Hillfoot Meet

It was last weekend since a dozen or so of our online Camping Group went on a meet to Hillfoot. I went straight from work having packed up the night before.

The weather could only be described as 'iffy' although we got a continuous period of sunshine on Saturday afternoon. We were lucky to have an area set aside for us to use for a campfire and it was under a large Beech tree which, being in full leaf, gave us a lot of protection from the rain which we had on both evenings.

We had takeaway on our first evening and was treated to a fabulous barbecue by my friends on the second evening. Mervyn, who runs the campsite, his son and his son in law came and joined us round the campfire for a while.

Good memories were made and I really enjoyed meeting all the guys once again. I think the kids enjoyed the treasure hunt I had put together which took them around 12 locations zig zagging across the area.

The campfire is worth a mention. It was two washing machine drums with the wheel still attached, so it was effectively on a stand and away from the ground. The fire was set in one of them and the other was turned upside down and put on top. The effect of this was to drive the heat out sideways and made an unbelievable difference to the heat output. People seriously had to move their chairs backwards to get away from the heat and we had one complaint of pubic hair being singed off,

The pictures below have had the children's faces obscured for their own privacy.

Little Frame Tent

How this started was, well there was someone on an online forum who was totally new to camping and was being dangerously seduced by Bell Tents, I'll tell you this....Instagram has an awful lot to answer for.

As I'm now the owner of a Bell Tent, I can now see beyond the appeal of prettying it up. Bell Tent camping is a whole other experience from other tent camping. 

How can I put it, well....in a tunnel tent or family tent you are looking for some sane things. Like somewhere to stand upright and a designated sleeping area that you can close off 1) the sight of messed up beds and 2) keep the bugs especially spiders out. 

Bell Tent camping is much more romantic. The bed is always on view as is pretty much everything else especially if you have kids and you are sort of supposed to embrace the bohemian lifestyle of 'lounging' and if you are even slightly a clean freak this will drive you nuts. How can you sit on a bed and not mess it up! The door is too low resulting in an aching back and I'm quite frankly, the wrong shape for floundering on the floor as I cannot get back up again without using the central pole. And even then, I'd need a rope with knots in it. 

Bell Tent facebook pages are full of the most amazing photos, but the fans of them admit themselves the photo was taken at the beginning of their trip, after the shoozing it up but before a single being was let in there. 

I pointed out to this young family (I know it's taken a while to get back to the original request for advice) that you don't necessarily need a Bell Tent to glamp, that old fashioned Frame Tents are retro now and all the rage. 

They offer benefits like you can stand up all over the internal space. There is a normal walk in height door. The seventies and beyond offered some questionable if not funky colour choices. These wacky tents can be festooned with bunting and filled with cushions just as easily as a Bell Tent.  I went on to ebay to pick out a 'smallish' Frame Tent to illustrate my point and found a lovely little Buttermilk Yellow and Royal Blue one. It was £55. The seller was happy for people to arrange courier should they so wish. 

I kept refreshing the ebay page and the forum post page and the tent which was on a 'Buy it now' was still there. I thought the couple were bound to buy it, it was a no brainer.  The tent got in to my head. I kept thinking about all my arguements why a Frame Tent was better and just as pretty as a Bell Tent. I hoped they wouldn't buy the tent. 

I did a quick courier search thinking the cost will be prohibitive. Nope...it's was about £30. £85 all in. 

I thought some more, sure haven't I always wanted a more manageable size of a Frame Tent rather than my big brute of a Frame Tent? (Actually said this about the Bell Tent too, even I can't fool myself all the time).  I'm going to be a solo camper from now on. I can use the bedroom pod without it's divider. I actually prefer no groundsheet in the living area it's better for eating and cooking (so I told myself) and between one thing and another....

I argued with myself and I won. 

John, the owner was incredibly easy to deal with and kept communication throughout the process. A dozen messages between us, Yodel organised over the internet and paid for online. I'm now the owner of a Sunncamp Villa 4 with two huge windows and more importantly, it's in great condition. It actually dates from the 90's so it isn't really that old.

I've never named a tent. Well the Vango Icarus got Iccy but that's just laziness. I don't know why but I think this one needs a name. Any suggestions gratefully recieved.

To the original couple who I advised, your loss is my gain. Thank you for choosing a Bell Tent. 

These photos are from the original Ebay link. It's in my house now, still in its bag and I'm actually looking for a time to use it now but struggling because the next two trips, my Bell will be used. 

The Wild Atlantic Campsite and the Wild Wind

Camping at the Wild Atlantic Campsite in a storm.

The Wild Atlantic Campsite is in North Donegal right in the village of Creeslough. It is a hilly terrain and the campsite is downhill from a main street which has shops, dwellings and a fuel station along it. The effect is that when you are on the campsite the road and buildings are above you. The campsite has an all-weather sports pitch, an extensive childrens playground, and a bike hire facility. At the bottom of the site is a mini golf course. This area was waterlogged and was not being used as a golf course at the moment. Creeslough itself is about 6 miles from Dunfanaghy, which is a popular holiday home area and has a bit of an arty buzz to it (and a strong smell of money) from the newly retireds, who wander down the street with matching pale blue sweaters over their shoulders in true sloan style, in search of a latte. This is not deepest Ireland as you'd see it in the postcards, it's not a place with 17 pubs down one side of the street and 12 down the other. There's not a shamrock in sight, even the 'trad' music is cool acoustic jazz. Apparently there's even a Jazz festival in September.

On the Friday evening I ended up in Dunfanaghy. This was mainly because I needed a bank machine to get Euros as I had not time to sort that out while I was still in the 'North' (paradoxically, I was geographically more 'North' than my own home town but people from Northern Ireland and Ireland will know well that 'The North' means Northern Ireland which has sterling instead of Euros and Donegal, despite being geographically north, is considered 'The South' as it is a county of good old Eire. I include this for my English relatives who are all a bit confused by the distinction.) Anyway I knew for a fact that there was a bank machine in Dunfanaghy but not sure about the whereabouts of bank machines in Creeslough. On a practical note, it turns out the bank machine in the Centra Shop, in Dunfanaghy, is in fact the only bank machine around for miles. Welcome to Ireland.

The second reason for going to Dunfanaghy is that I knew I could get a really fancy, very tasty gourmet pizza in a pub with music (soft acoustic) and I knew because I'd been once last year. The pub is called Patsy Dans and it has this really cool beer garden with lots of glowing lights and vintage furniture. It was too cold to sit outside and so I ended up sharing a table indoors with two other women who chatted away and made me feel a little less lonely, as sitting on your own is never that much fun.

My podding friends weren't turning up until the next day. I spent a bit of time glamping my new Bell Tent up and really enjoyed having the luxury of a double bed this time. I took a 'readybed' and layered it underneath with mats for insulation and on top with blankets. I was going for a blue theme as I have a blue 'Beanstalk camping kitchen which is a collectable retro item now. The wind was quite bad and I didn't sleep that well due to the noise and worry about the fact I'd pitched under a tree, and I was concerned the wind would knock a branch down. Little was I to know that the storm was only going to get worse.

The following day the tent didn't seem to be coping all that well with the now incessant rain. A few places on the polycotton developed white patches which seemed to have drops of rain coming through the fabric (although it did not actually drip) and the wind was getting stronger and the tent was bowing in on one side. I got my peg bag out of the car and replaced all the windward side pegs with deltas.

It felt quite restrictive being in a Bell Tent in the rain, but the two windows came in to their own for the first time in the use of the tent so far. Honestly the walls would have been closing in if it wasn't for the fact that I could see out. So glad I have those windows and worth going polycotton for that feature alone.

I went off for a drive to check out another nearby campsite, but the storm was so bad I could barely get out of the car. When I got back to the campsite I parked the car on the windward side of the tent to take some pressure from the guyropes, which looked like they would snap.

As the day became night (and my friends and I went for a takeaway to a place conveniently beside the campsite) the storm gusted to approximately 35 miles per hour, according to accuweather - and when I went to bed that night I felt genuinely scared, and that I was really stupid for being in a canvas bag, under a pine tree, in what amounted to a Force 7 gale. The Accuweather proclaimed a weather warning for wind and for flooding was in place. I did sleep fitfully, but the wind would whoosh so loudly overhead and then hit the tent a second or two later, that I did think I could be in real danger.

Somehow, the tent and I survived until morning. The wind subsided and the sun even tried to come out. I went to the onsite coffee shop with my friends and it was decided that we'd go to the beach. Honestly, if you'd seen us you'd have thought it was December. I was in a heavy winter coat, my friends where in coats, hats and gloves and their kids were in wellies, hats, waterproof jackets and scarves. We enjoyed the beach anyway. We found mussels - I brought some home. Soaked them, ate them, they were nearly restaurant size. They were lovely.

I arrived back on site about 1pm and found a couple in a campervan were waiting for me to leave. It was my own fault, I should have packed in the morning. It being a Sunday I'd assumed I'd not have to rush off site. I even considered staying another night (as the weather was to vastly improve) but it was not to be. I actually don't think this couple had to take my pitch, as there were others available. But it was clear that they fancied my pitch and so it was that I had to pack up sharpish. They went for a walk so at least I was able to get on with it without an audience. However the heavens opened again and I was like a drowned rat, and now I'm home with a hideous wet tent.

The Bell Tent

Pros

It kept standing even in a Force 7 Gale even though it didn't look like it would.
It was nice to glamp it up a bit
It has windows

Cons

It's too heavy, it's a beast. I can barely handle it. I'm not exactly fit though.
The PVC floor is so substantial that it doesn't fold up easily when one person is having to do it by themselves.
It doesn't dry that quickly.
It's quite big so you take too much stuff to put inside it.

A One-nighter in North Donegal

In the past fortnight I have managed to aquire another tent. It is a Vango Halo which is a three man backpacker (sort of) it's really too heavy for true backpacking but for a light, throw up car camping tent it is ideal. More on my Vango Halo (300) to follow, for on this occasion I couldn't help myself but use the Bell Tent again.

I have a friend who is a biker. This guy and his friends all have a motorbike each and they go on these little road trips. I knew this in advance, knew where they were going to be and decided that I would take a run their way for the craic - well they had asked me, which was lovely of them.  As their location was an hour away I thought of just heading up for a few hours for a bite to eat but when my eldest son (aged 18) expressed interest in going too I thought why not stay over!

The site is a bit special, and a secret. I'm not saying anything more than North Donegal. It's on the coast in a bay where you can see mountains across the bay. There's a good reason for keeping this place quiet, the bit of land that is used for camping is not a designated campsite as such and there are complaining neighbours - so the current land owner might get the 'order of the boot' if the council come crashing down on him. However, while this site is still available it is well used. It has absolutely no facilities but there are public toilets within a minutes wander. There is a pub in front of the site and you can use their facilities and they also offer a bar menu. So it's good manners to support the pub with a pint and a pizza if you are going to be popping in and out of their loos.

Note: You may figure out for yourself where this secret place is, but if you are knowledgeable enough to know, then you deserve to know and I trust you not to blab about it either. 

Now I'm a girl who's golden time of music was a certain era. When Bon Jovi, Aerosmith and Guns & Roses blasted out guitar riffs and spectacular as their hair and makeup wasn't just for girls. And so it was that my son has been brought up on this stuff, and guess what - he's a fan! Big time, he even has long hair and plays guitar. He does not wear eyeliner though.

My playlist was loaded and ready to go. It was entitled 'Road Trip'. The weather was stunning. 21 degrees (in April) and not a cloud in the sky. I felt a bit like that girl from the Aerosmith video Cryin' and I was breaking out, disappearing in to the far blue yonder all shiny blond hair and aviator sunglasses. The music was on extra loud, and the windows were down. The both of us sang the whole way. For once in my life I really started to relax, and I my frown was turned upside down.

The Bell Tent practically pitched itself. The other guys were already camped, but there was no sign of them or their bikes. They had a variety of dome tents and one was a Halo as well so at least I got to look at one. Just as I was getting water boiled for a coffee I said to my son that we'll hear those guys before we see them. And funny enough - the loud rumble of big motorbikes, across the bay to a road we could see. We counted as they appeared and within another minute they were with us on the campsite.

I'd met three out of the four of them before, and so introductions were made and we all got on really well. The guys had brought themselves a picnic table over from another part of the site and we were quite content sitting there, soaking up the rays and drinking red wine out of a plastic mug.

Things were so relaxed and there was no pressure to do anything or go anywhere. In the end we split up for tea and met up again in the bar. I was on half un's of Guiness all night and the bar was busy with a great atmostphere. They have a really cool beer garden, but all that cloudless sky translated into a nippy evening and there was a turf fire in the bar so we stayed in.

The Bell Tent was very basic in it's set up, you can really bling these things up but all I took was a self inflating mat each, a big 35l 'really useful' box with  all the bits and pieces we wanted like mugs and torches. I took one small camping chair and a fold up bench as well. I brought a table but didn't use it.

We had no source of heat, and so I took extra sleeping bags. The night was terribly cold, I ended up sleeping inside a sleeping bag inside another sleeping bag. I didn't sleep that well, I probably should have drank a lot more Guinness. My pillows kept slipping off the top of my self inflating mat which really got on my nerves. I've been googling this all week and it seems I'm not the only one complaining of pillows slipping. Various workarounds are mentioned, such as putting your t-shirt over the pillow and over the whole end of the mat. Anyway I ended up putting the chair on it's side and butting it up against the top of my pillows, and managed a few hours sleep after that.

I was up at 6am answering the call of nature and just happened on the moment the sun came up. It was so spectacular I crossed my legs and went back to the tent for the camera.

The following day there was no pressure to be up, or to leave. I was up about 8 am and over to a nearby shop for a coffee and took it to the sea front for a half hour stare at the sea. I could see the guys emerging from their tents over at the campsite. I wandered over their way. I made coffee. My son woke up. We went to the cafe for a wonderful breakfast of french toast served with bacon, maple syrup and a dollop of blueberry yogurt on the side, for €7 (about £5) and then went back to the campsite. Two more bikers had turned up late the evening before, so we all introduced ourselves and had a good chinwag and then they all started to pack. I'd no intention of packing, so waved goodbye to all the men and went for a drive. We drove to the top of a mountain where you have views of the sea all around, and I filled out my sons Student Finance form as this was the only spare bit of time I'd had in weeks. I got burnt sitting in the sun and we drove back to pack the tent. I think we got cleared up about 4pm and we put the music on full blast and drove home, completely refreshed, chilled and still feeling like I was in a 90's rock ballad music video.

I'm warming to the Bell Tent. The low door didn't annoy me as much and I wasn't bothered by the main guy rope coming from the centre of the door as much as the last time. I got it packed away completely dry and it was quite easy to get inside it's bag once I used the pole bag to really compact it down. I think I'll keep it.

First camping trip and the New Bell Tent

First trip report post of 2015! Well I decided that I needed a Bell Tent, don't know what notion I took but in the long winter months I fell for the idea of having a Bell Tent (actually not for the first time but financial constraints always stopped me before) and eventually I tracked one down at a price I liked. I bought it direct from Germany and it is a 4m Polycotton.

Unusually it has two windows in the walls which is one of the things I liked about this one, and I also liked that being polycotton as opposed to cotton canvas, it would be quicker to dry and a lighter weight to handle. I'm not absolutely tied to 'real canvas' anyway. It is branded '10T'.

So I just needed an excuse to use it and I got the chance on a Monday evening over the Easter Holidays. I wasn't due in to work until the Wednesday so I sprung at the chance. It was only one night so I packed little but the tent and my bed and headed off to a campsite called Hillfoot which is near Dungiven in Co Londonderry. As it happened I arrived quite late and didn't get the tent up until it was practically dark which was around 8.30pm. The next morning I had to be away by 10am so it really wasn't much experience of the tent, and first impressions weren't that great.The door was far too low, the single guy rope outside the door kept threatening to decapitate me and the air inside the cavernous space was far too much to heat never mind that it was damp and cold as well. A friend lives on the site and so I actually didn't spend much time in it except to sleep. Being early April it was bloody cold at night but anticipating that I had brought lots of blankets. I was still freezing and did not sleep that well to be honest. The next day, despite direct sunlight, the thing did not dry and I hadn't the luxury of hanging around until it did. So it was bundled away wet and I do so hate having a wet tent to deal with.

It was nearly ready for Ebay at this point but I got it dried in work (an empty, unfurnished office provided the space and the boss gave the go ahead - little does he know, this is the new tent drying area) and I left it for a good five days to make sure it was bone dry. I struggled to get it into it's bag as I was doing this on my own, and the tent really is a heavy brute.

I didn't even get any photos on this trip, I literally had no light in the evening and in the morning I was busy putting it away.

Pro's

It is mahooossive.
It is a lovely colour.
It is really nice quality fabric and the floor is strong and thick, cream coloured pvc (or whatever groundsheets are made out of).
The centre pole and the door poles are strong and substantial.
It literally took about 8 minutes to pitch. First time, never having pitched one before.

Cons

The space means it's hard to heat, any heat goes up to the 2.5m tall centre.
The door is low
The guy rope outside the door is in a stupid place
It's really heavy, I can hardly lift it out of the boot.
It didn't dry practically instantly like a polyester tent does. For some reason this shocked me.
The windows were no good because they were condensated up (although I'm told since that pitching it in cool damp air would not have helped.)

Bell Tent Chandelier

I just wanted to share with you something I made. I was inspired by Bell Tent Chandeliers which retail about £80 online and consist of a hoop (or two hoops) with little tea light glasses and you thread it up through the centre pole of a Bell Tent or Tepee as you are putting the tent up. I thought of all sorts of workarounds, including an embroidery hoop. Then I stumbled upon 'Herb Drying' racks online which are basically a hoop with three chains and hooks. I considered hanging little glass jars and putting tealights inside the glass jars. The only thing is, I'm not crazy about having to light lots of little tealights that only last four hours. Even then, naked flames and tents are not that compatible.

Walking around Poundstretcher in town I found plant hangers. My mind started ticking over. I could see that what I have here (for 99p) are three chains, and a hoop if I cut the rest of it off with tin snips.

I bought two (for 99p why not) because I thought it would also make a great fruit basket hanging from my tarp or from underneath the kitchen stand or at least somewhere to keep my phone, book etc. So once I got home I started playing about with them and realised if they joined together they'd make a wire ball. Maybe I could feed the pole through the centre of this ball! Pinterest showed me that I wasn't the first to think of this idea. Damn Pinterest for not letting me have an original idea!

I got black cable ties (100 pack) for another 99p. Battery operated lights, warm coloured came in at just under £7. I took a notion to attach some beads from my jewellery making kit. They are red crackled glass and blue faceted beads, with some blue solid coloured beads as well.

An hour of my time, this really is an easy make. I used all 100 cable ties. I could have done with a few more but in hindsight I used too many at the beginning of the process.

Ultimately there is a reason I am looking at Bell Tent Chandeliers and guess why.

Yes I bought a Bell Tent. I have not put it up yet, it's a Polycotton rather than Canvas and it's a 4m. I have no idea if this is 'the one' but I can't wait to find out. I have bought blankets and storage boxes and a new coolbox, and a new stove and a new kettle, and a red spotty table cloth and crazily enough, an MSR Camping Kitchen Tool Set - as if I needed more stuff. Oh I forgot I bought two cream coloured camping chairs to match the tent and two grey sleeping bags that fold in to their own cushion. I am going for a grey and cream with splashes of red theme. I have these colours in my bedroom at home and there is a coastal vibe about the colours. I have a red painted wooden directors chair in the shed as well.

I've never glamped before, and I just can't wait to try it out. 

New Forum!!

A nutshell history is this:

A few years ago I was a great and regular user of a campsite forum, but it was based in the UK not in my region of Northern Ireland. It was fine, but did not cater for my local campsites.

The only thing that seems left to do was to start my own forum. I found a platform, a programme called Lefora and it was free to use and so off I went, figuring out how to code and learning as I went along. I needed members, so we printed out leaflets and my family handed them out at 'Holiday World' roadshow in the Kings Hall. I did several big mail outs to campsites with leaflets and business cards and when I went camping I approached my camping neighbours. I googled for like-minded people and emailed them asking them to join the forum.

This motored along really well, my little community grew and bonds were formed. There was a core group of regular users and a bigger group of people who used the forum as a resource. One of the members, John, compiled a campsite map which is still growing to this day. It includes location of each campsite, then details such as phone numbers and web addresses and is a great resource all by itself.

Then Lefora was bought over by another outfit called Crowdgatherer. We lost our photos, and it was such a big archive that there was no way of compiling all the photos in the posts again. The functional buttons on the forum changed, we lost a key feature 'Latest posts' and all in all it was a pretty unusable forum. That was sort of ok because in the meantime Facebook had become really popular. The core group migrated to Facebook to a 'closed' group and we accepted new members on it. However the membership didn't really participate to the same level that they had done in the forum. There was some support on our Facebook page for a new forum, and so after a bit of research I set up a new one. I wanted a forum software that was quite well known, that would hopefully not be sold off to another company shortly and that would be easy to use and have all the features we once had.

There are some Facebook users who are happy with the group staying on Facebook so the new forum is for those people who prefer a forum format.

Here's the link

http://nicf.proboards.com/forum

and a screen shot of the forum.

And here's the link to NI Wild which is another great Northern Irish Forum

http://www.ni-wild.co.uk/forum/index.php

Overview of 2014

It's been a funny old year. This is the year in which my teenagers rebelled against 'Family Holidays' and I had to hire a holiday cottage in order to bribe them into one last go of it. In the first part of the year camping was hampered by my re-taking of a GCSE I didn't pass 20 odd years ago, which thankfully I can claim a pass now. I was busy studying for a June Exam and since I also had a son taking all of his GCSE's, going away for quick weekends ate in to valuable study time so we didn't bother.

In that period of time I lost my 'wee camping buddy', Toby my long haired Jack Russell dog. He was only two. He got out through a hedge with a fence in it on to a busy road during a walk in a Forest Park and he was instantly killed. We decided not to try and replace Toby as he was one of a kind.

Our main family holiday took place in Cruit Island off the coast of West Donegal. It is an island that you access by driving over a bridge. The holiday cottage was compact but easy to keep clean and it was a bit like camping only in a brick tent. We pretty much did everything that we would normally do camping except I had a proper double bed to sleep in and a proper fridge, cooker etc, which was nice. I did miss the company of other people on a campsite though.

We spent our days fishing, exploring beaches because Donegal is probably one of the few places on earth where you'll have a beach, in mid July (incidentally, in another heatwave - great timing) all to yourself. I even swam in the same bit of sea as a Dolphin which was a real treat. We had a few great meals out and I read a few books and we walked our wee legs off.

Some photos of our holiday in Donegal

www.cruitholidayhome.com

Interior of cottage

The Poison Glen

Errigal Mountain

Fishing off Braade Head

Glenveigh National Park

The 'NEVER NO MORE' camping list

This is a pared down list of camping gear which represents the minimum you can get away with whilst still having relative comfort. 

'Never No More' Camping List

Shelter

Tent 

Pegs

Mallet

Sleeping

Airbed/Self Inflating Mat
Pump if using Airbed

Bedding (sleeping bag or sheets and Duvet)

Pillow

Extra Blanket

Hot Water Bottle

Relaxing

Chair

Small Table

Book

Lantern

Eating

Mini Stove

Fuel Cannister

Lighter/Matches

Small Frying Pan

Lidded Pan

Sharp Knife

Small Chopping Board

Spork

Mug

Breakfast Bowl
Bottle Opener/Corkscrew
Tin Opener

Trug or Bowl for Washing Up

scourer and washing up liquid

Tea Bags

Coffee Granules

Cool box or cool bag

Flask

Personal

 Soft Holdall/Bag

Spare Clothing

A Big Jumper

PJ's

First Aid Kit

Bug Repellent

If the camping trip is short, you can cut out most of the kitchen equipment, as long as you have the makings of a cuppa.

Maddybenny Campsite, Portrush, NI

I got an early start for a weekends trip to Maddybenny, due to an understanding boss who could see I was itching to get away (and not much work on), so I was off like a shot!

I arrived at 2pm and chose a nice spot amongst these trees. I found level places to pitch my tents, yes I had more than one tent on this occasion. Actually I had three. I'll explain later. 

This weekend away was not a solo trip, it was arranged some time ago and there were a few people scheduled to attend this 'meet' with their families in various caravans and tents. Then as is often the case, life gets in the way and people bow out for legitimate reasons I'll not go into here - and so it was that there were three lots of us going, which is actually quite a nice number. The first night it was only two lots, with a third joining us for an overnighter on the Saturday. This family borrowed a tent from me, which I put up before their arrival as they were on site quite late. So one tent for me and one tent for them, that's two tents. 

This is the third tent. I brought a Decathlon Base Seconds pop up and this was our shared kitchen for the weekend. In hindsight I still brought too much. I should have just brought a stove, a kettle and a bunch of mugs because we literally lived on coffee. And takeaways. The pre-made and frozen Irish Stew I brought ended up in the bin. The most complicated thing I made was porridge for breakfast. 

For myself I brought the Lichfield Challenger 5, dates from the eighties and is a tent I used from being a teenager to now, and it's sort of on it's way out. The flysheet is getting very tired and delaminated and every time I use it I think it'll be the last time. I am very fond of this tent, lots of great memories were had in and around it and this weekend is another one to add to the list. For the borrowing tent I brought my Vango Icarus 500. No photo of it though. This was my tent....

Night one was incredibly cold. This is actually the latest in the season I've ever camped but it has been an exceptionally mild September. The stars were out on the first night and that means a big temperature drop. I'd remembered to bring my hot water bottle and plenty of blankets, but at 3.30am I woke up colder than I could ever have imagined being and struggled out of my tent into the other tent to stick the kettle on. Hot water bottle replenished I was warm but at approximately 4am the site cockerels started. Which brings me on smoothly to the amazing birdlife on Maddybenny site. There are lots of these things just wandering around, begging to be made in to a roast dinner. Only joking of course. 

But not joking was the  noise they made. This site is fantastic and the birds are an integral and lovely part of it. Earplugs are required for decent sleep though, not a big deal but the ducks go quack and the peacocks make a funny hoot, and the chickens cluck and the guineafowl make a horrible irritating noise. And worse, the cockerels go Cock - a - doodle - doooo in, it seems, two phases. Phase One is at 4am. Then Phase Two kicks in around an hour later. 

The Guinea Fowl look like clowns in full makeup, with their big football bodies and their too tiny heads. Their bodies are about the same size as a beach ball, we thought they were Turkeys but we're townies, we are useless at this sort of thing. The Peacocks are a bit full of themselves, they'd nearly pull the food right out of your hand they are so cheeky! The Ducks and Chickens are just happy around your feet as long as there's bread on the go and then Peacocks bully all the other birds. Fun Fact - a group of Peacocks is called a 'Party'. A group of female Peahens is called a 'Harem'. 

The site is well tended and the toilet and shower facilities are good, and clean. All the toilets are unisex and separate to each other, so no need for male and female facilities. Two out of the three showers are large disabled access wet rooms with a loo in the opposite corner to the shower. 

The site has an outlook over fields with horses and a sliver of sea in the distance. It's one and a half miles in to Portrush and this site is on a hill overlooking Portrush. The campsite is part of a large working Riding School with sixty horses. Thirty of those are owned by other individuals and stabled there, and the other thirty are used for the Riding School for lessons. So as a working 'Farm' you have to be flexible about there being activity, all the birds wandering about, farm cats and a couple of dogs too. 

Maddybenny also has Holiday cottages on the Farm and there is a brilliant games room with a table tennis table and a football table for the use of the Campsite and the Holiday Cottages. 

I didn't really go looking for the play area, but I believe there is one and there are also landscaped gardens to explore too. 

I met some of the other campers using the site, and Night Two of our stay was spent with them and a small campfire, I'd brought a guitar and then it emerged that one of the guys was a bit of a virtuoso guitar player! It was just really nice sitting around that little fire, a bit of chit-chat, a few giggles and somebody who could play a guitar properly to entertain us. Great memories to carry with me and hopefully for everyone else as well. 

Yes I'd recommend Maddybenny, and yes I'll be back.