Glamping or Camping?
Glamping: all the joys of camping without the pain.
Undoubtedly, things have changed since the days of Hattie Jacques, Sid James and ‘Carry on Camping’. Equipment has improved and leaking tents/exploding chemical loos are less likely nowadays. However, campsites, facilities and tents do vary enormously. Not everyone wants to pitch a tent in a muddy field in the pouring rain and heat up baked beans on a primus stove.
Here at Valley View Farm the best of camping is combined with the comforts of home. Situated in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, just outside Lyme Regis, the orchard at Valley View Farm is an idyllic spot for a campsite. There are 4 bell tents – Mole and Badger (5m for a maximum of 4 people); Rabbit and Stoat (4m for a maximum of 3 people) – spaced well apart, each with a fire bowl (logs supplied), seating area and use of 2 shared kitchen sheds and shower rooms.
The kitchens are equipped with fridges (one per tent), ovens, microwaves, 2-ring hobs, sinks with hot and cold running water, and a full range of crockery, pots, pans and cooking utensils. The shower rooms also have hot and cold water, heating and flushing loos. Each tent has twinkling fairy lights, lanterns and high-quality double and single airbeds made up with Egyptian cotton linen, duvets and electric blankets, soft hand towels and bath sheets (arranged as swans, peacocks, etc by our towel-art expert), bean-bag seats, rugs and other luxuries. Dogs are welcome, but not in the bell tents, as we like to keep them to a high standard. They have their own tent, which is pitched outside the entrance to their owner’s one.
There is no light pollution here, and there are wonderful opportunities for observing the sky at night, to the accompaniment of cows mooing, horses neighing in the nearby fields and other farmyard and wildlife sounds. The glamping site is very close to the Nature Reserve, where badgers, rabbits, foxes, slow-worms, newts, a wide variety of other wildlife and birds can be spotted. There are ‘I Spy’ style checklists for children (and adults) to tick off sightings and record new ones. Part of the Nature Reserve is a wooded area with a tree house, and plenty of scope for foraging and making camps. We plan to create a maze through the gorse for the summer. There is lots here to amuse all ages, including a variety of outdoor games (sadly, no exercise classes with Kenneth Williams and Barbara Windsor, though!), pottery, painting, fossil-hunting, wall-building and many other courses.
“Cricketer” is in the glamping orchard.
Lyme Regis is a 35-minute walk away along the delightful River Lim trail. The local area/Jurassic Coast is stunningly beautiful, with the South West Coastal Path, East Devon Way and many other good walks. Cream Tea venues and good local restaurants abound. The Talbot Arms (www.talbotarms.com ), which serves excellent pub food, is a 10-minute walk away in Uplyme; and there’s a huge range of different cuisines in Lyme Regis. Chariot of Fire, a mobile wood-fired pizza oven, appears at different venues in and around Lyme Regis throughout the week. The van is outside Travis Perkins, on the road into Lyme Regis about a mile or so away from Valley View Farm, on Thursday evenings between 5.30 and 8.00 pm (www.chariotoffire.co.uk). I’d encourage all guests to try Chariot of Fire, even if they are not particularly keen on pizza. There is a wide choice of toppings, all equally delicious, and the pizza bases are sublime. I have visited Italy many times and not found better there. Nearer to home: we are building a wood-fired pizza oven on the campsite. This will be ready for use later in the season.
Meanwhile, thanks to the well-equipped kitchen, haute cuisine at Valley View Farm is a good alternative. Millers (www.millersfarmshop.co.uk) in Kilmington and Felicity’s Farm Shop (www.felicitysfarmshop.co.uk ) in Morcombelake are both excellent sources of local produce.
Glamping: all the joys of camping without the pain.