I've been camping once, it nearly caused divorce so when I heard about the Bells of Hemscott and their comfortable camping I was intrigued.  Based on a farm near Druridge Bay on the beautiful Northumbrian Coast the owners are looking to make camping a more comfortable experience whilst still allowing families to get back to nature and away from technology for a while, in my book being a complete tech addict it was definitely just the ticket I needed to reconnect with my lovely family and catch up on some books I've had lying around half finished.

Alison, the owner along with her husband have really thought of everything, these beautiful bell tents house the most comfortable beds you'll ever have slept on, it's an airbed on top of an airbed, I wish I'd thought of that on camping trips, we had a double bed and there was still plenty of room for the girls to have a single bed each.

Everything is supplied to make sure your trip is as comfortable as possible, the only thing you need to take along with you are towels for the Eco showers, that's gas powered powerful warm showers, I told you this wasn't normal wild camping.

There's nothing quite like cooking over charcoal although I would advise you shouldn't take your best clothes because you will still smell of campfire even when you've had a shower!

Staying on the farm there are things you should be aware of like this herd of curious cows, don't fret though, they can't get into your field (an electric fence separates them) and actually, cows might be curious but they're also big scaredy cows

we loved being so close to nature, to hear the birds singing and the noises of the farm animals was truly amazing for us city living folk.

there's plenty of privacy between the tents so don't worry that you'll be sharing the field with other campers

This is the 2 person tee pee and the next time we go I want to just make it hubby and I for a romantic weekend

Even the washing up is fun when you're camping and it's amazing, you can watch the sun setting over the wheat fields while you're washing the dishes in the evening, Alison even supplies Eco friendly washing up liquid so that no harmful chemicals go back into the precious earth.

this could quite easily be the African plane or somewhere exotic, we are so lucky to live only 45 minutes from places and spaces like this.

That's resident swans Jemimah and Isaac, they've just had the most adorable cygnets, I love baby animals and birds

On Saturday we went to English Heritage property Dunstanburgh Castle,  it's about a 40 minute drive from the Bells of Hemscott and I can't remember visiting this castle though I must have when I was growing up.  It's an amazing ruin of a castle and the views from the top are quite amazing, definitely a place for the whole family and afterwards you can get lunch at the Shoreline Cafe in Craster, we did and I can confirm that my ploughman's platter was absolutely delish.

I love this one with the lonely sheep on the top of the craggy cliffs, it makes it look so desolate but actually there's plenty of grazing just on the other side 

after our trip to Craster it was such a nice day that we thought we would go down to Cresswell Ices on the recommendation of Alison and they didn't disappoint, everyone agreed they were the best ice-creams ever.  Cresswell ices is a 15 minute walk or a 2 minute drive from the campsite but beware, the queues were out of the door when we went so you might have to wait a while, lots of free parking though and it's literally right next to the beach.

When we got back to the farm the light was incredible so I went for a stroll with Looby, camera in hand to see what we could see

That's hubby wandering along the road less travelled, when you first arrive at Hemscott Hill farm you leave your car and Alison or her hubby will pull up with a trailer to carry your luggage down to the tent while you take a 10 minute gentle saunter down the farm track to your tent, you will really feel like you are in the middle of a wilderness

Jemimah and Isaac were taking their babies onto the water for an evening swim, I love that swans mate for life and they make such great parents

as the sun started to set a glorious orange hew shone through the Hawthorn trees surrounding the field I suddenly felt tired after the days activity and happy, so very happy that I had been able to embrace each precious moment with my family instead of being distracted by the phones, iPads and other things which simply clog your life up.

It really was the most incredible sunset, Alison also informs me that star gazing is amazing but the country air knocked me out both nights long before it was dark.  I should also say that I went to bed with 3 layers of clothing and huddled with hubby under the extra warm 13.5 tog duvet, my top tip would be to take a hot water bottle or if you really want to you could take a sleeping bag and put it underneath the duvet cover.

On Sunday after a hearty breakfast it was time for us to depart but since we were having such precious family time we decided a visit was in order to another English Heritage property, Walkworth Castle, to get to Walkworth it's about a 25 minute drive along the beautiful scenic Northumbrian coastal route and it's a really gorgeous castle which is in remarkably good condition, 2 rooms at the top of the castle are available to visit and they have original furniture and features, plus the kids will love it, plenty of space to have a picnic or run wildly pretending you are a marauding invader or a triumphant king.

and then with warm memories in our heart we made our way home feeling all the better for time spent together and that was when I became aware how badly we all smelled of campfire.

The Bells of Hemscott are sponsors of the UK Cityscapes Project and I did not pay for accommodation,  These however are my true opinions of a wonderful weekend.  If you would like to go for a comfortable camping experience at Hemscott hill you can click through to the Bells of Hemscott Hill Website, at the moment they're open at weekends and all through August, be quick though, I think this place is going to end up being booked out months in advance.

if you would like me to come to your holiday accommodation to showcase it through photographs unlike any you've ever seen before and be featured on this blog (12,577 readers last month) which reaches hundreds of people every day and also my social media feeds which reach thousands every day please email mandy@mandycharltonphotography.com

The World Cup, what world cup?

Apparently in 9 days time there's this thing happening in Brazil called The World Cup which involves 22 men kicking a ball around a field in a fight to the death in a game they call football... or something like that, it actually might be a lot more fun if it was a fight to the death, maybe something along the lines of Running Man, whatever happens, you can guarantee that I'll be a football widow, actually I think this year I'll be too busy running around the cities of the UK for UK Cityscapes, incidentally I am now only 36% away from my crowd funding target but there are only 4 days to go, if you have been waiting to pre-order your book or you want to get your business on board and back the project then time is running out so please go to the UK Cityscapes page and pre-order your book, canvas or business sponsorship, perks start at just £3 and you get some great stuff in return and a portion from every sale of the book will go to my nominated charity MIND. If you want to know why that is you can read about why I am doing this whole project and photographing all 69 cities of the UK.

Glamping in Northumberland

In other news, I spent the weekend on a travel assignment for the Bells of Hemscott, there'll be a full blog post coming later in the week about this fabulous glamping destination in the wilds of Northumberland but to keep you going here's one of my favourite travel photographs of the weekend, I'm calling it Looby vs the Cows.

I should say that cows, although they're quite a curious bunch they're also shy so Looby definitely won, one of the things I loved about staying on the farm was the fact that you got to be so close up to the animals, it was so wonderful getting back to nature for the whole weekend and I can't wait to go back when it's just hubby and I to have a sneaky romantic weekend away from it all.

Kids and Family Portraits

people keep asking if I am still photographing kids and families, well yes I am, I still love photographing families in the north east of England and beyond, in fact if I'm coming to your city and you would like to book a photo shoot with me please get in touch!  here's some images from recent photo shoots in Tynemouth, Heaton, Jesmond Dene and Saltwell Park and also at home with the clients

if you would like to book a kids/family/couples portrait it's £40 for a regular session on location or at home (for central Newcastle, please contact me for pricing if you are further afield) and you'll get a web gallery for 30 days, 15% off for the first week your gallery is live and you'll also get a complimentary 12x8 print. To book your session you can email mandy@mandycharltonphotography.com or you can click through to my website 

This weekend will see me photographing the first of 3 June weddings, they're all completely varied and I can't wait, looks like the weather is going to be amazing for beach portraits too.

Over on my Facebook Page people are deciding which city I should visit next and they're choosing their least favourite city, at the moment the choices seem to be Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Coventry, Stoke on Trent or Sheffield, I'm kind of scared although I do love a challenge!  Go leave your suggestion for the least inspiring city of the UK and I might be visiting there next!