Accommodation for Native Hands Woodland Courses
On-site Options
Courses take place in a secluded part of a 70 acre woodland, on a working family farm, Dernwood Farm, Sussex, TN21 0PN.
Amanda and her sister Emma (that’s them in the photo) run a super friendly camping / glamping operation at the farm venue (1 May – end of October), plus they have an on-site cafe and farm shop. They’ve also both been on courses with me over the years, making various baskets and pots.
Wild-ish Camping
For camping, there’s a very large field surrounded by woods, with loos / hot showers at one end. You can have a fire (wood is available at the farm shop), and no cars are allowed on the camping field, which makes it nice and peaceful. Trolleys are available at the car park to take your stuff to the field (it’s a 12 min walk), but at peak times they offer a kit delivery service.
You can book two nights (or more) camping via their website. If you want to camp for only one night, Native Hands has a special arrangement whereby you can book that for £12 per person by contacting Amanda.
The farm will always make camping space available for people coming on my courses, so if their website shows camping as full, just contact Amanda at the venue and she’ll be happy to arrange it for you.
Please note: the one-night booking arrangement is only for camping, not for glamping.
Also, the cost of camping/glamping on-site isn’t inculded in the cost of a Native Hands course.
Glamping
The venue has various glamping options: a cabin, a wagon, a shepherd’s hut, bell tents, and a large safari tent. These are dotted around in the woods, in their own little clearings.
You’ll find them listed on the venue’s website.
Some of the features include: woodfired hot tubs, outdoor hot showers, outdoor pizza oven, woodburners, their own compost loos.
They’re all very popular and book up quickly so I recommend getting onto that asap to avoid disappointment.
Vans / campervans
The venue isn’t set up for people staying in vans, but Horam Manor Park is a 5 minute drive away and has pitches.
Off-site Options
For places to stay in the area (eg B&B, self catering etc), booking.com has listings for places around Waldron, Chiddingly, East Hoathly (nearest villages). The towns of Heathfield and Lewes are both about 20 mins drive form the course venue. You could also have a look on airbnb. My friend Corina offers a beautiful holiday cottage at Upper Lodge nr Uckfield.
Granary Cottages (walking distance from the course venue), Haymakers Farm, Firdove Studio (search for those two on trip advisor), Stream Farm and Barnfield Farm B&B are all local. I’ve not stayed at any of these myself, but they’ve been recommended.
Budget options are Travel Lodge at either Lewes or Hailsham.
There are quite a few other local campsites nearby, many with cabins etc.
For vans / campervans: Horam Country Manor Park (5 min drive away) has pitches.
Map link of the area.
Travel
The venue is one hour from both London and Gatwick. The nearest train staion is lewes, a 20 minute taxi ride away. You’ll find more travel info here.
While You’re in Sussex
This part of the country is full of wonderful landscapes and cultural hotspots:
visitlewes
visitengland/east-sussex
Tripadvisor