With just over 4 weeks to go until the big weekend, I thought it was about time I shared a bit more detail with you all. I thought I’d do it as a (hidden) blog post rather than an email or word document, mainly so that I can update it later on when Sara gets home and tells me what I missed. Keep this link and check back a week before the 22nd, as I may well have added a few things by then. Anyway, in the meantime, I’ve listed everything you could possibly want to know… hopefully.
When is it happening?
The “party” is on Saturday June 22nd, but you are welcome to stay and camp for as long or short as you like. The earliest arrivals will be on the Wednesday and Thursday, though Sara and I won’t be there until Friday afternoon. We’ll be staying until Sunday lunch time.
Where is it happening?
The campsite is part of a working farm, whose website you can find here: http://westlandfarm.co.uk/camping/
The address for Sat-navs is: Westland Farm, Kentisbury, Barnstaple, Devon, EX31 4SH
We’ll be taking up quite a bit of the campsite, as there are around 18-20 families coming along. Sara and I have booked the Yurt, and the other two huts have also been booked by members of our party. Here’s an aerial view of the site, with some badly-drawn annotations by me – this shows how to get in, and where we’ll be.
The big field with the yellow line through is also a camping field, so feel free to camp up there if you’d rather be away from the partying. The site has a toilet block and even a few showers, so no need to slum it! The field with the X is all ours, so set up your tent wherever you like in there, maybe around the edges to keep the middle clear for socialising.
Please note: if you opt to arrive before Friday, you won’t be able to camp in the yurt field, as they will be mowing it ready for us!
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Do you need to book?
The lovely lady who owns the farm, Nicki, is pretty relaxed about it. Feel free to just turn up and pay her on the day if it’s easier for you. We have been give a discount, so the price is £10 per adult per night, £5 for kids. You will need to pay this in cash, so please remember to bring some!
What will we be doing?
If you come on Friday night, I suspect we’ll just be chilling – feel free to join us, or if you’d like to explore the area I’m sure we can give you some pointers. Sara and I will arrive early evening – probably around 6-7pm.
On Saturday we’ll be having a leisurely day as a lot of people will be arriving throughout the day. There’s lots to do nearby if you want to head off somewhere – the sea is about 10 minutes away, for starters!
The ‘party’ will be starting early afternoon. We’ve arranged a hog roast which will be cooking throughout the afternoon, which will be ready to eat around 6 I’d imagine. We’ll also have some salads and snacks, as well as a few sweet things to nibble on. If you want to contribute a dish, let us know so we can coordinate and avoid there being 10 salads ;-) But you don’t HAVE to bring anything for Saturday evening – there should be plenty.
We’ll have quite a bit of booze with us (at last count we had 24 bottles of wine and are planning on bringing multiple kegs of beer) but bring some along if you have particular preferences.
There’s no particular entertainment planned at the moment, but I’m sure we’ll have some music and plenty to eat and drink. We’re doing a scavenger hunt for the kids to get to know everyone – if you’ve not yet completed my survey for that, please do!
On Sunday we’ll be nursing our hangovers – we usually go for lunch at the Pack of Cards in Combe Martin, if it’s not too busy. They have a large beer garden so hopefully they’d fit a few of us in there!
What do we need to bring with us?
Here’s a non-comprehensive checklist:
- Something to stay in – tents are usually a good start! Plus all the usual stuff that goes inside them.
- Food for any meals you want to eat onsite – we’ll be catering Saturday evening, the rest is up to you.
- Chairs! Bring chairs – they’re more comfortable than the ground.
- If you have any particular dietary needs, you might be safer to bring something for the Saturday – we’ll have a veggie option but not much beyond that I’m afraid.
- Bring some drinks for the party if you can. We’ll have squash for the kids, but if they want something fancier, bring that too.
- If anyone has an events shelter and space to bring it, please do – it’d be good to have a weather-proof back-up plan!
- We’ll have at least 2 fire pits with us, and you can buy wood onsite (£5 a bag, payment in cash!) or bring it with you. We will bring a few marshmallows!
- Bring a camera (or a camera phone!) – I love seeing pictures of myself drunk, and (more importantly) everything else too.
- That’s about it really. Don’t worry too much if you forget stuff – with around 70 of us there, there will be plenty of people to help out!
What if we’re not experienced campers?
As luck would have it, I’ve been writing quite a bit about camping on this blog lately. Here are a few posts that might help:
Family Camping for beginners – Preparation
A post about food and camping – some tips basically
Camping with babies and toddlers – some more tips
Want to use this as an excuse to buy some camping gadgets? I can help!
Anything else?
If I’ve missed anything important, let me know! Either in the comments below or drop me a message. As I said at the top, check this again just before the event as I might have updated it with new info.
Thanks for coming along, we can’t wait to see you!!
Looking forward to it son! We’ll be there from the Friday!
For Friday, read Thursday!