Laura - Many years back the official Folk Week campsite was on farm fields behind the Abbey - about where the council car park has since been built. Obviously the YHA is closer.
I didn't find a late night trek up to the Abbey Plain a great hardship. The only effort was between the Duke of York and the top of the steps, all the rest of the journey was on the flat (not counting the downhill bit from a late night at the Spa). Personally I found that walking up the cobbled track next to the 199 steps was preferable, as I could choose the size of my own steps.
Quack!
GtD.