Goosewood, Sutton in the Forest, north of York.
We stayed at Goosewood on Easter Bank Holiday Monday and the following day as well. This site is in the Best of British guide and it seemed very popular. Despite the fact that the site has hardstanding the caravans and motorhomes are sympathetically arranged and cars have to park away from the vans. Consequently Mime kept getting lost as there was this sea of white and no cars to act as landmarks - this problem was resolved when Rich put up the flag!
Surroundings - beautiful, the site is set near what appears to be pine forests and has many trees within it. The owners have put up bird boxes and bird feeders which meant we saw chaffinch, thrushes, greenfinch, collared doves, blackbirds etc. On the Monday night I was woken by an owl hooting. The amount of trees means, inevitably, that there is some shade and it may feel slightly dark at times. There is a fishing lake on site - this was some distance from the vans.
Play area - fantastic!! The play area is more like an assault course - all ropes and tunnels but there are the usual swings as well - there is a death slide which Toby who is 7 loved - Jemima was also fine - she is 6. There were many older children on the play area as the facilities were well suited to them. There is also a sand pit and football field within easy reach the kids are allowed to ride bikes everywhere - our kids spent a lot of time at the park.
Shop - tiny!! Hardly anything in it either - probably the smallest shop I have seen. Nothing other than food and not much of that to be honest. You can't walk to another shop either so try to remember everything!
Facilities - these were OK. The showers were hot and free although there wasn't much space in them. Also when I went there it was early evening, and when you turn the shower on, the light is controlled by the amount of water you get. I hadn't realised this but finished the shower and couldn't turn off the water. I started to get dressed, the water turned off - I thought great but then I was plunged into darkness - this wouldn't be very nice if you had little kids with you. Someone I spoke to said that the toilet block in the centre of the campsite was better but this was after the event!
Other stuff - the kids liked the giant chess set. The site has the usual rules about moving pup tents every two days. The rules are pasted up individually all over the site. The owners were very helpful - they told us where the best fish and chip shops were - but we didn't visit them so I can't comment. The site has a barrier and one way system. The toilets are free to get into and the barrier is operated by a swipe card - £5 deposit. The site also has Hoseasons cabins which looked very nice. There is a motorhome disposal point but you can't drive directly over it as it is on a slight incline and right by the playground. OK if you have a hose though. A reasonable amount of space between the vans which was fine and the pitches are level. We asked for a space by the playground - there are plenty of these, although the shape of the playground means you can't see your kids all the time.
Overall opinion - lovely site - c£21. (worth it for the scenery and play area).
Would we go back - yes if we were visiting York again.