In mid-June and late July, I went camping just off the edge of Dartmoor. It was supposed to be two weekends in June but the campsite was booked out and so I had to change my dates (and got a free night thrown in). I’d like to talk about the campsite but I have such mixed feelings that this review had to wait until I’d been back for my second visit, so I could get my thoughts straight (and also take the relevant photos, since I took virtually none of the site on my first trip).
The campsite is called Oaktree Lane and it’s attached to West Headson Farm. It’s actually further from Dartmoor than I thought, about halfway between Okehampton and Launceston, although you can see a tor. I have no idea which. I’ve drawn a line on a map but still can’t get much clearer than maybe Black Down, maybe Standon Hill, maybe Lynch Tor, maybe Cudlipptown Down or maybe even Beardown Tors. It has some very very good things and it also has some things I would perhaps change if I owned the site.
Pros
Number one, it has the best owners in the world. I can’t say enough good things about Phil and Sera. Endlessly helpful, very chatty and friendly and welcoming and just wonderful people. Always on hand for any questions or problems, from “where can I get more guy rope?” to “what breed are your neighbours’ cows?” to “can we have some more firewood?”. 5 stars, 20/10 for the owners!
Second, it’s a really nice site, with soft well-maintained green grass and great views over the rolling hills of west Devon. The moment I got out of my car on the first visit I thought “Oh, I like this! And I get to come back next month!” It just feels nice. It’s quiet and peaceful and the site hasn’t been churned up by cars and the track down from the gate is concrete and in good condition. That’s something that’s put me off sites before; a track so rutted it’s threatened to destroy my suspension. Good track here. Easy access from the A30, just six to eight minutes. I looked it up on Google Maps before I went, checked what each junction looked like and my satnav (well, Google Maps on my phone) led straight to the gate so no problem finding it. Admittedly, from the top end of the camping field, you can see the A30 but it’s only a glimpse between the trees. You’ll see lorries occasionally and a flash of silver as cars large enough to show through gaps in the screen of trees go past but 95% aren’t large enough. As for noise, I could hear the low roar of the road early on Sunday morning but I lay outside my tent one sunny afternoon straining to hear it and totally failed to, so you really don’t need to worry about road noise. Also, this is from the camping end of the field. Oaktree Lane’s own trees and the angle of the land shield the glamping end of the field from being able to see or hear it.
It’s very a small site. There are two wooden lodges on little platforms at the bottom of the field, then a yurt also on a platform and then a small kitchen building for the use of the lodge and yurt visitors. I haven’t been in the kitchen but I believe there’s a gas cooker with grill and hob, a sink (although no running water) and possibly a fridge. There’s definitely a picnic bench per building out on the decking. They allow two camping groups at a time so you’re never tripping over your neighbours’ ropes and never squished into a tent village. On the opposite side there are two wooden cabins. These have running water and cookers and even sofas and TVs. They’re very much separate from the rest of the site.
The special draw is that each camping pitch and each lodge and yurt has its own private bathroom. You get your own key and your own toilet, shower and sink which no one else uses except you. You can leave your wash things there and you know it’ll always be there, always secure and you’ll never have to wait for a free shower.
There are animals on site – there’s a field of eight or ten woolly rams between the camping area and the wooden cabins, there are chickens down next to the toilet block and behind that is a field of breeding eyes and a pair of Belted Galloway heifers, who are just so gorgeously fluffy I could eat them up. Alongside the lane is a field of deep reddish-brown cows but they belong to the farm opposite. You’ll hear them – they have two rams who start bellowing in the late afternoon and carry on until it gets dark. You’ll also see the cows wandering the fields and munching peacefully. And there’s a cat, who will probably look at you but refuse to approach you. The cockerel yells early in the morning and the sheep sometimes grunt like pigs as they’re eating. They occasionally shout in surprisingly deep voices but most of the noise from the sheep is the tearing of grass.
There’s a communal campfire circle with stone benches – I do like it when someone has thought about where you’re going to sit. The fire is confined within a ring of large stones and the whole thing is in a large fireproof gravel circle. Phil and Sera provide logs but you have to forage for your own kindling (keeps the children busy and keeps the hedgerows tidy) and bring your own matches to get it started. I joined the group on my first trip, where it was all adults and they were all drinking and sharing stories of drunkenness and that was quite pleasant, although drunk people are not as hilarious as they think they are. I didn’t join the campfire on the second trip but I went out to enjoy it after they’d all gone to bed and to put it out – see my camping fire safety post for that one!
Cons
For me, the number one con is that the private bathrooms are down in the farmyard whereas the camping is all up on the field. It’s not so bad for the glampers because they’re right at the top of the path but it’s a longer walk for campers. I made the mistake of camping right at the top of the field for the good views on my first trip and it was a full quarter of a mile round trip – I measured it! It took me four minutes and two stops, although I admit that I’m spectacularly bad at walking up hills. For camping, I don’t expect the toilets to be right next door but that was a bit far for me, especially as 3.30am when my cheese roll decided to remind me of its presence. I remember years of Keycamping and it was quite a trek each evening for what we called “the TSB”. And for all they’re “private bathrooms”, they’re all just compartments in the shared toilet block, so if you’re still concerned about Covid, you’re still sharing an indoor space with strangers, although they’re not touching anything you’re touching and there’s a hand gel dispenser on the door. But for glamping – if I’m paying £90 a night for glamour – I don’t want to be traipsing down a hill in the middle of the night. I did appreciate that there are fairy lights hung down the path that leads to the farmyard to make it easy to find at night, that’s a lovely touch.
And my other con, for campers, is that there’s nowhere to wash up, no provision of hot water unless you carry your pots down to your private bathroom. I don’t expect full washing-up facilities. I’d brought my bowl and my various cloths and sponges and my washing-up liquid and I don’t entirely even expect hot water but it’s been a long time since I camped anywhere with no provision, however half-hearted, for washing pots. No rusty sink in an overgrown corner with one dribbly cold tap? I believe they’re rethinking this so you might find there’s something for the campers in future.
It doesn’t affect me as a camper but as a sidenote, as I mentioned earlier, there’s no running water in the glamping kitchens. The tap is just outside but you do have to bring a water carrier and fetch water, which is not very glamorous. As a camper, I’d expect to have to fetch water and I’ve stayed on campsites where the tap is a lot further away so that arrangement is fine for people with their own tents.
Having come back and prodded the website for the details for this review, I’ve discovered they were on Four In A Bed on Channel 4 back in 2017. If you want to watch, it’s available on demand here. They had three yurts instead of a yurt and the two cabins back then but I notice they’ve kept the red/blue/green colour scheme with the new cabins, which is cute. I agree that the host (hosts plural, no sign of Sera in the show) are 10/10 and I agree that it’s very clean but after that…
Well, contestant John is rude and aggressive and unpleasant and offensive and he harps on about how there’s no toaster, when he wanted a full English in the first place but… Look, for camping, it’s a good campsite. It’s back-to-basics, off-grid, outdoors life with a private bathroom. I liked the peace, I liked the isolation. The shower was always hot and the bathrooms were spotless. I wouldn’t expect electricity or running water for camping. I’d have liked a washing-up sink, no matter how beaten-up it was. I’d definitely have liked the bathrooms a bit closer. But for camping, 8.5/10. 9, maybe? 9/10 for camping? No, let’s stick to our 8.5. A point and a half lost for the distance to the toilet and the lack of outdoor sink. I went back and I’ll probably go back again next year and that’s a recommendation in itself.
But for glamping, I think it’s a bit too basic. I think if I was paying for glamour, I’d absolutely want those bathrooms a lot closer and I’d want running water in the kitchen. Maybe I have to remember that although it’s glamourous camping, it’s still camping. I think it’s probably fair enough to have no mains electricity in the glamping buildings. I reiterate, the basics is more than good enough for camping but I think it needs just a bit more for glamping.