Ladycross Plantation

Situated just outside of Whitby, North Yorkshire, Ladycross Plantation is a lovely quiet and friendly caravan site.

On arrival the site team helped us set up and unhook our caravan.  We were situated on a good sized pitch but it was on a very slight slant .. this meant we had a large step to get into the van which was a little disappointing as we only have a single tier caravan step, it was hard work to climb in and out.  We backed onto nice woodland but the area behind our van got very boggy in wet weather.

The site is extremely quiet with a lot of seasonal pitches.  We found that although we had quite a lot of space the seasonal are spread out far more than the tourers who only come for a week or two.

All was going well, we got settled in and put up the awning, then 'nextdoor' arrived and their pitch seemed much much smaller than ours.  We felt as if they were too close to our van and we had no room to put our car in between our van and their awning.  Due to them being so close it was if they watched our every movement, we even started putting our blinds down while eating to stop them watching us.  When they packed up we quickly put our car next to our caravan so that the next people couldn't pitch so close.

The site office is very helpful and sells bread, milk, eggs etc.... if you need to borrow extension leads or other equipment they are readily available and have a £10 deposit fee (returned to you when you take them back).  The office will also order newspapers for you and puts up notices daily about the fish & chip van's times.

The Fish & Chip Van comes on Wednesdays 5pm, Fridays and Sundays 7pm.  I was really excited (don't laugh) as I had never had fish & chips from a van before which Andy thought was really odd.  On Wednesday I made the whole family come back early from Whitby just so that we could have dinner from the van ..... a big disappointment, it was rubbish.  Each box was a small wet bit of fish, a few chips and the curry sauce tasted too sweet (so sweet I gave mine to Andy).  For what we received it was very expensive, so be warned ... the fish & chips in Whitby are 1000 x better than what you get from the travelling van.

Ladycross Plantation is a very clean and tidy site.  They have rules and you have to stick to them .. for example ALL dogs must be on leads at all times, the site has chickens which are loose around the grounds and so dogs need to be kept tied up.  Obviously all dog muck must be picked up and there are doggy bins situated around the site and in the woodland.

There are two toilet blocks, one new and the other older (but still in very good condition).  The new block has very low water pressure, you have to literally stand in the gutter with your back against the tiles to get the hot water on your body.  The new blocks showers also have a push button for the showers which only last 40 seconds (I counted), to wash your hair was a nightmare!  However the water was very hot, too hot for Emma but nice for adults.  The  new block shower stalls were a good size and had room to out your clothes and towels so they didn't get wet.  The site staff did tell us that the site has recently been taken over and the water pressure is on the list of things to improve.
The older blocks showers were better as you could move the shower head and adjust the temperature settings, being a tap you also didn't have to push a button every 40 seconds.  This was much easier to wash Emma's hair and my own.  However the stalls seemed smaller and it was a bit of a squash to get Emma and I dressed after showering.

All the shower and toilet areas were very clean, the showers had a mop to mop out after use although by the end of the morning the mops made them dirtier than when you started,  I am not sure if any cleaning agents were in the bucket which would be a good idea if there wasn't.

Food preparation areas and washing up sinks were plentiful and clean.  Cloths were provided to wipe down after use and these seemed to be new daily.

For water/waste water there were points all around the site, these were up on 2 runs of bricks which was a bad idea, I personally couldn't lift the full containers on or off the bricks without bumping or damaging my containers so Andy had to fill and empty them.  The chemical waste disposal is waist height but really really clean, it had a hose pipe to swill and also a proper flush to full away the contents, I was very impressed with the chemical waste sites.

The site is a 5 star site, for woodland walks, location and cleanliness it deserves the 5 stars. 
The site is quiet, lighting at night is good (great for looking at the stars but you can still find the loos) and the location is great for Whitby, Robin Hoods Bay, Scarborough and loads of attractions and beaches.
Security at the site is brilliant, you get given a barrier pass (£10 deposit) to get in and out, so without it no one can drive in and wander around the caravan park.

The TV reception is great, we received loads of digital channels on our tv without an extra ariel (we have a 12 volt digital telly).  BUT there is NO or very little mobile phone reception for O2 and no Internet connection for Vodaphone dongles.  Andy could make a call on his IPhone only if he stood in the middle of the field and shouted a lot while standing on one leg and waving a metal coat hanger about (ok I lied about the coat hanger).

Prices are also very fair and they do not charge extra for electric hook ups, a dog or your awning.

To improve the site a small children's area would be an advantage as Emma went scooting off on her scooter but we didn't know where on the site she was, with the addition of a small play area we would be able to locate her easily and also the children would make friends easier.

Other improvements would be the water pressure (which is on the site owners list) and to lower the bricks around the water points. 

All-in-all we had a lovely 10 days at Ladycross Plantation and we would definitely return.

For more information about the site please visit: http://www.ladycrossplantation.co.uk/