A night under the stars...

[Workingman]

... for all schoolchildren.

A new report says that children need to reconnect with nature and one way of doing it would be for every child to get at least one night under the stars in a National Park (NP) or Area of Natural Beauty (AoNB).

Fine, it is not the worst of ideas, these places are on the doorstep of just about everyone yet, at the same time, they are almost off-limits.

Well I have a message for the stuffed shirts who operate these places: Stop making them so exclusive and expensive and relax the rules a bit.

The Dales are right on my doorstep but B&Bs and rooms in pubs are few and far between, and expensive, so not much chance of 'a night under the stars' there. They have become largely for day trippers. Campsites? Well yes, if you want glamping, camper van, caravan parks for a few nights in the 'touristy' places, but there is not much for hikers or walkers out in the sticks. It is the same thing in nearly all of the NPs and AoNBs.

It's time to re-allow some structured wild camping in some areas. It does not have to be a free-for-all, but farmers and land owners should be allowed and encouraged to have small pop-up campsites - small tents only - in quiet corners in out of the way places during parts of the year. There is a universal wild camping code and those of us who do or have done it follow it religiously, so they should not be afraid of their land being trashed.

If we want to get people back in touch with nature we have to open it up. Sending children to an organised site with electric power points, hot showers, a cafe and a shop is not it.

[saundra]

I doubt parents would send children to basic camp site plus children these days want all the mod cons in afraid I mght be wrong

[Workingman]

Sorry, Saundra, I didn't explain very well.

The basic camps are for those of us who are experienced and want to get away from it all. The current rules for wild camping are that it is not generally allowed in England and Wales and to do it without the explicit permission of the land owner is to break the law. All land in England is 'owned' in some way by private owners, the Crown, military, government, English Heritage, the Forestry Commission and so on and they are all set against wild (free) camping.

For the children I was thinking more along the lines of the cheap and cheerful scout and guide camps. Both of mine were in those groups and absolutely loved their times away in shared tents with a cook's tent and BBQ type cooking sat round a brazier singing songs to the compulsory guitar and tambourine. They are organised, but in a kind of haphazard way.

[saundra]

I swear to god when m.y boys went to camp with the cubs a place called bear woods
They never had a wash cleaned there teeth for a week and stunk of smoke loved it tho

[TheOstrich]

The concept is fine in principle, but are they expecting schools to organise it? 'Elf and Safety?

[cruiser2]

When I was young lived in the country. I went camping with the scouts. Had to spend a wek end on one of the Hebridean islands as the ferry only called on Mondys Wednesdays and Fridays.

[JoM]

Sorry, Saundra, I didn't explain very well.

The basic camps are for those of us who are experienced and want to get away from it all. The current rules for wild camping are that it is not generally allowed in England and Wales and to do it without the explicit permission of the land owner is to break the law. All land in England is 'owned' in some way by private owners, the Crown, military, government, English Heritage, the Forestry Commission and so on and they are all set against wild (free) camping.

For the children I was thinking more along the lines of the cheap and cheerful scout and guide camps. Both of mine were in those groups and absolutely loved their times away in shared tents with a cook's tent and BBQ type cooking sat round a brazier singing songs to the compulsory guitar and tambourine. They are organised, but in a kind of haphazard way.

Our two did the Cubs and Scout camps too.
We're quite well off around here for this kind of thing as we have Shugborough nearby, on the edge of Cannock Chase and that doubles up as a place where Scouts and Guides can camp and is also an outdoor education centre used by schools (there's also a place called Beaudesert on the Chase which is a Scout and Guiding centre). There's also Laches Wood OEC at Coven, between here and Wolverhampton. They've camped there too with Cubs and Scouts. Joe especially has fond memories of that as he camped there when he was 7 and he shared a tent with his best friend Luke so at that age it was quite something for them to do.

Tom and Joe's primary school always took the Year 6 group to Shugborough after SATs for five days camping and outdoor activities.