Connection, community and the quiet joy of camping near the Jurassic Coast…

When Emily and I first moved to our campsite in West Dorset, it was important to bring our values of nature, nurture, and connection into everything we did including to those who visit us on a west Dorset Camping trip. .

On the first of these, Nature – I can still remember the feeling of overwhelm with stewardship of the land at the start of this journey. We’d moved from a semi-detached house with a 200-foot garden to 8.5 acres of smallholding just outside Bridport, close to the Jurassic Coast. We were really not sure what we were doing, we just knew where we wanted to be.

Emily often talks in her life coaching work about the four steps of the learning journey:

• Unconsciously incompetent – you don’t know what you don’t know
• Consciously incompetent – you know you don’t know
• Consciously competent – you know what you’re doing, but it takes effort
• Unconsciously competent – you can do it without thinking

I can only speak for myself — but I was definitely consciously incompetent at the start when it came to looking after the land and I’m pleased to say I’ve made some progress.

The value of Nurture came a little easier. We’d both camped we knew what made a good campsite and we also knew what a bad one looked like, we’d run retreats, and we’d each come from professions built around looking after people. Creating a family-friendly campsite in Dorset and a campsite retreat where guests could feel welcome, relaxed, and have plenty of space to unwind felt like something we could do well. (consciously competent)

The Connection part — I wasn’t quite sure how that would work out. Building community is important to us. Would people really come together here? Share the communal kitchen and dining space or would they keep to themselves, quietly tucked away on their own pitches?

It turns out there was no need to worry.

Connection around the campfire

Now in our second season of offering quality camping in West Dorset, what we see is a living example of connection. Families camping together. Children making instant friends, playing in the meadow from breakfast until sunset. Parents gathering together, cups of tea or glasses of wine in hand, spending quality time with each other.

 The campfires — every Wednesday and Saturday — help even more. Faces lit by firelight, roasting marshmallows, and the easy conversations between people who were strangers only hours before. Many visitors say they were looking for a “campsite in Dorset West Dorset but never expected the magic that happens here. That magic and the feeling of safety where children can play, run or cycle giving them the sense of freedom and adventure (that dare I say the older ones of us can remember from our own childhood)  I do believe the magic is the connection that we feel with ourselves, with others and also nature that makes the magic. That connection is an inherent feeling that runs deep within us all, we just need to find the space for it.

Why camping trips make us feel good (it’s not just my ramblings)

It’s easy to underestimate the power of these simple moments. But according to the Mental Health Foundation, strong relationships are one of the most important factors for our wellbeing. People who feel connected to others have lower anxiety, less depression, and even better physical health.

A University of Essex study also found that everyday interactions — sharing meals, helping with small tasks, chatting on a walk — all boost our sense of belonging. Exactly the kinds of moments that happen naturally at our little campsite in West Dorset.

From Resilience to Conversation

In another blog I chatted about resilience, I wrote about how time in nature helps us reset. That reset is amplified when we share it.

In the same blog I talked about communication, I looked at how being outside changes the way we speak and listen. Here, those changes are easy to spot: longer conversations, comfortable silences, genuine interest in each other’s stories.

The truth is, we hoped people would feel welcome here at Old Bidlake. What we didn’t fully anticipate was how much they would bring their own warmth, generosity, and openness — creating a wonderfully warm community that has become the real heart of this West Dorset campsite. (What was the film called where they said “build it and they will come”?)

West Dorset Camping Trip and Time for What Matters

Whether you arrive for a weekend of Jurassic Coast camping, for a family gathering, or simply a few quiet days under canvas amongst the trees in the orchard, the huge skies in the orchard, or around the campfire, there’s space here for you just to be.

That’s the quiet magic we see each season: people making time for what matters, and we feel truly blessed to witness it, and be part of it. Book now for the remaining pitches.