Your arrival at Manor Farm is just the thing for creating the right atmosphere. As you pootle along between the cobbled and flint barns, and high hedgerows brushing your car on both sides, the site jumps into view. The camping fields are at the top of the hill, with the seaside town of Cromer a mere 10 minutes’ walk away. And in the distance, like an ironed-out pancake, you’ll see the open blue of the sea.
It’s a good view, and feels like a suitably remote spot to pitch your tent, even though you can walk so easily into town. The fact that you reach the campsite via the farm track and there are no roads near by mean you can let the kids run wild without worrying too much about traffic thundering past.
And boy do they have the space to roam around here – this site is seriously sprawling. And while it’s pretty, the pace is far from being twee, so avoiding the blazer-clad crowds of ‘Chelsea-on- Sea’ at nearby Burnham Market. Instead, you can stroll through charmingly old fashioned East Runton village, at the bottom of the campsite’s slope, an on to the local beach – a pebbly affair with excellent rock pools full of glistening sea shells and tiny scuttling crabs.
Manor Farm is a family-owned working farm, so there are lambs and calves to see if you happen to be visiting at Easter, and ponies to pet all year round. The place feels wild, and yet you have all the advantages of a small seaside town on your doorstep. It’s an ideal combination. And, surveyed over a fresh cuppa from the on-site Cabin Café, there are few spots around here we would rather pitch our tent.
