My Perfect Weekend in Devon, England

Ideal weekend companions: Ten lady adventurers including one intrepid bride-to-be and a few reluctant campers.

 

Best place to take them: To a secret location near Totnes in Devon where Babes in the Woods run amazing bushcraft and woodlounging weekends for women. Be warned -the location is so secret that even with directions you are likely to get lost finding it.

 

The camp is in a glade in the forest and consists of a couple of teepees for sleeping in and one for yoga, a kitchen hut, some bathroom tents and a fire circle. There are bunches of flowers on bedside tables and each camp bed is made up with a cosy sleeping bag and a hot water bottle. The bathroom tents are furnished with old fashioned wash stands and heaters so you won’t get chilly while getting clean.

 

We took a stroll through the forest gathering red clover and flowering nettles to make ‘hedgerow massage oil’. We emerged from the woodland to admire a gorgeous view over the River Dart. Later, we built a survival shelter in the woods, persuaded the bride, dressed for a cocktail party, to crawl in and tested it by pouring water over it. She emerged smiling and relatively dry. The evening was spent drinking wine, sitting on tree stumps around the campfire and laughing until we fell off the logs.

 

The next day we learnt how to make a fire without a match then invented ways to cook eggs using only a piece of tin foil and some sticks. We finished off our massage oil and even had time for a quick yoga session.

 

Great meals: All the food is fantastic. We ate delicious spinach soup, amazing pink potato salad, gorgeous colourful roasted vegetables, tasty lentils and grilled chicken. Breakfast was incredible egg butties, granola and yoghurt all washed down with cups and cups of tea.

 

One weekend item you couldn’t be without: There is no electricity so a head torch is useful.

 

The perfect end to the perfect weekend: A spectacular cream tea, which converted even the most reluctant campers. For my money, it was a much more special hen party than taking a cheap flight to get drunk in the sun!

 

Further information:

• babesinthewoods.co.uk

 

Lynn Morris is Director of Atlantic Rising