This made me sad...

[calumscott]

http://www.scribd.com/doc/87203073/National-Trust-natural-childhood-report

...and also bloody determined to give mine as close as I can to the childhood I had!

 

[Nunfa1]

I've just left my wife and kids at a playground in our local wood, there is a big group of families and the kids are having a great time playing in the trees and building dens and other stuff. I watched my boy (5 years old) and it was clear that he was having so much more fun than if he'd been sat at home. The outdoors is a wonderful place and people should make more of an effort to enjoy it, me included.

 

[calumscott]

I've just left my wife and kids at a playground in our local wood, there is a big group of families and the kids are having a great time playing in the trees and building dens and other stuff. I watched my boy (5 years old) and it was clear that he was having so much more fun than if he'd been sat at home. The outdoors is a wonderful place and people should make more of an effort to enjoy it, me included.

This.

 

[aneray]

My kids (16,9 and 6) have been spending far too much time in front of the tv and their game consoles. Last year we decided that camping would be a good idea to break this habit and it would make us spend more time outdoors as a family. We didn't go for long seeing as though it was their first time, and they loved it that much that they didn't want to come home.

I spent the rest of last year buying camping gear from different places and auction sites so when we did it again they would be more comfortable than before. Now we have everything, and I mean everything, including a trailer. The girls were not comfortable trecking to the loos in the middle of the night last time so I bought a portaloo and tent to make it easier for them. The tent we have is massive. Its 7m x 6m and each of the three pods can easily accommodate a queen size air mattress which we have in each. Its not expensive to start camping, and once you have the basics you can go wherever you want.

As a family we have to watch the pennies like most others, and buying cheap camping equipment this way will provide us with many holidays and weekends together for the next few years away from the game consoles and televisions.

 

[critch]

my missus and kids love camping, weve just got a bigger tent as the 6 man one we had was no where big enough when it rained! :lol:

 

[mattyboy]

Another one for camping :) me the girlfriend and my daughter love camping we go most weekend in the summer. We are off to Draton manor in a few weeks so I will be taking my turbo cider with me lol. We it's not all walking and site seeing lol.

 

[cutnrun]

We love camping.

we tent to go each year and as aneray said once you have the basics you can save a fortune and pick things up as you go.

There is a camp site we use in bungay that we love. Close to st peters brewery. there is a broad for canoeing fishing or walking along. really quiet and the owners are great. been there 3 times and on the second time she knew our name and where we would like to pitch!

 

[calumscott]

I will be taking my turbo cider with me

Close to st peters brewery.

So I see how this is going to work...

...nice fun outdoorsey holidays for the kids...

...meticulously planned to include liquid entertainment for the parents. Beautiful is that. Beautiful.

 

[fishplate]

I once took my wife and son camping the mrs hated that much she threatened to leave,unfortunately she didn't lol

 

[mattyboy]

We always take a few beers with us plus a drop of pop for the kids lol :)

 

[brizleciderarmy]

Absolutely love camping. And doing it with bare essentials too. I.e. no gas stove you need to light a fire if you want to eat. Me and the misses never get to go as we have no car to get us anywhere.

Sometimes we camp up in my mums back garden. 3 man Eurohike jobby from Millets, massive porch. The tent looks like a giant green slug. Got a mini 2 gallon pressure barrel to keep us from dying of thirst in the baron desert that is the garden.

Happy times. Thinking about buying a little rattler for 200quid and driving down to Bodmin Moor and go hiking off the grid for a week or so. Live off the land and what not.

Not eating any maggots though.

 

[mattyboy]

Ye back to basics camping is brill I use to love it but the girlfriend and the kids like the airbeds and nice warm gas heater lmao. Still good fun but now we use proper camping ground with all the mod cons lol :)

 

[Dunfie]

I am just about to embark on the West Highland Way with my 12 year old son ( we start in half an hour). We are not camping but i have booked bunkhouses, a wooden wigwam and a microlodge hobbit for the journey. So for the 95miles he wont see a tv or ps3

 

[critch]

those microlodges are fekkin superb, have a good'un!

 

[Nunfa1]

We have our first camp next weekend, can't wait. Plenty of PET bottles ready to go, just got to bottle some wine for the OH.

 

[SE10PAT]

There is a camp site we use in bungay that we love. Close to st peters brewery. there is a broad for canoeing fishing or walking along. really quiet and the owners are great. been there 3 times and on the second time she knew our name and where we would like to pitch!

hey mate, could you let me know what its called pls? I was thinking of going up that way later in the summer

 

[jonewer]

There is a camp site we use in bungay that we love. Close to st peters brewery. there is a broad for canoeing fishing or walking along. really quiet and the owners are great. been there 3 times and on the second time she knew our name and where we would like to pitch!

What else does she do?

 

[Boomerang Bender]

Thanks for the post it makes really good sense being a child in the 1950,s we had all the freedom we needed. :thumb:

 

[calumscott]

being a child in the 1950,s we had all the freedom we needed. :thumb:

I was a child in the 80's and we had great freedom to roam. I really hope that the misguided, risk-averse, tie-em-to-the-apron-strings attitudes prevalent now start to be reversed...