2020 Camping season almost here

In just 18 days time on the 27th March we throw the gates open to a new camping season at The Secret Campsite. Whoopeee.

Its been a dreadful winter, with so much rain and wind, but we’re super upbeat going into the new camping season. Whatever else is going on around us, it can be happily left at home for a few days, whilst we escape.

Real camping

Real camping is a perfect way to leave behind everyday troubles. It’s a chance for us to reconnect with the natural world. Our everyday lives are filled with all sorts of interruptions. So its blissful to escape to somewhere quiet and hidden. Once here we can spend time with the people who are really important in our lives.

Campfires

The campfire is a perfect accompniment to your escape, so i’ve ordered in lots of firewood. Its really important that those long evening conversations are accompanied by the glow, hiss and warmth that a campfire provides. Its a perfect place to watch the night sky and see which constellations you can identify. We’re very lucky in Sussex, to be surrounded by so much woodland. This woodland screens us from the nearby towns of Brighton and Lewes and ensures that we get an ink black backdrop.

Wildlife

Our little campsite, set in a woodland meadow in sussex, is really fortunate to be surrounded by amzing habitat for wildlife. We have managed the site with this in mind for the last 15 years.

This attention to detail means we have a huge range of species sharing the site with us. Some of them are pretty rare, like the nightingales, adders, Purple Emperors, Great Crested Newts. We even have some dormice living nearby.

By managing the site for wildlife, we create opportunities for our campers to connect. Its not just the peace and tranquility we create that enables this but its the other campers we meet. Campers who have found us also value these characteristics of the site and the surrounding area. So much so that they keep coming back, some since we opened in 2012.

Every year we host an event with Sussex Wildlife Trust at the campsite. The Secret Wildlife Festival is a fantastic weekend. Families get to see, touch and hear about the creatures and plants we share the campsite and te rest of Sussex with. You can read more about the festival here

The Area

We’re based just a couple of miles from England’s newest National Park. The South Downs National Park is just north of the fiercely independent town of Lewes and 10 miles from the vibrant city of Brighton. We’re 6 miles from the beautiful heaths of the Ashdown Forest where Pooh Bear was created and Nightjars can be heard on a summers evening. Or if you like asimple trip tothe beach rather than braving the frenetic activity of Brighton, Seaford is your place. Better still you can enjoy superb fish and chips from Trawlers in the town centre.

But, if like me, you just want to walk and enjoy not using a vehicle you can wander over to the Anchor Inn for some boating, or walk along the river to Lewes. You can catch the bus back to Barcombe if you wear yourself out. For the swimmers amongst you, there’s the Pells Pool and for the brave, wild swimming at Barcombe Mills.

At the campsite

Many people come and stay with us and do nothing much at all. We even wrote a book about this approach to camping and it got mentioned in the Sunday Times when it first came out. Why not have a read and start to dream about your trips over the spring summer and autumn.

We look forward to meeting you