Guide to 'Gramping'

One of the many pleasures of camping is that it is a truly family affair. No matter where we pitch up, within minutes of erecting the tent, our daughter Ruby will be bounding by with her new best friend. Wilf will have wandered off and found a new cowboy to play with, and all before mum and dad can tease the cork from a bottle of wine. What better way for a family to relax for a long weekend in the summer holidays? Well as far as the kids are concerned it’s easy, let’s bring Grandma next time! We like a challenge, so that’s what we did.

The last time Grandma Eileen went camping was in France at a place called La Baule back in 1977. A pre-erected Eurocamp site, where the only thing to worry about was the welfare of two teenage daughters, a sunburned 10-year-old and a husband with a penchant for Le Piat D’or. I assured her that North Yorkshire would be a totally different kettle of poissons, and besides, Ruby and Wilf really wanted her to come. 

My wife, Anne-Marie, is blessed with a weather phenomenon, in that it never seems to rain on her birthday, so a family and friends camping weekend in June is a regular feature in the Sutton diary. Convincing Grandma to join in wasn’t as difficult as I’d imagined. The promise of a ready erected tent, breakfast in bed, and an endless supply of Guyrope Gourmet culinary treats clinched the deal. 

Mason’s Campsite in Appletreewick, nestled on the banks of the mighty river Wharfe, was our destination. It’s a perfect spot and flat as a pancake, which meant no steep hills for Grandma to negotiate. More than adequately serviced by an immaculate toilet block, we’ve been visiting this site for many years. The river, which runs alongside the campsite, is fantastic for bathing, with a spectacular swimming hole a couple of hundred metres downstream. 

Tarzan swings and deep, slow moving pools make for a great afternoon’s entertainment. A picnic by the river, with a view up to Simon’s Seat on the edge of Barden Fell, and a watchful eye over her grandchildren as they played in the shallows saw Grandma seated in the June sunshine. The watchful eyes soon closed as Grandma nodded off in a bid to save her energy for the evening’s campfire shenanigans.

We had billeted Grandma in a Eurohike three-berth tent, bedecked with bunting, balloons, sheepskin rugs and all those other camping essentials required to tempt a septuagenarian out into a field in the Yorkshire Dales. The vase of brightly coloured Stocks, and scented candle next to the double inflatable mattress and feather duvet was the icing on the cake. Grandma had found her camping feet. 

“Ooh, I could get used to this” was the phrase of the weekend. The kids couldn’t believe it, Grandma in a tent! The aching limbs and dodgy ankles took a back seat and surrendered to the lap of luxury as the errant son-in-law (me) strove to deliver culinary craftwork worthy of a camping queen.

Simple lamb stew and wilted garlic spinach saw off the hunger pangs on the first evening, followed by a range of French cheese and quality English crackers. The second evening was whiled away at the barbeque, with Grandma leaning heavily on the chef to deliver the mussels in beer and coriander, which always goes down a treat. I explained to Grandma that there’s no ‘r’ in the month of June, so we’d be having Gambas an ajillo (prawns in garlic) instead, but she really didn’t seem to mind.

Grandma had a bit of an epiphany on this trip. She’d always claimed that we must be totally mad on account of our love of camping. But we managed to win her over with surprising ease. For a start, the hot showers and toilet block came as a welcome surprise. Eileen’s imagination had placed us in a windswept field in the middle of nowhere without so much as a running tap. The recycling point and the white van from the local shop, selling daily papers and Danish pastries, also played a part in her conversion.

But in fact it was the pleasure of seeing the grandchildren running amok between the guyropes and flysheets, rather than the food and balloons, which really drew Grandma to our camp. Realising the sheer pleasure our kids get from being outdoors, spending time with mum and dad, meeting new friends and staying up a little bit later than usual, Grandma became a convert there and then.

Holding court in the pre-bedtime hour, with Ruby and Wilf on her lap, she spun embellished yarns about the French camping trip in the 70s. We heard tales of amorous French boys and Grandad on midnight patrol, mis-pronounced attempts to buy 100 croissants from the local boulangerie and a hilarious but painful tale of mum as a 10-year-old being allowed to fall asleep in the sun without any sun cream. Ruby and Wilf lapped it all up and retired to bed.

Grandma thoroughly enjoyed her two nights under canvas. Apart from struggling with the tent flap zip in the morning, the only real difficulty was associated with sleeping at ground level. This meant that getting into and getting out of bed took a bit of negotiating. But the creaking joints pale into insignificance on reflection. Eileen’s sense of her own achievement and the children seeing their Grandma camping made for the best family camping weekend of the year. 

It worked so well that despite being a year older we’re all booked to do it again, only this time Grandma is going to bring her slippers and her knitting. 

Josh Sutton is the creator of the website guyropegourmet.com. His first book, The Guyrope Gourmet, A Collection of Camping Recipes and Outlandish Tales, is out now by Great Northern Books.

Mason’s Campsite

Cost per night from £17 per night (one pitch inc two adults, children extra £3.50/child). Rent a tent and campervan hire also available

Details Super, well-run, little site on the banks of the River Wharfe. Flat pitches and superb views up to the hills around. Two pubs within walking distance (five minutes) and a ‘shop on the green’ van – local shopkeeper visits the site in the morning selling papers, good coffee and pastries.

From campsite, upstream to Burnsall (and lunch in the Red Lion!) – easy going underfoot, and you can’t get lost.

Spectacular show caves, 15 minutes by car from campsite. Open from 10am to 6pm every day (February to December)

This splendid medieval fortress is over 900 years old and a 40 minute drive from the site. Open daily 10am until 6pm