History of Sunnymead | Sunnymead Farm | Woolacombe

The Lock Family

Peter and I moved into Sunnymead Farm in 1994, the farm had ceased trading by then as a commercial chicken farm following the devistating storms of the late 80's and to say the least it was a bit run down. The land was over grown and there were no fences at all. Back then we both worked elsewhere so getting the place into shape was a long project. We had 2 horses, so the first priority was to fence the exterior of the land to keep them in and to convert what is now the garage into stabling. The fencing was harder than we thought, in parts of the land rubble had been buried and in other parts iron bars (which we later found out we could blame the Americans for). We have photos of this work but pre-digital and no scanner hopefully one day I will get them on here.

By 2001 we have 2 additions to our family in the way of our 2 sons, I was still working full time but unfortunatly Peter has to close his business partly for health reasons and we had to take a long hard look at our finances, deciding we did not want to move, but wanting to stay meant we had to look to Sunnymead to start paying its own way.

We looked at a few different options one of which was to return the farm to a chicken farm, but finally decided on camping. The reasons behind this were that we had noticed how the majority of sites in the area had gone large! they all seemed to be catering for those who want pools, entertainment and childrens clubs, whilst we knew these sites can be brilliant in the winter for camping with children we also appreciated that it is great fun to get back to simple camping in the spring and summer and Sunnymead Camping was born.

As we have done many camping holidays both in tents and touring caravans at different times of the year with 2 young children ourselves we tried to take all the things we had liked from different sites and put them together here where possible

A place for children to play where you can see them
Showers where your children and maybe a buggy can wait for you.
Ballgames that can be played right out side your pitch rather than a field the other side of the site
Not too many rules just mutual respect
No smelly bins right by "your" pitch

We hope you will agree that Sunnymead farm is all about old fashioned simple camping and families having fun.

Sunnymead history

We thought you might like to know a little history of Sunnymead farm, well anyhow as much history as we know, it may not be entirely factually correct as our knowledge has come from old photos and stories from local people.

Sunnymead Farmhouse was built in the 1930's, by a local farmer, and at that time was called Upper Bickenbridge, during the second world war it became home to American troops who were based in North Devon and did training on the beaches here and the burrows at Braunton. We found signs of them whilst trying to put fencing up in 1994, everytime the postholer went into the ground in certain areas such as the camping field entrance it would become entangled in metal rods, these same rods can be seen all over the burrows at Braunton as they were used to support the heavy vehicles accross soft ground.

The officers were housed in the farmhouse and the troops where housed, in a row of Nizzan huts along the north boundry of the land. One of these huts was still here when we moved in.

Sometime after the war Upper Bickenbridge as it was still known then became a chicken farm and I can remember as a child being driven past on the way to Woolacombe thinking how wonderful it must be to live there. To our knowledge it carried on trading as a commercial egg producing chicken farm up until the late 1980's, eggs were still produced on the land but not on the same scale.

The farm name was changed sometime in the 1980's we believe from Upper Bickenbridge to Sunnymead Farm.

Today you will still find chickens on the farm but the majority of them are ex-battery hens.

Visitor Feedback

If you stay with us this year or have in the past and would like to help us out with a few lines on what you think of the site please let us know.

We would be most grateful, thank you Sarah & Peter Lock.

"We have been regular campers at Sunnymead for the last five seasons. We have been impressed by the way Peter & Sarah have developed the site whilst maintaining the informal relaxed and welcoming atmosphere which both we and our Boxer dogs enjoy! The site is well located for both beaches, towns, walking, and touring. Nothing is really too far away and there are also some excellent pubs serving really good food within reasonable distances. This is a site we are happy to recommend and we always look forward to return visits." (2009)

_{Jackie & Pete from the Midlands}

We stayed for the first time this year and will be back, the site is clean and safe for the children, the new facilities are lovelly, we had a great relaxing break and would highly recommend. (2009)

_{John, Sue & Family from Wales}

Just had a short last minute break, weather was good to us considering its only April, the toilet and shower facilities are probably the best we've seen on smaller sites. Would highly recommend for a relaxing break. (2010)

A & G Parsons from Wiltshire

This was our first camping trip with our two young children so we were a bit worried how it would go, fortunately we picked the perfect site. It was an ideal location giving you the choice of two excellent beaches within 2 or 3 miles. The family shower room was a godsend after a day at the beach it meant that daddy could help bathe our one year old in the baby bath provided whilst I got my 4 yr old showered. The pitches were well spaced and gave us the privacy that we like and Sarah & Peter were very welcoming and helpful - Thanks again. (July 2010)

The Davis Family, Rotherham South Yorkshire

Sunnymead Farm

Camping & Touring Site