Camping at Bedgebury Campsite

After months at home, we have been desperate for a change of scenery and decided to book a campsite in Bedgebury, Kent for a weekend alongside some friends.  The site came highly recommended and camping in its essence is outdoors and usually away from other people.  The site at Bedgebury was even bigger than we expected and we were allocated a wonderful field called 'Plum' with so much space to set up camp far from other families. 

The check in process was easy and we stayed in the car throughout whilst the staff in masks took our details and gave us directions.  The field we were assigned was surrounded by forest and had so much space we set up our camp far from other groups.  We were camping with some friends who also had children the same age as my older boys and it was nice to leave my little ones at home with Daddy and spend time with just the big ones.  

The site has many different areas but our field seemed to consist only of families.  There were several compost toilets which were kept clean, well stocked with sawdust and had sinks with anti bacterial soap.  There were washing up stations and showers too in each field.  It was a 5 minute walk to get to reception where there was a shop selling essentials and there was also a coffee truck there.  On the Saturday night there was both a pizza truck and a fish and chip van and you ordered food between 4 and 5 for collection that evening.  Unfortunately after queuing for 20 minutes we were told the only slots for Pizza were at 9pm so I would advise getting in the queue early (we got there at 4.03). It probably didn't help that it was raining and so campfire cooking was less appealing.

Our stay was wonderful and wild.  It rained from the early hours of Saturday morning into the early hours of Sunday without a single break but the children were unphased by it and continued to run free and barefoot, finding sticks, playing on the tyre swings that hung from many of the trees and tending the campfire.  The grounds are so well maintained and clean and the forest surrounding our field was perfect for little explorers.  

We cooked on the campfire the first night and toasted marshmallows both nights, trying to make the perfect smores.  The children forgot about everything and enjoyed just being there, we all did.  The feel of grass under foot, the smell of the air, the sound of light rain on the tent roof as you fall asleep, the exhaustion from spending all day outdoors (coming into the tent reluctantly to eat as it was raining being the only exception) and spending time with good friends.  It was exactly what we all needed and reminded me how we don't need our big travels all the time to get away from real life for a bit and relax.

There were some great sounding local places to explore but as we only had two nights booked, we were keen to slow down the pace and just enjoy spending time on the campsite.  It is definitely somewhere we plan to return to though and next time we hope to check out Bedgebury Pinetum and Scotney Castle.  At Bedgebury campsite you really feel miles from anywhere, immersed in the countryside and it is a brilliant place for families.  

Perfecting my Smores

The toilets were clean and well maintained 

The fields were all spacious and easy to camp away from others

We did eat in the tent due to the rain

I look a little frizzy after being rained on all day

The entrance to Plum field

The showers

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A Wild Night Out

Over the month of June we were trying hard to do something outdoors everyday around the school days as part of 30 days wild and this ended last weekend with us planning a wild night out.  Millets are encouraging people to spend more time outside and to help with our garden camping plans they sent us one of their Eurohike air tents, and some camping essentials so we could spend a night under the stars.

We usually try and pitch our tent with four wild children running around but I managed to put up the Eurohike Air 600 in around 20 minutes alone.  There are no poles, you just use a manual pump to inflate the three big beams and then peg it into the ground as usual! The tent has two bedrooms which we popped our air beds into and Millets had sent us some sleeping bags too and a tent carpet for our living area. The children were so excited and got into the spirit pretty quickly.

Camping means eating outdoors and we still had the BBQ out from Cora's party so we cooked up the leftovers and afterwards skewered some giant marshmallows to roast. The children struggled to eat their dinner knowing marshmallows were coming and were far too impatient to let them melt properly before wolfing them down!

Getting settled in a tent is never easy with four excitable children but the wonders of the weekend are that it doesn't matter if they stay up late and run around outdoors until they are totally exhausted.  When we visit campsites we try and stay near a playground for this reason and when they are tired enough, they come in for a snuggle and a book by the light of the lantern.  Once we get them in bed Ed and I can chill out with a drink and watch the stars.

Last summer we pitched the tent in the garden for a few days and the boys had their friends round to sleepover in it and we will definitely be doing the same things during the summer holidays as they absolutely love sleeping outdoors and when they wake up in the morning they stay out there playing.  The Eurohike air tent is so much easier to put up and take down, it took less than 10 minutes to get it from upright to back in the bag and only about one minute to deflate it completely which is what we need with lots of little children running around! 

The additional 'footprint' made pitching even easier.

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