Holmfirth, Holme Valley Camping And Caravan Park

My wife and I stayed here for a week as I was working in the area. The site is poorly signed, with just a small sign off the road. The entrance road is very pot holed and in desperate need of repair, its a tight squeeze to avoid overhanging branches too. The site consists of a couple of camping fields and the main caravan area.

We were lucky to be given a very good spot, right next to a small river, and with a mixed stone and grass pitch, ideal for the awning, etc. Facilities are basic, the pitches are not fully serviced, so there is a walk to get water and an even longer one to empty the grey water, etc.

The majority of the site consists of 'seasonal' caravans and motorhomes, although it does appear to be a permanent site for many, one guy I spoke to had lived there for 7 years.

Toilet and washing facilities are basic, you have to pay for a shower (30p token), and there are only two.

On the plus side there is a well stocked shop, charging 'normal' prices, and there is a 'butty van' by the lake (which is the centre point of the site) it is open from about 0730 until late, serving breakfasts and evening (fast) meals, this was very clean.

As mentioned the lake is the centre point of the site and is very popular with fishermen. It was a friendly site and everyone passed the time of day.

There is a new centre being built on site, but this appears to have ground to a halt! On the whole not a bad site, could be better, gets very crowded at weekends, and could do with some investment being made into its infrastructure.

stayed there 22nd--24th June-2013 thought it was brill,nice cosy setting buy the river,in my tent.thought showers were alright,but be even better when new block is up and running.snack bar on site is brill and run by two do anything for you sought of people,nothing is to much trouble,maybe because he is a chef by trade.lovely walks,great woods near buy.nice lake,can even do a bit of fishing if you wish.nice people,easy to talk too.very pleasant,the shop is well stocked two.will definitely go back for another visit.RECOMMEND,

Myself and some friends selected this lovely location due to it being 'very' dog friendly, however all the main parts of the park were designated as lead walking only - every field on the park had a notice that said NO Dog Walking allowed. There was one area within the wooded section that dogs were allowed, however this was not very large for a good distance walk.

We were all pitched in a nice small field, with only one other camper who also had a dog and we were all happy for the dogs to run free, in and out of our tents, however we were told this was not allowed and that we had to keep our dogs on leads. I understand the policy, but don't see why they cant be flexible when NONE of the campers objected?

All in all - a lovely location with good amenities, perfect for families, but not the best for those holidaying with their dogs.

Been here for may bank holiday weekend. The drive on could be very much improved, lots of pot holes and the tree's could do with being cut back quite a bit.Apart from that its OK. Only 2 showers and hot water ran out quite early but we just waited a bit longer and showered later. Lovely sitting around the pond/lake, but like any other site, could be miserable if it was cold and wet. The shop is well stocked and reasonably priced. The budget van is a bit unsightly, but really handy for the portion of chips to go with your BBQ.The people were nice enough. All in all a decent site, seen better, seen worse.

We have just returned from this campsite and would definitely never ever go back due to the complete and utter rudeness of the woman that owns it. On the first night she came round and demanded more money from us, £1 each, despite us already having paid the correct amount.

On the second night she came round again at least 3 times in the evening, we had had a barbecue (properly raised off the ground so as not to burn the grass), we had eaten and the coals were cooling. She accused us very rudely of having a campfire and when we pointed out it was a barbecue she said it wasn't a barbecue as there was no food, to which we replied we had eaten it !!! She also spoke to one of our friends' children in a terrible manner which really upset them.

She went round to at least 2 other groups on the site and when we spoke to them afterwards they also said she had been very rude to them for no reason.

The site facilities are ok, a little shabby and could do with some updating. There are steep steps down from the top field which are very slippy when it's wet and the road leading down to the site could definitely do with some work as the potholes are dreadful.

The site is in a lovely location but the whole thing is ruined by the owner.

Big points to the snack bar/van, the people running it are great but unfortunately I don't think we will ever see them again.

This is supposed to be a 4 star rated family park, luckly I went with my husband first without our small children because there is NO way I would take children here.

There are not many pitches left for tourists because most of them are taken by people who I can only say live there, with all kinds of stuff around their caravans and motorhomes, a lot of these people look down their noses at people wanting to have a little holiday, its as if you shouldn't be on their little council estate, that's what it looks like. Not that many people would want to be near the estate bit where the people live because it absolutely stinks of cannabis they must be constantly high the lot of them.

Even the play area is amongst the people who live there, which is wrong because you couldn't let your children go on there own, you don't know who is about lately.

I can only hope that the owners do police checks etc before letting these people live on a site which is intended for families to go on a relaxing holiday.

I do have to say that the shop is well stocked with everything you might need for your stay and reasonably priced too, the showers are nice and big, even if there is only 2 of them, but avoid between 5 and 7 at night because that's when the people who live there come back from work and take over.

It could be a nice site if it was cleaned up and a few improvements here and there, the biggest one being getting rid of the council estate because it will put people off coming back, and there would be some lovely camping pitches because they have all the best ones.

Hi all, I read the reviews on this site and felt I had to give my experiences of the site as the reviews seem a bit one sided.

I have been twice before ,last year and the year before and have just come back from an overnight stay.

Yes previously I noticed that some of the long term residents caravans would have benefited from a jet wash -green algae on the roof ect and some really old vehicles.

These seem to have been removed and the caravans are now all clean and well presented.

The site itself was busy . It has its main track curving around the mill pond splitting the site in two.

You can camp right next to the pond on three sides.

There is a big field next to a stream like river , and a smaller sloping field.

An adequate shop selling beer,wine and spirits,warm clean shower/toilets,phone, laundry .

The little play area is very basic an would only amuse the smallest toddlers with a little slide and climbing frame but is clean and litter free as was the whole site.

I am no fisherman but caught a couple of decent size roach today and yesterday on sweetcorn (a tip from the owners .I was on maggot and got nothing).

There were four other groups of adults and kids who all caught fish .

One lad did really well so there is stuff in there ,though I didn't see any carp or surface indication of any.

The pond is the normal mill pond type of the area muddy green coloured but not algae,there were no flies,midges but it is early.

The site is compact, picturesque ,set in woodland, with plenty of water taps.

The lane is a bit tight but there is two entrances right next to each other on the main road and if you are approaching from Holmefirth the second entrance is easier,I don't want to make out that its a difficult site to enter though as it isn't.

The owners have only ever been pleasant towards both my wife and myself ,I have dealt with two ladies and a young girl who were helpful and polite.

this year they have a snack bar type caravan the type you see at festivals,doing bacon butties etc at reasonable prices.

The site suits us as we live quite close and its fishing in the country on our doorstep.

It would make a good base for exploring the Yorkshire /Lancashire area and the little town of Holmefirth down the road has some nice pubs and the old cinema has tribute bands and old pop,rock,folk bands and this site would be great for seeing stuff like that as its only a mile in a taxi.

There isn't much for kids to do apart from fish or a kickabout on the field but that's true of a lot of sites,the ones I have been on with amusements ,bar etc can get rowdy,the children that were there seemed to be having a great time whizzing around on bikes and scooters.

The road though it can get busy with people coming and going so with that and the pond /river kids are best supervised.

I paid £17.50 for one night in a campervan with awning and £3 for a day fishing.

I have paid the same for a windswept field in Wales with no pond but plenty of flies from the stream, I am not calling Wales ,I am welsh myself and have camped all over Wales and this site compares favorably.

Its in my opinion an good ,average site ,well run with pleasant staff.

If you want a quite site to sit outside your van/tent and have a bbq and a drink after fishing or a bag of chips from down the road then you could do worse,its a long walk to the beach though.

This camp is full of residents in old caravans dodging council tax and the tv licensing department.

The owner is rude, the way she spoke to my daughter was shocking.

We would NEVER recommend anyone stays at this park (I mean dump).

Some very odd residents here, one male resident scared my wife with the way he was watching her and looking at her, it was like something out of a horror film, he had his partner with him and she was also very strange.

We booked for the weekend and left after only 1 night, keep the money as we're were so fast away we did not care and nor did we think we would get a refund with the owners attitude anyway.

Do not stay here, think Friday 13th style of place......

My Husband and myself along with three dogs choose the site because it looked roomy and ideal for walking both dogs and ourselves.

My inlaws came along as well in a camper van, we where towing a 6 berth caravan. We had asked for adjoing pithces which we got but because of the length of our caravan we have to pitch at an angle hence so did everyone else on the small pitch. When we arrived there where only two units in front of us and we where looking at the pond, which sounds good but on the second day another four units where parked in front of us and all that we could then see where the back of each of the trailers or campers. These where virtually 6 to 7 feet away from us.

We didnt have room to 'peg out' out the dogs because the next unit to us also had to park at an angle, after clearing our table and chairs we could just about get past the car next door.

One of my dogs did a bit of dash out of the door of the caravan and promptly jumped up at one of the receptionsist, who scowled at me and reminded me in front of other campers that dogs should be on leads at all times. If I had a little more room and they could have been outside, before taking the dog he would have been on a lead.

However the walks along the river where very enjoyabe and the dogs loved it.

The shop was adequate and staff helpful. The toilets are very dated but clean and tidy even when people with muddy feet choose not to clean they footwear before entering, there is a new amenities block being built. Which looks great however reading the booklet be prepared for a price hike.

They already seem to charge for absolutely everything on there including visiting guests and cars should you have some visitors. We where charged 1.50 a night just to unroll the sun canopy - we would have used just the same area with or without the canopy.

The directions to the place leave a little to be desired, and the sign for the camp needs to be much bigger and more on view. Also the last straw is that the entrance must have been desinged when caravans where no more than 15 feet long maybe two births, we scraped our van on the entrance which has dry stone walls so obviously some of the at the bottom where sticking out. An array of friendly campers and caravaners helped us to get free and warned us that the entrance even further was a bit of a nightmare also as there was building work going on, and yes it was. Being directed to our pitch we had to negotiate a large tree with overhanding branches which we just missed with the aerial and roof. Only to be told 'we have taken one branch away' may I suggest you take another couple of branches away also.

The weather was fine and dry but even so our 'hard standing' pitch was muddy and messy and having dogs made every trip out and back a military operation.

But thanks to the all the people who helped and the friendlyness of the fellow campers who where all very pleasant polite and friendly.

This was our first trip to Yorkshire, and although we will head that way again we will cetainly not be going to Holme Valley.

Last weekend in August 2012

Finally the sun was shining, the kids had just broken up from school, so we decided to spend a couple of days under canvas and fancied heading off to the "Last of the Summer Wine" country for the weekend as a treat. Having quickly looked at a number of site locations on the ukcampsite.co.uk beforehand, we stumbled upon this site, checked availability and headed off. It was in the right location, sounded ideal and appeared to have had a few good reviews in the past. However, having spent the weekend there, it'll be a long time before I trust another review from this site again and WE WILL CERTAINLY NOT BE RETURNING TO THE HOLME VALLEY CAMPING AND CARAVANING SITE AGAIN IN THE FUTURE!

Whilst the site itself has huge potential, a few fields set in a woodland location, with the added advantage of the river Holme wrapping round the site, and a fishing pond, the site itself is extremely run down, unkempt, tired, dirty and covered in duck poo! The kids play area (if you can call it that) was so dirty that our daughter needed a shower and change of clothes after spending just a few minutes playing there. With this said, the showers were also so dirty and cold that we would have been better off washing her in the river!

The site is shared with a large number of residents, who live in very large caravans located under the trees. These were very neglected and had turned green and brown from algae growth (that's the caravans and awnings not the residents by the way). We thought that they looked absolutely filthy, however, although they were probably the worse kept caravans in the world they actually fitted in quite nicely on this park.

The fishing pond is also a joke and completely green with algae, thriving midges, mosquitos and ducks. We were told that there were fish in there by one poor sole who was unlucky enough to be sat around it with his rod fighting off a million midges and mossies. However, he did manage to inform us that none of the fish in the pond had lips anymore! Whilst we can only speculate that the green murky scum also hides a few shopping trolleys and perhaps a number of past residents (read on) - it really was quite disgusting and produced an unbelievable number of midges that spread across the park throughout the day - all of which appear to have venomous appetites – as we found out on the night!

Having read some of the reviews on this site upon our return, it is quite clear I could (and should) have saved us from all this place as there are so many negative and poor comments about this site, along with an unprecidented number of comments relating to how horrible the owner is. Be in no doubt the reviews are all accurate, the site is extremely unpleasant and the Owner is absolutely horrid.

We consider ourselves to be happy, outgoing people who tend to get on with anyone, however, we have never met such an obnoxious, disrespectful and argumentative person in all of our travels. Not only does she make no effort whatsoever to make you feel welcome, is totally impolite and discourteous, from what we witnessed in our dealings with her and in seeing how she has treat other campers and caravanners on the site, it is quite clear that she vehemently hates dealing with her customers and has no intention of being helpful.

We got talking to the people who were staying next to us as they decided to pack up late in the afternoon even though the sun was shinning, and they told us that the reason why they were leaving early was because she had shouted at their kids whilst they were in the shop getting a couple of ice lollies and made one of them cry. Suffice to say, after learning about this we decided to pack up early as well.

We all hated the place and couldn’t pack up quick enough to get away from it. We wouldn’t recommend this site to anyone whilst it is in such a state and being managed by such a horrible lady!

WE WILL NOT BE RETURNING TO THE HOLME VALLEY CAMPING AND CARAVAN SITE AGAIN.

PROBABLY THE WORST CAMPING AND CARAVAN SITE IN THE WORLD!