Filey holiday parks

FOR A park with some 1,600 homes on site, Primrose Valley Holiday Park is surprisingly discreet.

From the A165 main road between Bridlington and Scarborough, the wide site entrance is marked by twin brick towers, but you are not aware of a sea of caravans stretching off into the distance. Wander down Primrose Valley Road, beside the park, and you will pass between large and well-kept private houses. Looking up from the wide, sandy beach that stretches from Filey almost to Bempton cliffs, there’s no sign that several thousand holidaymakers have their accommodation somewhere beyond your line of sight.

In many ways Primrose Valley is an old-fashioned holiday park – an inheritor of the holiday camp tradition (there used to be a Butlins just a short distance along the coast). Holiday homes are packed pretty tightly together in the central section of the site. Further out towards the edges, there is more space, and newer, more luxurious homes – but you could still not describe your plot as secluded.

Entertainment
This is a park where many people go to enjoy themselves in the traditional, holiday-camp sort of way. Central to this is the Funworks complex. Here you’ll find the amusement arcades, full to overflowing with flashing electronic games, and the main entertainment venues, Princes, Windsors and Jesters.

During the day, Jesters, and the Aquabar at the western side of the site, provide entertainment for younger visitors of various ages, including storytelling, fun sports, pantos and other family shows. In the evening, there are family-oriented events until 8 or 9pm. After that come the bingo, cabarets, audience participation quizzes, game shows and discos.

Next door to Funworks is the Primrose Tavern, a pub venue with big screen TVs and pub food. The Aquabar, by the open-air pool is open from 9am-9pm, and also serves food. Some visitors might find both bars rather ‘institutional’ – neither have a really comfortable pub-like atmosphere, and this is one of the park’s few deficiencies.

Facilities
Generally the on-site facilities will satisfy most tastes. As well as the food in the tavern and Aquabar, there are a Burger King, a fish and chip shop and an excellent Chinese restaurant. For those who prefer self-catering, the main supermarket and off-licence, which also sells gifts, toys and seaside-type necessities, is in the main complex, while there is a minimarket and newsagents by the Aquabar.

A launderette will keep you looking spruce if your holiday home doesn’t include a washing machine, and, if you forget to pack bed linen or towels, there’s a hire service. The swimming complexes, at either end of the site, include indoor and outdoor pools and an adventure splash zone, and there’s a boating lake where you can also wile away the hours with a fishing rod. You can hire a bike, play tennis, have a go at the mini-golf, or watch the kids in the play area. Buses call at either end of the site if you fancy an excursion.

And, of course, there’s the beach. Follow Southcliffe Drive down through Primrose Valley itself and you will emerge onto the expanse of flat, firm golden sand, with fine views to Bempton Cliffs to the south and Filey to the north. It’s an easy stroll along the beach to the town, an attractive little resort on a steep slope, with lovely clifftop gardens, a compact shopping area, a fascinating little museum in the town’s oldest surviving domestic building, and traditional donkey rides on the beach.

Primrose Valley Holiday Park
Address	Filey, North Yorkshire, YO14 9RF
Telephone	01723 513771
Email	[email protected]
Website	www.primrosevalley-park.co.uk
Info	If you're thinking of buying but want to try out the park first, rental prices for 2007 range from £139 per caravan for a 4-night mid week break in March, to £579 for a 7-night stay in July

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