South Allenford Farm

Wild camping with the thumbs up from a friendly farmer is what you get at South Allenford Farm. This is a stripped-back campsite if ever we saw one – perfect for a spot of back-to-basics camping. There’s no shower or even a loo here so it’s appropriate for those who have a campervan with on-board facilities or tent campers with their own portable toilets only. There’s something elemental about what is provided though; fresh air, fire pits and water. Plus, a free-form pitch in a huge field in the beautiful Cranborne Chase countryside, not far from the New Forest National Park.

Farmer Digby will give you details of how to reach this simple but special spot on his sprawling farm. If he’s got time, he’ll meet you too. Then you, and the few other campers who are allowed at a time, are given the freedom to choose where to pitch within a grassy field. Cows and horses often graze in the surrounding fields, deer and hares are often spotted and kestrels and buzzards fly overhead. This is laid-back life in the countryside where a stroll to the local pub or a morning fishing in the river are great ways to spend your time.

Further afield, you can head into the New Forest for yet more wildlife spotting, horse riding or cycling. And there are plenty of man-made attractions too: pretty villages and towns within the national park and closer by in Cranborne Chase: Damerham is the nearest, Rockborne is not much further and the city of Salisbury is just over 10 miles from here.