JensonsScooby

As the weather is good this weekend I think it's time to pack the scoob and take the kids camping for a few days.

Hopefully I will find one that ain't fully booked...

Does anyone have any recommendations on where is good for kids aged between 4 and 13 years old.

Looking around the Highpeak, Cheshire, Wales or The Lakes.

Peedee

iTrader: (4)

The back garden!

Turbohot

Google the sites in Anglesey and Snowdonia area, Jenson. Plenty of sites, and you will have a Wale of a time in North Wales- it's beautiful and chilling here. Not very far from Manchester either. Your children will love it if they love nature.

tony de wonderful

I used to camp in the back garden as a kid.

It's the best spot. If it gets too wet or cold you have a warm bed waiting lol.

Turbohot

Where's the adventure in that, Tony ??? That's just false camping. The fun is when it's belting down on the tent, you are pitching under the tree in some proper rural campsite, and you feel dead frightened that lightning is gonna strike the tree any minute. Then, you move your tent to a different spot in the middle of the rain, or get into your car to sleep. Now that is fun. There are some really good sleeping bags you can buy these days that should keep you very warm and cozy.

my cats love camping the tent pitched up in my garden, but for proper human camping, you have to be hard. Camping isn't for the weak-hearted who leg it into their house when it drizzles or goes a bit chilly.

Jamie

I love camping even better is wild camping just get in the car drive and pitch up the tent

the shreksta

iTrader: (20)

sleeping in a tent in this weather.....................

tony de wonderful

I've done plenty of the **** too. I once spent my last three nights in Wales with only two packets of pot noodle left, and a single skin one man dome tent. It was Easter and it was pissing down and cold. It was a dreadful experience. My 'mates' gave up and went to the B&B but I was too skint.

Turbohot

Hm, I can see you're traumatised with that experience but if you get a better tent, better food and better sleeping bag, you will be ok, you know. And yes, get real mates who don't desert you and **** off to some B&B without you in such weather, because you're skint. That was really mean of them.

hodgy0_2

Initially thought this was another Graham Norton thread


We camped in the back garden earlier this year, right at the back, beyond site the house

The main reason was to let the kids hear the dawn chorus, which is simply amazing, so loud

Jamie

I want to go camping with swati it would be a great laugh

stevebt

iTrader: (8)

I'm thinking of doing this over the school holidays, planning to go to Kielder but I will go up in my van so I can take the bikes as well

Turbohot

Jamie, camping is about fun, laughter and being close to nature. I don't do much outdoor stuff because I feel bleddy freezing mosta time, but occasional down to earth camping in Summer peak is cool as. Nothing stops people to untent themselves if it gets too bad outside. As Tony says, there are B&Bs to shelter, and some people keep arrangement in their big cars for unforeseen p!ssdowns. Mind you, after seeing that film called Windchill, not sure if car-sleeping as plan B is a good idea.

Not so certain about camping in the wilds like yourself, though. In Wales, we have farmers bollocking you and moving you on. That's a serious hurt to the ego. Most wilds seem to be taken over by the farmers here. Well, unless they are actually ghosts! Amazingly, school kids still find their way to pitch in random woods.

David Lock

Gower Peninsular?

Bit like Cornwall but without the trippers.

dl

tony de wonderful

Holds little appeal for me now I'm older. If I had kids I might think about it, but I spend my working life in some ****ty conditions some times. Last thing I want is discomfort on my time off.

Turbohot

I understand, Tony. I don't think one needs to have kids to enjoy camping or fall in certain age band, but if you are roughing around a bit with your job, then what you really want is a comfy bed and all creature comforts on your holiday, not some jungle dwelling on a stream bank with a leaf for a toilet paper; even if it is just for a weekend or so.

Graz

Sssh, else everyone will start going there

Jamie

Swati have a look at this

Turbohot

Good find, Jamie. We have plenty of spots like that in North Wales. It certainly is like living a dream, man.

About the clouds meandering around you, my dream was broken when I first went on a plane as a child. I was expecting the clouds to be full of mystery, but when the plane tore through them, I realised that there was nothing more than nothingness about them. I was very disappointed. They are very atmospheric, fair do's. I can do my work journey through the clouds almost every day on the horse shoe pass here. I avoid it, because that route gets very dangerous to drive sometimes.

Graz

Remember camping at Kielder forest on the way up to a holiday cottage holiday in Scotland when we were kids. The overriding memory was the midges, it was almost like a dark cloud descending on the campsite around dusk and everyone running for cover to get inside your tent/caravan etc. before it as too late. Thank God the tent had insect nets

To the OP, any of those spots sound good, just get out there and enjoy the weather. Don't skimp on the gear and you'll have a good time whatever the weather. I wish I could be going sometime soon but that practicalities of a 5 week old baby rules it out for us for now. We took our boy when he was just 6 months and again last year when he was 1yr 4mths, he seemed to enjoy it. The trip to Harlech last year was with strong winds and torrential rain for a couple of nights, still fun but luckily the weather tended to be better during the day. Had a similar experience on the Gower but that was before kids. Amazed the tent held up so well both times

Jamie

Muppet meet in wales or was it somewhere else? camping was good

Last time i went with someone was with wwsd not far from brecon beacons march -5 in a tent we gave up at 1 am and drove home.

swatit have you still got the same car?

Turbohot

No Jamie, I don't have a Subaru any more. I sold it in 2011. I now have a new age gangsta Passat in black.

About the Muppet camping meet in Wales, I heard different story from another muppet. I heard that it was terribly unruly with too many p!ssheads making a right mess of the camp site. Apparently there were lot of complaints for the noise and havoc caused by mentally immature muppets. That's out of order IMO. I had nothing to do with Muppet meets, then. So, I am lucky not to have witnessed it, if that was true.

BTW why the hell did you want to camp at Brecon Beacons at -5 in March, you numpties? No wonder you had to give up.
Anyway, say my Hi to WWSD when you see him.

Jamie

It was a stupid mad muppet meet i spent my time in the tent smoking er stuff muppets went up some hill had a laugh

wwsd still ponders on here i think?

JensonsScooby

lol I used to myself... In the eighties we was happy with that.
Kids nowadays want more than we can offer, I couldn't imagine my kids faces suggesting that one.
We have plenty of Greenland too,living in the Highpeak

JensonsScooby

I agree with that one...
But it's abit difficult when you have 5 dependants under 13

JensonsScooby

We ended up in Ashbourne.
We booked in at rivendale camp site.

Very nice rural site set in a disused quarry. Very peaceful and plenty of space.

You can choose to camp in rough fields, mowed fields with electric hookup or on the mountain side.

We took the option of mowed fields with electric due to having young ones.

If you like peace and quiet in the evening then and an early morning then this site is a must.

Be prepared for the early morning there is LOTS of nature around, birds nesting on the quarry face is a big factor of the site...
PERFECT for bird watchers lol



To be continued....

Dingdongler

Personally I can't see why anybody would want to sleep in a tent (unless you are a refugee)

Turbohot

Jamie

Did you not learn to pull out

Even with kids it's a good weekend fire up a bbq sorted

btw do not put the kids on the bbq

Ray T

Now this is what you call camping.

ray