There is a National Shortage of sites which allow fires....

[Blu]

...IMO.

A good choice of newer style sites around Kent and E Sussex which offer camping in the woodland, 'pitch where you like', non-crowded non regimented camping, but you have to book a long while on advance to get a space. And in other parts of the country this sort of place can be almost non-existant.

Camping seems to be enjoying a huge boom - is there a way to let farmers and landowners know that there is a gap in the market?

That HotSpot silver one does look damn good, actually! I wish I had bought one of those, now, instead of the fold flat one we have.

Where are you going this w/e?

Woodlands in South Devon. I think the dh will be very happy

I meant dc (although think dh will be happy too as he is a big kid!)

Have a good time!

Nice wetroom, Blu. Looks a big site though. We like the titchy sites. We usually go to the Camping and Caravanning Club CS sites, which only take about 10 caravans and 5 tents.

To be honest with the titchy sites, I never think of asking about fires

We're off to Bedgebury in Kent tomorrow which allows fires. Never been before but it looks pretty nice from the website.

We don't have fires unless we are part of a group as our single family camping trips always seem to attract lots of wind and rain which do not mix well with marshmallow burning warming and raucous jolly singing. Generally, we take a route similar to Cappster and spend our evenings grumbling and shivering in the tent and complaining about anyone who dares to speak within 200 yards of us in case by some remote chance they manage to wake our passed-out-cold-from-giving-endless-instructions toddler.

Much prefer group camps with lovely warm fires though

Off to Eweleaze for lovely group camp with fire and singing this weekend. Very pleased to see there are flash floods in Dorset at the moment

I love campfires! Went camping with a group a few months ago, and it was quite chilly and rained persistently all evening, would have been a bit miserable if we hadn't had a lovely big fire to stand around. It keeps you warm, and if you stand close you get dry on one side at least - just have to keep turning around to dry both front and back! Didn't sing any songs though, that is just unnecessary IMO!

We're camping again in Wales in September and made sure to book a site that allows fires. We considered Forgewood and Wowo, I do like the more natural 'wild-ish' camping (but with proper loos etc on site when you need them!). There are a fair few sites allowing fires actually, if you look for them.

There are Ephiphany, but they are the first to get booked up, IMO.
You have to plan far in advance. And it's fine if you wnat to camp for camping's sake, but if you wnat to visit a partuiclar area, it can be hard to find one.

I can sort of see the attraction, but I just can't believe how much you all are prepared to pay for these sites that don't really even have many facilities - £9 per night per adult and £6 per child then you have to buy their wood on top, so far as I can see.

I did go to a site with DB and his family once and he had a fire and we toasted marshmallows which was good fun, but the smell of smoke got into everything, which I hadn't realised. Tthe smell didn't go after one wash and dry on the line, it took about three to get the smell out of the clothes.

Anyway, I'm sticking with our sideways BBQ that we can add charcoal to if we want that doesn't get banned on sites that don't allow fires.

When we went with a big group, luckily one of our members had a big tent that we could all crowd around in and have a or two.

Each to his own, eh, and I'm glad there are more campsites for those who like fires, it's just not for us. Also, DH was a bit of a reluctant camper who is getting used to it now and if we went to sites that didn't have good or at least functional showers as well as loos, he wouldn't enjoy it. We did stay at Eweleaze Farm near Angmering recently that has stopped allowing campfires and their facilities were just about on the brink of bearable, but it only cost £15 per night for 2 adults and 3 DC, so we didn't mind.

I think you're right about the £££ - I've looked at some campsites online which make a big whoop about being back-to-nature when what they mean is they don't have much of a toilet block. I stayed on a CS site last year for £8 a night (the grand total for the four of us) and it had a shower, toilet, washing up facilities and somewhere to freeze coolbox blocks.

Why would I want to pay £8pppn for less?

I don't mind basic facilites if it's a nice 'natural' site, if I was that bothered about hot showers etc I'd just stay in a hotel (or more likely book a cottage). All I really insist on is a proper toilet so I don't have to dig a hole and bury my poo - true wild camping is a step too far for me, though I like the idea of it in theory!

I agree Blu, it's a shame there aren't more sites like these. I can see it's not everyone's cup of tea, but they are few and far between. We're lucky in that we're happy and able to go pretty much anywhere, as long as it's quiet and there's good walking country around, but not everyone is in that position.

I wouldn't want to camp on the 'we provide you with a spade' sites - too much likelihood of a previous camper not having dug deep enough! And I worry about the privacy angle, too - how does that work?

ILJJ - can you link to your sideways campfire substitute BBQ? I am intrigued.

I haven't been to a site I thought was particularly expensive - but it's possible that where there is a higher price it reflects the more spread out nature lower density of the pitches?

And the fact that they are becoming so popular but there are relatively few - market forces! Blackberry Wood is reputedly booked up a year in advance!

Wowo is lovely but they've got so much bigger and now charge £5 per car per day. Ridiculous as you need a car to get there and to take all your rubbish home. And I mean rubbish, there is no recycling on site.

I can highly recommend Noongallas near Penzance. Allow fires, fab woods at teh bottom of the hill. Best showers I've ever come across at camping (though there is only one per gender!) And you get a beer once youve pitched from the owner - seriously! (Though it wasn;t busy when we were there but others have said the same thing)

THe only downside is that is is on a hill (the pitches are terraced so you don;t end up in a heap in your tent!) so the trek to the loo is a bit much but a good way to burn off thos cream teas!

Sorry, can't link to my sideways BBQ as we bought it in France a few years ago. We have only been going to Southern France recently, where BBQs aren't allowed. We had been looking in the supermarket for them, but realised that, of course, they wouldn't be for sale there. We haven't had a chance to look in the northern France supermarkets. My friends all want one, too, when we get a chance to find them.

with ours you cook as normal with the BBQ flat and then when you've finished cooking, you move it up on its legs so it can warm you.

I'm looking for one that my DB has that has the charcoal standing sideways in the middle and you can cook on both sides. I'll do a link to that if I can find it.

Oh God we are going to Eweleaze tomorrow too - is it still there or has it been washed out to sea? Our bbq this year is the Asda special - which bears an uncanny resemblance to that much more expensive one Blu linked to earlier....??

Manor Court Farm (Kent/Sussex borders, so ties in with OP) allows fires, has a reasonable shower block, and often has space even at short notice. It isn't woodland/pitch-where-you-like but is pretty flexible (and for many/most pitches you can park next to your tent).

We usually take our smoky joe, then you can have a fire wherever you like...

nethergong nurseries near Canterbury