Britchcombe Farm

Our first camping trip for 2015 was to Britchcombe Farm.  Being May Day Bank holiday, the bluebells filled the roadside woods leading to the camp site; we were pleasantly surprised by the gorgeous countryside so close to Swindon.

We were greeted by the down turned faces of our friends who, having arrived early had unraveled their tent to have the undeniable reality dawn on them that their canvas bell tent had not been packed away quite as dry as they thought it had been.  Mold had gone to town on it over the winter leaving such bad holes that the tent could not even be erected.  Luckily they had a pop up tent for their 5 yr old to use and they could sleep at the back of their van, but they were not happy bunnies.  A harsh reality but a lesson learnt by all – Always dry your tent thoroughly before packing it away.

Britchcombe Farm campsite was great, we stayed in the bottom field and as there are no designated pitches managed to section off enough room for our group of friends.  Fires are allowed and a Land Rover came around every evening selling wood.  There were porta loos in the field we were in and they had plenty of toilet paper and hand sanitizer and were kept clean, so no complaints there.  The only gripe will be that not all the showers, which are next to the tea room & reception, seemed to have hot water.  I put Kirra and myself through the coldest wash ever whilst friends in the showers at the other side of the café had lovely warm water. .

The walk up to the White Horse was quite a steep ascent, probably made to feel steeper as we had our youngest in a pushchair and had to either push or carry him up.  The view from the top of the hill was epic and the boys had great fun following the train as it moved along the countryside.  The horse itself was a bit of an anti-climax as from close up it doesn’t really look like a horse but it certainly does spark the question of why they build it.

The kids loved playing in the field, making pretend fires, “brewing cider” and generally messing about.

The adults enjoyed making fire, eating, drinking and generally being merry despite the wind and rain which inevitably joined us.

I nearly forgot The Teapot Tearoom and Garden and Britchcombe Far we had live music on the Saturday afternoon and then went for a relaxing cream tea on the Monday after packing up and before heading home. Definitely a bonus having a tearoom on site.

Lesson Learnt:

Always dry your tent thoroughly before packing it away.