It has long been a tradition now that I camp with friends at Badminton, it makes the event into a mini holiday (even with e-Venting reporter duties in more recent years!) and just makes the event that bit more enjoyable as you are not driving each day. So with the event fast approaching I thought I would share my experiences to help you make your stay that bit easier.
If you are considering camping I would suggest you hurry up and make your decision soon as camping passes almost always sell out. At the time of writing there was limited availability remaining in the tent fields, the caravan (with generators) field and also some ‘Glamping Pods’ remaining which can be booked via www.podpads.com . To check availability please use the Badminton box office website or contact them via phone on 01454 218375.
* Choosing a pitch type. There are three main options for pitch types. The first small pitch will fit a car and small 2 man tent which is ideal if you are only staying a couple of nights or you are particularly organised. The other 2 pitches are standard pitches of the same size but one is for horse-boxes and the other for tents. The reason for segregation is due to generator noise and parking horse-boxes in fields most easily accessed by longer vehicles. The horse-box pitches are again divided into generator and non generator fields. Please do not buy a tent standard pitch take a lorry and then be surprised if the staff will not allow you entry! The standard pitch is fairly large and you can fit a substantial tent and vehicle with ease. Although only two passes are included with a standard pitch as many people as you can fit on one pitch may camp in it and they need only buy additional passes. By sharing a pitch between more than just two people it makes the overall cost very effective you just need to sort out transport as extra car passes are limited (see below).
You will need to plan in advance to make sure everything fits on your pitch, if it doesn’t fit you will be asked to reorganise so you do, the pitches are clearly marked and although 10cm here and there with a guide rope may be ignored if you’re lucky do not depend on it. Don’t bring a huge tent and then be surprised when it doesn’t fit on a small pitch as you will be left with little options other than sleeping in your car!
* Driving on to the main site – in general I would advise not to unless otherwise unavoidable due to mobility reasons. On cross country day in particular you will find you are waiting ages to get back to the camp site.
* Extra cars – extra car passes can be purchased by existing pitch holders but you should factor the space the car will take up on your pitch. There is limited room for ‘extra’ cars to be parked by the main entrance but this shouldn’t be relied on as being available so you should always expect to pack all vehicles in your pitch. Please note cars cannot be left overnight on the main site even with a week long car pass.
A decent table and a jug of Pimms are the making of a good evening on the camp site
* Equipment – I could make a list which would be immense in length but things applicable to some won’t be to others so I won’t! Ultimately you need a tent/caravan/horsebox or shelter of some description that can withstand wind and rain. Last year the pile of tents thrown away after Friday and Saturday’s strong winds was astonishing. Many people were left with nothing to sleep in Saturday night and resorted to sleeping in their cars or seeking alternative local(ish!) accommodation. Of course last year’s weather wasn’t normal but it should always be considered a possibility.
In addition to your accommodation you will need something comfortable to sleep on. If sleeping on an airbed you need to put a decent barrier between it and you (for me a duvet) as the cold from the ground will be easily transferred to the airbed and then to you resulting in you freezing no matter how many layers you have on top of you. Be prepared that you will be sleeping on a slope and possibly unlevel ground so a single roll matt is not suitable if you want a good night’s sleep.
Seating wise, foldable chairs like these are ideal (especially with cup holders) and can be picked up cheaply from most supermarkets.
*Gazebos – Perfectly allowed as long as they fit in your pitch. If you are part of a group with multiple pitches they can be ideal for cooking and eating under especially if the weather is not ideal.
* Securing tents/Gazebos – Make sure you have enough tent pegs before you leave. If the weather has been dry and the ground is dry/hard the cheap thin pegs will not go in easily. Invest in some sturdier pegs and remember to bring a hammer. Dog pegs like these are great especially if it is windy as fantastic anchors.
* Cooking – although there is a fish & chip van on site in the evenings we always prefer to bring our own food. A menu is decided in advance and factored to take into consideration how cold our ice box will be at that point in the week. Also packing bottles of water and healthy snacks for during the day on site will reduce your costs and your waistline will thank you for it! We have a double hob gas cooker (replacement bottles can be purchased on site if you run out) and normally also bring a BBQ. If you are going to use disposable BBQs please ensure you have something suitable to place them on to prevent damaging (read burning!) the grass below. The land used is grazing throughout the rest of the year so please be considerate. Also learn from my errors: a plastic camping table is not suitable and will melt if the BBQ is placed on it…
A decent ice box is a must to keep your beer, sorry food cold
* Ice Boxes – mentioned above ice boxes are great. The super duper insulated ones if opened only when required and kept in the shade will easily still be at fridge temperatures even at the end of the week. A couple of years ago when it was properly hot all week, our box still had ice in at the end of the week. We pack it at the beginning of the week with as much ice and frozen food as possible which means meat, milk and alcohol can be kept safely cold for the duration of our stay. This is a great example with wheels.
* Staying together? – Book together! If you are going in a group make sure you book together to get pitches together. Pitches are allocated and cannot be swapped after allocation, make your life easier by sorting this well in advance. If someone books later then contact the office to get the bookings linked to ensure pitches are together but if left late be warned it may not be possible.
* Alcohol & night life – You will need to bring your own alcohol or alternatively each evening you can return to the main site and party the night away at the Outside Chance bar with competitors, trade stand workers and other spectators, this though would work out quite expensive so we suggest to bring a supply with you. If Pimms fans we strongly suggest bringing twice as much Pimms and Lemonade as you think you will drink and make sure to bring some oranges, apples, strawberries, a mint plant and a jug to enjoy properly.
* Behaviour – Love thee love thy neighbour! Everyone is there to have fun but it is a family camp site so please be considerate of the others surrounding you especially at night. Camp site security do regular patrols and it isn’t unheard of for them to evict particularly badly behaved campers even late at night!
* Generators – they are allowed in set fields but be considerate of your neighbours and ensure even quiet running generators are turned off by 11pm at the latest and not turned on before 7:30-8am in the mornings. Ensure when booking you have asked for a generator pitch, if you haven’t asked and on arrival are not in a generator field you may be prevented from using it at all in the evenings.
A good comfortable pair of waterproof boots such as the Toggi Winnipegs are a must if muddy
* Supplies – We really suggest bringing everything you think you will need and a bit more with you. In the event of emergencies most things can be bought on site either from the camp shop or the main event if you search hard enough but you will pay a premium. A must though is lights not just torches but camping lights for lighting up tents in the evening. Baby wipes are also a must!
* Clothing – general rule pack too much and pack for all weathers. Wind, rain, sun & cold as you could well experience all in the duration of the week. If it is wet you will need to be prepared to change clothes more than usual and as you will be lacking heating as camping you need to ensure you have lots of clean dry layers to change into to keep you warm. It gets especially cold in the evenings so even if you can live in shorts during the day you will need long warm trousers for after dark.
* Footwear – comfortable footwear is an absolute must. You will have a minimum of a 1/2 mile walk from the camp site to the event entrance never mind the miles you will cover during the day so make sure you are happy to walk miles in the shoes you bring. We also advise multiple pairs to cover all weathers. Trainers are great if it is dry but if not wellies or waterproof country boots as when wet it gets really rather muddy very quickly, especially in the high traffic areas like the tradestand village. When you return to the camp site we suggest making tents/ caravans etc boot free zones. Dependent on the design of your accommodation a good solution is to get a waterproof plastic tub with a lid (the likes you can get from B&Q or most larger supermarkets) and put your boots in it outside to keep the living area clean and dry.
* Earplugs & face masks – If you are a light sleeper or like an early night we would strongly suggest bringing a pair of ear plugs and a face mask with you. The security lights around the site stay on until about 11pm most nights and are very bright and noisy (generator powered) especially if your pitch is right next door to one of the said lights. The face mask will block out the light and the ear plugs the noise both from generators and party goers. Security are good at quietening down the noisiest groups but a civilised quiet conversation will still carry quite a distance so if likely to bother you bring earplugs.
* Showers – The shower units are actually pretty good but we suggest a pair of flipflops as they get a good layer of slimy mud and be sure to pick the right time to queue. The earlier you go to the showers the better. The queues don’t really fully build up until about 8am when you will be looking at 30mins+ wait whereas prior more like 10-15mins unless you are super early. You will also find them quiet during the day when people are on the main site and straight after the competition has finished for the day then getting busy again about 6pm. In the event that the queues are so long you can’t wait we suggest bringing plenty of babywipes and dry shampoo with you to get you through!! Bring at least 2 towels as they take longer to dry and if you can spread them out somewhere during the day especially if the weather is good this will help. Spreading them over car seats can work well if a suitable set up in a tent can’t be created.
* Toilets (and toilet paper!) – There are a vast number of portaloos spread across the site and although emptied regularly and restocked we strongly suggest bringing a roll of toilet paper with you just in case all nearby have run out.
* Hand Gel – bring a supply as you never know when the toilets will run out…
Want to meet up with friends on XC day? Don’t expect to have a phone signal so decide on a time and place in advance.
* Phone signal – it is limited at the best of times and on cross country day it is basically non existent. O2 and Vodafone normally bring a temporary mast on to the main site for the duration of the event but even they can’t cope with the influx on cross country day so although you may show signal don’t expect to be able to make or receive any calls/texts. From experience EE has signal on some parts of the site on non XC days but you will have to hunt for it as it can be somewhat patchy in nature especially on the camp. We don’t have experience of the other networks but expect them to be patchy at best.
* Phone chargers – Keeping phones and the like operational can be a challenge if you are camping in a tent. A car charger and also a back up battery pack are essentials. You can buy battery packs like this that can happily provide 5 full charges of a phone so keeping in mind you won’t be able to make many calls anyway due to lack of signal that should (hopefully) keep you going. If you use a car charger you will need to run your car as well to stop the battery going flat.
* Radio Badminton – Radio Badminton runs the duration of the event. We can recommend listening in especially to the dressage if Pammy Hutton & Carl Hester are in the commentary box! Small clip on ear radios are available to purchase on site for a reasonable charge and now come with a spare battery so should last the week. These can be reused in subsequent years by replacing the battery which is done at a cheap cost but the frequency changes every couple of years which renders them unusable as they are fixed frequency. If you visit most years you can pick up small portable radios for only a few pounds at most supermarkets which you can then use year after year.
* Valuables – Avoid bringing unnecessary valuables with you where possible and do not leave any unattended in your tent at any time. If you don’t want to bring something valuable on to site everyday but you need to bring to the event we suggest locking it in the boot of your car where it is not visible from outside the vehicle. In the event anything is stolen most insurance policies will only cover items left in the locked boot of a vehicle. Also if in a horse box you will need to consider access through the ramp into the living area. There is no point locking the living door if the ramp can be lowered and access gained that way.
* Water – There are numerous taps across the site where clean water can be obtained. Although normally suitable for drinking etc we bring bottled water for drinking but use the tap water for cooking and cleaning.
* Packing up & leaving on the last day. It will take a while for the traffic to die down after the show jumping has concluded. Our normal routine is to pack away as much as possible in the morning prior to the start of the show jumping and dependent on the weather forecast leave the tent itself up until after the prize giving. In the time it then takes to take down the tent and pack the last few bits traffic will have started to disperse and you have probably only lost 10-15 minutes by avoiding the traffic.
* Leave the site as you found it. You will be given rubbish and recycling bags on your arrival to the site. USE THEM! There are also numerous rubbish points around the site that are clearly marked. You will most likely need additional bin bags so please bring them with you.
If you have any other tips for making life easier whilst camping at Badminton please let us know.
