Fairy lights, bell tents, tree swings, cheesy toasties, late night movies and toasted marshmellows by the fire…could it be more of a perfect family escape? We spent a gorgeous day and night at Camp Hill Estate in the fantastic Hill Farm Bell Tents, a dream come true for our little Harry! The Camp is situated in Bedale, in a beautiful spot, looking across the Vale of Mowbray & North Yorkshire Moors, approx 30 mins from the gorgeous town of Harrogate, North Yorkshire.
Bell Tents
The camp site hosts 19 beautiful bell tents, each with a double bed and room to accommodate two additional camp beds; perfect for a couple or a family of 4. The tents are so lovely and cosy, complete with bunting and fairy lights, not to mention the built in wood burners and outdoor seating. The site itself has a very calm, friendly atmosphere; the tents are spaced far enough apart for you to feel privacy, but still lovely and open enough to see everyone enjoying themselves around the fire pits. In the current COVID situation, we felt extremely comforted by the well thought out plan of the whole estate, making it incredibly easy for us to maintain social distancing guidelines. There are toilets, showers and kitchen facilities on site, along with the camp wardens, Steph and Tam, who were extremely helpful and made us feel so welcomed and looked after.
Activities for the Kids
Where do we start? From football golf to an enchanted forestA, this place really does have it all! The boys thoroughly enjoyed the football golf course, such a unique and fun family activity. Just behind the course, we found a fantastic little park full of tree swings, this would have been exciting enough for the little ones, but much to their delight, we explored a little further on from the park and uncovered an incredible Adventure Kingdom. Imagine, a huge wooden castle, small little wigwams, play houses dotted around a huge woodland, a zip line, obstacle course and a climbing wall – a child’s dream!!! With acres of open grounds for the kids to roam, you needn’t worry about the getting to sleep at night, the kids didn’t stop running, swinging and exploring from the moment we got there.
The Old Hay Barn – Movie Nights
As you enter the grounds you will see the gorgeous Old Hay Barn, serving drinks in a stunning rustic barn covered in fairy lights, providing a warm, homely feel. We sat outside and enjoyed a few drinks, we were lucky enough to have Toast of Harrogate on site whilst we were visiting so treated ourselves to some delicious ham and cheese toasties – YUM! Much to our surprise, we were told that there would be a showing of The Lion King at 5pm in the Hay Barn, so of course, we went back to enjoy this. It was brilliant, all set up on the big screen, complete with a large tub of popcorn, as you can imagine this went down very well with the kids! Family film nights and local gourmet food vans are a regular occurance at Camp Hill, another reason why this place is so special!
Later on
After the film we headed back to our tent, walking through the beautiful grounds, soaking in the nature and the great outdoors, watching the stunning sunset shining through the trees. The fire pits come fully equipped with everything you need to get them going, we of course bought some marshmellows – how could we not? We all got snuggled up and attempted telling scary stories which ended up just being really funny! Hot water bottles filled, champagne popped, sat round the fire in our blankets toasting marshmellows was truly perfect… sometimes its the little things in life that turn out to be the best.
Camp Hill Estate has so much to offer, the bell tents are so wonderful, but there are other accommodations on site if you are looking for something a little different. Check out their website and their sister camp site, adjoined on, Camp Katur, which is equally as amazing! An experience here will be sure to put a big smile on the little people’s faces… and really, what more can you ask for? We can highly recommend a stay here, be assured you will be taken care of, the staff are wonderful and the accommodation is comforting and very well equipped. Camp Hill definitely get ‘The Big Dreams’ stamp of approval – super fun and family friendly!
