An award-winning caravan and camping park in North Yorkshire is inviting former guests to share holiday memories as part of its 50th birthday celebrations this summer.
When St Helens in the Park, near Wykeham, first opened on the edge of the North York Moors National Park, it arrived just in time for a summer that would pass into folklore as one of the most extraordinary the country had known.
Now, 50 years later, after a summer of new celebrations, the team is keen to gather stories and photographs from visitors across the generations.
The anniversary comes as St Helens celebrates being named the AA’s England and Overall Campsite of the Year 2025/2026.
“Over the years, we have welcomed generations of the same families,” said Simon Roe, Manager of St Helens in the Park.
“Many people have grown up visiting us, often returning with children and grandchildren of their own. As we celebrate 50 years, we would love people to look back through their photograph albums and share the stories, pictures and memories that have stayed with them.”
St Helens in the Park was established by the Dawnay Estate in response to the growing demand for holiday accommodation around the North York Moors National Park. Developed on the site of a former sand and gravel quarry, it was part of a wider move to diversify the estate and create something new for the area as the region's tourism continued to grow.
Simon is particularly hopeful of uncovering memories from the very first season.
“1976 really was an incredible year to open a caravan site,” he said. “You had temperatures reaching the thirties – or the nineties, as people would have known them then – a national drought and water shortages. But as the summer drew on, there were also swarms of ladybirds and, finally, August floods.”
As the current manager, Simon is well placed to sympathise with the staff that year: “They must have been scratching their heads in disbelief, or perhaps simply trying to shake the ladybirds out of their hair.”
Those first visitors marked only the beginning of the story. For the next few decades, holidaymakers would have booked their pitch by telephone or by sending a letter. They may well have packed the car with a flask, a paper map and a crackling transistor radio. Today, guests can choose from touring and camping pitches, glamping accommodation, a luxury lodge and private bathroom facilities.
The call for memories forms part of a year of events marking the park’s fiftieth anniversary. “This summer, we’ve been making lots of new memories, with celebrations across the park, bringing regulars together, taking time to mark this special moment,” said Simon. “It has really reinforced for us how many special moments have taken place in our grounds.
“We are enormously proud of what St Helens has become, but this anniversary is also an opportunity to gather stories from our history,” he adds. “We’d love to hear the memories that still make people laugh, and the moments they have always remembered – and we’d love to add them to our story!”
Visitors can share stories from their stays at St Helens, together with photographs where possible and any names, dates or details that help tell the story by emailing caravans@wykeham.co.uk. Staff are compiling a ‘scrap book’ to commemorate 50 years, which will be available to purchase with proceeds going to Macmillan Cancer Support.
For more information go to www.sthelenscaravanpark.co.uk
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