Base Camp Journal - Longleat

For the last 18 months, Carnon Downs, in central Cornwall, had been my favourite caravan site. I think it now comes second to Longleat, which is unique among the sites we’d stayed at. ‘I’ll definitely come here to Longleat again. Definitely.’ Robby told me, as we were driving back from a takeaway in Wiltshire.

Again, we were lucky with the weather, arriving just in time to make the most of three sunny and very warm days. This summer had turned out much better than last year, when it was overcast and ~20oC pretty much all the time.

There is so much to experience in a relatively small area around Longleat, and so much to write about. I also did a little scouting for my brother, who produces the Breaking Trails channel and Instagram page.

Longleat Caravan and Motorhome Club site is an extension to the well-known Longleat estate. Almost the entirety of it’s under a low canopy of trees, so it’s almost like camping in the woods. Wandering the area at night can be a very romantic experience.

With the site having over 180 pitches, we were able to set Bertha up pretty much anywhere we wanted, though it soon transpired our choice wasn’t that strategic, as Bertha was exposed to the sun during mid-day. I definitely recommend considering Longleat as an option when other sites happen to be fully-booked.

While the facilities themselves are pretty standard for a CMC site, there isn’t a constant stream of people entering and leaving them, as happens in Brighton.

The only thing that was lacking was a sense of community, and that normally makes a big difference. It was almost dead quiet everywhere, which was surprising, given it’s August, it’s in the middle of the school holiday period, and more people are travelling Britain instead of going abroad.

Most people keep to themselves. Robby said it’s likely because they’re new to caravanning, and aren’t aware of the etiquette that naturally developed among the more experienced. We did get on nicely with a family from Wales, though. As usually happens, a few people stopped to have a look at Bertha.

One thing to be wary of is the route given by the satnav. Ours directed us across a toll bridge and the very narrow roads of Barthampton, and it was only by a miracle we got through that area with Bertha unscathed. Apart from that, the roads around Wiltshire are generally pretty good.

With the nights remaining quite warm, we were able to sit outside Bertha into the early hours, with our gin and whisky and the radio playing in the background. We could hear the sea lions, and occasionally the lions and wolves in the safari park.

We spotted a rare plant, one morning, in the woodland nearby. At least it’s one I hadn’t encountered before. Robby calls it the ‘Red Hot Poker’. It is probably quite poisonous.

Around Longleat, options are limited for food and drink, since there aren’t many places within walking distance. A kilometre or two through the narrow roads is The Royal Oak - it is a very nice pub. The food was okay, and the staff more than accommodating.

We ordered a takeaway from a very comprehensive range of options at a Chinese place in Warminster itself - I think it was called the ‘New Jade Kitchen’ - and were very impressed with it.

The Grounds of Longleat Estate

Just around the corner from the site reception is the entrance to Longleat itself. The park is very much like Oakwood in appearance, but exotic animals are the bread-and-butter of the estate these days. They are exceptionally well cared for there, considerably more so than if they were kept in a zoo.

Tickets are relatively pricey, at ~£36, but they include access to pretty much everything except Longleat House, and one could easily spend an entire day in just that park. Entrance to Longleat House costs about £3.50, I’m told. 

Everything is so well organised. We weren’t stuck in queues too long for the boat trip or the train. It was actively busy, but not uncomfortably so.

The first area past the reception is the Family Farm, which is essentially an enclosure with several farmyard-type animals - chickens, goats, etc., which are very tame.

Further along, I was drawn to the Adventure Castle, which turned out to be a giant childrens’ area. It’s still worth having a wander around there, as giant wood structures in the middle of woodland usually are. That’s something for the Breaking Trails channel, probably.

One of the central areas to Longleat is the Jungle Kingdom, which is where all the exotic animals are to be seen - meerkats, red pandas, monkeys, alligators, etc. One of the highlights were the meerkats, which were tame enough to come running up to me. In this area there’s also the entrance to the Secret Garden, leading into the grounds of Longleat House, and the boat ride around the lake (the ‘Half Mile Pond’).

The Jungle Cruise lasts around 20 minutes, and it takes visitors around the Gorilla Colony - apparently, despite their reputation for being savage, only a handful of people are known to have been terminated by gorillas in the past 50 years, and a hundred times more people had been killed by cows.

The sea lions will also surface alongside the boat, knowing they’ll be fed by visitors as the boat returns to the park.

Just outside the Jungle Kingdom is a train station of sorts, for a rail service that takes visitors alomg a very scenic route past the the Jungle Kingdom, the lake and through the woods next to the caravan site.

Safari Park

Near the main grounds is the Safari Park, a long, winding trail that takes visitors through many open areas and enclosures, where animals are well cared for, continually monitored by the wardens and able to roam vast open spaces.  I do wonder how well the animals cope with the British climate, where warm summers are the exception these days.

About half way through, there is an area where the monkeys live, and there is a sign near the entrance clearly warning visitors that vehicles passing through are liable to be damaged. About 95% of the vehicles, like ours, went through without a scratch, but we saw one monkey dismantling an antenna assembly and another trying to chew a bumper. A couple of the staff told us they like dismantling parking sensors also. The vast majority of those that climbed onto vehicles merely hitched a ride, as the one sitting on our wing mirror, staring at Robby, did.

A group of visitors further ahead evidently ripped some easily-replaceable cosmetic shit from their own vehicle before they went in - it was so overdone as to be that obvious - probably with the intention of hamming things up for their YouTube video or whatnot.

Further along, we passed through the areas where the lions, tigers and wolves are kept. This is a very high-security area, very much like that compound in the first Jurassic Park movie, because there are large packs of lions and wolves that are allowed to freely roam a large area. As it happened, they were all resting together in the shade. We got within 15ft of one collective, which made Robby’s day.

My favourite part of the safari was being able to feed a couple of the deer that put their heads through the open window. The closest I’d gotten to deer before was while driving through thr country roads of Monmouth at midnight.

Bath

Longleat is a short drive from Bath, the historic Roman-themed town that I hadn’t visited in more than a decade. Finding a parking space was tricky. We left the car in a decaying multi-storey that appeared to be on the verge of collapsing, and with railings covered up by old planks of wood.

I mentioned earlier that cuisine options were limited around the Longleat part of Wiltshire, but there is a row of Chinese and Korean stores along St. James Parade, just around the corner from the car park.

It’s a good place to do a little shopping, as there’s no shortage of variety and picturesque locations there. I’ve said that about most the towns we visit, but it’s always refreshing to see a town that’s kept its character and its old stone buildings. It did somehow seem considerably more modern and busy than I remember it, though.

A ‘Roman’ baths does exist for public use, but that particular one appears to be a modern facility, and the original Roman baths are elsewhere - I think it’s in the nearby museum, outside which was quite  a long queue. The weather was too warm to stand there for an hour or so.

Bath Gin

There is a spirits boutique near the centre of the city called ‘The Whisky Shop’, that sold the finest, and expensive, for those who know what they like. We bought ourselves some Japanese whisky and locally-distilled Bath Gin, which I hadn’t tried before.

Bath gin tastes quite average on its own, but it’s very light when mixed with tonic water. The Orange Sloe certainly has a prominent and thick orange taste. It’s only 27% and could be drank straight, but it blends so perfectly with orange juice one wouldn’t know it’s there.