The most important thing that we do on the meadow is look after the environment. Our eco facilities are sustainable and leave as little impact as possible. Camping is all about living lightly on the land for a few days – leaving as little trace as possible and enjoying the environment that surrounds us.
You can read our Green Policy here.
You can find our Eco Travel Policy here.
Water
We have access to mains water on site, but once we have used it we need to find a way to dispose of it without causing harm to the environment. Living in one of the driest places in Britain, we also try to save as much water as we can.
The grey water produced on site is recycled by ‘Grow’, a system that uses gravel and marginal plants to filter waste water. Once filtered the water can safely soak away to the surrounding hedges or can be used to water plants in the farm garden.
Washing up
We have an undercover washing up area with mains water supply. Guests are supplied with eco washing up liquid, cloths and tea towels. Hot water for washing up can be heated using the kelly kettle provided in the camp kitchen, or you can create larger volumes of hot water from the rocket stove water heaters by the shower (see below).
Composting toilets
We want to do our best to help fuel the idea that composting toilets can be both practical and beautiful. Our toilet design separates liquids and solids and by providing good ventilation we can ensure that they stay smell free. Each of the two loo huts has its own sink unit with cold water, a mirror and environmentally friendly handwash. We provide individual hand towels and recycled toilet paper from ‘Who Gives a Crap’. Over the years we have camped in tents that are too small to stand up in, so we have also made sure that there is plenty of room to get changed or gather all of the children for the ceremonial brushing of teeth.
We also have ‘The Wee Hut’ urinal for the boys. It has its own sink unit with cold water tap.
Wood fired shower
The large shower has space to get changed and hang up your clothes and towels. Water for the shower is heated using wood fired rocket stoves designed by Neel. They were built for us by a steel manufacturing company in Glasgow. After a lot of experimentation we have discovered that water is one of the most difficult substances to heat, but each of the two rocket stoves can heat enough water for a shower in just about 20 minutes. We provide free shower packs with kindling, wood pellets and fire lighters in the camp kitchen area. You can sit with a good book and a cup of tea next to your stove as you heat your shower.
Power
There is no electricity on the meadow. All of the power needed to supply lights and water pumps is generated by the sun. We do have 12v USB phone charging points in the camp kitchen (phone signal here is mixed), but no 240v plug sockets.
Battery lanterns and solar chandeliers are provided in the StarDome. The fire pits at StarDome and thwe Slow camps are lit with lanterns and tealights. It does get very dark on site at night so you might find it useful to bring a torch with you.
Waste recycling
We try to reuse ‘found things’ as much as possible on site. Separate bins are available for general rubbish, recycling and compost. On average our campers generate two bags of recycling for every one bag of general waste which is fantastic! Food waste goes to a compost bin where we create compost for potting campsite plants and adding to the farm garden. We kindly ask that any larger items that you no longer have need for (broken chairs, popped inflatable mattresses, toys, pots and pans etc) are taken back home with you for disposal.
Promoting eco travel
We have a bike shelter on our campsite and can lend you a bicycle free of charge for an outing during your stay. There is a small selection of child’s bikes but we do also have a child seat to fit on the back of an adult bike. The bikes are serviced by Thetford Men’s Shed and we make sure that the tyres are pumped up and they are ready to go. All of the bikes are second hand though and have seen many adventures before. We ask that you check them to make sure that you are happy before you set off. The bike shelter also contains a pump, puncture kit and bike locks.
Cycle and walking maps are available to browse in the camp kitchen.
To really encourage greener camping we offer a 10% eco travel discount for guests arriving by public transport or under their own steam. See eco travel for further details.
