COUNTRY PASSION
In 2005, Sian Tucker left busy London to set up Fforest, an eco camp surrounded by ancient oak woods on the edge of the Teifi Gorge in Wales. Gathering around a campfire with family and friends is her favourite way to reconnect with nature
Sian Tucker reconnects with nature around a cosy campfire
When I was a child, my dad loved to cook over campfires. Breathing in the heady smell of woodsmoke and watching the flames flicker soothes my soul like nothing else.
My favourite time of year to gather around a campfire is autumn. There’s something wonderful about huddling up next to flickering flames on a chilly day – it makes me so happy.
I’m lucky to live very close to a stunning coastline with secluded coves and beaches. I’ll often walk over the clifftops or pootle by boat across the sea to a secret beach with my partner James and our four boys. It’s not a massive expedition, just far enough to feel like an adventure.
We’ll spend the day fishing, diving for spider crabs and collecting clams or mussels to cook over open flames. However, we always bring back-up supplies just in case we don’t catch much! As well as local sausages, I bring dough to make flatbreads. Other essentials include olive oil, salt and herbs for seasoning.
I don’t just build campfires to cook over – they inspire storytelling, games and the odd sing-along, too! It warms my heart to share activities like these with my friends and family.
There’s a ritual to building a campfire, which I find so meditative, from laying the surrounding stone circle to foraging for kindling. That’s my number one rule – natural firelighters only! My favourite is birch bark – it’s rich in resins and is great for getting the flames going. Dried pine needles, dried leaves and grasses are all good options, too. Safety is paramount, so I always have a bucket of water or sand on hand to keep flames under control and so we can put the fire out before leaving.
For me, campfires are at the heart of simple living. Cooking and eating, laughing and being outside with those you love is blissful for the body, for the heart and for the mind. I can’t recommend it enough!