Over the years I have had many situations where the campfire did not want to light, burnt out or flamed far too high – seeing me go hungry or being forced to eat what was no more than charcoal with a hotdog flavour, therefore I bring you my top tips (learned from my mistakes)

1. Firewood – Never collect enough firewood to keep the fire going, always collect far too much. Fires will burn faster, it will get colder, or you will decide to stay up for longer if you have only collected “enough” firewood.

1. Good tinder bundle – It is important when camping to always be prepared and by that I mean assume there will be no dry suitable tinder to light your fire with. Once you start bringing your own you will find that the forces of nature will leave far more for you in the wilds. The reason for this is all to do with chaos theory. I believe the technical term is sods law.

1. Always be first up in the morning to light the fire, because even if you do absolutely nothing for the rest of the day everyone will remember that the fire is yours which comes with certain benefits; first to eat, first to warm up and the secret satisfied feeling of knowing that you have beaten the elements.

1. Finally, remember that fires are dangerous especially when there are children around and make sure the fire is out when it is time to retire for the evening (luckily this is a mistake I have not made).