Blackberry Wood
Camping,Ditchling,Near Lewes Sussex.
The most magical campsite we have stayed on.
For one of our annual trips with friends this year we chose Blackberry Wood. Ideally located for us travelling from Kent and Surrey.
We arrived late on a Friday night due to work commitments. When we arrived at 19:30, most people were already there, however the site did not feel crowded. Luckily our friends had sourced us a wheelbarrow as you cannot drive to your pitch.
Whilst I agree with this concept in theory, the reality is tough, especially when you have a tent the size of ours! But it is lovely not having to worry about cars when the children are playing and it makes the site much calmer. However our friends had a arranged a Tesco delivery… that was fun in a wheelbarrow!
Phil got started on the tent (beauty of an Air Tent is he can do it alone- Air Tents save marriages right?) I got set to unloading the car, many trips! The children ran off to explore! One tip is that you will need heavy duty tent pegs as the ground is very tough.
As far as camping goes, there are 2 sides to this site, Woodland camping and the Wild Side. As the name suggests the wild side is a bit more basic facilities wise but still excellent. This side is only open part of the year (May-Aug)
We stayed in the woodland side, Humpty Dumpty to be exact. Each pitch was named by the person who first stayed on them! This side is open year round.
I have never stayed on a camp site quite like this, and I’ve stayed on a lot! It really does have a magical feel, little warrens leading to private pitches, rope swings, playgrounds. Surrounded by fields of corn. The children adored it! They loved it even more that they could have a bit of independence wandering around the place.
The facilities are clean and functioning, a tad basic, don't expect big toilet blocks rather they are kept in line with the whole vibe of the place. I must admit that when I first saw the amount of toilets (2) in our section, I was worried but I never had to wait. There were also 2 showers in our section, bit hit and miss on the temp, but clean and fine for a campsite. Washing up facilities were also good. Even the pipes are quirky! There are no electric pitches, which is fine especially for a weekend.
There is a small camp shop selling essentials and I believe you can make a coffee in there too. Also between 9-11am a little hut sells proper coffee, delicious!
There are visiting food vans, on the Friday it was a Crepe place and the Saturday it was Pizza. We didn’t try these as in the daytime on the Saturday we walked to Plumpton and went to the Half Moon Pub. It took about 45 mins/1hr walk- cross country, no roads. We went to wrong way out of the campsite so took a bit of a detour so the walk home was quicker!
(If you go, take the path at the lower side of the camp site, over the stich bridge near the rope swing and turn RIGHT down the path and out through the corn fields.)
The pub was lovely, nice food and staff. A playground outside and also a mini pitch and put!
Back on site we started our fire in our dedicated fire pit it section of our pitch. Our pitch was big enough for 2 large tents, however they come in all shapes and sizes. They don't allow groups of more than 3.
The glamping sections are amazing, including Higgledy and Piggledy- tree house accommodation with their own facilities. Then a section with a Helicopter, a fire engine, a bus and lots more, these have more shared facilities, separate from the camping facilities. All around a small playground and Guinea Pig world! A little section where you can meet the sites guinea pigs.
If you don’t like been offline, wifi is available on the seating around the shop. If you do, there is a lovely little cabin which is a library/quiet room.
Around and about, if you can drag your children away from the site, you are only 9 miles from the coast Brighton/Hove/Shoreham area. Lewes, a great town is very close and just surrounded by general gorgeous countryside. We had a wonderful drive there cross country.
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