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Avon Tyrrell

Hampshire Bh23 8 Ee, Hampshire, England
1 acre hosted by Avon T.
Endless activities and endless space; perfect for family campers
19th-century Avon Tyrrell House is one of the last calendar houses to be built in the UK. Don’t worry… we didn’t know what a calendar house was either, but if you’ve an eye for architecture this’ll certainly grab your attention. It has, in total, precisely 365 windows for the days, 52 rooms for the weeks, 12 chimneys for the months and seven outer doors for the days of the week, all resulting in a wonderfully grand and regal, stately home with a somewhat English pointlessness to it all. After all, who can be bothered to draw all those curtains?

Today, the house and grounds are owned by the Manners family, and has been donated to reside as the home of UK Youth - a charity championing outdoor adventure and personal development opportunities. They’ve obviously decided to maintain the whole calendar vibe too, by seemingly ensuring there are enough things to do to keep you busy for every minute of the day! There’s certainly enough to fill a good holiday.

Amongst it all – canoeing on the Avon Tyrrell lake, high wiring in the trees, rock climbing, archery and more – is the vast camping area, a mammoth space divided into six separate fields and home to almost 200 different pitches. It’s not exactly a tiny bolthole in the woods, then, but for a family holiday in the New Forest, Avon Tyrrell certainly has an exciting offering.

Stretches of tall, pine woodland create an almost North American-style camp, with the smell of barbecue smoke and pine sap lingering in the air, while open meadow spaces are perfect for family groups, pitching up in small huddles and leaving children to socialise around the site until communal games of football spontaneously break out.

In all, the place has a real live-and-let-live philosophy, with something for all but enough space to afford the right amount of privacy too. Facilities accommodate everyone, with excellent modern toilet blocks featuring family changing rooms, disabled access showers and communal laundry areas, while dogs and large parties are both welcome but only in specific areas of the campsite.

Offsite there’s a host of interesting daytrips within easy driving distance. Bournemouth and it’s surrounding beaches are a particular highlight, as is renting a bike from the campsite and heading off into the New Forest National Park – far better seen on a bike than in a car and full of wildlife if you pedal along quietly enough! Not that escaping the campsite is particularly high on most people’s list. By the time you’ve thumbed through the catalogue of activities half the day has already passed you by and there’ll never be enough time to do it all. If only you had a handy device for planning… a diary, a book, a calendar house perhaps? I mean, hey, who doesn’t have one of those hanging around?

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Location
Hampshire Bh23 8 Ee, Hampshire, England, United KingdomTraditional, ancestral territory of various First Nations according to To respect the Host's privacy, the precise address of this land will be provided after booking
Hosted by Avon T.Joined in October 2015
From the host
Endless activities and endless space; perfect for family campers
Nearby attractions
Step off site into the New Forest National Park and enjoy long walks and cycling trails. The town of Lyndhurst (023802 82269) is the main centre and home to the New Forests central tourist information office, so a good place to start. For coastal fun, head south to the west of Bournemouth. Walk inland along the River Stour, or hire a boat (01202 429119) for something a little different. Go for a walk out on Hengistbury Head, once a flourishing Iron Age settlement and busy port, but now a peaceful nature reserve. Just nearby you can also take a high-speed RIB (07968 334441) tour out towards the Isle of Wight, taking in the caves and colourful sands around Alum Bay, and passing right under the Needles Lighthouse and the south coast’s towering cliffs.
Food and drink
Onsite their Café Explore is open during the summer, where you can get hot breakfast rolls, light lunches, snacks, cakes and coffee. They also have a vending machine and some basic refreshments including ice cream served in reception. Elsewhere, it's a short drive to The Three Tuns (01425 672232), a seventeenth-century thatched pub with what is surely the largest pub garden around. And The Cider Pantry (01425 402193), just outside Burley, is also well worth a visit. Park in the yard and walk past the pigs, cider presses and wandering geese to a cosy interior, half with a warming fire and half with extensive seating. The menu features cream teas, cakes and a range of tasty lunchtime options including excellent giant toasties.

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