Hidden
away to say the least, Northmoor Lock Paddocks is not a manicured site, but
more reminiscent of the old days when your mum and dad used to take you camping
back in the 1970s. Tussocky meadows shaded by mature willows are fringed by the
soporific tumble of water from the nearby weir, while over the hedge there’s
nothing but cornfields and ploughed earth as far as the eye can see.
David
Walliams crawled shivering from Northmoor Lock after the first leg of his epic
2011 Thames swim, but you can be much more snug in one of their two timber log
pods – simple affairs stocked with chopped wood to burn in the firepit
and little else.
The
two camping fields offer either plenty of sunlight, or – among the willows –
mottled shade. Both
blaze in a riot of wildflowers come spring, the grass thick and bouncy and
providing a naturally comfortable underlay.
Then
there are the bell tents, again nestled in their own separate field so that
every camper has their own share of the space on offer. Inside, the tents
feature a Windy Smith wood burner, a double bed with memory foam mattress and
all the furnishings, kitchenwares and crockery you could need. It would be a
proud parent that could fit all of this in their car on the old-fashioned
camping trip!
Bring
a fishing rod and plant yourself by the river in the dappled sunlight, a blade
of grass in your mouth like Huck Finn, and gaze out across the weir as
a crayon-coloured barge rolls by. Welcome back to your childhood!
