travelasorousWe went for a 2 night stay at Beeches Farm with a friend and her daughter.
We choose to stay in the 2 pods, we don’t own a tent yet and my car is quite small so a pod seemed easier!
The pods had a double bed, a kettle with cups and milk/tea/sugar which I was surprised to see. There was an inside and outside light and a heater which I didn’t use. The bed was comfi and the kettle was amazing!
The pods came with a sink in-between and a BBQ area, each pod also had a picnic bench and fire pit, you can buy wood from the campsite. They also each have their own toilet just up the hill.
The rest of the site, it looked like each pitch came with a fire pit, there was also 3 or 4 static caravans for rent. When we were there it was mostly camping vehicles including a massive towed motorhome.
There is a small play park for kiddos, a shower block and laundry room. Showers were £1 for 4 mins of hot water, it rained the whole time we were away so I didn’t shower!
The camp site is up a very long track and there isn’t anywhere close by to walk too, so if you need anything make sure you have it with you! You can buy fresh eggs at the reception when they are available. There is a communal fridge / freezer for use in reception, which was super helpful.
It had the cheek to rain when we were there, so the first night we went to The Anchor Inn which is overlooked by the beautiful Tintern Abbey. Food was really good, and there is a good outside area with a small playpark, there was gluten free options.
Once I got Toddlersorous to sleep we had a good nights sleep. We woke up to sunshine which was exciting, we spent the morning at the site playing in the playpark and enjoying the sun. We then headed off to Forest of Dean Sculpture Trail, it’s quite expensive to park but you could probably spend all day there. There’s a café and big play park and of course the sculpture trail. The trail itself to do the whole walk would take over 3 hours, so we decided we would just do the beginning where there was some temporary sculptures.
After about half hour of walking it started to spot with rain, we decided to turn around and go back, by the time we got back to the café it was torrential rain! We hid in the café for ice cream! I had packed a few coats because of the rain but obviously all I had was a damp cardigan! The weather did ease up a bit so we managed a play in the park.
I would definitely go back, I think it would be good for older kids who could enjoy walking the whole trail.
Down the road there is Cannop Ponds which looked lovely through the torrential rain!
We drove to Monmouthshire for Pizza Express because it was to wet to cook! We went on a damp walk to see the local farm animals when we got back. Obviously it stopped raining at about 10pm and was lovely!
On our last day we took a walk to The Devils Pulpit, we checked with staff and they said it’s a good hour walk and to give ourselves a three hour window which I thought was a bit too much but was pretty accurate. We both had out carriers with us and I would say I spent about 70% of the walk carrying Toddlerasorous! It’s not buggy friendly walk even an off road buggy but totally doable using a carrier – easier with a younger child! It was defiantly worth the walk even if I couldn’t move by the end of the day!
We walked from the campsite, the route was well signposted, there is instructions on how to get there here.
We had a really nice couple of days despite the rain! I would go back again as it isn’t far from home and there were some nice places to visit nearby including Puzzlewwod.
A friend visited a few weeks later and also enjoyed their trip, they said there were some nice walks from the campsite.
