#22 - Re-visit the treehouses of Longbarn

Longbarn camp is a special place for me.  The long field with its pylon, the woods with the stream running through it, and the field where the bell tents are… even the chemical toilets!  For me more than just a kids camp which I used to volunteer at for a few summers, but also the place of many friendships and a place of so much fun and good memories.  It was an amazing opportunity to be a big kid again and be part of children being children, exploring the woods, building dams and going on stream walks (always useful with no shower on site!), playing some amazing wide games including the awesome Astroblitz, Survival, hot chocolate around the camp fire, sleeping out in the treehouse, and so much more!  It is also a place of peace (even amongst the craziness of that many children), but a peace which only comes from God, an opportunity to leave behind the world outside and just enjoy being for a week.   

 

But it has been a number of years now since I have been able to do a week at the camp.

The original idea we had was for a group of us to sleep over in the treehouse at Longbarn camp.  But due to insurance, security and other boring grown up reasons that could not be.  So instead we had a sleepover at Hannah’s where we consumed considerable amounts of popcorn and Haribo.  

The next day on our way home Andrea and I popped in to a childless, empty, peaceful Longbarn and enjoyed a bit of a reminisce.  We admired some of the renovations which have taken place since we were last there (those we could see anyway since some of them are locked away inside the huts), sat and chatted by the stream, did a bit of hair braiding, tried out the newly installed shower (!!!), wandered in the woods and climbed the treehouse.  We also visited Ali’s memorial tree and remembered our good friend.  

 

It was cold and a little muddy, empty of people and noise but still most definitely Longbarn.  It felt good to be back even just for an hour.