want this sort of behaviour in our peaceful setting. We have however seen a huge increase in numbers, as soon as I put the phone down it rings again!’