It's always tough to beat the appeal of a good pub campsite, where frothy pints and a convivial pub atmosphere are just a moment's stroll from your tent. But when that pub is a traditional Georgian coaching inn, yards from a renowned long-distance footpath and at the gateway to a grand country estate with one of the UK's finest arboretums. Well, it's suddenly more than just a pub with a campsite. It's a proper holiday destination in its own right.
Standing beside the front gates of Walcot Hall, former residence to Lord Clive of India, The Powis Arms is a commanding brick-built pub with a well-kept lawn to the rear and, beyond that, a gateway to the welcoming camping site. There are twelve pitches with hook-ups, usually occupied by caravans (as well as tenters who fancy plugging in upmarket cool-boxes and gizmos), and a further handful of electric-free pitches where campers enjoy dappled shade from the surrounding trees. Facilities are in a heated amenity block with showers, toilets and a washing up area, and, as well as the usual access to the pub for pints and hearty meals, you can also pre-order a cooked breakfast.
Right on the main drag through the peaceful Shropshire village of Lydbury North, The Powis is a popular and atmospheric local and "undoubtedly a part of village life", as the Good Beer Guide puts it, with a dog-friendly bar and real ales on tap. For all its local custom, however, the pub finds a good trade in campers and walkers enjoying this area of the Shropshire Hills AONB. The Jack Mytton's Way (linking up with Offa Route Six) runs through the village and it's just a couple of miles through the estate and up to Bury Ditches, once an Iron-Age hillfort. The Long Mynd and the Stiperstone are both within a half-hour drive, too, and a full one-day hike will take you from the campsite, over hills, to the ruins of Clun Castle and back. By the time you've done it all you'll have worked up a good appetite for a meal back at the pub, which is there and waiting, less than 100 yards from your tent.