Back to Basics

I have just come back from a school camping holiday. Well, it wasn’t the school itself that ran it but it was for dads and their kids at our primary school. One hundred and thirty of us in the deep woods of the New Forest. Okay we had two loos, but nothing else.

To say that the children went feral would be an exaggeration, but they had so much space to cycle, walk, swim, and fish and there were games of football, cricket and rounders against the dads.

Everyone mucked in the cooking and cleaning-up. Cleaning up was only to the basic of levels as children appeared not to change their clothes because they were mumless. Around the camp fire too was a joy as the children spontaneously sang songs from school late into the night.

I have been camping for decades from the basic build your own loo to tents with fridges, caravanning and campervans. Sometimes alone in the desert and at other times in what are effectively holiday camps. But somehow this was special. I haven’t yet been able to put my finger on it. Okay it was great weather, the sky was filled with stars (as good as it gets in southern England – everything is relative). Maybe because it was just dads.

We all thoroughly enjoyed it. Even though some of the dads cheated and some were very competitive. How can you hack down an eight year old playing football? I found it quite easy!

We were all knackered the next day.