lake district camping, wilderness style with campfires (BUT SHOWERS). no probs with composting toilets...

[AitchTwoOhOneTwo]

where oh where would you recommend, laydeez and gennilmen?
not too far from M6 as well, if i was feeling picky.

If you're in Scotland you most definitely do have ticks up there, and Lyme carrying ones to boot!

i did wonder if my joking that we don't have them in scotland might be provoking... ?

ha. I'll tell you what you do have in Scotland. You have 'midgins', which are like midges but the size of pigeons, bloody terrifying.
According to ds1, anyway - he got a bit muddled up before our trip to Skye and we found him crying 'I don't want to go to Scotland, I'm scared of the midgins!'

(In fact we got lucky and hardly saw a single midge, Skye was amazing.)

Those Scottish ticks are the worst Aitch. They have a hive mind and move in a swarm, leaping out of trees and following you underwater with a snorkel. And they steal your handbag.

When did you go Tunip? I agree Skye was amazing, so so beautiful but we were eaten alive.

i think you are getting mixed up with neds, now.

We stayed at Isle Ornsay. Had an ill-advised walk on the Quirang (sp?) and I got a fabulous swim in the Fairy Pools. Car ferry across to Glenelg one day to see the brochs, and lots of kite-flying and rockpool-investigating on various beaches.
I think we just got lucky with the weather. Hot and dry and enough breeze to keep the midgins off. Scotland is always like that, no?

fairy pools are awesome, aren't they?

yes. It was like taking some very exciting drugs, because of the weird rock formations and currents and amazing underwater light followed by a huge adrenalin rush from the water being so cold. (And no come-down afterwards!) I love wild swimming but that was one of my lifetime two or three best.

talking of which, if you do go to Rydal Hall, a mile or two up the beck is Buckstones Jump which is one of the best wild swimming spots in the lakes.

do you mean naked wild swimming? the day we went to the fairy pools there was another family there. with wetsuits.

LOL. Not skinny dipping, just in a normal swimsuit.
The Fairy Pools was freezing, I wouldn't have been able to stay in if I hadn't been fairly cold-adapted.
Nothing against wetsuits for people that like them though.

Very late into this thread but also highly recommend Rydal Hall. I LOVE the place.

They don't cram people on and are quite strict with their headcount limit which means it's never really busy. The downside to that is that you need to book early...they're fully booked for jubilee weekend already so we're booked on from the Monday for the week and will wild camp Sat and Sun.
Their facilities were updated last year and are a vast improvement on what was there before.
You won't notice the religious use of the building at all.