Bongo Fury

check out this site in east sussex

http://www.chestnutmeadow.co.uk/

The Lone Wolf in South Wales is nice - very eco. http://www.coolcamping.co.uk/campsites/ ... /lone-wolf

As well as a huge field for the vans there is a forest you can take your tent into which I guess is about as 'wild' as you can get whilst still being officially on a campsite. You can build fires there too!

this ones great place no campers tents olny but try there rent a tent http://www.freewebs.com/holestationcampsite/

Back to campsites, Toms Field in Isle of Purbeck are pretty environmentally friendly and only accept smaller units.

http://www.tomsfieldcamping.co.uk/10.html

Great site with the "Square and Compass" up the road which is a great pub. Just make sure you got to the correct Toms field, there are a few, friends have gone there and found that others in their group are in a different "Toms field"!

levon wrote:Back to campsites, Toms Field in Isle of Purbeck are pretty environmentally friendly and only accept smaller units.

http://www.tomsfieldcamping.co.uk/10.html

Great site with the "Square and Compass" up the road which is a great pub. Just make sure you got to the correct Toms field, there are a few, friends have gone there and found that others in their group are in a different "Toms field"!

Wonderful campsite, provided you get there early to get a good pitch.

Try the Sustainability Centre in Petersfield..they run a lot of courses, have a natural burials site, solar showers/compost toilets etc. It's a fantastic and very calm setting. Camping in the woods (they also do bushcraft courses), Tipis, open field etc. My only slight concern having used that site for a number of years is that it's getting a little too commercial...the atmosphere is still very much back to nature and calm but the last time we tried to book, the entire site had been booked up by a law firm...and if you wish to camp in the woods there is competition from the guys that run the bushcraft courses and have first say over that part of the site...It has also become an expensive way to experience back to basics camping (our family of 5 works out £40 per night).....but if you're looking for like minded people, that is one of the best, most tranquil environments we've found.

http://www.sustainability-centre.org/


There's 2 other sites we've used which advertise themselves as 'eco' but it's debatable which is why I'll mention them. We went to Forgewood nr Tunbridge wells last week. It's advertised as camping in the woods or open field / back to nature (more bushcraft courses and parachute shelters) and has relatively good recycling facilities and toilet facilities without being overly developed...however it was written up in the guardian. The reality is it's great for large groups of people with large footprints and gets very busy and doesn't attract the eco'minded in my opinion although it was a great break (for our party of 30). I'd imagine out of season you'd get a very different experience but it was very very busy during half term when we were there (and in wet weather the site was very muddy with poor drainage). The ethos appears to be more around making money (our family of 5 would have been £43 per night) than any basis in sustainability but it is still a good site...They pack a lot more people in to the site than they imply from their website and due to the numbers of children, families etc the woods are in no way protected ecologically (with that many people, all the vegetation in the woods is flattened and any fallen branches have been cleared for firewood..largely because of the £5 a bag of wet wood charge they make). We tend to free camp with very light kit and rarely camp with others..Forgewood isn't the sort of place we'd choose having now been there.

Linked with Foregwood is InWood in Basingstoke. We went there in its first year (2 years ago I think) and it was fantastic. Again, not a particular sustainable basis, more 'back to nature' as a by product of trying to make a return. That said, the site was a massive copse and we were the only ones there (along with Pedro who lived in a tipi and maintained a presence on the site). Can't vouch for how much they've developed it as I haven't been there since but it was an excellent site with minimal impact at the time and huge amounts of space. There was no danger of being close to other campers or being disturbed by groups etc but as with Forgewood, I suspect it has since become popular and probably has more established facilities to attract the glampers...


Blackberry wood in sussex also a lovely place and very calming, but I believe they're tent only. They only have about 20 pitches in the woodland so although it's always booked up, it's never busy if you get what I mean (our family of 5 would be £36.50).

Ant.

Our absolute favourite site...... Big but green! Only open in August. Www.eweleaze.co.uk.

Hi
Purely a personal thing, but isn't Eco-Camping just a farmer's field with a tap and a CDP nearby...thus enabling the field to be cycled, and another field offered for camping another year?....That's the camping I prefer, and it suits a Bongo 300%....drive in, camp and leave nothing...Wild camping is great, too....proper stuff...The first time I ever camped was at a roadside....Two of us on a motorbike...ruck-sack..deserted lane, and a grass verge!...fabulous...got wet, and lots of wild animals flashing little green eyes at us all night...Memorable!
Cheers
Helen