Spring camping in the van
Last spring we visited Faversham which is on the north Kent coast in the south east of England. We stayed at Painters Farm in the cherry orchard.
Cherry blossom field
I’d been asking Mike if we could do a few more camp sites with the van where we parked on grass rather than hardstanding. Somehow if you’re camping on grass it already feels “back to nature” and is so much more relaxing. That’s once you’ve made it to the spot of course, across wet and possibly muddy ground.
This time we were a little nervous, having recently got stuck in the mud in the van when we had to be pulled out of trouble by a Land Rover. But we made it to our space safely, in amongst white cherry blossom trees.
The trees weren’t quite as densely planted as the ones in the top image (spotted while out walking) but it was still very pleasant, and great to be able to sit outside at this time of year. It’s even better to be able to drink a pint of local cider in the sunshine! Our cider was purchased at Brogdale farm shop which we visited on a walk.
I’m not a cherry expert so couldn’t tell you which species or variety of Prunus these are!
Spring woodland wildflowers
For anyone who thinks there hasn’t been sufficient botany yet, in the pic below are Bluebells Hyacinthoides non-scripta, Sycamore Acer pseudoplatanus, Perennial dog’s mercury Mercurialis perennis, Common stinging nettle Urtica dioica, and Cleavers Galium aparine.
Barren strawberry – Potentilla sterilis
I photographed this little strawberry realising it wasn’t a Wild strawberry Fragaria vesca. The leaves weren’t as delicate as I’m used to seeing and the flowers didn’t look quite right. When I got home I sat down with my book and worked out what it was! Potentilla doesn’t have the domed centre to the flower and has a shortened point to the leaf (I’ll write more in the plant profile to come).
Highlights of Faversham
We really liked our campsite with a short walk to a pub for dinner. It was a bit of a hike into Faversham but we like to leave our van where it is once we’ve arrived because it saves faffing about with the awning or stowing away loose items. Faversham was very pretty with lots of historic buildings and a Saturday market, and we enjoyed walking along the creek.
I enjoy visiting the North Kent coast looking for wildflowers.