Born free

Wild animals but tame glamping

And……...relax. After a couple of hours in the car we piled out into the orchard mid-afternoon to take in our surroundings and a deep breath of fresh (non-airconditioned) air.

And they were off, the kids ran across the long grass of camping field to start to explore our accommodation for the night. We felt we had arrived when we pulled into Fallow Fields glamping and campsite in East Kent near Deal I have to admit this isn’t my first time on the farm. I’ve been coming here since I was 12 years old after I met, the now farmer, my friend at school and his family farm has been a location for fun, parties and great times ever since.

We arrived on opening weekend of 2022 and the campsite was pristeen. The field kitchen looked ready to go should we wish to cook for ourselves, the farm shop well stocked with essentials and treats and the always important recently installed toilet and shower facilities were beautifully clean. Checking in we had chosen one of the large furnished bell tents (there is a limit to how much camping I want to do). Warm, big enough for all of us, dry and bright and airy – I was looking forward to the night already.

The kids returned and asking for various sports kit to come out of the car. Cricket set was first and after setting up on the neatly cut grass square in the middle of the field soon attracted a few other children to play with. My eldest son soon had them organised…..(not sure where he gets that from). After unpacking we moved the car to the next field, just doing that made us feel as though we were disentangling ourselves from modern life for a while.

We weren’t doing anywhere so set up a couple of chairs outside of our glamorous bell tent and watch other campers and glampers arrive. The site has a mix of own tents as well as the bell tents, all well spread out. In the next field Fallow Fields also welcome those with camper vans and there were a few classic VWs to admire. Time for a beer which had stayed cool in the box, a local brew from Britain’s oldest brewer Shepherd Neame in nesrby Faversham, Master Brew its name.

We collected a firepit from Reception ready for the evening and a while later collected the kids to order and enjoy wood fired pizzas from their very own onsite chefs! As the rest of the campers entertained themselves, we watched from afar, the kids were absorbed by the fire blazing away and before we knew it one was asleep with us so we decided to call it a night.

The next morning was bright and fresh (well it was April) but the sun was up and after a hot coffee it was time to start our day.

I hadn’t been for years but wanted to take the kids to enjoy a day at award-winning wild animal park Howletts just 5 miles away. The last 2 years have almost made me forget about the fun of a structured family day out and I was so glad we decided to do this. The kids ran about around us, excitedly exploring, pointing and discovering different animals.

Our first stop was the gorillas, they sit and look straight at you, very close, you can’t help wondering what they are thinking. If you haven’t been to a zoo recently I would heartily recommend it, it’s a great day out for couples, families and groups alike.

My wife had made a picnic which I retrieved from the car at lunchtime before we then enjoyed talks and feeding times with the animals during the afternoon. Lions, tigers, elephants, monkeys & rhinos through to bongos, anteaters, leopards and lemurs – we saw and admired them all.

Returning to the campsite, that evening we decided to cook for ourselves, sausages in baps (with another couple of beers) with mustard and ketchup. With a few of the other campsite children ours then disappeared into the large cinema tent to watch a film whilst MrsG and I relaxed into the evening.

We couldn’t leave without speaking with my friend the farmer to ask why he had added camping to the farm, David said “We started Fallow Fields so we could offer the sort camping trip we wanted to go on; back to basics but done well and with the added extras to make it fun.  We have been welcoming campers to Fallow Fields at Selson Farm since 2016 and each year try to add something new. This years it is axe throwing!”

This was our first glamping trip, after this experience it won’t be our last.

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