Bespoke by Nature

UK England West Midlands Herefordshire Ewyas Harold

Exclusively yours with your meals catered to

The best campsites are often the smaller ones, those with fewer pitches, fewer people and fewer cooks to spoil the proverbial broth. Bespoke By Nature is a place with just those practicalities in mind. There are no caravans here, no campervans either and no expansive ablutions blocks with under-floor heating and gleaming lines of urinals. Instead the place does exactly as it says on the tin: provides individual bookings to individual groups who get the individual site all to themselves and thus the sole focus of Ed and Francesca, the young and buoyant campsite owners, ready to tailor your own bespoke experience.

A husband and wife team, the couple have both grown up here and have a back-of-the-hand understanding of the surrounding Black Mountains, the scenic borderline between England and Wales. Francesca herself was brought up in Old Great Marlborough House, a 17th-century farmhouse that now offers top-spec self catered accommodation, but it’s their love of the great outdoors that has led them outside to pursue our more preferred form of hospitality.

For now the fields look surprisingly bare. There are no tents, no cars and no to-and-fro of family campers. The reason, though, is that this is no ordinary campsite. Bespoke By Nature exists purely for exclusive group bookings, accommodating anywhere between 12 and 24 people, so each weekend it’s almost an entirely new campsite that pops up into life. A few things are a happy constant – the large communal tipi with a welcomingly warm firepit, a BBQ area wafting a tantalising aroma across the site and a wood-fired oven awaiting Ed’s perfected homemade pizzas – but most other aspects of your stay are tailored entirely to you, with a trio of weekend menus to choose between and a handful of guided offsite offerings you can take up if you so wish, like mountain biking, horse riding or hiking the local trails.

Bordered by Olchon Brook, the campsite itself is a spacious, luscious duo of meadows, fringed by trees that foot the surrounding hills. If kids are involved then sunny hours can be lost dabbling in the stream (young at heart welcome too!). Bikes are available to hire and if you don’t fancy dragging all the mud and damp into your tent then there’s helpful storage for muddy boots. It reflects the real bonus of being the only campsite occupants – you decide what kind of holiday you're after. Cycle groups, hiking groups, foodies, rock climbers, kayakers and literature lovers are all well located to make the most of local spoils. And at the end of the day, you have your own patch of the countryside to crawl back to. The “power of good food, good wine and good company” is what Ed and Francesca tell us it’s all about. Add in the power of enjoying the great British countryside on your own, private terms and you’ve got Bespoke By Nature down to a T.

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Details

Facilities

3 composting loos and 2 showers. A large communal tipi and a covered area for eating if the weather is bad. Guests are permitted to fish in the stream that runs through the farm and, when they are present, guests are welcome to help feed the pigs and chickens if they wish. There is a secluded 'beach' by the stream for a quiet read or a doze in the sun, a wooded area with a footpath running through it and a small but beautiful waterfall just a minutes walk up the footpath.

Suitable For

Tents and groups – yes. Campervans, caravans, motorhomes and dogs – no.

Nearby

This is fantastic walking, cycling, fell running and horse riding country, all of which can be arranged for guests with local bike hire/guiding companies etc – their bike hire suppliers collect from the doorstep and guide the group for the day. It's best organised in advance so let Ed and Francesca know if you're interested. They also arrange canoeing trips on the River Wye or Llangorse Lake, a highly recommended way of enjoying this stretch of countryside. For something under your own steam, Bespoke By Nature is a 25 minute drive from the famous book town of Hay on Wye, and the same distance to Abergavenny with its excellent food festival (01873 851643).

Food & Drink

This is a catered campsite so campers can relax knowing meals are taken care of. The owners cook outdoors as much as possible on the BBQ or pizza oven and use fresh seasonal produce, much of which comes straight from the vegetable garden. Tailored menus and dietary requirements available. The campsite is not licensed but don't charge for corkage so bring along as much vino as you wish! There is an excellent shop – Hopes of Longtown – in the village, selling lots of local produce, as well as two nearby pubs, The Crown Inn (01873 860217) in Longtown and the Cornewall Arms (01873 860677) in Clodock. It's an easy and pleasant 1.5 mile walk.

Opening Times

April – November.

Location

Contact Bespoke by Nature, Lower House Farm, Longtown, Herefordshire HR2 0NT

Show Map

Getting There

From the A465 Hereford/Abergavenny Rd, follow signs to Longtown. On arrival in the village, follow signs to Craswall and drive through the village. It is Longtown by name, Longtown by nature, so if you exit the village very soon you are on the wrong road! (Do not follow the sign to 'Michealchurch/Hay'). As the houses begin to thin out, you'll see a sign on the left saying 'Turnant, Brass Knoll, Mountain Rd'. Take this turning, and follow the road for about 500m, down a steep section with a sharp right hand bend at the bottom. Immediately after this bend, there will be a gate in front of you with a salt bin on the left. Go through this, then the next gate, and follow the track to the farm. Guests must shut the gates after themselves as the fields either sides hold livestock (very important!) Abergavenny is the nearest railway station, with Hereford nearby. Both offer regular trains from London and the South East, the Midlands and the North as well as South and North Wales. There is an intermittent bus service through Longtown so it's best for campers to contact the site directly if you require help getting to and from the railway station(s).