Out & About July 2017

business meeting after a night champing, but we were just heading to breakfast and then home so it just added to the excitement of the adventure for the children. Breakfast is provided at local pubs close to the churches and so it was back down to The Coach and Horses for a hearty feed before packing up our sleeping bags, signing the guest book and heading home. Glancing down the list in the guest book gave us a brief idea of the popularity of champing already.

have trodden those historical steps There is no heating in many of the churches, but we would later discover a radiator kicking out quite a lot of warmth, which made for a very cosy night. We snuggled down, reading by torchlight, until we all finally drifted off into a very peaceful night’s sleep. We woke up to the seven o’clock chimes of the clock the next morning, with the sunlight streaming down on us. There are no showers, so you wouldn’t want to be heading to a wedding or an important

There had been people staying at St Katherine’s for three out of the five nights before us. It seems to be particularly popular with American tourists. Before being asked to write this feature I had never heard of champing, but now I will be looking at every old church and wondering what memories are being made within those ancient walls.

Champing facts: • 350 CCT churches are still consecrated, but not open for regular worship • 12 churches are open for champing across England and in Orkney • 76 beds were bought for champing last season,which were slept in by 656 people over 198 nights • A fifth of 2016 champers had never camped before • 650 breakfasts were served to champers last year • 40 per cent of champers were couples • 23 dogs enjoyed champing last year • A fifth of champers were groups of eight or more people • 10 per cent of bookings were from overseas • More than 300 bottles of wine were drunk by champers last year • Champing has just won the Hudson’s Heritage Special Judges Award for Best Accommodation Find out more about champing at www.champing.co.uk If you’re a little apprehensive at the thought of spending the night in a church, James Allen suggests some spiritual tipples to calm the nerves p37

Lucy’s Champing diary: “I thought Champing was fun because you got to go up and see the clock bells and there were two parts to the church, an upstairs and a downstairs. Upstairs was very nice to sit down at night and play games. Then after a while you go to bed and sleep in a very comfy camp bed downstairs. It was nice because there was also hot chocolate, drinks and glasses there for us too. I would recommend Champing.” Hannah’s Champing diary: “I was a bit scared at first and then when I knew the secrets, like they hid hot chocolates in the cupboard and that you could go up and see the bell ring, then it was more fun and I liked it more and more and more. I think you should go Champing yourself because it’s a very nice family thing to do.”

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