August 2018: Camping on the Jurassic Coast

In stark contrast to my typical wild-camping blog entries, I thought I’d post up a short report on a different kind of camping trip. Yes, it was time for my wife and I to head off on our summer holiday. This time we were loading up the car and heading down to a campsite for the week. Our destination was the glorious campsite that is Eweleaze farm near Weymouth in Dorset. It’s not the first time that we’ve been here and in my opinion, it’s probably one of the best campsite’s that we’ve visited.

This kind of camping differs greatly from my more regular backpacking adventures. I don’t necessarily class it as ‘Glamping’ as we bring all of our own gear and can’t afford to pay minions to set everything up for us. It’s all about enjoying the outdoors while also bringing a little bit of luxury from home. And it really is like a home away from home…..minus the plug sockets – anyone that uses an electric hook-up while camping is, in my humble opinion, CHEATING!.

Gone is the lightweight backpacking tent, in its place is our heavyweight six man palace of a tent complete with bedroom, lounge/diner (with carpet!!) and porch. It consumes half of our car’s load space! We then endeavour to fill every last inch of space in the car (and roof box!) with bedding (airbed, sheets, duvet and pillows!), cookware, clothes, furniture, food and obviously…beer! Loading the car is in itself like a military operation as we carefully organise everything to ensure that there is no wasted space and that the important things (like the tent) are readily available when we arrive at camp.

Operating as a farm throughout much of the year, the good folk at Eweleaze Farm open up some of their fields to the public throughout the month of August. The fields are perfectly located on the Jurassic coast with stunning views out to Weymouth and Portland. The campsite is very eco-friendly with partially off-grid facilities which comprise of solar showers and composting loos. You’d be forgiven for thinking that the showers would be cold and the toilets smelly, but on the contrary they have proven to be more than adequate. This in itself doesn’t mean much coming from a rufty-tufty(?) wannabe hobo like me, but these sentiments were echoed by my wife – Sarah, who has much higher standards!

However, there is one fundamental downside to this glorious campsite. One of the clues to this downside is the location and the fact that the National Sailing Academy is located nearby in Weymouth (home to the Olympic Sailing Regatta in 2012). Needless to say, it can be a tad windy and the exposed campsite can, at times, be a bit of a tent-killer.

 

You can therefore do one of two things when you go camping at Eweleaze. Take the risk and pitch on the more exposed fields. The benefit of doing this is that you’re greeted with the amazing sea-views. The second option is to head for the lower fields which are a bit more sheltered from the south westerly winds. While you don’t necessarily get the sea views you do benefit from some wind protection and they are not quite as busy (the views are still pretty good!).

The first time we went, we were naïve and opted for the view, pitching our tent in a very exposed position. Suffice it to say that we had a nice couple of days until we was hit by a day of 50mph winds which obliterated a lot of tents. Our tent survived (just!), but it wasn’t much fun and the wind was forecast to stay with us for two days. We ended up packing up and leaving early and it transformed the holiday into a slightly bittersweet experience.

This time, we were armed with our new inflatable tent/palace (much better at handling strong winds) and opted to pitch in one of the more sheltered fields alongside a Hawthorn hedgerow. We were happy with our little spot, and this was to be our home for the week. We didn’t benefit from the sea view, but we only needed to walk into the next field to enjoy that. The other influencing factor was our dog – Digby, we’d be doing plenty of walking to keep him entertained and would have ample opportunity to drink in those epic views.

 

When it comes to pitching these large family tents, I have one golden nugget of advice……Team work makes the dream work! If you’re doing this with your spouse then it can easily become a fundamental test of the integrity of your relationship. I’ve witnessed scenarios where some couples simply don’t function as a team, leaving one to do all the work. I’ve also seen other couples start graciously and slowly descend into an enraged shouting match. My wife and I have had the odd moment, but we’re experienced campers nowadays and I like to think that we function with the synchronicity of a well-oiled machine. We work together to erect the tent (super easy with the new inflatable tents) and then my wife will start to kit out the inside of the tent while I take care of the guy lines. The kettle is on in no time!

I must now make a confession, I know it’s a guilty pleasure of many a camper, but my wife and I always enjoy watching new arrivals pitch up their tents. Doffing my cap to those that set-up camp super efficiently, and grimacing at those that descend into chaos and make exceptionally hard work of it. Part of me would happily offer to help those in need of assistance. Indeed, if they asked for help then I’d be there in a heartbeat. But, I know that when some blokes are making camp, they are very proud folk and a little part of their man-hood would die if they had to accept help from another camper. Perhaps it’s just me being obnoxious, but I fear that some blokes would feel more comfortable if I asked instead whether they’d like me to have a fondle around in their underpants!

 

For us this holiday was about relaxing and putting our feet up after a busy few months. So I don’t have too much to report about what we got up to during the week. We read our books, walked to the pub for lunch, cooked some lovely meals over the camp fire and enjoyed having some time away from work and technology.

The Smugglers Inn at Osmington Mills was a pleasant 3km walk along the coast path.

I also did a bit of spoon carving as I brought along a piece of cherry that I’d sourced from my local woodland. It was fairly dry but still pleasant to work with. The spoon itself is far from perfect, but it was a real treat to work with such a lovely wood and, by my standards, I was quite pleased with the outcome.

One of the other fascinating things about Eweleaze is that it has a lot more to offer than those epic views. It has an amazing on-site bakery. There’s also a shop selling camp essentials along with locally sourced meat and groceries. The food that was on offer at the pizza oven, barbeque, crepery and pop-up restaurant (in the barn!) looked and smelt amazing. The only criticism I’d make about the shop was that it sold some lovely stuff, but you’d need a sizeable mortgage to be able to buy it.

There was plenty to keep the families entertained during their holiday. Some of the farm animals were penned in a field in the centre of camp that you could visit and feed. There was lots of hay-bale piles dotted around which became adventure playgrounds. There was even a day spa which offered morning yoga sessions as well as a sauna and Turkish bath! The fields also led down to a nice beach in case you fancied a dip in the sea or embracing your inner hunter-gatherer by catching some fish (or seaweed!) for tea.

At this point you’d be forgiven for thinking that it all sounds rather posh. In all honesty, you wouldn’t be too far from the truth. This was a sentiment that played on my mind as I watched some people washing up their cafetiéres!.

One of the things that did amaze me though was how some folk felt content to sacrifice their own comfort for a great view by pitching their tents on such steep gradients. I really couldn’t get my head around how they stayed in their beds through the night, perhaps they packed an extra suitcase of blankets to prop up the bed!

 

Dinner times were always a pleasure, my wife and I really enjoy cooking over the camp fire. Fajitas have become a camping staple of ours so that felt almost obligatory. But on another night we slow cooked a shoulder of pork in the Dutch oven to make some lovely pulled pork. This is probably one of my favourite things to cook in the Dutch oven as it never fails to tickle my taste buds.

And so comes the time where we must strike camp, somehow wrestle our tent into its bag, load the car and clear away our mess. On this occasion we were blessed with good weather. But I knew we were leaving at the right time because 50mph winds were due to blow in for the next day and it would undoubtedly cause pandemonium across the campsite!

 What a lovely way to spend a few days though. We’ll definitely be back next year. Maybe I’ll invest in a cafetiére too!

 Thanks for reading, will be back soon with another wild camping blog.