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?