Posted on November 24, 2014
by Lynn
The Meadows Campsite is on the south coast of Cornwall, and one of the slimmer parts of the county. This makes us situate in a very beautiful part of Southern Cornwall with lots to explore on our doorstep, but also a great base for getting out and about in the county.
We love our girls (the chucks), but during down time, they do restrict our getting away on short breaks, so days out are ideal. We can then make sure we are back late afternoon when it is still light to give them their
tin of sweetcorn, and put them to bed at dusk.
Our walking is also a little restricted just at the moment, due to Camp Dog having poorly paws, and so it is short walks only until they are better, and so we combine these with scenic drives.
Being nice and central, we can be anywhere else in Cornwall in just about an hour, and so everywhere in the county is doable for a day trip.
This weekend we had a lovely mooch around Padstow on Saturday afternoon, and it was even warm enough to sit outside on the harbour front. Padstow is never quiet even in the winter, and it even manages to have 3 pasty shops in a row, as well as lots of great eating in places, and all the very popular shops if you like a spot of shopping.
Seaton & Downderry
Portwrinkle Cafe
My favourite magazine is Coast, and this is where you often learn about the not so talked about places. I think this is often as these places are off the beaten track, and are beautiful just for their naturalness, and you really have to seek places out, and some of the best places you will only see if exploring on foot. On Sunday I was tour leader, and we headed off to the Rame Peninsula which is known as Cornwall’s forgotten corner. We were heading for lunch in Kingsand, and our first stop on the way was Seaton & Downderry. We parked up on the front and had a lovely walk on the sea wall, basking in lovely warm sunshine between the two villages, and back along the SWCP which runs on the village coast road where the lucky residents have the most amazing view around to Looe and beyond.
Next stop on the coast road was Portwrinkle, another gorgeous coastal village with a very popular country club and golf course. We stopped for our morning coffee at the cafe which must have one of the best views in Cornwall right on the cliff top. Portwrinkle is at the start of Whitsand Bay which is quite simply stunning , with very dramatic scenery and sandy beaches.
Kingsand & Cawsand
Still en route to Kingsand we passed three beautiful old forts and took in the view at Rame Head. The head looks a fabulous section of the SWCP, but unfortunately H would not have managed the ups and down of the coast path that day, so back on the coast road to Kingsand. By now the blue sky had changed to a more stormy setting and so we parked ourselves in The Devonport Inn in one of the window seats, and had lunch of fogey river mussels (me), and homemade Cornish pasty and a pint (Camp Daddy), and lots of treats for Harvey from the nice ladies in the pub. Kingsand and Cawsand are very beautiful villages and fabulous to wander around, but the houses there do take frequent batterings, with all houses on the front having window shutters and flood gates. We have only visited here once before and it was summer time, and we caught the Plymouth ferry over to Mount Edgecumbe and walked around. Then it was very busy, and a really hot day and we sat outside the same pub where they have trays attached to the habour railings which is a great idea as there is limited room for tables and chairs.
We took the direct route back home, but reading up about the area later, we should have stopped at a couple of places on the other side. Next time we shall take a look at St John’s lake (twitchers’ paradise), and St Germans Church. There are also the historic country properties of Anthony, Mount Edgcumbe and Port Eliot.
So for a great day hour whilst holidaying with us at The Meadows, the Rame Peninsula is highly recommended, and indeed we shall be visiting again before we open and exploring more on foot.
Other Meadows News
We have been getting on with our winter jobs, and a lot of time has been spent “doing” wood! A lot of trees have been taken down mainly random ones in our working area, and also a couple stream side. All the big stuff has been logged and we have completed our first huge log tower ready for fire pits. All the smaller stuff has been shredded and the chucks got the first lot for their pen, and we have ton sacks lined up ready for our new planting areas, along with some stumps for our new stumperry. Still lots of tree work to be done.
Next week is set to be drier and is our last good week to get our plants in, and we have lots of them. We have some lovely granite boulders, trunks and stumps to make the beds. All the planting is to be Cornish style, and informal.
We have also been collecting things on our outings, to use for our pitch name signs. Just when our guests thought they had worked out our pitch numbering system, and you did well as I often get confused, we are giving our pitches names.
On the more practical side, our very skilled Cornish digger man Frank is coming back in the next few weeks to clear out all of our ditches, to keep the land drainage system flowing. We are also going to be putting in more “grass protecta” soon on to the fore meadow to create our four none electric camper van pitches. This will enable camper vanners to mingle with the tenters and enjoy the evening sun in the meadow with a view of the Mevagissey hill.
It seems from an article published in Practical Caravan Magazine this month that The Meadows is getting known as a bit of a foodie campsite. We like this as we love food, and we do agree that there is so much wonderful food in the area, not just with Lobbs Farm Shop along the trail, and some amazing eateries, but also with wood fired pizzas, paella, breakfasts and cocktails made on site, we hope guests will continue to enjoy such delights.
Bookings – we are now taking bookings for 2015, and please do contact us by either email or telephone to book for next season. We are a smallish friendly campsite just for grown ups one mile from the sea on the south coast. We are close to Mevaggisey, Heligan Gardens, Charlestown and lots of other fabulous places. We are also an ideal campsite if you are keen walkers, or cyclists with lots of walking and cycling routes starting from the campsite gates.
Well, that’s all for now and it’s time to light the log burner…………
Lynn
Posted in:
Adult only Campsite,
Attractions in the area,
New owners at The Meadows,
The Meadows Camping & Caravan Site
Tags:
Adult only campsite,
adults only,
camping cornwall,
Camping Mevagissey,
camping site near Eden project,
Dog friendly,
Foodie,
Fowey,
heligan gardens,
just for adults,
meadows campsite,
mevaggisey,
SWCP,
The Meadows Camping & Caravan Site,
vw campervans
Posted on November 6, 2014
by Lynn
More wood piles required
Our last few days of the season were quiet ones, and so it got us used to the idea of being “quiet”, but it still seems strange to have the gates closed and the place to ourselves.
Making the most of the continued good weather, we have been getting stuck in to the jobs where there is a big plus sign to getting them done as soon as. The grass is growing under our feet, and we are really pleased about that. The meadow has been topped and we are making the most of Heligan’s half price plant sale and getting down to planting and further beautifying the site. We have also been “logging” as we can never have too much wood with the popularity of our fire pits, and our own love of our wood burner in the winter.
As a lot of our guests will know The Meadows Team (me, Lynn, John & Camp Dog Harvey) are very keen walkers. Some of you now know better than to ask one of us for a suggestion for a good walk, as we do sometimes get carried away wanting our guests to see as much as possible!!
Gorgeous Mevagissey
Pont Pill (Hall Walk)
The Mevagissey circular walk starting right from our gate which is about 6.5 miles is one of our favourites, and we are now very used to the good climbs. It is a great walk for stop off whether it be coffee and cake at Heligan, or at the new Cafe on the Quay at Mevagissey serving proper homemade delicious cakes. Depending on the time of day it could be fish and chips, or Cornish pasty time. We usually stop for a drink in our local pub The Ship Inn, in Pentewan before setting off on the last mile home up the trail. Polstreath beach which you pass along the way between Meva and Pentewan is lovely and quiet even in the summer as the only way down is via 200 steps!!!
Lantic Bay, near Fowey
Another of our favourite walks is the Fowey Hall Walk, with an extension to include Pencarrow Head, and Lantic Bay (dog friendly). We talked ourselves in to diverting down to the bay, and we were sooooo pleased we did. We had the beach to ourselves and the sky was blue, and it was just amazing. It is a very tricky climb down, but apart from the steepness the climb back up seems somehow easier. Lunch stop was at The Luggar Inn, Polruan and the walk has two different ferry rides along the way.
Roseland Peninsula
To go with a very good walk, we like a good lunch and have enjoyed a few lunches out as we have really been missing those. The Sharksfin at Mevagissey is excellent for fish, and I love their crab sandwich with a bowl of chips. One of our favourite areas for walking is the Roseland Peninsula. On Sunday we had a walk around St Anthony’s Head, a paddle in the sea, and a cup of tea with Thirstea the old Citreon H Van that visited us here in the summer at Town Farm. On the way home, we stopped off at the very cosy Roseland Inn at Philleigh for lunch which was lovely, and the pub was full.
One of our other favourite pub lunches is at The Pandora Inn near Mylor on the Carrick Roads. This is a beautiful area with lovely creekside walking. The walk around to the pub from Mylor is lovely with great views of the boats and fabulous waterside properties. It was a very sunny day, but the wind was a little too chilly to brave lunch sitting on the pontoon. We opted for mussels (me) and our two friends, and John had a pulled pork sandwich with spiced apple chutney. Food was all delicious, the sandwich was huge and full of pork, and another cosy pub with log fires. Both pubs highly recommended, and both dog friendly, as of course Harvey accompanied us on both occasions.
Luxulyan Valley
Our guests shady walk during the many really hot days last season as the Luxulyan Valley, known as the hidden valley. This is our mizzly walk as there is lots of tree cover, although soon to be less when all the leaves are off. This walk is beautiful whatever time of year, and great if you like walking next to water. The pub in the village itself is on our list of ones to try as we have good reports.
Whilst out and about, we have been getting inspiration for our winter work at The Meadows, and we have some good ideas. As we have now uncovered the whole of the campsite, from beneath the brambles, and completed our major work, any more changes will be smaller ones. We are just as excited about this year’s work, and this is of course phase 3 for us with our second season of learning behind us.
Deer “up country”
A few days after closing we made a trip up country to visit our families. We all had a lovely time, and enjoyed lots of walks along the River Soar, and around Bradgate Park, pub lunches, and a visit to Melton Mowbray Cattle Market. Harvey enjoyed spending times with his cousins, well most of them any way (sorry Billy).
General Meadows News
Bookings – we have now opened our diary for 2015, and have booked lots of guests in already. Always good to have a holiday to look forward to and we are certainly looking forward to ours! In case any one is wondering, yes our holiday does involve camping, walking, wine, beaches and sunshine – our winter version of a camping holiday at The Meadows! If you would like to be an early booker with us for next year then you can contact us here, or call 01726 844383. For new guests, we are a quirky smallish adult only campsite in the Pentewan Valley, South Cornwall. The Meadows is also a very dog friendly campsite. We are an ideal campsite, for those who like the gardens, particularly Heligan and Eden, and those who enjoying walking the SWCP, or cycling as we are right on the Coast to Clay Trail.
Kernowforno
We are pleased to say that Kernowforno will be here again next season cooking delicious wood fired pizzas. John will also be serving up breakfast baguettes again, although this may not be every day. We are thinking of tasty porridge for some days as we know this is popular with campers. We are also hopeful that Big Pan Parties will come again to cook up their delicious paella on site, and Sams Cocktail Van with Mojito Steve on board knows he is always very welcome here.
What a good idea
Harvey has been thinking up new ideas for his guests on four legs, whilst also getting out there finding new walks and dog friendly eating places. Harvey has also been finding life rather strange since the gates closed. He still makes his way to the french doors in the morning, but cannot understand where everyone has gone.
Hope you like the pictures, which are a bit of a mix, and I shall keep them coming over the winter as it is a good way of keeping in touch. It also answers the ? we get asked most in the summer ……… “what do you do in the winter?” :).
Lynn on behalf of The Meadows Team
Posted in:
Adult only Campsite,
Dog Friendly Pubs,
Eating Out,
Harvey's Walking Journal,
New owners at The Meadows,
Renovation Work,
The Meadows Camping & Caravan Site,
Walking around St Austell
Tags:
Adult only campsite,
camping cornwall,
Dog friendly,
dog friendly campsite,
Eden Project,
Fowey,
heligan gardens,
just for adults,
mevaggisey,
south west coast path,
SWCP,
Walking around St Austell,
Walking holiday in Cornwall
Posted on October 8, 2014
by Lynn
Chapel Point in the sunshine
We got through these piles and more.
Oh, another good week, and another good week, and another! Our guests have been soooooooo lucky this season, and even now when the sun shines it is very warm, and nobody minds a few showers in between. It has been fab seeing campers sitting out until late in the evening around the fire pits so late in the season, and thank goodness we had such a good stock of wood for our campers. There has been some very keen walkers and cyclists on site of late enjoying the cycle trails, and good long sunny walks on the SWCP. There has also been just so many beach days in September with swimming in the sea. Same again next year please would be nice.
Thank you to all of our guests and Simon and Sarah from Kernofornow Pizzas who supported our MacMillan Coffee Morning by eating lots of lovely cakes. We raised £152.10 for a very good cause, and John’s homemade lemon curd was a real hit.
At present we have guests on site who first visited when the site was nothing more than a farm site consisting of a field and a portaloo cabin some 25 years ago. It has been very interesting hearing their stories about the campsite and it’s eccentric former owner Bernard. We have found some old photographs and will be putting together a photo board for next year. Any visitors from the past holding photos we would love to borrow a couple for copying for our board, and they will be returned to you.
We (that’s me Lynn, John and CD Harvey) have been busy looking after our last guests of the season, and in between we having been making hay while the sun has been shining.
The wild flower meadow with it’s secluded pitches has been so popular and even more so with our “park and pitch scheme” and the secluded meadow pitches. Keen to get on the Dexta tractor, the meadow has now been topped right down, so that it will come back even lovelier next year. Farmers Bowler (my dad and mum), arrived just in time to help out with raking up all that we had topped off. We think for next year, especially with the horses next door we might invest in a little baler, as it did feel a bit like farming vintage style, after the third day of constant raking.
Our campers also woke the other day to find that a very large mole had paid us a visit. This mole left behind a mole hill consisting of 30 ton of top dressing. This is being put to very good use, and we are right in the middle of our pitch repairs and reseeding. The “grass protecta” has more or less disappeared, along with our drainage channels, and our grass should be more like a carpet next year, but note not manicured!! We know from last winter that when it starts a rainy spell, it may not stop for a very long time, and also the soil is lovely and warm at the minute for grass seed.
As our major works have been completed over the last two winters, this winter will involve lots of smaller jobs, and we have plenty of ideas. We take feedback very seriously, especially ideas that fit in with the general quirkiness and naturalness of our individual site. We are not striving for perfection, and indeed some of our imperfections we are extremely fond of, and some things we cannot do anything about!!
Bookings – we are almost ready to open our booking diary for 2015, and book all of you lovely guests in that are so keen to do so for 2015. Whilst we do not guarantee specific pitches, we do encourage you to make your wishes known as to pitch preference, especially as to your preferred side of the site. “Proper Campers” again will choose their own spot on arrival and “park and pitch” will continue. We have been invited to be included in the new Cool Camping Handbook out next year, which we know is the bible of lots of campers and so we hope this will help keep us busy next year. We are also about to start making some changes to our website, and adding new pictures from our 2015 season.
UPDATE – 14 OCTOBER – we are having “phone” problems due to a telephone coming down and have been without a line for 2 weeks. We will open up for bookings once this is fixed as without the phone it makes card payments tricky. Apologies and we are keen to get you booked in too.
For new guests, we are a small adult only dog friendly campsite in South Cornwall. We are within walking distance of Heligan Gardens (30 mins approx), and Mevagissey (1 hour), and we are on a good bus route, with the Pentewan Valley Trail that links up to the SWCP. The site is also directly adjoining to Coast to Clay Cycle Trail, but most walking and cycle routes from the site, do involve a good climb. Due to the naturalness of the site, we are more suited to smaller units, but we have limited pitches for motorhomes and twin axle caravans “up field”.
News from Camp Dog Harvey
Life is generally good at the moment, and I have got my walking boots lined up next to those of my owners ready for “down time” which I believe I have earned. I have also managed a few outings recently to my favourite beaches of Vault, Gorran Haven, and as of 1 October the lovely Porthpean about 5 or so minutes drive up the road. It seems my first day off is going to be spent walking to Charlestown for a crab sandwich and chips lunch along the trail and SWCP, and then back on the inland route.
My girls are laying well, and with breakfast baguettes slowing down, I am back on my diet of softly boiled egg for breakfast with biscuits.
This week I overheard two young ladies on checking in off the night bus from London say that I was their reason for choosing this site. They were very big cavalier king charles fans and one even wore a badge of them on her jacket, and believe me and whist remaining modest, they are not the only ones!! This was good ammunition as it was also the day of my annual appraisal when a negative comment on trip advisor about me was raised, and a further comment about me being open to bribes ;).
It seems the majority of our guests have enjoyed their holidaying with us at The Meadows this season, and we hope to see many of you again during 2015. We will be opening on 30 April in time for the May Day bank holiday fully raring to go. Next year, we are likely to be closing at the end of September. The Meadows Team will be fully refreshed by the time we re-open and hopefully the small changes we make will be welcome ones.
Lynn 🙂
Posted on June 25, 2014
by Lynn
Changing to “just for adults”, of course we expected a bit of banter, and it’s all been taken in good humour. Indeed only this morning, we had a call from a gentleman who said he was ringing us as the adults only campsite he rang first asked if was ok with removing all of his clothes after checking in. The poor man was horrified as he was only looking for a campsite, for a base for him and his dog to go out walking the SWCP.
Just so we are all singing of the same hymn sheet, here at The Meadows, it is clothes on, although in this heat just the basics are fine. There is also no naked badminton, or ball games of any kind, and we have updated our camping etiquette accordingly. Any more questions please, as I am extremely intrigued, and I have to say as a farmer’s daughter who grew up in the country quite naive even at the age of 44!!! However, 15 months down the line, we feel we have learnt a lot about life on a campsite and it is all great fun.
Oneliners – The Meadows team have a great sense of humour (good job), and so it seems have a lot of our guests. Just to share a few with you of our favourites 
– no naming names :-
1. “that’s it then now for you guys, from now until the end of the season, you just cut the grass and collect the money!”
2. “what do you (Lynn) do then after breakfast service, go to your proper job”.
3. “We would love to run to a campsite – I could carry on working as normal, and my wife could just mow the lawns…………….”
4. “I bet these shower blocks are more or less self cleaning” – note -what like the cleaning fairy!!!
5. “What did you both do before semi retirement”.
Supporting local small business
Holidays are extremely important and we want to give our guests the best experience possible. We have been taken by surprise as to the work involved, especially on the has to be done administration side. This has meant that our ideas for chef John/Camp Daddy and me Camp Waitress and GD have been put on hold for the time being.
However, we are very lucky to have some fabulous and talented locals who are happy to come add to our guests experiences, and so far these are a very big hit. Firstly, we have the regular Tuesday night pop up wood fired pizza night between 5-8pm. This is going down extremely well with our campers, many of whom are real foodies and so the locally sourced produce for the toppings is a real treat. The pizzas are cooked freshly to order on the wood fired oven and many guests enjoy theirs on the deck.
To accompany the pizzas, when the sun is shining, and we he can we have Mojito Steve serving up cocktails out of Sams Van. The first night was the perfect night for it, clear blue sky and a lovely chilled atmosphere on our deck. Even Camp Mummy and Camp Daddy enjoyed a few gorgeous Mojitos. Mojito Steve will be making impromptu cocktail visits throughout the season on fine evenings.
We also have regular visits especially at the weekend by Thirstea Company serving up tea, coffee and cakes out of Earl the Citreon H Van. Seth and Jodi also do cream teas on the go. Being sited just inside our entrance holidaymakers and locals enjoying the trail are also welcome to pop in for a cuppa and cake.
Other Meadows News
Well this season has got off to a great start with so much hot and sunny weather. Our campers have been enjoying the fine beaches around, and Gorran Haven, Hemmick, and Caerhays have been the particular favourites . Swimming in the sea in June is a real treat. It has also been so much warmer in the evenings, and there has been lots of bbqs and fire pits being enjoyed, and so lovely smells wafting over to the office.
Mevagissey Feast Week starts at the weekend, and that will be a real bonus for those campers coming in. All the decorations are up ready, and there is a full programme of events.
As our new stock of handmade bunting, made by the “Bunting Boys” has arrived, we have seen some extremely well dressed tents, and all buntings are different. 
The Meadow field, and the secluded meadows pitches are still full of flower, and the meadow has been very popular during this very warm spell, in particular the soft meadow grass for siestas.
New pitches – our new stream side “proper camping” pitches are now in use and the camper vans and tenters are loving these. These pitches are for campers 
who like to pitch next to their car as opposed to opting for the wilder camping experience down in the meadow field.
Our new proper camping wing, also opens tomorrow, and we have a group of 10 in to christen the wing.
Bookings – We cannot believe how popular we are! Some of it has to be down to the fantastic reviews that our guests have been very kind to give of The Meadows. We are just so pleased that everyone is enjoying their stay with us. Unfortunately, as a small natural site, we do have a limit on numbers, and we tend to go on the conservative side for advance bookings, as the weather is of course unpredictable and out of our control. This means for you that we are now only taking booking for last minute stays, (i.e a couple of days before), or those who just like to turn up on foot, or not. You would be extremely lucky with hook up if we can accommodate you now, for anything other than a couple/frew days in between bookings.
News from Camp Dog Harvey
Loving the hot weather, and most of my day is spent under the tree keeping watch on my girls. I have been very lucky to go out in an evening to Gorran Haven, which is quiet at night, and so good for a bit of skinny dipping.
Kingswood Bar & Restaurant – Just to let you know that dogs are welcome here when the weather is good for al fresco dining on the deck at the rear. The bbq is lovely on a Sunday evening On the very plus side, the walk to Kingswood is along the trail by the River and so nobody needs to drive either – happy owners, make happy dogs. This one is on the dog friendly list of places to go.
Posted in:
Adult only Campsite,
Adult only caravan site,
Attractions in the area,
Eating Out,
New owners at The Meadows
Tags:
adults only,
Dog friendly,
dog friendly campsite,
just for adults,
mevagissey,
mevagissey feat week,
pentewan 
