Mumsnet Talk

Just beginning to wonder whether we are mad! We have planned to go camping over Easter near Scarborough, my husband, me - 6months pregnant and our son who is 2. The only thing i am worried about is the weather it is still so cold at night! Are we all going to freeze, is anyone else camping over Easter?

You are not mad! I would LOVE to go at Easter just not sure I can persuade DH whose criteria for camping is a temp of 20 degrees or above.. Mind you, we have had some lovely weather March/April in recent years......

Have a great time and make sure you wrap up well.

We're camping at Easter. I'll be 6.5 months pregnant. We'll be hiring a car because I'm not up to cycling the 14 miles from the nearest station. We cycle camped in January but missed one last weekend due to my husband's chest infection. It'll be fine, just fill any space you have with blankets.

I have camped at easter once, we were fine! My advice is to take loads of blankets and take hot water bottles.
Dont forget that a hat in bed can warm you up significantly.
(and maybe sort something out like a she-wee so you don't have to traipse across a cold field at 3am [brrr]
Have fun!

We went camping last Easter, it was slightly later, 9 April but it was very cold. We camped in Lincolnshire but driving through mid Wales on the way, there was thick snow! We did end up going to bed with more and more clothes on each night. Hats and socks are a must and plenty of blankets. The kids (3 & 5 yrs) seemed oblivious to the cold though. It was the children's first camping trip but it didn't put them off and they're keen to go to Ireland in the summer, hopefully it'll be warmer then!
I hope you get to go and have a great time if you do (I love Scarborough! Haven't been for years tho)

I'm desperate to go away at Easter, so no not mad.
Have a look for all the tips for keeping warm, google it.
My tips are putting a blanket or rug on the floor of the tent especially in the sleeping areas, you can also put cardboard on the floor which helps insulate it.

I would think it worthwhile buying a EHU box and taking a heater (and the kettle)

She-wee, I like that idea.

Last time I camped at Easter was 2003, Easter was late and there was a freak heat wave. I think it will be miserable

We're camping at easter too, we did last year too and ended up warmer than the may bank holiday when it got to minus 3 at night. .... it'll be chilly but the place we're going to allows camp fires and ds will be in thermals at all times!
Am also pregnant but will only be 14/15 weeks by then so will be fine except for the incessant weeing! !!!!

We're camping over Eater too! Hello fellow mad campers

Myself, DH and 3 DDs (7yrs, 5yrs and 1yr)

We're planning on packing as many blankets as our poor car can possibly carry. Also hot water bottles, hand warmers, thermals, hats, woolly socks etc.

I've recently bought some of these. Thought it would be handy to put under/over the DDs camp beds for added warmth <clutching straws here!>

Glad there are some fellow mad campers out there. We went camping in yorkshire last year over Easter and I think we had back to back rain for about 29hours in total, really feel we are owed some good weather this year or for it to be at least dry!

We take a sheepskin which we place under DS in his travel cot which seems to keep his cosy warm, just got it from ikea, and then place a black out blind over the travel cot which as well as helping him sleep as it keeps him in the dark also helps keep the heat in for him.

Never thought of taking hot water bottles but that is an inspired idea!

<looks outside at the five inches of snow>

um, aye lol

Snow is nice to camp in - it's insulating and muffles the sounds around you. Pitching in it isn't such fun.

Camping this Easter is going to be very tough.
The weather in the NW is certanly not really up too canvas yet, unless you are a complete pro!
Good luck to those that try..!

And remember, if you do camp at Easter DO NOT try and warm your tent/caravan with a BBQ or gas fire inside. Carbon Monoxide is killing people on a regular basis and it happens most when it is cold outside and people are tempted to just bring the BBQ in for a few minutes to warm up... Forever is a lot of minutes.

Totally not going anywhere in a tent at easter now am not brave enough!..... reluctantly emailed the campsite to cancel

i think we will also be cancelling, there is just a few too many inches of snow about on our campsite at the moment!

Looks like we'll be cancelling too, it's bitter outside. Took us ages to save up to pay for the holiday. It was our annual family get away. We've lost all our money

foreversunny - can you talk to the campsite and try to get some money back? It would be awful if you lost it all :-(

Have tried. I've begged and sobbed down the phone to them and I've also emailed head office but to no avail. They're keeping the lot. We saved for a long time to pay for it.

Selfish beyond words IMO. All we payed for was a tent pitch in an open field. No overhead costs as far as they're concerned, irrelevant if we went or not.

Foreversunny - that's awful .

Especially as I bet they will actually close the site at easter due to waterlogged ground and terrible weather.

Will they not give you a credit for a time later in the year?

I would call anonymously the day before you go and try and book - and then if they say 'we're not taking bookings due to boggy ground, snow and frozen pipes in the showers' you will know that they would have had to refund you by closiing - and can seek consumer advice.

I feel really sorry for those trying to make a living from campsites, what with last summer's horrible weather and this arctic spring, but it seems v v harsh not to have any refund policy.

foreversunny - that's terrible. have you asked them if they will let you change the dates or roll it over until next year? The weather is unseasonally rubbish even for the UK and it's not like they will have been turning other bookings down. You mention their head office, are they a big operation?

Yes, I originally asked to move the dates forward and they said we would just have to rebook another holiday, write this holiday off and pay again for the new date. They refused to give us a refund for this holiday. They told me we have to pay for this holiday irrelevant of if we came or not.

What grates me the most though, is the fact it's not a small, family run campsite, it's a big, branded, leisure facility type site

Very good idea blu with regards to calling them anonymously, will do that.

I think they are the worst for this kind of 'no refund' thing.

Is it just a tent pitch you have booked?

I agree blu. It's always the big "giants" that are the worse when it comes to being compassionate.

Yes, just a tent pitch in a field. No hook up or anything, literally a square of grass!

Forever, ring them back and say you're coming anyway then give your booking to the baddest hell's angels you can find! If they've had to shut the site that will be an embarrassing climb-down for them.