Celebrating 50 years of Folk Camps
23 June 2018
For this special event, all campers and friends are invited to a special folk camp reunion day and ceilidh to celebrate 50 years of Folk Camps. We want this to be an opportunity for everyone to come together for a day of fun and celebration, doing what we do so well. It will provide a showcase of Folk Camps for the folk media and potential campers. The venue is large enough for 300 people to sit down to dinner, and we can accommodate a ceilidh with 450 dancers. There’s room for everyone.
Book your tickets on Eventbrite here.
The Octagon, Buxton
The Octagon is part of the Victorian pavilion complex set in a beautiful park. The park has several children’s play areas, a little train, lawns, a lake and river. Buxton is at the heart of the Peak District midway between Manchester and Sheffield.
You can download the Buxton General information sheet here.
The Day
All the fun of Folk Camps in a single day non-stop from 10:00am to 11:30pm!
- Welcome with tea, coffee and squash
- ‘Join the Band’ band
- workshops: music, dance and craft
- Children’s activities
- Song Circle
- Showcase dancing in the park
- Performances in the Bandstand
- Al fresco picnic lunch (in pavilion if wet)
- Opportunities to chat and catch up with friends, photos and reminiscing
- Celebration group photo
- Two course dinner with modest ceremony
- Launch of the Folk Camps Party Band
- Family Ceilidh dances
- Cocoa and birthday cake
- Expert Ceilidh
- Bar
Book your tickets on Eventbrite here.
Be a part of it!
We also invite you to sign up for the song circle; to perform in the bandstand; dance on the forecourt; make some art; volunteer to make the day run smoothly.
We will need an orchestra leader…or two; workshop leaders; dance callers; cake decorators; children’s games leaders; hall decorators; a table and chair set-up and break-down crew, airport transfer drivers. Put your name down by contacting the office or by downloading and returning the sign-up form (pdf).
Over the year, we need people to look out their photos, let’s try and have a picture of everyone who has ever camped. Can we do that?
We are looking into group deals on local accommodation or maybe a nearby campsite. Maybe you could make a weekend of it with other Folk Camp friends.
More information and more options for participation on the sign-up sheet.
Book your tickets for the day on Eventbrite here.
Accommodation Options
Hotel in Buxton
We have reserved some rooms at the Palace Hotel for 2 nights from the 22nd June: 20 twins, 20 doubles and 10 double rooms for sole occupancy on bed and breakfast option.
£60.00 per person per night – 2 sharing, £110.00 per night – double rooms for sole occupancy.
Guests to call 0161 923 0300 and quote reference FCBX2206 to book their own rooms. They will be asked to provide card details to guarantee their room and then payment will be on arrival.
“Folk camp guests could be seated together at breakfast in the conservatory, and that it would be acceptable for us to use, not exclusively, the side lounge near the small bar on the left side of the building. Singing and playing instruments would be acceptable with the hotel management. This would be like a spontaneous acoustic folk music session. Of course we would be considerate of other guests at all times.“
Camp Sites & Bunkhouses
This is the closest campsite, just over 1.5 miles from the Pavilion so can be reached on foot and is relatively cheap (about £4.00) to get to by taxi if going there after the ceilidh.
It is a large, campsite with lots of different options, including static holiday homes which can be rented, tent camping and caravan/motorhome pitches. It’s worth checking out in order to be close to the town but be aware that the tent camping fields are not close to the toilet and shower block by reception and are quite a walk uphill so wouldn’t be suitable for everybody.
There is a 25% non-refundable deposit on booking and the full price has to be paid 10 weeks prior to the date and is non-refundable, two nights is the minimum booking. They book up very quickly being so close to the town.
Example Prices 2017 rates:
Minimum two nights stay at weekends
Car and tent for two people £21.00.
Motorhome for two people with hookup £28.00
Staden Grange Guest House and Campsite
This place is only a couple of miles from Buxton and would be great for those who want to camp or those who want the comfort of the guest house. The approach to it is off-putting, through an industrial estate and then up a rutted unmade up road, but if you don’t let that put you off it’s definitely worth considering and I preferred it to the more commercial campsite listed above. However, some of the reviews of the campsite are not good so do read them before deciding – they are mainly critical of the small size of the toilet and show block and the fact that you have to pay for the showers which are not very hot.
It would be accessible by taxi from the town, or by a hired bus if there were a lot of people staying.
The camp site is all grass (no hard pitches) and there is hook-up for those that want it. The toilet and shower block is good, though small (4 toilets, 4 showers) and there is small covered washing up area. There are also two ‘glamping’ tents which weren’t looked in to but which have good reviews. To one end, through the little wooded area, there is a large fire pit with log seating around – a great place for talking and singing if the weather is good.
The guest house has rooms all around the courtyard which are large and pleasant and all individually done, including one family room and one self-catering room. The lounge area has a small bar but unfortunately campers can’t use the guest house facilities because there isn’t the space.
In total this place could accommodate 90 people (30 in the guest house and 60 campers) and being so close to the town is easily reachable by taxi for people who don’t want to drive back after the ceilidh. Alistair who runs it, says they will start booking up quickly after Christmas.
Example Prices 2017 rates:
Standard pitch (Caravan/Campervan/Tent) for two people: £14.00
Extra Large pitch (7m or longer): £18.00
Electric Hook-up: £5.00
Dog £3.00 (?!)
This is a lovely campsite, 5.7 miles from Buxton, nicely laid out, clean and friendly. The shower and toilet block, washing up and laundry facilities are all first rate – the only thing to be aware of is that they are accessed via a very short but quite steep path which wouldn’t be suitable for anyone who would struggle going up the path.
They don’t take group bookings, specifically because they don’t want large groups taking over the majority of the campsite and making it uncomfortable for others, so the maximum group that they will book together is 3 units (e.g. three tents, three campervans etc), but they’d be fine with lots of us all booking separately or in small groups.
It is further out of Buxton than the two listed above and so travelling back on the Saturday evening by taxi could be expensive and would need to be pre-booked. However, it is a very nice campsite and with sufficient people staying there it might be worth looking into bus hire for the group.
Example Prices 2017 rates:
Minimum two nights stay at weekends
Car and tent for two people this year is £18.00.
Motorhome for two people with hook-up is £25.00
The Royal Oak Bunk Barn and Campsite
The Royal Oak is a lovely pub 7.5 miles out of Buxton, with a campsite and a bunkhouse. The bunkhouse takes up to 34 people but doesn’t have to be booked as a single group because there are several rooms of various sizes. The rooms are basic, just bunk-beds, but they do provide duvets so you don’t have to bring sleeping bags. There is a very small kitchen area for limited food preparation but no communal area. The toilet and showers are shared with the campsite so are downstairs and accessed from the outside.
The campsite is grassed with no electric hook-up. If there was enough interest they would be happy to reserve the whole of the bunkhouse and one camping field for us.
Example Prices 2017 rates:
Bunkhouse £17.00 per person
Campsite is £20, £28 or £35 depending on size. (£35 which sounds ridiculously expensive, includes a private bench, table and a firepit).
This is 6.2 miles out of Buxton, on a narrow road with steep gradients and not near any facilities. It’s very much ‘no frills’ and is generally used as a base for walking groups but definitely worth considering if you just want a base where you can share sleeping accommodation and a communal area for talking/singing.
It can only be booked as a group because the open plan bunk rooms up the spiral stair from the hall have no privacy, just 14 beds in the one large room (and some recently built, high level beds without much headroom but great for children) and another smaller room with 6 small (short) bunk beds. Charlie who runs it say that generally he accepts 6 people in the larger room as a group, so it isn’t necessary to fill the whole room, you could pay for 6 people in order to secure it and then invite others to join you.
There are no cooking facilities, just a small ‘kitchen’ with a kettle and mugs, tea, coffee etc but cooked breakfast is included in the price, or full board includes a packed lunch and evening meal as well. Pillows and sheets are provided but you need to provide your own sleeping bags.
The current cost for B&B is £25 per person.
Other places (not checked out)
Shallow Grange Farm – the entrance to the camp was via a barrier so facilities not checked. Some good and bad reviews, mainly reference to noise as its close to two roads, and to it being exposed so not good when its windy.
Clover Fields Touring Park – adult only gated site, so no good for the family groups. Some great reviews, others reference the noise from the railway line running close by.
Buxton Caravan and Motorhome Club – it’s in a lovely location but unfortunately closing down for refurbishment and unlikely to open again before July.
Bushey Heath Farm Bunkhouse – sounded lovely, but they are in the process of selling the farm so all is uncertain at the moment as to whether it will even be open next year.
If anyone hears of one they would like checked out, let us know on info@folkcamps.co.uk . Jane Rawlins has checked out the above and is happy to do another visit.