Wild Meadow Camping

Don’t forget to pack a torch if you are heading to Wild Meadow Camping. Things can get mighty dark out here in the Ceredigion countryside and campsite owners Andy and Lisa are not about to change that. After all, those star-filled skies are one of the campsite’s best assets. If you prefer well-lit pathways, neatly-mown lawns, WiFi and a place where nature is tamed, head elsewhere. This is Wild Meadow Camping where, as the name suggests, the grass grows long and birds, bees and butterflies are as welcome as campers and glampers.

Having said all that, this place is not about wild camping. There are simple home comforts that raise it far above that. There are flushing toilets and hot-water showers (make sure you bring a few £1 coins — as you will need to pay for those) as well as electric hook up points for each of the site’s 10 camping pitches. Plus, of course, there’s glamping, which comes in the shape of a shepherd’s hut, a fisherman’s cabin and a pair of unfurnished bell tents. But, perhaps, most comforting of all is the presence of welcoming owner-hosts Andy and Lisa who keep the place immaculately clean and are on hand to offer advice.

Since they moved to the area a few years ago they have performed a delicate balance of re-wilding and re-shaping this former grazing land into a campsite with wild appeal. Pitches and cabins are placed around the edge of a three-acre, tree-lined meadow with long swaying grass and wildflowers in the middle. It’s this, and the stream that tinkles past the cabin and hut, that attracts the wildlife. Red kites and buzzards are seen daily, barn owls occasionally swoop by and tawnys are sometimes heard from the surrounding trees. Foxes, badgers and mice are present but, of course, more difficult to spot.

Incredibly, an easier sighting that’s not too far from this neck of the woods are the dolphins of Cardigan Bay. This West Welsh bay has the largest population of dolphins in Europe and daily boat trips from New Quay, eight miles from site, offer pretty-much guaranteed views. New Quay is one of eight beaches within a 15-minute drive from site. It’s these that most people come for. The site is inland and sheltered in quiet countryside but the beaches are not far away and all linked by the Wales Coast Path. If you like to walk, swim and surf, spot wildlife and stars, Wild Meadow Camping is perfectly placed on the wilder side of West Wales.