Milkmaid Meadow Campsite

Some people find Milkmaid Meadow a little too remote but those who will like it here most, will see the off-the-beaten-track location as one of its many charms. It’s not near a bustling beach or a theme park. It’s not within easy walking distance of a pub or shop. But what it is, is quiet, peaceful and laidback. It’s West Country camping at its best: it’s a field on a farm among acres of green with woodland, wildlife, streams and Devon-grown produce for sale.

There are 30 pitches at this laid-back place – which offers off-grid camping for tents and campervans with a pitch-where-you-please policy across its three-acre field. Facilities are low impact as suits the general ethos of the place. There are a couple of composting loos, a couple of hot water showers and an open-air washing-up sink with a line-up of recycling bins too. Although there’s no electric hook-up, the basics are covered in an environmentally-sound way with phone charging via solar panels. Campfires are allowed at the communal campfire pit or by hiring an off-ground fire pit for your pitch – owner Jakki will be round to see if you want firewood at some point every day. You can also buy her homegrown and home-reared produce from the farmshop outside her house, a half-mile up the road.

There’s a two-mile nature trail around Milkmiad Meadow and if you want to stretch your legs further, you could walk to Honey Wood Orchard to try the local cider. For North Devon’s bigger attractions, Exmoor and the coast, you’ll need to get in the car but neither are too far and driving through countryside to get there hardly seems a chore. Bideford is one of the closest towns, five miles away, beyond which it’s not too far to the harbour village of Appledore, or the expansive beach at Westward Ho! It’s 20 miles to the edge of Exmoor and to Woolacombe’s golden sands. In fact, all of Devon is within reach of a day trip but you wouldn’t know it when you’re back on site listening to the sounds of nature and watching the stars come out in the dark, dark skies above.