Making a home run

A meander through the middle of England allows Susan Taylor to enjoy an easy getaway from her doorstep

USUALLY, OUR WEEKEND wanderings in our van take us to areas two or three hours’ drive from home – far enough to feel ‘away’ without spending the entire weekend driving to and from our destination. Recently, though, I realised this leaves a whole circle of potential touring spots and interesting places just an hour or so away.

One such place is the National Herb Centre – just too far for an afternoon out but closer than we would normally go for a weekend. Being keen on ‘growing my own’, to coin a phrase, I have long wanted to visit but never quite got around to it.

Until a few weeks ago, that is, when we decided to spend a weekend at Fir Tree Campsite near Banbury, just over an hour’s drive from our home in Buckinghamshire.

Rosemary and thyme

Fir Tree is a fairly small, relatively basic (but very clean and friendly) campsite which regularly hosts music gatherings, car rallies and other events. It sits on the edge of the pretty Warwickshire village of Warmington and is only a 10-minute walk from the National Herb Centre.

As well as an array of culinary and medicinal herbs (including the cola plant, which actually does smell like the drink), the NHC has traditional garden-centre plants, a gift shop and a small bistro/coffee shop. When we were all shopped out (how many plants can you reasonably transport home safely, we wondered?), we followed the shortest of the three nature trails leading from the centre into the surrounding countryside, looking out for rabbits, foxes, badgers and deer along the way.

The Falcon reborn