Eco-friendly, animal-friendly and people-friendly, Flowerdew Farm offers camping and bell tents on a small site just inland of Dorset’s Jurassic Coast. There’s a welcoming host, a resident artist, a small herd of alpacas and a couple of pygmy goats. As they graze in the paddock next to the campsite it’s hard not to fall for the charms of these friendly creatures. Or indeed for the whole experience at Flowerdew Farm. It’s a place that’s been handbuilt with real care for the land, the community and, of course, visiting campers. Plus, it’s only half a mile to a great local pub, a mile to the nearest farm shop and two miles to the closest beach.
Campers are greeted at the gate by host, Claire, who shows you where to park your car and where your pitch is in the car-free camping field. She’ll point out the site’s simple facilities – though her hand-painted signs do that too. There’s a portable toilet, a rustic but lovely timber and tin hot-water shower and an open-air wash-up station. There’s also an undercover rest area in The Stables with seating and a communal-use fridge freezer. It’s occasionally used by some of the community groups who visit the farm for wellness or willow-weaving workshops (ask Claire in advance to find out when these take place). The site is home to a maximum of 15 tents at a time with four bell tents for hire as well. Three are unfurnished, one comes with everything you need for your stay.
This is a sociable site; the kind of place where you get to know your neighbours and your host. Don’t be surprised if an impromptu wellie-wanging competition or craft session kicks off. It’s all part of the charm of Flowerdew Farm. But there’s plenty to charm you off site too: the 16th-century pub down the road, the surrounding scenery of the peaceful Bride Valley and the beaches of the Jurassic Coast. Here, you are just about midway between Weymouth and Lyme Regis, a great base from which to explore all of West Dorset.