We went camping at the weekend at a place called Greenfields Forest Camp Site, in Sherborne, Dorset. The site's home page can be found here. We had planned to camp here in the past but never got round to it so we thought we'd finally give it a twirl.
It's a fairly small site, limited to 10 pitches. All the pitches are within an area of ash coppice with oak standards. The ash has be allowed too "get away" and now forms part of the canopy. The understory is sparse and the ground layer has been largely turned to grass. This creates a habitat which feels more like wood pasture than coppice.....and it's good for camping.
Karma Canvas 5m Bell Tent
The pitches are well spaced. You don't feel crammed in.
There are no dogs or cars allowed on site....the owner helps to cart your kit onto the site with his Kubota. This makes the site very child friendly. There is a deep pond on site, so some care is required if your kids can't swim.
Camp fires are allowed but need to be small and within a fire bowl (provided for free).
Firewood is available to buy. However, you are also allowed to forage for wood. We found all we needed within a few metres of our tent. Not sure if this would still be true later in the season. However, the owner also ownes ajoining woodland and you are allowed to forage from there too.
We tried out a number of Bannock Bread recipes. Nice!
The owner was happy for hammocks to be strung between the trees.
So, I took a quick power nap.
There are a number of animals around the site, including a mini deer park. The kids took a liking to Henry, a Sika stag.
The local pub (Hunter's Moon) is a 10 minute walk away, through private woodland and along a public footpath.
Along the way, we passed the shooting range. The owner will provide shooting tutition, with prior arrangement.
The pub was friendly, the food was OK and reasonably priced.
The facilities on the site are very basic. 1 shower (£1 for 6 minutes), 2 toilets; one washing up sink. There is no drinking water on site. There are recycling bins and a rubbish bin. For us, this was ample.
All in all, we had a great time and we would recommend the site to others. There is one caveat; the site ajoins a road and, at times, there's a fair bit of traffic.
As I was leaving, I spoke owner about camping with hammocks and he said he was OK with it. He also said he was happy to provide more bushcrafty opportunites in other woodland he owned outside the normal campsite. He did not allow open fires but might allow cooking stoves. He didn't mention the cost to camp offsite but I suspect it would be much the same as the "proper" campsite. If you wanted to do this, I'd suggest you ring him to discuss it further.
The owner was a nice guy and was knowledgeable about the countryside, wildlife generally and seemed to have a specific interest in deer management.
So, if you live locally or want a decent camp site in the west Dorset area, you could do far worst than this place. I thinks it's probably the best campsite we've been to in some time.
Jack.
It's a fairly small site, limited to 10 pitches. All the pitches are within an area of ash coppice with oak standards. The ash has be allowed too "get away" and now forms part of the canopy. The understory is sparse and the ground layer has been largely turned to grass. This creates a habitat which feels more like wood pasture than coppice.....and it's good for camping.
Karma Canvas 5m Bell Tent
The pitches are well spaced. You don't feel crammed in.
There are no dogs or cars allowed on site....the owner helps to cart your kit onto the site with his Kubota. This makes the site very child friendly. There is a deep pond on site, so some care is required if your kids can't swim.
Camp fires are allowed but need to be small and within a fire bowl (provided for free).
Firewood is available to buy. However, you are also allowed to forage for wood. We found all we needed within a few metres of our tent. Not sure if this would still be true later in the season. However, the owner also ownes ajoining woodland and you are allowed to forage from there too.
We tried out a number of Bannock Bread recipes. Nice!
The owner was happy for hammocks to be strung between the trees.
So, I took a quick power nap.
There are a number of animals around the site, including a mini deer park. The kids took a liking to Henry, a Sika stag.
The local pub (Hunter's Moon) is a 10 minute walk away, through private woodland and along a public footpath.
Along the way, we passed the shooting range. The owner will provide shooting tutition, with prior arrangement.
The pub was friendly, the food was OK and reasonably priced.
The facilities on the site are very basic. 1 shower (£1 for 6 minutes), 2 toilets; one washing up sink. There is no drinking water on site. There are recycling bins and a rubbish bin. For us, this was ample.
All in all, we had a great time and we would recommend the site to others. There is one caveat; the site ajoins a road and, at times, there's a fair bit of traffic.
As I was leaving, I spoke owner about camping with hammocks and he said he was OK with it. He also said he was happy to provide more bushcrafty opportunites in other woodland he owned outside the normal campsite. He did not allow open fires but might allow cooking stoves. He didn't mention the cost to camp offsite but I suspect it would be much the same as the "proper" campsite. If you wanted to do this, I'd suggest you ring him to discuss it further.
The owner was a nice guy and was knowledgeable about the countryside, wildlife generally and seemed to have a specific interest in deer management.
So, if you live locally or want a decent camp site in the west Dorset area, you could do far worst than this place. I thinks it's probably the best campsite we've been to in some time.
Jack.
