Annual Family Camping get togethers Forums

Hampshireman

Any one else do it?

We are off to Redcliff Farm camp site at Wareham, 25th July. Just down the road but been going for years in different forms. Started when we had a boat and could trail it down, moor it on Barnsies lagoon! and often leave the tent there for the summer and dip and out as we pleased, this was the 70s.

Now we have our van and 5 tents plus the central gazebo and 6 kids. We are not a big family but it's always the one they all look forward to.

Often there are rallies on a special field and the attraction is a nice walk up the river to the quayon Friday evening, for fish and chips and a pint watching the yachts and pleasure boats mess up on the narrow width with a threatening low road bridge right up your nose ( been there done that).

Saturday down to Studland and the beach and then a BBQ at camp which my son and nephew enjoy doing and I sit back and be the perfect patriarch with a can of beer or two maybe even three.

Sunday, steam train from Corfe to Swanage, picnic on the beach, ice creams and all that.

Can't wait.

artona · Moderator

Hi H

Hope you have a good time, sounds a nice itinery.

We are kind of on our first sort of one at the moment. For us of course its not really camping as we are fulltimers but our sons are staying with us at the moment for a few days and our daughter, who could not get the same time off is with us next month. It would be nice to think that as they all get married it would carry on and develop

stew

Hampshireman

Last time I saw you Stew, you had a son and daughter with you anyway. How many are there?

bigfoot

My chums and I met and grew up together through the Scouts.
As time took it's toll and they got married,some of their partners weren't keen on camping. When children came along we started to introduce them to the noble art of tent pitching and lighting campfires,with a Dad's camp. It was firstly a one night trip to a site a few miles away and then it developed into a full weekend with an activity programme of sailing, canoeing,walking. Whilst this was all going on the Memsahibs would stay at home and dine out or meet at someone's house
We would arrive at the site near a pub,of course and the landlord would welcome us with a BBQ he arranged,perhaps I should mention that at its height the camp was 6 dads and 20 kids.
After a day's activities on the Saturday we would do a barby on site for the kids who would toddle off and play. We would then have our 'Safari dinner',prepared by one of our group who had spent a lot of time in Kenya.
As time went on a children grew up we didn't do it until earlier this year when the 'kids' wanted to do another camp. The youngest child was my youngest daughter who had just turned 18. And for a change they bought the drinks in the pub for us!!
It was a cracking weekend and they want another one next year!!
Now ALL the children have good careers or are about to embark on one,they have all travelled in their gap years. My youngest is presently travelling Eastern Europe with a friend.
Its the experience we gave them that has taught them to be resiliant because the sun didn't shine all the time but it was still an enjoyable experience.
As a post script ALL our children were well behaved and we used sites that had no other campers on,it was the Dads who were the problem!!! Laughing

artona · Moderator

Hi H

Just the four, David 23, Daniel 21, Penny 20 and Jessica 2.

Only Jessica lives with us now, eldest roams the world in seach of the Holy Chef's grail, Dan is at uni do Nucleur experiments and Penny is at Uni doing Sociology in an attmept to gain enough knowledge to understand her parents.

Jessica meanwhile looks after the old codgers - poor girl Laughing

stew