3 of the best UK camping holidays reviewed

1. Barefoot Campsite, Oxfordshire
Campers can start the day with a wild swim at three small riverside sites near Oxford which are next to a safe stretch of the Thames. Those who don’t fancy a dip can hire canoes, and fishing permits are available. The sites offer back-to-basics camping, with no electricity, just gas-fired showers and composting toilets. Campfires and barbecues are encouraged. Visitors can take their own tents and small campervans, or book a bell tent or log pod.…

National Trust – Why We Love it (and why we don’t) – our story

A lot of people love to hate the National Trust. One of the problems is the price – it’s really expensive now for most people, and you often have to pay for parking. But don’t forget that you can always get a voucher code like we did, from here, before going. Memberships are about 20% less if you use a coupon.

And the negatives don’t really end there. Trust me, this isn’t going to be yet another negative National Trust …

Mattress Recycling is a SCAM

This post is a bit different to others lately, but I felt it was my duty as a supposedly upstanding citizen of the countryside, to mention this.

We’ve all see mattresses dumped in skips or – even worse – left on a layby. Recycling a mattress is quite difficult as most council-run tips will NOT take them for free, you have to pay. Obviously this puts a lot of people off – perhaps the hardest hit in society by coronavirus, …

Woodland Closed for May

We have made the decision to close the woodland for the month of May. That is, from 1st of May to the 28th – so not quite the full month. The reason for this, while unfortunate for our visitors, is due to family reasons. We also need to give the birds and bees a chance to recover after a record year.

We will be back again, open end of the month and hope to see as many people as possible …

Visiting

The general public is welcome to walk in the wood during cafe opening hours – Wednesday to Sunday, bank holidays and every day in the Norfolk and Sussex school holidays – 9am-5pm.  The cafe serves delicious coffees, home-made cakes and lunches.

We ask you to ‘Pay As You Feel’ for each visit to the wider woodland to contribute to the costs of keeping the woods open to the public – path maintenance, fencing, signage, wind-blow clearance, play equipment and …

Events

For 2018

Wilderness Wood is open every day of the year and there are many special events as shown below.  

For most events, booking is essential. The details of each event tell you if you need to book.  For events where there is no need to book, just come to the wood during the advertised time.

If you would like to come to a bookable event, please first call to check availability as places are strictly limited.

Make your booking

Christmas Trees

Come and choose a real Christmas tree supplied by local growers.

During December our yard is filled with top-quality trees, which keep their needles because they are really fresh.

We will be open for Christmas trees from December 2 2006 until Christmas Eve, from 9am to 6pm throughout the Christmas tree period.

Choose in the yard from hundreds of freshly cut, dug or potted trees.

Numbers of cut/dig your own are limited to 600, so we recommend you reserve

Garden Furniture

We no longer make all our furniture and most of the wood products in our small workshop here at Wilderness Wood.

Most of our goods are made from sweet chestnut, a very durable wood grown in our own coppices and from local Sussex oak.     We also use some softwood from our wood or other forests managed for a sustainable yield. We do not use any tropical hardwoods.

 

We can design and make goods to order, and deliver

Wilderness tyres & ATV , getting stuck in the mud

Not many people get stuck in the mud in their own driveway – but we do! I suppose you should consider us lucky in some respects to have the land, but it sometimes feels like such a burden.

Today Emily our maid got stuck in her huge 4×4 that she sometimes uses, and we had to try digging her out.

Firestone tyres generally speaking are not great, but for some reason their 4×4 tyres are superlative. Grabbers and GT used …

School Visits

  • We are well geared to school visits, with teaching materials and knowledgeable and experienced staff who will create a tailor-made visit for your class.
  • Topic packages to plan your day around specific topics commonly studied at Wilderness Wood.
  • The wood is a marvellous resource for all age-groups, from Reception to A-Level.
  • Teachers’ packs for KS1, KS2, Secondary levels, including subject webs for all National Curriculum subjects at KS1 and KS2, maps, background information, activities and worksheets.
  • Go to links