The EDCCooperative Winter Camp 2025

Winter Camp at Wordsworth Exploring Wild Camping

 

There’s something about winter camping that makes the experience feel even more special. The crisp air, the warmth of a well-tended fire, and the quiet stillness of the wilderness—it’s the perfect setting for good food and great company. As a note, I'm not allowed near to the fire because I put too much wood on it in a short space of time, leaving us without wood. 

 

Recently, I spent two nights at Wordsworth Exploring Wild Camping, a stunning location where a preservation order protects the trees, meaning no cutting or using fallen branches. Still, fires are allowed, making for a cosy, atmospheric camp. This was our third or fourth time hosting a winter camp for the EDCCooperative, a gathering of like-minded outdoor enthusiasts. With around fourteen people in our group, it was a weekend filled with campfire conversations, shared meals, and plenty of laughs.

 

That morning coffee in the outdoors...

 

The Campsite & My Setup

 

For this trip, I slept in my trusty UN blue Fjallraven expedition tent, a reliable shelter against the elements. I had my reflective floor mat, a foam z-mat and my inflatable mattress below my with my -12 Enlightened equipment down quilt on top, I was not going to get chilly. Around me, the camp was a patchwork of different setups, hot tents, more traditional tents of all shapes and sizes, hammocks as well as minimalist tarp setups.

 

 

I pitched my small tarp alongside my tent with the Helinox Field Office set up underneath it, creating a designated kitchen area where I’d spend most of the weekend cooking up some seriously good food.

 

Home

 

It has become a bit of a joke on my camps in general, these winter camps specifically about it being a 'one bag' camp, meaning that all the gear you need to camp for the night is contained in one bag. For the most part, I was in one bag, I did however, obviously, have the field office with me, this does not fit in my bag. My excuse for this is that I have the camera kit with me to film the camp as well as the cooking that I was going to be doing for the YouTube channel... however, I didn't end up doing any of this, I feel that if I had, I would have spent even less time with people.

 

One bag..?

 

 

The Food: A Weekend of Campfire Cooking

 

For me, this trip was all about making great food in the wilderness and enjoying the simple pleasure of cooking outdoors, surrounded by friends doing the same.

 

Food wise, if you had to ask me what the highlight was, well... that is a hard question. There is something unbeatable about dipping crisp sourdough into a rich, spicy tomato sauce while sitting by the fire, with the morning light filtering through the trees... but, you wont have seen that blog post yet... so... the fish and chips, that was pretty amazing! Other meals included currywurst, Uova el purgatario and a hearty lasagne cooked on the Trangia in the new Hajka oven. And, of course, no winter camp would be complete without hot chocolate with a measure of baileys in it, by the fire.

 

Eggs In Purgatory

 

 

The People & The Campfire

 

One of the best parts of this trip was the people. We again, had been invaded by a cooperator from Switzerland, an Scotland as well as a couple of new cooperators joining us, from Wales and Staffordshire, this shows the strong sense of community within the EDCCooperative.

 

As always, the campfire is the heart of the camp. We shared stories, laughed, and even did a bit of an impromptu pass around raffle, where gear and small items changed hands. Of course, in true cooperative enabling fashion, we ended up buying things off the internet whilst sitting around the fire after seeing other peoples gear and gadgets. The 'violent fan' went down a treat and I think was the most purchased item. Again, this just proves that good conversation and a bit of peer pressure can be a dangerous mix.

 

Coop Camp

 

 

Final Thoughts

 

The EDCCooperative Winter camp 2025 at Wordsworth was everything I’d hoped for, great food, great company and time spent outdoors. There’s something about cooking in the wild that makes every meal taste better, and the moments shared around the fire with friends are what truly make these trips special.

 

If you haven’t tried winter camping yet, or camping with the EDCCooperative, I highly recommend it. And if you do, bring a good stove, a solid sleeping setup, and, of course, some baileys for your hot chocolate.

 

 

Who is this then..?

 

If you want to take a look at the campsite where we stayed, here it is:

https://woodsworthexploring.co.uk/