Hill Farm Suffolk

A narrow country lane, edged by cow parsley in summer, leads from the hamlet of Stoke Ash to Hill Farm. It’s half a mile long and seems to be leading nowhere until you arrive at its end, where a clutch of barns, stables and an old farmhouse complete the scene. At first you don’t notice the bell tents, sheltered as they are in a triangle of woodland but, when you do, there’s no doubt you’ll be skipping from your car to your new-found canvas home. This place is utterly charming.

Hill Farm Suffolk is home to eight bell tents in total, each sleeping up to four people, though with room for a further two on camp beds if required. Each tent comes stashed with a box of cooking clobber, including a gas stove, coolbox, kitchenware and crockery. Ben linen, along with towels, are provided which you can take to the newly built washrooms (think good, powerful showers) and there’s also a communal dishwashing area where you can clean your things and use the site’s fridge-freezer.

The shady setting of the trees is one of the real selling points here. The woods are light and bright enough that grass still grows and there’s plenty of space to move around, yet at the same time the glamping space feels sheltered and secluded – a feeling accentuated by that long private road to get here. On two sides, the triangle of trees overlooks the open fields of the working farm where barley dances in the breeze.

To make the most of such scenery, step out and walk to one of the local pubs. There are a handful of options within range. Follow the hedgeline half a mile east and cross the stream (the River Dove) and you’re into the village of Thorndon, where the CAMRA-approved Black Horse does a decent carvery, or follow the entry road back to Stoke Ash and walk down Wood Hall Lane, where a footpath ultimate leads you to The Four Shoes, a charming pub that looks every part its 12th-century age, with a low thatched roof and pinkish lime-plastered walls.

Further afield there’s plenty to keep you busy. On rainy days urban Ipswich is 25 minutes by car and Norwich is 40 minutes North, while on sunny ones it’s a 50-minute drive to Southwold, Aldeburgh and the Suffolk coast. You needn’t get in the car if you don’t want to, though. There are bikes for rent at Hill Farm Suffolk and, of course, the communal campfire to laze beside.