just another morning here

Hesfes, the biggest home education camp in the UK, has changed dates for next year. For the past five years it’s been in May, and is now moving to June. This has generated a bit of discussion in various places, as the dates chosen are the week before the week that MuddlePuddle Summer Camp has traditionally happened.

I didn’t want to get into debates on any particular email list, but did want to say what I think about it, hence this post.

The new Hesfes dates/venue can only be good for Hesfes. I’ve been to Hesfes for the past couple of years – the first year I went we had fabulous weather during the days, but it was still very cold at night. Last year we had mixed weather but the rain we did have turned the whole camp into a mudbath – not pleasant! With regard to the venue change, well, I can’t believe there could possibly *be* a worse campsite than Manor Farm, so I’m not at all worried about that. Slightly annoying that it will more than likely end up being miles from home (so no quick getaway for me!) but that’s a minor detail.

It is unfortunate that the dates have fallen so close to MuddlePuddle Camp, but, MP has always been billed as a ‘holiday that muddlepuddle families take together’, and as such, I feel that it is more easily moved. Personally, after two years attendance I had tired of Sparky in any case. Again, a personal point of view I know, I found the venue difficult to get to! As well as that, for the past two years *that* camp has ended up with Muddy Puddles of its own, due to rain and field-flooding – which, I confess, put me off camping there even more than camping at Manor Farm!

So, personally, I am really pleased about the date and venue change for Hesfes. It’s unfortunate to clash with another camp, but there are only so many weeks available in a year that aren’t in high summer holiday season, yet still are warm enough to hopefully get some decent weather. I wonder if a solution for those with younger children who don’t want to do a full on Hesfes, might actually be to have a camp *at the same time* as Hesfes, on a nearby site, and negotiate a deal on day tickets?! Then anyone wanting to stay on for another week after Hesfes could easily do so. The organisers have at least given plenty of notice of their date change, and I’m looking forward to a new, improved version of Hesfes, as well as the opportunity for a new, improved MuddlePuddle camp.

Mazportico’s Hesfes Photos

Stick it on a slide show and enjoy

Talked about the hesfes highs and lows over the dinner table tonight, it was interesting to hear what the children liked and didn’t like.

Their favourite things were: woodwork and copper beating workshops, plus the hot chocolate in the cafe. Oh, and the cabaret.

Worst things: the girls couldn’t think of any, but Josiah did say that he didn’t like the toilets. Our toilets (in the house) are nice though, apparently

I think I’ve already said that I really enjoyed it this year, but I’ll say it again The manky campsite didn’t manage to detract from the experience, for me. Being in the company of friends was great, and as usual I appreciated being able to build on online friendships in real life. I think the kids got far more out of it than they have managed to articulate, as well – in friendships, freedom, and probably lots more besides. Still nice to be home though, and both girls agreed that they liked sleeping in their beds better than in the tent!

We’re still recovering, here, I think – Joe’s just fallen asleep in front of Doctor Who which is unheard of, he must be super-tired. Just as well we didn’t go out to the Devon County Show today – one thing that seems to always clash with Hesfes … I’m wondering if I could just do day visits next year then manage to get to the county show as well … will have to wait and see if it stays in the same place on the same sort of dates, I suppose …

Yesterday (Thursday), we got back to Charmouth early afternoon, having had a slow start to the day at home – including showers and baths all round – the children definitely looked a bit too clean in comparison to the campers They had had rain overnight and the marquee field had turned very very muddy, but it didn’t rain until teatime (annoyingly!).

Still, the fact that I didn’t have a tent to sit and drink tea in actually turned out to be rather good, as it forced me to go and do things with the children – we did some woodwork (finishing off a spoon that Anna started earlier in the week), some copper beating which was a combined effort by all three children (hurrah, yet another copper bowl to display in the dresser), and Abbie did some weaving. It’s probably not a good thing that it took for my tent to have disappeared for me to go and do the activities with the children, but there we go.

Anna then disappeared off with a friend, it started really raining, so Josiah, Abbie and I went for coffee in the Blue Laguna Cafe, then ended up watching Wallace and Gromit in the Groovy Movie tent, before the Children’s Cabaret started.

The Children’s Cabaret, from what I can see, is part of Hesfes tradition – during the week children can sign up to get on stage and do their turn, rehearsed or not. The diversity in what the kids do on stage is amazing, but there is still a painful-to-the-ears element to it, and it takes forever! The two eldest HEMUK girls and our two girls had decided to sing something together – Anna nearly chickened out during the afternoon but somehow managed to be persuaded to take part – anyway, they were about 30th in the list of performers, and that was only a third of the way down the list, I think. The four of them did really well though.

After that we said our goodbyes and drove home – I was desperately trying to make it back in half an hour but it took me 35 minutes! The Puddles had made their way back a bit earlier, visiting rellies on the way, and it was mainly quiet upstairs so the children all went straight to bed. We have the ongoing saga of a lost phone, here, despite having turned the house upside down we still haven’t found it, so that will be this morning’s task.

Anyway, back to Hesfes. Although we decamped slightly early I still really enjoyed it this year. The toilets (which were in no way ‘refurbished’) and the field (which was in no way ‘flat’) didn’t live up to promises made by the campsite owner, which was a big shame really. Even the slopey field would have been ok if the toilet block had been clean and big enough for the amount of people there, but it just wasn’t. That aside, we had a great week, and will definitely be going again. Camper van next year though!