Amelia’s Magazine | Wood Festival 2015 Review: A Family Friendly Musical Paradise

Wood Festival 2015-review year of the bee
This year, as ever, the weather was absolutely gorgeous for Wood Festival: plenty of sunshine and dry underfoot despite the downpours a few days previously. I managed to persuade my friend (and fellow mum) Helen of East End Prints to accompany us as I knew that Snarf would love to feral around with his lil’ mate (we went to the Buddhafield Green Earth Awakening Camp together last year, read my review here) and we arrived in time for a late lunch on Saturday, staying through to Sunday evening.

Wood Festival 2015-review kids run wild
Wood Festival 2015-review out door singing
Wood Festival 2015-review tyre swing
Wood Festival 2015-review snarf
Wood Festival 2015-review bubbles
Wood Festival 2015-review harmony workshop
Wood Festival 2015-review samba band
I know I’ve said this in previous years but Wood Festival is perfect for kids: there is a sense of freedom and safety in the field at Braziers Park that is rare to find, and we basically had a child-led festival, following where our little ones wanted to run. We ate cheesy chips, enjoyed unexpected tunes around the daytime campfire, roamed the woodland playground, ate ice cream, chased bubbles, joined a harmony singing workshop, followed the samba band (dressed as bumble bees), ate more ice cream and of course listened to some music when we could:


The Wallingford based Band of Hope shared some beautiful folk harmonies and soaring violin melodies. They have put together a podcast recorded at Wood Festival, which you can listen to here.

Wood Festival 2015-review main stage
Wood Festival 2015-review kids in woods
Wood Festival 2015-review bee girls
Wood Festival 2015 review kids workshop
Wood Festival 2015-review dining tent
Wood Festival 2015-review campfire
Wood Festival 2015-review the gang
Late on Saturday night I listened to Tunng from the comfort of our tent, having adjourned for the night at a ridiculously early hour with my child. This was the first time the band have played together in some time and they sounded great, even in my half asleep state.


Co-Pilgrim put together a typically dreamy set from the wonderful album A Fairer Sea, which lulled my over excited three year old to sleep. Expect a new album from them soon.


The ‘big bastard baritone’ vocals of Liverpool based John Joseph Brill (his words not mine) were an exciting discovery – a uniquely raspy voice married to soulful reverb that is a heavenly cross between Interpol, U2 (in the best sense) and I LIKE TRAINS. Go check him out.


I heard Spiro on the radio a few weeks ago and was most taken with their tight music making (the result of many years playing together), a deft combination of classical music, dance and folk. It was great to hear them live.

Wood Festival 2015-review band with baby
Finally, Francis Pugh & The Whisky Singers are bluegrass singers from Oxford and were a great reminder of what Wood Festival does so well: creating a family friendly atmosphere where everyone can enjoy great music in a relaxed setting. Where else would you so comfortably find a baby on stage, holding a red balloon?

We are already looking forward to next year.

All photography by Amelia Gregory, our portrait by Mim Saxl.

Categories ,2015, ,A Fairer Sea, ,Band of Hope, ,Brazier’s Park, ,Buddhafield Green Earth Awakening Camp, ,Child Friendly, ,children, ,Co-pilgrim, ,East End Prints, ,Family, ,Francis Pugh & The Whisky Singers, ,I Like Trains, ,Interpol, ,John Joseph Brill, ,Mim Saxl, ,Oxford, ,review, ,Snarf, ,Spiro, ,tunng, ,U2, ,Wood Festival, ,Year of the Bee

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Amelia’s Magazine | Holgates Silverdale Holiday Park: an ideal place to stay for a Lake District Holiday

Lake district Holgates Silverdale Holiday Park Swift Chamonix
Last week we headed North for a short break in the Lake District, staying in a luxury holiday home at the Holgates Silverdale Holiday Park on the edge of the South Lakes, where Cumbria borders Lancashire in the Arnside and Silverdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Since our recent weekend at Pontins Camber Sands I have come to the conclusion that staying in a holiday home or chalet is an ideal way to experience a vacation; providing all the comforts of home, including the peace and quiet that can be so scarce in a hotel. Holgates Silverdale was voted Holiday Park of the Year in the Cumbria Tourism Awards 2014, and it’s not hard to see why.

Lake district Holgates Silverdale Holiday Park view
The view from our holiday home.

Lake district Holgates Silverdale Holiday Park Swift Chamonix interior
The luxurious lounge.

Lake district Holgates Silverdale Holiday Park diner
The spacious kitchen diner.

Lake district Holgates Silverdale Holiday Park
The master bedroom: Snarf is going through a phase of shouting ‘No Photos‘ whenever he sees me with camera in hand, before running off. Makes documentation quite hard!

Our Swift Chamonix Holiday Home was tucked away at the top of the hill, with stunning views out across woodland and on to Morecambe Bay, which is an otherworldly landscape of shifting sands quite unlike anything else I have come across. Inside we had a cosy living room, full size kitchen and dining table, plus two bedrooms and two bathrooms. Outside was a spacious deck which we would like to have used more, but sadly the weather was against us for most of our stay.

Lake district Holgates Silverdale Holiday Park camping pod
Holgates Silverdale is immaculately maintained, with tier upon tier of identically painted mint green holiday homes, most of which have been personalised by their owners with different windows, roofs or doors. A few of these homes are available to rent and there is also the option to pull up with your own camper van, caravan or tent. I was particularly taken by the scenic camping pods which have prime positions overlooking the bay. The park boasts two lovely playgrounds and a large swimming pool with hot tub, sauna and steam room attached. We spent two evenings swimming with Snarf, a reminder that we really must enter the wet stuff more often. Next door the Holgates Silverdale restaurant fed us some unexpectedly delicious food late one evening (I recommend the melt-in-the-mouth lasagne) – all made with local produce.

Lake district Holgates Silverdale Holiday Park Arnside Tower
Arnside Tower: Holgates Silverdale is just behind the trees to the right.

Lake district Holgates Silverdale Holiday Park arnside beach
The view over Morecambe Bay from the shoreline at Arnside.

Jenny Brown's Point
Jenny Brown’s Point, with the iconic chimney in the background.

We spent most of our visit journeying into the Lake District (which takes a bit over half an hour, driving along exceptionally scenic roads) so did not get much time to explore the surrounding area as much as we would have liked to. We passed the crumbling Arnside Tower in differing light each day, and admired the picturesque villages of Arnside and Silverdale from the car. On our last morning (thanks to a tip off on instagram) we drove down a secluded road through lush woodland to take in the blustery views at Jenny Brown’s Point, which features the iconic remains of an ancient copper smelting chimney set against battered rocks and glittering sands. I could easily have spent several hours wandering the shoreline but sadly it was time to head home. I hope we will return to this beautiful part of the world some day soon. In the meantime why not check out my ideas for 5 Great Family Adventures in the Lake District?

Lake district Holgates Silverdale Holiday Park shoreline
I am big: I am very pregnant. Photo by Tim Adey.

We stayed at Holgates Silverdale Holiday Park courtesy of Cumbria Tourism and Holgates. The Swift Chamonix is available to purchase rather than rent.

Categories ,Arnside, ,Arnside and Silverdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, ,Arnside Tower, ,Camping pod, ,children, ,Cumbria, ,Cumbria Tourism, ,Cumbria Tourism Awards 2014, ,Family, ,Family Holiday, ,Holgates, ,Holgates Silverdale Holiday Park, ,Holiday Park of the Year, ,Jenny Brown’s Point, ,Lake District, ,Lancashire, ,Morecambe Bay, ,Pontins Camber Sands, ,review, ,Silverdale, ,Snarf, ,Snarfle, ,South Lakes, ,Swift Chamonix Holiday Home, ,travel, ,Travels with Snarf

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Amelia’s Magazine | A Trip to Pontins Camber Sands Holiday Park with Toddlers

Pontins Camber Sands Review with Toddlers 4
A few weeks ago myself and some other Shoreditch mums took our 6 toddlers down to Pontins in Camber Sands. It was a cheap holiday in down season, meaning that we pretty much had the resort, wind and rain to ourselves. I’ve been to Pontins many times for ATP weekenders back in the day, but this was my first time doing it as a mum.

Pontins Camber Sands with Toddlers Amelia Snarfle
Pontins Camber Sands Review with Toddlers 2
We had a run of chalets along an entire ground floor row, so the kids loved racing between everyone’s identical ‘houses’. The idea being that we would dine together and then calm the little ones down in their own space, but this also meant we mums spent the evenings on WhatsApp. Rock n Roll!

Pontins Camber Sands Review with Toddlers Rye
Rye playground Inclusive Play
Our first day was a rainy affair, so we drove into Rye and headed straight into a cafe for hot drinks. Then we took the kids on a soggy tour of the town walls, culminating in a visit to a very boggy playground on the field below: cue much slippage in mud in the mizzle. On a plus note the swings were great! And there were some fun interactive smiley faces with embedded sounds to play with.

Pontins Camber Sands with Toddlers beach 2
Pontins Camber Sands with Toddlers beach
Camber Sands photo by Lily Lam
Photo courtesy of Lily Lam.

On Sunday we braved the wind to visit Camber Sands, but had to retreat inside before too long because the toddlers weren’t having any of it, despite the lucky find of a kite in the dunes. We were turfed out of one cafe for being too rowdy (honestly, toddlers, how dare they?) but ate chips in the friendlier place next door.

Pontins Camber Sands with Toddlers soft play
Pontins Camber Sands Review with Toddlers
Pontins Camber Sands with Toddlers 6
Pontins Camber Sands Review with Toddlers 3
Sadly the Pontins bouncy castle was not on offer, so we spent the afternoon in the soft play centre, trying to avoid the arcade machines and racing around the giant hall on the upstairs level, where I once saw the likes of Yoko Ono, Peaches and Bat for Lashes. Whenever I ask Snarf what his favourite bit of the day was he invariably says ‘running around’ and they had a ball in the huge open space.

Pontins Camber Sands with Toddlers 5
Pontins camber sands playground
Pontins Camber Sands with Toddlers 7
We had big plans to take advantage of the swimming pool but as always it seemed like too much drama, however the little ones loved having the choice of so many playgrounds on their doorstep, forcing us to race around the chalets after them. And they loved feeding the gulls (chuck a chip, watch them appear like magic from nowhere!)

Pontins Camber Sands with Toddlers chalet
So, Pontins, basic, a bit downmarket, but fun nonetheless. We are already planning our next destination en masse…

Categories ,Arcades, ,ATP weekender, ,Bat for Lashes, ,Bouncy Castle, ,Camber Sands, ,children, ,Family, ,Holiday, ,Holiday Park, ,Mumlife, ,Off Season, ,Peaches, ,playground, ,Pontins, ,review, ,rye, ,shoreditch, ,Sussex, ,Toddlers, ,Weekend, ,WhatsApp, ,What’s App, ,Yoko Ono

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Amelia’s Magazine | Defining Beauty at the British Museum: From a Child’s View

Defining Beauty British Museum-statue
Earlier this week I dragged Snarfle down to the press preview of Defining Beauty, the new blockbuster exhibition from the British Museum. When we arrived the curator was giving a chat, a part I had hoped to avoid… but well, toddlers, it’s hard to get them moving, and the bus ride took forever. So we circumvented the first room, which showcased some stunning examples of Greek sculpture, including a bronze in near perfect condition that was apparently only recently dug out of the sea.

Defining Beauty British Museum-Gold Goddess Athena
Golden goddess Athena at the new British Museum exhibition.

I wasn’t sure how my penis obsessed little boy would react to loads of nude marble sculptures, so was prepared to give a whispered commentary on the state of the various body parts – intact or not – as we moved around the exhibition. Snarf was the youngest attendee by at least 30 years but perhaps surprisingly he was rather enraptured by many of the sculptures, including the gorgeous gold Athena and a wriggling bronze baby, beautifully captured holding it’s arms out to be picked up.

The exhibition includes depictions of the body on vases and reliefs, but it is the sculptures which really provoke awe. The rooms showcase Greek art through the ages, revealing how these skilled artisans became adept at making movement out of rock, an amazing feat if you think about it.

Defining Beauty British Museum-Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great. A flattering depiction I feel.

Towards the end we encountered the Laughing Boy, which Snarfle also loved. However when we got home and looked through the press kit he wanted to chop the Laughing Boy image up. ‘I liked it at the museum, but I don’t like the picture, it’s scary,’ he told me, scissors in hand. I have to agree, it did have a rather sinister edge.

A must see exhibition for anyone who loves classical art – there are a host of events associated with the show, including some fun sessions over Easter for kids. Find out more here. The exhibition continues until 5th July 2015.

Categories ,Athena, ,British Museum, ,children, ,Classical Art, ,Defining Beauty, ,exhibition, ,Family, ,Greek, ,Greek Art, ,Laughing Boy, ,review, ,sculpture, ,Snarfle

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