Fontmills Farm Campsite

Framed by oak and ash trees and scented with the familiar smell of campfire smoke, Fontmills Farm is one of East Sussex’ most unassuming little campsites. "Little" is perhaps misleading: The camping meadow is a pleasing 20 acres and part of a larger 140-acre farm, but Fontmills’ conscious restriction to maintain just 30 camping pitches means any large-scale feel is carefully avoided. Instead, the place is as uncommercial as they come, with only sheep as your neighbours, watching unobtrusively as you try to pitch your tent.

Facilities are simple yet spotless, with a couple of hot, roof-less showers, four proper flushing loos, dish-washing sinks and a fridge-freezer anyone can use. There’s also a clutch of furnished bell tents in one corner of the meadow, kitted out with memory-foam-mattress beds, rugs, lighting and, of course, colourful strings of bunting. A box of kitchen wares will help you get cooking, with a gas stove supplied, though, like everyone else on the campsite, hiring firepits and cooking the old fashioned way is usually the most popular option. Logs are sold by the sack load and free range eggs are available.

Hosts Steve and Nicola are long-standing owners of the farm and a well-spring of local knowledge. On arrival they’ll happily wave you into the field, where campers can drive to their pitch and make themselves at home before returning the car to a parking area. Those in the know will have brought bikes along for their stay too. A few hundred yards from the camping meadow, the renowned Cuckoo Trail is like a purpose-built, pub-to-pub pathway designed for the casual cyclist. In fact, it’s simply retracing the old railway line and much of what’s pedalled today is the same flattened route from the 19th century, just with the old sleepers and irons removed. Fontmills’ local sections are a flashing mix of green, tree-lined stretches and wide-open views across the quiet Cuckmere River.

Not that you’ll have to pedal everywhere. It’s an easy drive to some of the main attractions, with the beaches of Eastbourne and the commanding white cliffs of the Sussex Heritage Coast just 20 minutes or so away. The nearby A267 leaves it all wonderfully accessible and whether you’re a culture vulture looking for Herstmonceux Castle and the 1066 trail or walkers with an eye on the nearby South Downs, Fontmills Farm is certainly a handy base. When you get back in the evening you still have the pleasures of an open campfire and wonderfully clear, starry skies.