You Can Leave the Car at Home

Someone has to drive home. That's the bit that decides the evening before it's started.

You find somewhere decent to eat. The food's good, there's a decent wine list, and for a couple of hours it actually feels like a proper night out. Then the bill comes, and one of you has been on the water since seven o'clock, and the car's three streets away, and you're back.

It's not the end of the world. It's just - it's not quite the break you had in mind.

Ten Minutes on Foot

Springfield is our park just outside Hornsea on the East Yorkshire coast. Atwick Road, right on the edge of town. It's not on the clifftop, it's not the one with the sea views right outside the window. What it has, and what not many caravan parks in this area have, is this: you can walk into town.

Ten minutes, maybe a bit more if you take it slowly. Into Hornsea, the shops, the seafront, somewhere to eat, somewhere for a drink afterwards. Ten minutes back. The car stays where you left it.

Tammy works in reception at Springfield and grew up knowing the park - her mum and dad have been guests on Simon's parks for the best part of thirty years before that. She has a word for the pace of the place. Manana, she says. Nobody does anything before ten o'clock. You wake up when you wake up. You wander when you feel like wandering. And if wandering means walking into Hornsea for lunch and not getting back until mid-afternoon, there's nothing to organise. You just go.

That's, I think, a fairly specific kind of freedom. One that most caravan parks - even good ones - can't really offer, because they're not in the right place for it.

What Hornsea Actually Is

Worth being honest about this. Hornsea isn't Whitby. It isn't Scarborough. There's no harbour with fish and chips queues and coaches parked three deep.

What there is: a proper little market town that happens to be on the sea. Some decent independent shops - not all of them, but enough that a wander takes the best part of an hour without trying. A seafront. Hornsea Mere behind the town - the largest freshwater lake in Yorkshire, and most people who haven't been don't know it's there. A few places for a decent evening meal. The kind of town where a walk around it takes about as long as it should.

It's not a resort. It doesn't try to be. For most of the people who end up at Springfield, that's exactly the point.

A lot of our guests come from West Yorkshire - Leeds, Bradford, all the towns in between. An hour and a half, maybe two. They're not looking for Whitby. They're looking for somewhere that doesn't feel like where they've just come from. Quiet roads. A seafront without a funfair. Somewhere to eat without booking three weeks out. Hornsea is fairly good at all of that.

The Park Itself

Springfield is a mix of static caravans and seasonal touring pitches. The statics are holiday homes, owned outright - no hire fleet, no strangers in your unit while you're not there.

It's well kept. I'm particular about that - not in a corporate way, just in the way you are when something's yours and you care about it. Guests notice. Well looked after is the phrase that tends to come up, and it's the right one. Tidy pitches, clean facilities, the kind of maintenance that gets done before it becomes a problem rather than after.

What it doesn't have: an entertainment programme, a bar on site, a swimming pool, a reception desk with a queue and a laminated welcome pack. It's a caravan park. A good one, in the right place, run by people who answer the phone.

If you're looking for a resort, this isn't it - and I'd say so plainly if you rang. But if you want somewhere to base yourself for a week, walk into town whenever you feel like it, and not once have to think about who's driving - Springfield is set up for that in a way that's fairly hard to find.

The Bit Nobody Mentions

There's a version of a caravan holiday that's supposed to feel like proper time off. Not just a change of location - actual time off, where you sleep when you're tired and eat when you're hungry and nobody needs anything from you.

That version is harder to find than it should be. Too remote and you spend the week staring at the walls. Too busy and you're navigating a theme park with a caravan attached.

Springfield sits somewhere in the middle - and closer to the quiet end than most. The town's there when you want it. The park's quiet when you don't. And the car can stay where it is all week, if that's how it works out.

Not many places can say that. This one can.

Interested in Springfield? Have a look at what's available or give us a ring on 07412 840095. Happy to talk through whether it's the right fit,

Frequently Asked Questions

How far is Springfield caravan park from Hornsea town centre?

About ten minutes on foot, depending on your pace. Close enough that walking in for a meal and walking back is entirely straightforward - no one has to drive, no one has to stay on the water. For a lot of our guests, that's one of the main reasons they come back.

Does Springfield caravan park have facilities on site?

Clean, well-maintained facilities.What it doesn't have is a bar, pool, or entertainment programme - it's a quiet park, and that's deliberate. If you want resort-style amenities, it's probably not the right fit. If you want somewhere well kept, personal, and ten minutes from town, it tends to suit people well.

What is there to do near Hornsea?

More than most people expect. Hornsea Mere - the largest freshwater lake in Yorkshire - is right on the doorstep. The seafront is quiet and walkable. There are independent shops, cafés, and a few decent places to eat. Bridlington and Filey are easy day trips. It's not a busy resort, which for most Springfield guests is the whole point.

Can I buy a static holiday home at Springfield?

Yes - we have static caravans for sale as holiday homes, owned outright. No hire fleet; units are privately owned. Prices and availability change, so the best thing is to ring us on 07412 840095 for what's current.

Simon Goodwin is the owner of Goodwin Leisure - six family-run holiday parks across the East Yorkshire coast and countryside. The business has been in the family for over 65 years, three generations. No commission salespeople, no corporate overhead. If you ring, you'll likely get Simon. Call 07412 840095