Stand: E90
The Camping and Caravanning Club was founded in 1901, by six friends who decided to go camping in an orchard on the outskirts of Wantage.
From its humble beginnings as The Association of Cycle Campers, over the past 125 years it has grown into the UK’s oldest Club for all types of camping.
We’d like to invite you to join in the celebrations at the National Outdoor Expo.
What we’re up to at the Show
Sign up to Club membership at the show and save!
To celebrate 125 years of camping, the Club is running an Exclusive Join Offer.
Throughout the weekend visitors can get twelve months membership for the price of nine.
The perks of joining include 30% off on all Club Site bookings, priority booking, subscription to the Club’s award-winning magazine, Camping & Caravanning, plus access to member-exclusive smaller sites. These campsites – Certificated Sites – are found on working farms and in National Parks and offer a peaceful and welcoming atmosphere.
There is also a competition for a chance to win a RoofBunk Explorer Super XL Soft Shell Roof Tent plus accessory kit, worth over £2,500. The tent will be on display on the Club stand, with product demos available.
And we’ve got on-the-spot prizes to be won with the Club’s interactive Plinko game – drop three coins, score big and win small gifts.
A Club for everyone, however you choose to camp
With nearly 90 Club Sites across the UK, the Club is the perfect base for every adventure.
Pitch up at Cambridge and enjoy the safe stretch of River Cam for a spot of paddleboarding. Or, if you’re more adventurous, why not try Whitesands Bay in Pembrokeshire and build in a stay at St Davids?
If you like your bouldering, Bosigran in Cornwall is one of the county’s most famous rock climbs, with three Club Sites nearby, including Sennen, with sea view pitches.
Don’t have a unit? Not a problem! The Club has self-catering accommodation at several locations, including luxury lodges at its Braithwaite Village Site in the Lake District, ideal for stop offs at Keswick Mountain Festival and early starts scaling Skiddaw.
Already have a location in mind for your next adventure? Take a look at the Club’s campsite map and find accommodation nearby.
For 2026, the Club is also revisiting its early history and its founder Thomas Hiram Holding, an avid camper and cyclist. Cycling and camping go hand-in-hand and if you are looking for inspiration about where to visit on your bike, why not check out the Club’s guide to 25 campsites great for cycling.
Inspiring the camper in everyone for 125 years
The Club has a long history as the best way to access everything the incredible outdoors has to offer. Look back to the birth of modern camping in these photos from the Club Archive.
(All photos courtesy of The Camping and Caravanning Club Archive).
Thomas Hiram Holding, the OG cycle camper
Thomas Hiram Holding camped in tents made of silk, prized for their light weight and comfort. His 1893 book, Cycle and Camp in Connemara, captures the beauty of simple travels by bike on Ireland’s west coast. He was interested in camping from a young age, when he travelled across the USA with his parents in a wagon train.
An early camping set up
Early camping set ups were simple affairs. When the Club started out as the Association of Cycle Campers, campers would travel via train and cycle and were restricted on how much they could carry. As such, kit had to be lightweight and easily transportable. In this 1907 feature in the Club magazine, a first-time cycle camper writes: “remembering that a bicycle was to be the only conveyance permissible, I began to reckon what could be done without, or rather, what would be absolutely necessary.”
Packing list from 1925
Packing essentials of the time included a woollen sweater, Plimsol shoes and a shaving brush. As technology has evolved this list has changed but our taste for lightweight comforts remains.
Come and see us
Pop along to the stand, say hello and find out where to go for your next camping adventure.