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I have to defend the Orchard on this one as I spend quite a lot of time there .Yes the campfire is £20 but they have to buy the wood, now I too thought this was EXTREMELY high until I was chatting to Alan (the owner) and he was telling me how much he gets charged for the wood and believe me they don't make a lot on it.

He is a very nice bloke and yes its a business but he will bend over backwards to help any one out .

My son has started helping out there on a weekend ,when I dropped him off tonight we was talking about the wood for the fires and Alan was saying the price had shot up again we are in the process of trying to find another supplier I am going to check out a place close to me tomorrow to see if they can supply him. The other point I have to stress is some campers do tend to sit all night round the fire and believe it or not they go through hell of a lot of fire wood.    

Hi Claire ......... is that for the big campfire pit that we use on a meet .......

I would have thought, that about of wood, would last a week let alone a weekend in the small campfire dug-outs they have dotted around the site, especially down the bottom amongst the trees

A couple of the logs we used as seats/footstools at Easter would last all night in a 2ft square pit

You do need to watch the pricing policies, don't you!

As a birthday treat I took my son and three of his friends for a couple of nights to Blackberry Wood near Brighton, as it had had rave reviews, and allowed campfires. The pricing was simple - £5 per person and £5 per tent. For a couple of people in one tent in such a gorgeous location the total of £15 a night would not be unreasonable.

However, in our situation with the four boys being aged 11 (adult rate) and myself being in a second tent, this worked out at £35 a night! I was prepared to pay because it was a special event, and the campsite was 'perfect' in terms of what we wanted for the kids. We didn't need to pay anything for wood either, as I had just finished helping a friend demolish an old kitchen, so the car was full of old firewood!

I have to say I didn't have to pay anything in terms of entertainment either - there were trees to climb, sticks to burn in the fire, streams to cross and mud to get stuck in - '11 year old boy heaven!'

Hi Claire

I live in Birmingham and have a smokeless log burner (yes smokeless and it cost an arm and a leg) to provide hot water and central heating to the house as well as the delight of a proper fire in the lounge. I get through 3 tons of wood a year at a cost of £75, so was quite surprised to see that the abovementioned site charge £20 for wood. I now have contacts with 3 tree surgeons who supply me with oak, cherry and ash. There is of coarse the hastle of drying out and seasoning the wood but surely they could find a supplier cheaper than what they pay at the moment.

Quote: Originally posted by Cas54 on 06/5/2006

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Hi B Chrystie ......... we avoid site's with extra ......... like to be charged one price for unit + 2 adults, 2 kids and awning ..... all the extra just take the ppppppppp

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I know what you mean. I guess it just depends on what combination of people you have. We are 2 adults and 4 kids normally, so anywhere that charges by the person usually works out really expensive for us.

Having said that, for a couple on their own, the all-included price would probably work our more expensive !

Ok I spoke to Alan a little while ago and he has said he will reply to this tomorrow but in the  mean-time Alan has asked me to let everyone know they sell the wood at what they pay for it and sometimes make a loss on it .The wood he get is dry wood this reflects in the price, but he has said if anyone can fine him a supplier in Suffolk who will deliver at a reasonable price he will use them and pass the savings on to the  campers.

Never thought I would be talking about wood on here  but campfires are nice

Good Morning

Orchard Campsite offers as an option the feature of a real campfire on some of its pitches.

The fires burn seasoned logs, each cut to a size sufficiently small to allow safe and easy handling, and with the ability to fit safely into the pitch based fire pits. The logs are all at least 3 years post felling, air dried and as such burn relatively smoke free, do not spit or hiss and burn evenly and with sufficient heat to provide both warmth and allow quite serious multi course menus to be cooked.

During a busy weekend between 1 and 3 tons of dry wood is consummed. The supply of this material is both erratic and expensive, and has to be collected much of the time, stored, taken to pitches, and the residue cleared away.  Add to that the natural wastage caused by the over zealous helping themselves in the early hours, and the cost of supply increases.

Cas54, the logs used in the main fire pit are specifically for that pit, they typically weigh in at around 60lbs each dry weight, and can indeed last many hours if there is not too much wind, but for safety reasons such large logs cannot be used in the pitch based fire pits.

I am pleased that Nigel 16 in Birmingham can get dry sawn and riven timber for such a low price - but currently we cannot do so, and indeed have never been able to.

The challenge is - find us a cheaper delivered supply of sawn and riven 3 year post felling timber that can be relied upon to provide upwards of 60 tons across the next few weeks, delivered in weekly batches, and it will be a pleasure to reduce the price accordingly.

In the meantime, the benefits of having an open fire remain a feature of staying at the Orchard Campsite, and despite the initial view of r1ck06, I can guarantee that the Orchard Campsite never "rips off" anyone.

The site remains one of the best value facilties available - I doubt that the Orchard Campsite would have been selected from all the thousands of sites in England as one of only 40 to be listed in the recently published book "Cool Camping" by Jonathan Knight - if it did rip people off!.

But, having said that, if any one of the hundreds of regular clients that stay here feel that they have ever been "ripped off", please write to me at The Orchard Campsite Wickham Market Suffolk IP130SJ with supporting details, to receive a complete refund - hows that?

Thank you all for your continued support. Whitsun Bank Holiday weekend is booked (UKCS Cowboys and Indians Meet) - and August Bank Holiday is filling fast - I recommend that you book early.

Alan Hammond (Proprietor)

Orchard Campsite

can campers take thier own timber to burn mr.h?

i personally could not afford the £20, but wouldn't be a problem if i could bring timber with me.

Hi Chas ........ Alan is a very rare breed in campsite owners .......... he will go out of his way to make your stay as chilled as poss and personally wonders around chatting to camper's until all hours 

No 11pm bed time at Orchards 

We have been 5 times .... and spent many hours around the campfires - even blue & green ones