Worfe Camping

Campfire-friendly, grassy, off-grid camping pitches are the daily bread of Hipcamp sites. The back-to-basics approach to camping tends to be the one we’re most at home with as it ensures pleasingly natural surroundings and a limited impact on the environment. But over at Worfe Camping, they’ve managed a neat trick: offering camping that’s simultaneously souped-up and pared back. Each pitch is grassy and off-grid with an oh-so natural feel (that’s the pared-back bit) but comes with a fire pit, a picnic bench, an eco loo, a hot water shower, and an unlimited supply of firewood. That’s Hipcamp for 'souped up'.

These pitches are not just souped-up, though; they’re also well located. Each pitch sits riverside with a view across the water to free-range, rare breed pigs. Worfe Camping, and those snuffling porkers, are part of Valley Farm in the Shropshire countryside. Looking after it all are Anne and Tim. They’ll be the ones to show you in, to answer any questions, and perhaps to sell you a banger for the barbecue. But buy them with a warning: the Valley Farm rare breed pork sausages are so lip-smackingly tasty that once you've tried one, you might not be able to return to the common or supermarket variety.

There are just six pitches sharing a huge seven-acre wildflower meadow here adding to the feeling that you’ve found a special spot. Four are the riverside tent pitches and two are in a slightly loftier position in the field, reserved for the campervans and small motorhomes which are also welcome here. Campers have the run of the place; not only the camping meadow but all around the farm which is home to sheep and chickens, too. The quiet (no amplified music is allowed on-site), the birdsong, the farm animals, and the trickling Worfe River (more of a stream than somewhere you can swim) lend the place a rather relaxing vibe. If it rains, head for the Tack Room, a lovely undercover space where you can make tea, cook undercover, freeze ice packs and play games on the sofa.

There’s a good pub, The Smokey Cow, within daytime walking distance and a surprising amount to do on days out should you want to. There are lots of walking and cycling routes to Shropshire villages and market towns, but the big attraction is World Heritage-listed Ironbridge Gorge. Its many museums, famous bridge, and on-the-water activities are just seven miles from the site. A fair few National Trust properties, the David Austin Rose Garden, the Cosford RAF Museum, and Hoo Zoo are also within a few miles.