I learnt that canvas bell tents are amazing and can revolutionise the camping experience.

I learnt that you CAN go camping with a 3 and half month old baby.

I learnt that festivals with said baby are less fun and that if you are kind enough to let your beloved dp stay out late dancing the night away while you go to bed with baby a potty is essential(for you) as otherwise you have to 1.wake up baby,
2.stumble through campsite in the dark and
3.use a festival toilet in the dark whilst holding a sleepy, floppy baby.

Alternatively you can hold on for THREE hours. Which is uncomfortable. To say the least.

that a B&Q orange bucket is a vital peice of equipment
that it will be colder than you expect
and using newspaper to insulate really works
that there was nowhere to hang stuff up to dry so i have bought a foldable hanging rail so we can hang up wet coats inside the tent
that we can happily survive 6 days without access to a TV.

Festivals are more fun with other families.

2 nights camping is dh's limit

low level noise (quiet conversation) is to be expected on a campsite in the evenings, people who complain about this need to book themselves into a hotel or stay home, its camping fgs get some bloody earplugs

people partying till the early hours or chating very loudly are taking the piss and should stay home as well

LFS - we have been for the past 4 years. My sons adore it (probably even more than us Our friends were camped very close to you but we were braving the campervan field for the first time (rather noisy). We have always been big Levellers' fans. This year I particularly loved Three Daft monkeys, Dreadzone (as always) Afro-celt sound ssystem. How old is/are your child/ren? Sugarfree and I held Mumsnet's most exclusive meet-up last year (ie me and her ) andthis year we got our families togehter. Twas great, wasn't it? despite the mud! We'll meet you next year then, 5pm at the Otter bar near the big top . Last one there gets the beers in...

filthymindedvixen , only just seen your reply as my broadband's been playing up!

Was it your first time there? We loved it, really want to go again next year and are trying to convert everyone we know LOL. No-one's we've mentioned it to has even heard of it... until now! Where were you camped? We were in family camping, near the storytelling circle, next to the climbing frame

I learnt that buying a nice new decent quality tent was no guarantee that it wouldn't leak.
That if you have a recurring dream about water dripping in your eyes, then perhaps it really is........
That if you start a jokey cheery thread on the camping section in an attempt to raise a smile, no-one will notice!

I learnt that I take 2 bags too many, with unneccesary stuff (now in attic to be left at home next time)
I learnt that I only wear about half the clothes I take.
I've learnt that a clothes horse put in at the last minute as an afterthought was a brilliant idea.
I've learnt that using a camp bed with a blanket over, hides everything underneath so the tent looks spic and span!
I've learnt that going on a fully catered camp holiday is brilliant!
I leant that next time I'll take 2 seperate single ready beds and not one double one.
I learnt that an airbed with a hole is impossible to sleep in and it's impossible to locate the hole to repair it.
I learnt that Adsa's have good, cheap airbeds!

Littlefriendsusan!!

We were at Beautiful Days too! Come and talk to me and Sugarfree about it immediately!

I know that we are fair weather campers.
I learnt that you can't rely on the British weather in summer for camping & we have now booked a cottage in Cornwall for October half term in order to get a 'proper' holiday