I am safely back from my trip from Swanage, and I am sorry to disappoint you all with the news that I have no major disasters to report despite various attempts to lose my wallet and keys. The weather as I predicted was neither here or there, there was little rain and warmish days that were just about good enough to give us some beach days.

British Bulldog Kids v Parents competition

As a whole the trip was great fun, and was generally based around entertaining the children by day and getting pissed around the fire pits at night. Harry was a bit of an outsider to start with, but within a day all the Broughton kids embraced him, and heartwarmingly, by the end of the week he had friends aplenty and was very much part of the group.

Letting off Chinese lanterns

As I said before, this is my only holiday this year, but I love Swanage, it is quintessentially English, and if you have great company, it is, and I mean this, just as good as anywhere else is the world, as there is something about the place that hits all the right buttons for me.

Harry and I at Old Harry Rocks

Anyway, here is a big thanks to Diane and everyone else for making my low budget holiday such a special one. You can go to the most exotic location in the world, but if the company is crap, it is nothing. Alternatively you can camp in a field in Dorset and spend time with people who just want a laugh, and have the time of your life.

Talking bollocks around the camp fire

Highs

Lows

• Ed taking up my role as camp site disaster zone by getting an eyeful of mosquito spray that resulted in an afternoon at the Bournemouth eye hospital.

Swanage in all it’s glory

Back to reality now.