Across the lake there is the distant sound of gunfire, which would be more ominous if there wasn’t a Guinness tap and a Land Rover heaving with freshly shucked oysters in front of us. We’re in a field near North Leigh, a tiny village in Oxfordshire, at Bushcamp, the latest arm of the deliriously up-and-coming-and-coming-again Public House Group. After successfully taking over The Pelican in Notting Hill in 2022 and turning it into an objectively perfect neighbourhood pub, the team has repeated the trick four times over with The Bull, in nearby Charlbury, west London’s The Hero and The Fat Badger, and most recently The Hart in Marylebone. Bushcamp takes the PHG formula – local produce and community-focused hospitality – but replaces the pub setting with random swaths of British countryside. “We all love being outdoors but some of us just never do it,” says group co-founder Phil Winser, who is leading today’s event. “It’s bonkers: you just spend a bit of time outside and you feel better.”
The kitchen set-up © Joseph Horton
Public House Group’s Murray Ward, James Gummer and Phil Winser © Joseph Horton
Scallops with samphire © Joseph Horton
The safari tent set up for lunch © Joseph Horton
