Keeping camping simple

As I drove down the country lane, following the handwritten sign to the campsite my friend had booked on my behalf I was dubious to say the least. When I arrived to a rather ramshackle house that doubled as the reception area and saw the toilet facilities weren’t in a sparkling, white building like I had grown used to, but were literally in a shed, I was even more concerned – especially since I was camping as a single parent with two young kids.

But how naive I was. This site has actually become one of my favourite sites in the whole world – a view shared by pretty much every family camper that tries it since its absolute charm comes, not only from the hospitality of Sue and Alan who run it, but also from its simplicity. It’s a site that prospers on return visitors and glowing word of mouth recommendations.
The site, Midbrooks, is a small, family targeted campsite based near Trowbridge in Wiltshire that has the space for five caravans and 12 tents set at the end of the aforementioned country lane meaning that children can play at ease without worrying about streams of visitors coming in and out.

The two toilets and two showers are in sheds and there is an outdoor sink for washing up and recycling and refuse facilities as well as a microwave, phone charging point and hairdryer. Beyond that the only extra is a seating area you can sit in if you’ve ordered the site’s freshly made cream tea and want to relax a while. But even the sheds I’ve grown to adore since every time I inside I feel like I’m on the set of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

There is no shop selling tat that your children will nag you for – instead you can buy fresh chicken and duck eggs for a donation or wander up to the equally charming village shop nearby. There is no rack full of what to do leaflets telling you places to go – although there is a handwritten board that suggests the location of some great places to visit – but this is largely because it quickly becomes evident that the owners are friendly enough that you can just ask or because once you get there you rarely feel like you want to leave the peacefulness of such a welcoming site.

Of course while I say peacefulness, this is a site, remember, that’s aimed at families - small children at that – so it’s more tranquil than peaceful. There is plenty of space to play and children’s bikes are collected, refurbished and hired out to children staying on the site for next to nothing. The site’s owner Alan boasts about how many children have learned to ride at his site and my daughter became one of that number.

The winning feature though is the owners’ dedication to the simple charms of outdoors life. Each day at 9am and 6pm Alan encourages the children and parents to meet him for animal feeding – touring the site’s pig, chickens and rabbits – with each child encouraged to play an active role in the feeding process.

Since overcoming those initial first moments of hesitation about the site I have been back time and time again. Sadly there will be a time that it is no longer enough for my two – where computer games and internet access will be more important – but I will fight my hardest to ward off that time when they are too old for something so beautifully simple. Oh and that ramshackle house and reception area? That’s now been turned into a house of envy and just reward for a couple who have helped to create so many amazing memories for so many families simply by sticking to the basics.

FACTFILE

MIDBROOKS CAMPSITE
Southbrook Lane
Steeple Ashton
Trowbridge
Wiltshire
BA14 6HW
01380 870147
07918122357