A view that's worth sleeping on the ground

When my brother invited me to go camping with him this summer, I didn't jump at the idea. I mean, I'm not exactly the camping type. I don't own a sleeping bag, I drink expensive wine and I drive a Smart Car.

But the Olympic sailing was taking place down the road at Weymouth and I thought I would rough it for the night. So we stuffed a duvet and a few bottles of plonk into the Smart and set off for the coast.

We were staying at Eweleaze Farm. This is a working farm, but for a few weeks a year, the site opens for campers. You reach the site down a long, dusty farm track (which my Smart didn't exactly love!). At the hill crest, you are presented with the most stunning blue-green view.


The view from Eweleaze Campsite

The camping fields are situated in a secluded valley, in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It includes ½ mile of private beach and cliffs, which now forms part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. So the view from your site will be nothing but beautiful beaches and craggy coastlines.

We were lucky because it was a clear weekend and from the site you could see right across the bay to Weymouth. You could actually see the Olympic sailing from our tent!

The squeeze drinking Pinot Noir from a blue, plastic cup!

My brother had already set up the tent (thank goodness) so all we had to do was build the fire, heat up the chilli and pour the wine. I'd brought with me one of my current wine favourites from Majestic, the Barista Pinotage 2010. It tastes of coffee, chocolate and berries and is even delicious drunk out of a blue, plastic beaker!

I've mentioned my brother, Bordeauxboy, before on this blog. He has and Advanced WSET qualification so always brings a good drop to the party. He had a lovely bottle of Cloudy Bay Pinot Noir which was peppery, fruity and delightfully dry. Again, drunk out of a plastic cup!

Me cooking chilli by the sea!

Although I slept on the floor, had to walk up the hill to the showers and use a long drop for my lady business, the view we woke up to over the blue bay in the morning was completely worth it (together with the bacon sandwich the squeeze fried up).

I wouldn't say I'm exactly a camping convert, but if you are going to sleep outside, it doesn't get much better than the serene charm of Eweleaze Farm.

A bit of PYO in the sunshine

I have lots of fond memories of PYO from when I was young. (That's Pick Your Own for those that don't know!) Spending hours rummaging through bushes to find strawberries and raspberries which rarely found their way into the plastic punnet and going home with red fingers and a sore belly.

Beautiful Ansty's PYO farm

So on a sunny Sunday a few weeks ago, I headed off with the current squeeze to forage for some fruit. We chose Ansty's Pick Your Own which is on the A30 about 10 miles outside of Salisbury.

 

The photos on their website don't do this place any justice, because it is absolutely stunning. The PYO is set at the foot of some very steep hills which are littered with huge, white regimental badges which were carved into the chalky hills by soldiers during the First World War. The rows of fruit are beautifully maintained and the whole place felt a bit like some of the vineyards I have visited.

The lovely farm shop at Ansty's

The farm has a lovely little shop and cafe with all sorts of cakes and organic produce for sale. We went home with more fruit than we could possibly ever have eaten and a selection of treats from the shop. It wasn't cheap, but it was very, very good.

Before we headed to Ansty's we went to a Pick Your Own place near Salisbury called Bake Fruit Farm. However, when we got there it was closed! On a sunny Sunday, we couldn't believe there wouldn't be enough trade to merit opening.

It's sad that more people don't do PYO. You get to choose the best fruit, you know it's ripe and fresh and it is certainly more rewarding than pushing a trolley round the supermarket. Essentially, it's like a workout and a picnic rolled into a shopping trip.

The only thing missing? A spot of champagne. It would have been amazing to sit in the sunshine, look out over the lovely view whilst dipping strawberries in a glass of fizz.