Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire
A quick weekend trip when we were both feeling a little unwell but wanted to make the most of the sunny weather in October.
We stayed at the Penn Meadow Farm Campsite and in the evening we took a short walk to the local pub, The Royal Standard of England.
We arrived at Penn Meadow mid afternoon on the Saturday, although only 1.5 hours drive from where we live in Sussex we’d spent most of the morning deciding whether we should actually go as we weren’t feeling 100%. Penn Meadow is located in the Chiltern Hills Area of Oustanding Natural Beauty.
The site was really easy to find. It’s down a rural single track road, with passing spaces. We never encountered another car. The entrance to the site is worth mentioning as there was a steep and very bumpy/potholed track. We made it though and we don’t have off road tyres on our van yet. Either side of the track there were lovely fields with amazing views. We entered the field on our left and in here were a number of bell tents set up for glampers. They were all empty and we pretty much had the place to ourselves with only one other group camping.
The fields aren’t completely flat so we had to spend some time maneuvering so we were level(ish). One job we still need to do is install a levelling device and I would say a must to have this if you are going to bring your campervan here.
Penn Meadow Farm offers facilities which include; hot water, showers, toilets, water taps and a kitchen with a gas stove. We didn’t really use these facilties as we are well equipped in our van. We had no problem with getting online, there’s no wifi from the site but we picked up 4G no problem.
There are also a number of animals on the farm, including alpacas which roam freely, pigs and chickens. The farm also has 3 border collies who were all super friendly and wanting to play fetch. Your own dogs are welcome to stay on site too! We spent lots of time sat watching the many Red Kites flying over as well.
On Saturday night we walked 5 minutes through the fields for dinner at the oldest freehouse in England – The Royal Standard of England. If you don’t fancy walking across the fields in the dark then you can also walk down the track to the lane, turn left and again it’s about 5 minutes up the road. The pub is how I found out about the campsite as I stumbled on their website when looking for pubs with walks. Check out these two short walks which take in meadows and surrounding woodland. I then spotted that Hot Fuzz was filmed there! It also featured in episodes of Midsomer Murders so decided I needed to go. A quick goodle search and found Penn Meadow to be really close by.
The food at The Royal Standard was fantastic. I had of course their “Midsomer Murder Pie” and hubby had Chicken Liver Parfait followed by Liver and Bacon and Cherry Pie with Custard for pudding. We were going to have fillet steaks but unfortunately they were sold out.
At Penn Meadow they do allow you to have campfires in the evening. You don’t need to bring your own as they have a woodpile. Was quite an interesting mix of old fence panels, bits of timber, an old chair through to logs. The glamping tents on site each had a picnic table but as they were empy we moved one over next to the van and enjoyed the fire with a bottle of wine.
On Sunday morning we spotted a number of pied wagtails singing, darting and jumping around. The red kites were also back. It was so peaceful.
When you’re camping at Penn Meadow Farm you feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere. However, you are just a 5 minute drive from town and local amenities. There are plenty of walks too and as a couple we could have stayed for a few more days. If you’re travelling with children then no doubt they will enjoy the farm and the animals.
Links
Penn Meadow Campsite – https://www.pennmeadowfarm.co.uk/general-clean
The Royal Standard of England Pub – https://www.theoldestpub.com/
A couple of short walks which include The Royal Standard of England Pub – https://chilternsociety.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Forty_Green_Pub_Walks.pdf