camping

When is a cow not a vegetarian?

July 21, 2020 By Ellen

When it’s eating its own afterbirth. Apparently they do this to protect the new-born from predators long enough for it to get on its own four wobbly feet. Clever nature. A summer evening walk with a lovely friend was rendered unforgettable by the sight of a new-born calf and its mother. We stood fascinated while […]

Things I’ve learned from my first festival camping trip

August 20, 2016 By Ellen

I’ve never seen Star Wars either – not properly all the way through. But years after most people have gone through the rite of passage of a pilgrimage to Glastonbury or wallowed in the mud of T in the Park, I made it to my first festival – Kendal Calling 2016. Here’s what I learned: […]

Advice for would-be family camper

June 5, 2016 By Ellen

At first glance, camping is wonderful. It’s cheap, it’s simple, it fosters adventure and togetherness and – if photos are to be believed – everyone doing it is grinning like an idiot. And, at some levels, this is true, but only if you do it right. Camping is incredibly complicated, stressful and unpleasant if you […]

Things I’ve learned from family camping in the winter…

March 30, 2015 By Ellen

The bucket list: A lengthy, specific list of wonderful, exciting and exotic things I’m intending to do before I die. One of the things on it is not ‘go camping in winter in Lanarkshire’. So why, then, was I to be found snuggling down under canvas in a field on the outskirts […]