As the Covid-19 restrictions began to be eased at the beginning of July, so we were able to open our small campsite and launch our glamping unit, a bell tent. Little did we realise just how many people were desperate to go camping and take a short break. As the month progressed we received even more enquiries and life has taken on a very different rhythm.
We have been pleased to see so many people, as we have been able to make new friends and meet again with old friends. The peaceful nature of our site has been appreciated and perhaps we have been so busy, as we only have a small number of visitors at a time, so everyone can maintain social distancing requirements. With the weather being warm and wet at times, Rob has been very busy with the mower on the campsite and in the garden.
During lockdown we were inspired to have a go at building a home made pizza oven in the old orchard area. First of all we built a stone plinth, on which we laid a concrete base for the oven. Then we dug clay from the ground, we had to dig quite a deep hole in the meadow field; we mixed this with sand and after some experimenting shaped it into a lovely dome. Then we added several more layers of clay until we created a well insulated oven, complete with recycled bricks for the entrance and a recycled chimney pot. We have now perfected the art of baking pizzas in this rather special oven and we are beginning to explore other meals we might be able to cook inside.
The pizza oven has proved very popular with visitors to our campsite and one of our younger campers declared ‘it cooked the best pizza ever’… and we can’t argue with that.