Enjoying a pitch perfect holiday

Faced with the prospect of waking up next day - assuming you slept at all - to encounter a yomp across a muddy quagmire to reach the nearest toilet, plus the creeping dampness that seeps into your bones and the faff involved in just making a cup of tea, you'd retreat back to the comfort of your home and bolt the doors.

Still, in spite of all its perils and pitfalls, more and more of us are choosing to spend our leisure time abandoning the shelter of our homes to enjoy - perhaps endure - the night under canvas.

The camping fad that began to simmer two years ago as hard-up families rethought their lavish summer holiday plans, is now, like a tin kettle over a flickering campfire, finally reaching boiling point.

Tent sales are booming as families embrace the notion of getting close to nature at one of hundreds of campsites dotted around the country.

According to The Camping and Caravanning Club, despite niggling downsides like pitching a tent in the pouring rain and, perhaps worse, trying to take one down in a downpour, people who give it a go really are happy campers.

Its recent research showed Scots who camp have closer family relationships, are healthier, less stressed and more socially connected. Camping out benefits our children too - 85 per cent of youngsters who camp feel their parents are less stressed when they go camping and three-quarters say mum and dad even manage to shout less.

Phil Harvey, retail director of outdoor supplier Tiso, says there's been a noticeable swing towards camping in the past two years, a combination of tight financial pressures on families and our renewed interest in what our own diverse nation may have to offer.

"The financial side is one thing, the other could be that people have done the holiday package tour and want to see what Britain can offer," he says.

"Camping falls into three main categories: wild camping where people just pack up fairly small tents and head off to wherever they fancy; family camping with the bigger tents at organised campsites; and mountain camping for the more adventurous, which requires more expensive equipment.

"It's in wild camping that we've seen the biggest growth," he adds.

Many wild campers caught the camping bug visiting outdoor music festivals and are now making use of their tent, sleeping bags and equipment, pitching up at countryside beauty spots outwith the typical organised campsite.

But while they may be fuelling one sometimes controversial element of the camping craze, at the other end are the "glampers", the would-be outdoors-types who prefer their camping to come with more substance than a sliver of man-made sheeting over your head.

"Glamping is on the increase," nods Phil. "It's camping but with a bit more comfort."

To cater for those more sophisticated tastes, Tiso has introduced Norwegian-made teepee tents to its range this year, big enough to sleep ten people and substantial enough to be pitched at the start of the season and remain in place throughout the summer months.

And for those who want even more comfort, there's now an abundance of campsites which provide structures from large canvas pods to wooden teepees, equipped with bed frames and fireplaces almost all mod cons.

At Lochhouses Farm, Tyninghame in East Lothian, seven huge safari tents come equipped with wood-burning stoves, crisp white bedding, pine dressers and en-suite facilities that, according to boss Michele Bail, lure people back year after year.

"This is still camping - you're still under canvas," she insists, "but it's without the horrible messy bits.

"Camping always looks lovely. The reality can be sand in your sandwiches and sore knees from kneeling down trying to get the camp stove lit.

"Here you can be close to nature - we have the farm animals, the children can feed the lambs from a bottle, we're right across from the sand dunes - and there's none of the downside of camping.

"If you want to pitch a tent, then there are campsites at Tantallon and Belhaven which are great.

"But some people want to camp and have extra comfort, then this is perfect."

For details of safari tents at Lochhouses Farm, go to www.harvestmoonholidays.com.

For campsite information, go to www.campingandcarvanningclub.co.uk.