Week 141: Brakes Coppice

May 16, 2021

My favourite vegetarian fast food place ever is What The Pitta! It’s a chain and they have some places in London and one in Brighton. I just wanted you to know that because maybe, like me, you have too much self respect to try food from somewhere with such a terrible name. Is it a pun? Does pitta rhyme with something? What is going on here? Anyway - it was Lachie that bought food from there and so I didn’t have to overcome the name, in fact I didn’t even know the name, before eating the vegan kebab which is amazing.
I’m writing this having just gotten back from a weeks’ camping at Brakes Coppice.
The weather was good-ish to us, although we quit while we were ahead and left a day early to maximise the tent drying time and avoid having to pack up in the rain. It was very cold on a couple of nights too which was quite unpleasant, in particular as baby C was a challenge to keep cosy.
At this time of year, Brakes Coppice is full of bluebells, wild orchids and rabbits. It’s probably the best campsite I’ve ever stayed at. Absolutely pristine (which I guess is partly because it’s the beginning of the season) and surrounded trees and the associated wild birds.
They also offer glamping and cabins which looked rather nice after a cold night in the tent tbh.
While we were away we went to Bedgebury National Pinetum and Forest. It was really amazing. Loads of massive trees, and then loads of small weird shaped trees, and some Gruffalo statues to entertain the smaller people. I already want to go back.
Because my first experience of “camping” was, aged 12, three week cycling holidays with my parents in eg the outer Hebrides where you carry everything you need on your bike - two pairs of cycling shorts, a mess tin, a sleeping bag and a very small tent to be shared with my brother - this new kind of camping (we have an enormous Berghaus 6 sleeper) seems pretty fake to me. We’re bringing a coolbox and a two tables? OK lol. Sure, “camping”. When people are like “you’re spending a week camping 😬😬😬” I just think, mate, you have no idea.
We’ve already decided to go back to Brakes Coppice next year. Hopefully we’ll bring some friends along too so E will have a better selection of other kids to play with than the boy (aged 4) she befriended whose older siblings kept calling her (she’s 3) his “little girrrrrl friend” and whose bike had an extremely obnoxious attachment on it thing that one could rev to make it sound like a motorbike.
On Saturday night I spent two hours in a pub garden with Daisy and some of her friends. The following day we went to a seafood restaurant on the seafront. I haven’t socialised that much in over a year, it was really wonderful.