About Us - A History of Crows Nest Holidays
17/02/2023
Crows Nest Holidays is owned and operated by the Palmer family. The original site was purchased in 1947 as Crows Nest Farm.
The first caravans appeared in 1956, and ever since then we have been providing caravan holidays and short breaks for families and couples at Crows Nest Caravan Park.
In the early years the caravan park was run in conjunction with the dairy and poultry farm, this was until the late 1970s when milking was transferred elsewhere. In the mid 1980s the farming activities were ceased and the caravan park was modernised and updated to facilitate the siting of what was then a new concept, the 12 ft wide caravan.
Since then we have constantly endeavoured to update the facilities on the park. In 1991 the next phase of was started which resulted in development of the lounge bar, swimming pool, games room and reception. This was followed by the addition of the fish and chip shop and conservatory area. The shop has now been modernised to a fully equipped supermarket.
Our latest major development on Crows Nest was the construction of our new amenities block, and adapting all of the older touring caravan pitches in to new modern super pitches for touring caravans. We have recently been awarded a 'loo of the year' award for the quality of our shower and toilet block.
In 1999, our second caravan park near York, Robin Hood Caravan Park, was added to the portfolio. Robin Hood is managed by Rebecca and Damian Palmer-Bunting and family, and has been developed into a luxury 5* caravan and camping park. It is predominantly a static caravan park, however touring caravans are welcome. Between 2018 and 2023 building work was done to adapt all touring caravan pitches to large all-weather fully serviced pitches. Improvements to all services and roads, as well as toilet and shower pods were added.
In 2007 we purchased Jasmine Park, a luxury caravan park between Scarborough and Pickering. Jasmine Park specialises in caravan sales, seasonal touring caravans, caravan storage and camping. Over the years the park has developed into a multi award winning 5* caravan park. Jasmine Park has now been fully developed improving all bases, the addition of a childrens play area, as well as park security.
2015 was a very busy year. Firstly, Sawdon Golf Club was purchased, together with land and buildings on the attached industrial estate. Sawdon was a 9 hole golf course for amateur and leisure players. In 2021 planning permission was granted for 12 holiday lodges to be added. This resulted in the closure of the golf course whilst development work is ongoing.
Later in 2015 an opportunity was presented to us to acquire Hagg House Farm. Back then this was a 3* holiday resort with a few lodges and cottages called Tantara Lodges. It had been closed for 2 years due to unfortunate mismanagement. Following our largest ever project we developed High Oaks Grange which opened to guests in July 2019. On opening, the estate consisted of a farm house, 4 cottages, 4 lodges and 3 glamping pods. Over the course of the last 4 years we have increased the options up to a total of 27 letting options. All properties are now 5*, as graded by Visit England. The business has since been awarded the Best Holiday Park in Yorkshire in 2020.
The latest addition to the Crows Nest Holidays collection is Lebberston Caravan Park. Only 2 minutes from our HQ at Crows Nest, Lebberston is a touring caravan park catering for all things touring caravans including short breaks, caravan seasonal pitches and caravan storage.
As I am writing this, Lebberston opens its gates under the Crows Nest umbrella for the first time in less than 2 weeks. We look forward to seeing you there.
We are now in the 3rd generation of "Palmer's" in the management of our parks, with a 4th generation training in the wings. We hope to continue offering amazing holiday memories for all of our fabulous guests for years and years to come. Of course we could not do any of this without our team of staff who have grown with us - we say thank you to you all.