1930's Camping in Cumbria UK

[PADDY]

Just back from Cumbria with a 1943 tent, 30's brass stove and canvas officers ground sheet and a bag full of humor to battle gale force winds and rain!! Some good high level walks accomplished and the damp weather didn't dampen spirits!!

 

[Edward]

Reminds me of many's a Scout camp / Duke of Edinburgh's Award expedition! Tent looks great. I remember the days of separate ground sheets, though it was six-man Icelandics we used that had those. Fantastic in warmer weather, but they could be a nightmare in the wet. How do you find that heavy canvas in practice? Last number of years I've been in modern nylon tents with a sewn-in ground sheet. Very convenient, but somehow not quite the same.

 

[PADDY]

 

[Baggers]

Great pictures. Paddy. Looks like you had quite the adventure. All you were missing were ditches round that tent to divert rainwater. Looking forward to your AAR on how the tent and officer's ground sheet (bed roll?) worked out, along with a picture or two of the ground sheet itself. I have WPG's repro of a bed roll and am still working out the details of using it.

 

[Chasseur]

Paddy wonderful photos, thank you for sharing!

 

[Dated Guy]

Great pictures, thanks for the thought. My grandpa was born at Armathwaite in Cumbria (Cumberland), way back before history began, and I haven't really got much of an idea what the ground lays like until these pictures. A very intrepid explorer of the Victorian age methinks of you, a very hardy person, up to his neck in muck and bullets type. It bought back an old song to me, 'The Band Played Waltzing Matilda'.... Top man !!

 

[Renault]

WOW! What geat pics, Paddy! Awesome country! Looks like you did it again. That is, having a whacking good time. Looks like country where sheep have legs shorter on one side than the other!

Renault

 

[Kitty_Sheridan]

Brilliant Paddy,

I love the look I get when I take my Officers tent to modern campsites. Particularly when we took it during heavy winds and it was virtually the only one still standing at the end of the weekend!

 

[PADDY]

Thanks guys. It truely is God's Own Country and the fact that the weather was pretty miserable and it was during the week, it meant I had the place basically to myself!

It was quite a test for the tent as 60mph winds were funnelling down the valley and the canvas took quite a battering! First time out in the field where I could really put it through its' paces. Areas did leak and some water was 'forced' in as the wind changed, but this is ALL GOOD. Because it was meant to be a test and learn session for the 'auld lady.' I now know where the weaker areas are and I'll tweak, adapt and strengthen them (all within period of course).

And 'yes,' a few people came up to me to say how they remember this type of tent in the 50's when they were kids, or to ask how old it was and how well it stood up to the weather.

I need to sort out something 'other' than the Dutch Lacing closure at the front, but I don't want to put a zipper in, as it just wouldn't be right, nor that beneficial.

The Officer's Roll-Mat worked well, but...I did have it on top of an old 80's Army groundsheet of mine that I pegged to the ground, as the wet would have just soaked through the canvas (it still got damp'ish).

A friend of mine said the other day, "Paddy...? Why after 30 years of this do you still want to be doing it. You should be booking into a B&B or a hotel and hanging up the tent, let alone and old canvas one from the Year Dot!!!" The thing is, I'm young, fit, I actually don't mind a bit of misery when you get wet and cold and tired, because it makes me appreciate that 'I'm very much alive' and also 'it's a refreshing change' from the hum-drum of central heating and feather duvets!!! I get a real kick out of the challenge, always have!

Great area for caving too!! though they would have been flooded when I was there. I took a group of my Army friends down a few years ago and it was a cracking weekend!! So if you are in that part of the world, think KIRKBY STEPHEN, SEDBERGH, DENT (A village that is straight out of a Dicken's novel), HAWES.

 

[Mr. Godfrey]

Nice pic's, any chance of a better one of the stove please.

Where did you get the stove from? family or a recent purchase?

Thanks

 

[bailout]

Is that an ex-army headover I spy? I used to have one when I was younger and loved the commando look but couldn't stand the itching

 

[Saint-Just]

Lovely photos...
If I may, I will criticise the butane lantern when a Vapalux would have been so much more appropriate...
Mine:

 

[PADDY]

I actually have two brass Tilley Lamps, but the main point of this exercise was to test out the canvas tent. The weather conditions were 'more taxing' than anticipated with gale force winds of 60 to 70 mph being funnelled up the valley I was in. I was 'content' enough' to 'get' a lamp alight and even get a stove lit for a hot drink, which wasn't an easy task under those conditions at 3am, in a tent that allowed a 'too healthy' breeze to flow through

 

[Edward]

Ah, see that's real camping, that.....

 

[Saint-Just]

Fair enough

So a bit drafty would you say... Oh well, at least you didn't get much condensation :lol:

Added bonus of those lamps (as well as the calor gas ones) is the heat they generate, great to get some warmth under the canvas

 

[PADDY]

See vintage stove thread for more

Nice pic's, any chance of a better one of the stove please.

Where did you get the stove from? family or a recent purchase?

Thanks

 

[Mr. Godfrey]

See vintage stove thread for more

I have now, thanks Paddy. oh, what a thing of beauty. Very nice and thanks for sharing the pic's.

Regards