Tarp Camping Adventure
A Wild Night Out in a Country House Garden
After a rainy night in Coniston on the first wild night of our Sleepover Season, the chance to bivvy out in the grounds of Halecat House, an English country house in South Cumbria, seemed a much more civilized option to try some tarp camping. But we had clearly underestimated the neighbours…
We may be on the lawn of a country house… but we don’t have to play croquet
A perfect lawn for…. an adventure in tarp camping?
I have myself down as the Lady of the Manor, with Stuart as Lord Something or Other. OK there are some anomalies with that. Bivvy bags don’t quite fit with the image. And no one ever slept rough in the garden in Downton Abbey. But still, we can sip prettily from nice china with our little fingers pointing upward as we look to the stars. It will be a Royal Garden Party but with Adventure Tarp
Here’s the overnight tarp camping bags. Some Terra Nova Adventure Tarps and Bivy Bags
Of course we have staff
The great thing about being the Lord and Lady of a country house is that you have staff to put up the tarp. The children make great staff. Once you brief them they are off like one’s racehorses…
The gardens at Witherslack’s Halecat House are flat and spacious and seem quite benign compared to the environments we’ve been reading about in Extreme Sleeps: Adventures of a Wild Camper
But this is no Extreme Sleep; putting a couple of tarps up on a lawn should be no problem at all. At Coniston we had to rig the tarps with rocks and string; this time Terra Nova have provided poles, pegs and a couple of alternative designs for rigging.
One of the tarp camping shelter designs we asked the boys to reproduce.
But I’m not sure our staff are up to the job..
Come on boys get the tarps up
The thing about an English country estate is that the wildlife live there too. And camping without a tent leaves you open to their affections.
What’s that noise?
As the sun goes to bed we retire to the lawn. But some stay longer than others.
In the dark, the atmosphere is buzzing
Terra Nova’s Discovery bivvy suddenly comes into its own. Wrapped up in its regal red depths, with the wildlife zipped outside, Cameron sleeps like a Lord.
All set up for a great night out? Tarp Camping on the lawn at Halecat House
In the morning, our midgy friends are gone. And so have some of Cameron’s. And we’re packing up.
How quickly can you derig then?
Soon all trace of a wild camp will disappear, restoring the country house lawn to the preserve of weddings and garden parties. Wild sleepover number two is successfully completed. Midges successfully outslept (by some). And avoided by others.
So how was it boys?
I think our wild sleepover season just got itself some bite.
The morning after the night before. Looks beautiful. But beware the hidden danger.
Disclosure Note: Our thanks to Terra Nova who loaned us the equipment to bring you this story. And to Halecat House for the use of the lawn. And very comfy it was too. All the experience, views and opinions are, as ever, entirely our own.
Hello:
The tropics have nothing on the English and Scottish countryside when it comes to flying little pests. The midges can be horrible. My boys and I were in scouts while living in England and camped out several times. The nasty little blood suckers kept us up all night. No amount of repellant kept them at bay. Fun times!
Curtis
http://www.thewildsmithberrys.com
Those tarps are great – shame about the killer midges though! They can ruin any holiday… 😀
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