When the summer sun comes out, the grassy playing fields harden and the rugby players hang up their boots for the season, it’s time for the campers to come out of the woodwork. That’s the story in the Sussex town of Horsham, anyway, where entrepreneurial events organiser, Scott Doane, has teamed up with the local rugby club to create an exciting pop-up campsite on the edge of the High Weald. It’s perfectly logical, of course. Flat, grassy fields that have been cared for by groundsmen all year make for the perfect camping ground and the recently refurbished rugby club building? Well, rename it the ‘washblock’, with hot showers and well-kept facilities, and job’s a good’un.
You don’t have to be a rugby fan to enjoy the masses of space the campsite offers. The camping area is set on a large grassy apron just beyond the car park, with regular playing fields beyond and a fenced-off astroturf football pitch to one side. Campfires are allowed – bring your own firepit or rent one to ensure your fire is raised well off the grass – and there are phone charging sockets in the rugby club building you can use if you're desperate to stay in touch with the digital world.
Walk along to the top corner of the field and along the hedgeline and, eventually, you’ll reach a track that links up with the High Weald Landscape Trail, a pleasant footpath that takes you through St Leonard’s Forest. In the opposite direction, meanwhile, it takes around half an hour to walk the two miles into the centre of Horsham, a busy town with a largely pedestrianised centre. There’s a slew of open gardens and woods within easy driving distance, including the National Trust’s Nymans, and its 25 minutes to the South Downs National Park. Beyond that? It’s the beaches of the south coast, of course, with Brighton, Shoreham and Worthing 25 minutes’ drive away.