The holiday park that has been bringing one family together for 25 Years

For one Worcestershire family, a holiday in the Forest of Dean isn't simply an annual getaway; it's a tradition that has brought three generations together for more than 25 years.

Some holidays are about seeing somewhere new and others become about returning to somewhere that feels like home.

For Jane Bedenham, 62, from Evesham, Worcestershire, Whitemead Forest Park in the Forest of Dean has become exactly that.

Jane first visited the park in 1999 with family friends Graham and Cath. More than 25 years later, she and her family are still returning every year, a tradition which has grown to include three generations and more than 40 relatives and friends from across the country.

“We loved it so much that first time that we booked to come back the following year before we'd even finished the holiday,” Jane recalls.

And so began a tradition which has continued through children's teenage years, adulthood, careers, marriages and the arrival of a new generation.

A tradition that keeps the family together

For Jane, the story of Whitemead is particularly special.

She lost her mother when she was just 13, and Graham and Cath became hugely important figures in her life. Known affectionately within the family as Grampy Graham and Granny Cath, they became more like parents or grandparents to Jane, with Cath often referring to her as her “daughter”.

It was Graham and Cath who originally discovered Whitemead and organised that first family trip. Today, although both have sadly passed away - Graham in 2015 and Cath in 2022 - the tradition they started continues.

Jane believes they would be amazed to see how many people have continued to return to the place that became such an important part of their family story.

“I think they'd be amazed if they could see what they started and that we're all still coming here,” she says.
Jane is even considering having a memorial bench placed at Whitemead in their honour.

Over the years, she has managed to introduce almost everyone she knows to the park, with family and friends travelling from different parts of the country to join the annual gathering.

And as families become more spread out geographically, having a holiday booked in the diary has become a valuable way of ensuring everyone stays connected.

“Sadly these days, if you don't have something like this booked in, sometimes the only time you catch up with people is at weddings or funerals,” Jane says.

“This is the one time when everyone really tries to get together.”

Even the teenagers wanted to come

One of the remarkable things about the family's tradition is that it has never been a case of the children eventually becoming “too cool” for the annual holiday.
Jane's sons, Jack, now 34, and Oliver, 30, first visited Whitemead when they were just seven and three. They have returned ever since.

Even Oliver's career hasn't managed to break the tradition. As cabin crew for an airline, he now travels all over the world but still makes sure he returns to the Forest of Dean for the family holiday.

“He gets to travel all over the world, but he still never misses Whitemead,” says Jane. “There was never an age when the kids didn't want to come.” Now, another generation of the family is discovering the park and beginning to create memories of its own.

A little bit of 1999

For Jane, one of the biggest attractions of Whitemead is that it offers something increasingly rare: an opportunity to properly switch off.

For a family whose tradition began in 1999, it has helped preserve a feeling of those early holidays, before smartphones, social media and constant connectivity became part of everyday life.

“It permanently feels like 1999 when we're there,” she says.
“The phone signal doesn't really work, so you can switch off from the 21st century. It feels like something from that era – family being together and making memories. I'm old-fashioned like that.”
It's a sentiment that seems increasingly relevant as families look for opportunities to put their phones down and spend genuine time together.

Barbecues, adventure golf and British weather

Over more than two decades, the family has developed its own traditions at Whitemead.
Saturday means a family barbecue – whatever the weather – while the annual adventure golf tournament sees everyone contribute £5 to the prize pot.

The good British weather has also certainly never been allowed to get in the way of the holiday. The family has experienced everything the British climate can throw at them, from snow and torrential rain to scorching heatwaves.

But rather than cancelling plans, they simply adapt.

“That's holidaying in the UK,” Jane says. “We've had snow, we've had heatwaves and we've had absolute downpours, but we always adapt and make the most of it.”

The surrounding Forest of Dean provides plenty of opportunities for adventure too, with wildlife encounters including deer and even wild boar adding another memorable element for younger members of the family.
For Jane, some of her favourite memories are of organising Easter egg hunts when her sons were little.
Today, she gets to watch the next generation enjoy the same experiences.

More than a holiday

Whitemead has also been there for Jane during one of the most frightening experiences of her life.
Two years ago, while staying at the park, she became seriously ill with sepsis and had to be taken to hospital by blue-light ambulance.

Being seriously unwell away from home was understandably terrifying, but Jane says the support she received from the Whitemead team made a huge difference. Park manager Ben, whom Jane has known for around 10 years, immediately stepped in and helped ensure she received the medical attention she needed.

“It's your worst fear to get poorly away from home, but this is our second home and I owe them my life, really,” she says.

It was an experience that reinforced just how much the park has come to mean to Jane and her family.
After 25 years of birthdays, Easter egg hunts, barbecues, competitions, changing family dynamics and countless memories, Whitemead is about far more than simply somewhere to stay.

It is the place where a family meets and where old traditions are maintained and new ones are created. Most importantly, it is somewhere that gives everyone a reason to put the rest of life on hold for a few days and simply be together.

Looking to the next generation

More than a quarter of a century after that first visit, Jane has no plans to break the tradition. As the family continues to grow, she hopes Whitemead will remain the place where everyone comes together just as it was when Graham and Cath first introduced them to the park in 1999.

Discover Whitemead Forest Park in the Forest of Dean and find out more about planning your next family escape at https://www.whitemead.co.uk/