Young Writers Camp

07 October 2024

‘An absolutely fantastic, inspiring and overwhelmingly hopeful weekend’ – as put by one of our attendees, the first ever camp for Young Nature Writers at Cameron’s Cottage was very special. It was such an honour to create a space for young people with an interest in nature and writing to forge friendships with like-minded individuals, learn from experts and have time to write in the beautiful New Forest.

Hosted by Emily Hunt and Andrew Millham, and kindly supported by Alasdair Robertson from Cameron Bespolka Trust, the weekend was a unique experience and enjoyed by all. The aim of the camp was to provide young people with the opportunity to connect with nature, connect with each other and enter a space where they can focus on writing and nature. 

Here is what we got up to during the weekend:

Friday
Once everyone had arrived, we kicked off with some brief introductions and an icebreaker game – guess the animal/plant on your head… This proved to be more difficult than anticipated! Everyone settled in quickly.

For our first session, we welcomed Roger for his talk on nature writing and his experiences in the field. It was interesting to hear Roger’s unique perspective, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed his talk. This was an excellent opening to the weekend!

We then ventured out on a short walk and set up our moth traps for the next morning.

Following a lovely meal, we launched into our Open Mic session. The group assembled around the campfire, and Emily, Andrew, Stephen Moss and Roger Morgan-Grenville all gave readings, along with many of the attendees. This was one of the highlights of the weekend. A special mention goes to attendee Finn who recited The Trees by Phillip Larkin from memory!

We were also treated to some wonderful music from Andrew on his Irish bouzouki while we toasted marshmallows.  

Saturday
On Saturday we were all up bright and early and ready for the day! However, we were met with an onslaught of rain – which caused some rescheduling, and thankfully cleared up in the afternoon!

First of all, we unboxed the moth traps, led by attendee Max who has an incredible knowledge of insects. Max guided us through the different species, and we had a great selection considering the weather. Then, with our table adorned with moths, Emily and Andrew led some moth-related writing activities, including turning a basic description into a poem and zooming in on specific parts of moth anatomy.

We then took part in a fantastic Writing in the Field session led by Stephen Moss. Due to the rain, we didn’t actually write ‘in the field’, but instead wrote about an experience in nature from our childhood. Afterwards, many attendees shared their work, and it was very impressive to hear what they had created in just an hour or so!

Thankfully, the rain stopped, and we were able to venture off into the woods for our roaming workshop. This consisted of three activities – a mindfulness activity from Andrew, writing from the perspective of a woodland species from Emily, and an activity from our guest Jeni Bell, comparing positive and negative experiences in nature. Being in the woods, it was inevitable that we were going to get distracted by wildlife while doing these activities… perhaps the most notable was Stephen’s firecrest sighting!

We then headed back to the cottage for Jeni’s session on confidence and empowerment in writing. Jeni spoke about finding your voice and overcoming barriers that may stop us from writing. The messages given in Jeni’s talk were very important, and it was a delight to be joined by Jeni for the day – the group loved Jeni’s enthusiasm and really connected with her sessions.

We then had a brief interlude between sessions, during which we lit the campfire and were serenaded by Alasdair on his low whistle.

In the evening, we were joined by Lucy Houliston, who gave a fascinating talk about bats. We learnt all about UK bat species, in preparation for our nighttime bat walk. Lucy also talked about the elements of her career that have involved writing, showing how she has used her writing skills throughout her jobs with charities and NGOs.

The bat walk on Saturday evening was a definite highlight of the weekend – picture a group of teenagers trekking out across the heathland in the dark! The bats put on a bit of a show, treating us to a fantastic view of a soprano catching a moth right in front of us. This was a wonderful end to the day. 

‘The biggest thing this weekend has shown me is how much I want to learn, but it’s also confirmed that whatever I do, I want to work with people like the ones I met this weekend.’

Sunday
Thankfully, when we woke up on Sunday it was not a torrential downpour! We kicked the day off with a nature walk and bioblitz activity run by Emily and Andrew.

The bioblitz involved setting off in pairs and finding as many species as possible in half an hour, using the equipment chosen from the cottage – pond dipping kits, insect catching nets, etc. Embarrassingly, Emily and Andrew did not win… instead the winners were Rufus and Freddie, with a very impressive number of species!

We then headed back to the cottage for a talk and Q & A with Stephen Moss. This was packed full of interesting insights, and in particular explored Stephen’s incredible career.

Stephen’s talk was followed by Dominic Couzens. Dominic really captured the attention of the group, putting a smile on everyone’s faces. He gave some brilliant tips and advice to bring the weekend to a close, and a valuable insight into life as a writer.

Thank-yous
It was such a privilege to be joined by such amazing writers and speakers at the camp.

A special mention must go to Stephen, who generously joined us for the whole weekend. Being the incredible speaker and guide that he is, Stephen engaged and educated the group on many different topics. Meeting Stephen was an amazing opportunity, all of us hugely valued his company.

Thank you to Stephen, Roger, Jeni, Dominic and also Alicia Hayden who provided us with a recorded poetry activity.

Thank you to the Cameron Bespolka Trust for supporting and funding the camp - Corinne, Alasdair and Sienna. It obviously couldn’t have happened without them!

Thank you also to Andrew (Emily is writing this blog!), who helped Emily to organise and host the camp.

Comments
Below are some comments lifted from attendees’ reviews of the weekend.

• ‘This was one of the best weekends of my summer.’
• ‘The spirit of community and connections that the camp created was wonderful – not only between us, meeting so many other like-minded young people whilst receiving invaluable advice from established writers, but also allowing us to really connect to nature and our own writing through the fantastic writing activities, workshops, walks and talks. In short, an absolutely fantastic, inspiring and overwhelmingly hopeful weekend.’
• ‘The biggest thing this weekend has shown me is how much I want to learn, but it’s also confirmed that whatever I do, I want to work with people like the ones I met this weekend.’
• ‘I have really really enjoyed the weekend. You have created something so special here. I especially liked meeting other young people that read books, love nature and are generally lovely people! Thank you so much Emily and Andrew!’
• ‘I would list my favourite parts except I think it would just result in me rewriting out the itinerary.’
• ‘I’ve got so many new ideas and most importantly feel a lot more confident and validated in my writing ability’
• ‘Thank you so much for all the effort you put in to organising this weekend! It’s been really lovely to meet you both as well as so many other like-minded people, and have the opportunity to spend some time in nature.’
• ‘I really loved the guest speakers and have learnt a lot; it's been a unique opportunity to get to know experienced writers like Stephen, and really reassuring to see how kind and enthusiastic they were.’
• ‘Immersed in the New Forest, I couldn’t have imagined the creative flow that was stimulated by the youthful team and wisdom of our guests.’

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King’s Worthy Primary School

18 July 2024

James was the winner of this year’s How can you Help Wildlife Competition as part of the Cameron Bespolka Wildlife Talk held at Winchester College last November.  

His prize included his whole class spending the day in the New Forest at Cameron’s Cottage. 

Throughout the day, the children took part in a range of outdoor activities, including den building and a nature walk. These activities required them to show off their brilliant teamwork and problem-solving skills.

Here’s what the children had to say:

• I really enjoyed the den building in the morning because it was great how we all worked as a team! – Stella
• When we went to Cameron’s cottage, I really enjoyed the nature walk because we got to look at different kinds of bugs. - Ameya
• I loved the nature walk because we could discover different types of trees by their leaves! – Harriet
• I enjoyed investigating the bugs at a closer distance. – Daisy
• It was fun when we made dens! – James
• I liked den building and investigating different types of bugs. - Tien

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Romsey Young Carers

18 July 2024

It was wonderful to see Romsey Young Carers enjoy a day out at Cameron’s Cottage in RSPB Franchises Lodge reserve in the New Forest recently.

They built dens, had a bio blitz, made fire with Kelly kettles to make hot chocolate and had lots of fun!

Young Carers are children and young people whose lives are affected by looking after someone in their family with a disability or long-term illness. It is therefore wonderful to sponsor these young people and see them enjoy their beautiful surroundings and participate in the many RSPB outdoor activities.

We feel very honored to help and will be welcoming many more local groups of young carers at Cameron’s Cottage this summer.

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Leaside Trust's Four-Day Adventure

15 December 2023

We were delighted to sponsor 14 children between the ages of 9 and 15 from the Leaside Trust who checked in to Cameron’s Cottage recently for four days of activities and adventures in the New Forest.

The Trust, based in Hackney, is an organisation dedicated to delivering inspiring and engaging outdoor activities to young people. Their aim is to encourage children to stay in education, develop their confidence and build leadership skills. This was the Leaside Trust’s first every dry land residential outing all made possible for sponsorship from The Cameron Bespolka Trust.

Over the course of the four days the young members of the trust took part in a range of activities in the Forest designed to enhance their social and team building skills. The group arrived around lunch time on day one leaving enough time to unpack, sort out the cooking and cleaning roster before heading out into the forest for some blindfold teambuilding games, slackline walking and wood chopping. After dinner the group gathered round the open fire to toast marshmallows and boil water for hot chocolate in ghillie kettles.

A massive thank you to Corinne, the Cameron Bespolka Trust and the RSPB for hosting us and making the trip so memorable.

Day two saw the group clearing growth of invasive rhododendrons before building natural shelters from the branches. Next they learned how to make cordage from nettles and rushes followed by a short scavenge through the woods to collect material for making mobiles. After dinner they learned how to make bannock bread, baking it on an open fire they built in the woods.

The group spent time working in teams, working independently, doing solution focused activities ... we saw huge progression through the 4 days in all our young people

On day three the group spent the morning map reading and learning how to use a compass. Splitting into the groups, they headed out into the forest tasked with navigating their way to set points on the map. It proved a tough challenge crossing boggy ground, through thick woods and over fences to reach their goals. The afternoon was spent whittling wooden owls under the expert guidance of instructors Simon and Amanda.

All too soon it was the final day of the trip. The children packed, loaded the bus and cleaned the cottage before heading outside to finish up their wooden owls, split more wood and explore the forest for one last time. In all it was a great experience for the children.  They had very limited access to their mobile phones and social media so had to find other ways to amuse themselves during their free time.

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Building shelters from branches

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Making cordage

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Making Bannock Bread

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Toasting marshmallows

Autumn Wild New Forest Camp

02 November 2023

We were delighted to once again sponsor the Autumn New Forest Wildlife Camp. The camp was held at the newly renovated Cameron’s Cottage in the New Forest at the end of October. Izzy Fry attended the camp as a mentor and blogged about her experience.

Wild New Forest Camp

by Izzy Fry

This weekend I have been down in the New Forest for the Wild New Forest autumn camp which is sponsored by the Cameron Bespolka Trust.

On the Saturday we spent most of the morning searching for the weird and wonderful fungi around the forest and didn’t we find some amazing specimens! Highlights included Stinkhorns, Hedgehog fungi, Fly Agarics and Purple Deceivers.

The forest is home to an abundance of fungi

I joined the camp this year as a mentor and one of my roles was leading a group as part of a BioBlitz competition! My group was fantastic and preserved through the torrential rain to find and identify a huge 81 species.

In the evening we listened to some great talks about Pine Martins and camera trapping in the New Forest as well as a bird ringing talk from me and also a mentor interview from myself and photographer Dimitri Moore.

There was much to discover in the New Forest

Later that night we headed out for another walk in the dark around the forest. We found lots of new species of fungi including Puffballs, Cauliflower fungus, False Deathcaps and many many more!

We started off our second day in the forest bright and early to do some more bird ringing and the slightly better weather led to a nice selection of birds! The highlights for me were Goldcrests and Marsh tits, one of which I was lucky enough to ring. It was brilliant to see how many of the young people were interested in ringing and the process of it and lots are inspired to start training themselves! (All birds ringed under license with HPAI precautions to ensure all birds and people involved are safe)

Happy Campers

We then checked the moth traps that were put out the evening before and my favourite species was this beautiful Merveille du Jour. Later that morning we headed for another fungi walk that led us up to a patch of heath land. We spotted loads of fungi species including Rosy bonnets, Jelly babies and Hedgehog fungus as well as the rare Nail Fungus which grows on the New Forest pony poo! In the afternoon we had a bit of time to dry off from the torrential rain we walked through earlier and played a couple rounds of bird bingo which has become a camp favourite and tradition over the years.

For our last evening in the forest we headed out to do some more fungi photography and a final walk around the cottage before saying goodbye until next year. I had a brilliant weekend as always and would like to thank Wild New Forest for organising and running the camp and the Cameron Bespolka Trust for funding us to go.

The BioBlitz is a highlight of the weekend