The UK staycation with stunning holiday park, cosy pubs and 100-year-old ice cream shops
GENTLY burp your egg before opening and avoid the temptation to look down the chimney, the barbecue instructions said.
Brushing away the charred remains of my eyebrows with my now-hairless forearms, I wished I had read them before excitedly lighting the Big Green Egg ceramic grill in our lodge’s outside kitchen.
The egg was a revelation, set in a wooden table next to a preparation area with a sink and fridge, table and chairs under a retractable roof — and, best of all, next to a bubbling hot tub.
We’d earlier arrived with the dog at Angrove Country Park on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors, set amid a landscape of fields and woodland which roll away towards a low green ridge of hills, ended by a conical one called, presumably after a pudding, Roseberry Topping.
It’s perfect dog-walking country, and rather handily, our lodge was dog-friendly, with the park even offering to provide a bed for your mutt.
The service is five-star, with everything designed to make your stay as relaxing and enjoyable as possible, including having your luggage taken to your lodge by golf cart.
Inside is luxurious and decked out with everything you could possibly need including dishwasher, fridge, freezer, en-suite shower, fluffy bathrobes and — for today’s screen-glued kids — strong wifi and a TV in the lounge and each bedroom.
For our first evening, after taking advantage of the complimentary arrival drinks at the park’s G & Tea House restaurant, we drove 20 minutes to the coast to the lovely Victorian resort of Saltburn-by-the-Sea.
We enjoyed a pint and a meal at former smugglers’ hotspot The Ship Inn, nestled on the shoreline at Old Saltburn — and conveniently next to the small stone local mortuary, apparently now disused.
Afterwards, we walked along the beach to the 1869 pleasure pier and vowed to return when it was not 10pm and closed to have a go on the Saltburn Cliff Lift — a water-powered tram built in 1884 from the pier 207ft up to the town.
The next morning we set off early across the fields with the dog to the village of Great Ayton, the boyhood home of the explorer Captain James Cook.
From there we briefly considered the loop walk to the Cook monument, a stone needle built, so the inscription reads, in 1827 to commemorate the great mariner’s birth in 1728 and death in Hawaii in 1779.
Magnificent views
But in the heat of summer, and with sweat pouring off me, it looked quite far away and so, unlike Cook, we abandoned our circumnavigations and decided just to climb the delicious-sounding Roseberry Topping instead.
Stopping off in the delightful village at the local butcher’s to stock up on pork pies, and sadly passing several welcoming-looking country pubs, we set out across pastures, woodland, a field of sunflowers and past a stone shooting hut and up the dessert-dubbed 1,049ft peak.
A hot but enjoyable climb later, we reached the summit to take in the magnificent 360-degree views of the Cleveland Hills, the Yorkshire coast with Whitby and the village of Staithes on one side, and the majestic North Yorkshire Moors gently expanding to the horizon on the other.
We descended back to civilisation and a 99-flake ice cream and bag of bonbons from the marvellous Suggitt’s shop, apparently unchanged in more than 100 years.
That evening we enjoyed a fabulous meal in one of the cosy garden pods at the park’s G & Tea House restaurant.
My partner, Gemma, had an amazing vegetable platter, which although delicious could not sway me from the huge succulent bacon steak special, while Max the teenager tucked in to the area’s famously fantastic fish and chips.
After a hard day enjoying ourselves we relaxed in the massaging bubbles of the hot tub and gazed at the stars.
The next day we drove 30 minutes deeper into the North Yorkshire Moors to the village of Helmsley, admired the castle and spent a pleasant few hours wandering round the independent shops before a pint in the market square. Then back to the hot tub.
The staff, from restaurant to reception to maintenance, all made us feel completely at home.
Gemma even commented on their cheery hellos as they were grounds-keeping at 6am while she was walking the dog, who had as brilliant a time as we did.
GO: Yorkshire
STAYING THERE: Angrove Country Park has a range of holiday homes, lodges and eco-domes – all with their own hot tub.
Weeklong stays start at £529 and short breaks at £315.
There are a selection of luxury lodges plus holidaymakers are able to purchase their own piece of the North Yorkshire Moors from £99.
To book your stay, visit leisureresorts.co.uk.