Hampshire’s countryside is far from lacking in the scenic stakes: from the magical woods of its New Forest in the south to the rolling cornfields of its northerly borders, you’ll find endless valleys and wild meadows unpopulated by a single human but for the occasional farmer harvesting his crops. It’s in this countryside that West Meon resides, a delightfully twee English village, which would make an excellent cameo in a Miss Marple story. It’s also home to Meon Springs Yurt Village.
Based on a dairy and arable farm that has been run by the Butler family for three generations, it is one of the few farms in the area that still has milking cows.
The Yurt Village is run by Jamie & Alison, who conceived of the idea in 2009. Other sites may also have yurts from Mongolia, but this campsite actually feels Mongolian, with its miles of china-blue sky and rolling uninterrupted land. This is landscape to free the mind and strip away stress.
Inside, the yurts are delightfully rustic with burner stoves (logs provided), chequer-quilted double beds and exquisitely hand-painted blue supporting posts, backdropped by wooden cross-hatched fretwork. The accommodation sleeps up to six and all your bedding and utensils are provided. Outside, you have your own fire pit and a barbie for cooking up under the stars; and on a clear night this is a great spot to ruminate on UFOs or pretend you know where The Bear is, for the firmament is bursting with gems.
Come the morning there’s loads to do, be it sampling local ales in pubs as old as Dick Turpin, walking or cycling the miles of local paths (you can hire mountain bike and GPS to power and guide you and Jamie will send you a map of the local area on booking). With a spot of fly fishing just round the corner at Meon Springs Fly Fishery, you can even catch a trout for the barbecue and if you’ve got kids with you remember to ask to see the dairy farm and have a go at milking the cows.
