Tag: Dorset

6 of the best… Yurts and Bell Tents

For the ultimate in camping (or rather ‘glamping’) choose one of these luxury yurts and bell tents for a memorable night under canvas…

Lake Yurt, Poundsgate, Devon

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Perched on the edge of a small lake, surrounded by woodland, sits this pretty and traditional Mongolian yurt. Perfect for couples or a family, it can sleep up to 5 (it has a double bed and futon). The yurt comes with a well-equipped kitchen, woodburner and cosy interiors to keep you warm, plus laterns and candles for romantic lighting (there’s no electricity). The site contains one other yurt but you’re guaranteed privacy and a peaceful stay. Dartmoor National Park is close-by for walking, horse-riding, and cycling.

Bath Bell Tents, Timsbury, Somerset

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This is the bell tent that comes to you! The owners will pitch up the tent at the location of your choice within one hour from Bath. The luxury tent comes fully equipped with everything you need for a unique stay including comfy airbeds, bedding, rugs, throws, cushions, solar-powered lights and a lovely tealight chandelier. If there’s a large group of you, you can book the full four sleeping tents and create your own bell tent camp!

Bluebell Yurt, Goonhavern, Cornwall

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This cute little yurt has been lovingly furnished with beautiful rustic wooden furniture, a well-stocked cupboard and fridge, plus flat screen TV. Enjoy breakfast or warm evenings sitting on your private decking area complete with barbeque, or stroll around the camp which boasts an outdoor heated swimming pool, garden and children’s play area. The ‘Woodshed’ contains the camp’s communal kitchen, washing machines and shower facilities. Sleeps up to 4 in a double bed plus two single futons.

Coracle Yurt, Lyme Regis, Dorset

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This special yurt, set within its own private woodland clearing, is for couples or singles only (no kids allowed in this one!). Complete with double bed, luxury bedding, electric blanket, log-burning stove, heated towel rail, reindeer skins and electricity sockets (if you really can’t do without your phone or tablet). The Coracle Yurt, by Crafty Camping, also has its own private decking area with hammock, barbeque and outdoor seating/dining area. Apparently the piping hot tree showers are something to be experienced, particularly in the rain! Try one of the wood craft courses run by Crafty Camping, go trout fishing or explore the Jussaric Coast. This area is also a foodie’s dream with River Cottage Canteen and the Mark Hix Restaurant in the nearby area.

The Wren’s Nest at The Fire Pit, Dereham, Norfolk

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Not technically a yurt or bell tent, this is a ‘bender tent’, beautifully handmade using locally harvested hazel branches. Ignore the unassuming exterior because this really does provide the ‘wow factor’ once you step inside, including an unexpected mezzanine level! With cosy seating and woodburning fire, this two-storey tent sleeps 6-8 people in its double bed, single bed, pull-out sofa bed and triple bunk bed. Extra pitches around the tent can be booked if you want to create your own mini festival. A barbeque, communal fire pit, hot water facilities, natural play area and double decker bus (yes, really) complete the unique experience. A gourmet coffee bar is promised for this year…

Acacia Yurt, Axebridge, Somerset

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This Moroccan-style yurt is glamorously decorated with throws, wall-hangings, cushions and rugs. The yurt comes complete with a log-burning stove, seating/dining area, a double bed and two sofa beds (it sleeps up to four), and all cooking equipment and crockery etc to prepare simple meals on your camping stove or on the outside barbeque. Sip your morning coffee outside your yurt and enjoy the view over Cheddar Gorge, or huddle around the campfire at night sampling the local cider and produce from the neighbouring farm shop.

For the latest prices, availability and booking, click on the hyperlinks or search via www.holidaylettings.co.uk

 

Get down on the farm at the Purbeck Folk Festival

We love a good music festival and this little boutique gem is an award-winner!

The sixth annual Purbeck Folk Festival, on Dorset’s beautiful Jurassic coast, is the place to be this bank holiday weekend. From 21-24 August the award-winning music festival features headline acts including Eddi Reader, The South, Turin Brakes and Lloyd Cole alongside Nizlopi, Idlewild Acoustic, Sally Barker and British folk legend Chris Wood.

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Festival goers can look forward to an eclectic mix of folk, world and pop music on a 600-acre working sheep farm in the heart of the beautiful Isle of Purbeck. Purbeck Folk Festival has music on four stages in the farm’s covered barns and a marquee venue that hosts the Purbeck Rising talent show final and open mic sessions.

Named the Countryside Music Festival of the Year in the prestigious Fatea Music Awards, as well as a line-up of well-known artists you can expect a dynamic bill of emerging and undiscovered talent including Emily Barker’s new band Vena Portae, folk legend Ashley Hutchings’ son Blair Dunlop, the Cajun powerhouse Sarah Savoy, multi award-winner Martha Tilston and Senegalese griot Amadou Diagne.

This family-friendly festival has a chilled-out vibe and offers loads of entertainment for all ages, including workshops, a poetry slam, spontaneous happenings, a cinema programme, the famous ‘beard offs’ contest, a beer festival (including the Festival’s very own beer, Buzz Lightbeer made with Purbeck honey), art interventions and a fancy dress parade.

Like all the best festivals, Purbeck Folk Festival likes to keep it green. All campers will be given recycling bags to collect their recyclable rubbish over the weekend; the composting toilets on site provide great fertiliser for the farm, and flush toilets use harvested rainwater. The organisers employ local tradespeople and try and reuse as much stored material as possible when constructing the new festival site each year, reusing lycra, bamboo, wood, paint, carpet and fabrics from previous years.

Snap up your tickets before 20th August: Weekend tickets (Fri-Sun) include free camping are on sale at just £100 (£50 12-17 years, £20 4-11 years, under 4s free). Day camping is available on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at £10 a night on arrival. A limited number of Festival day tickets are also available.

For ticket booking and more information, visit www.purbeckfolk.co.uk

Full line-up

Friday
Eddi Reader, Nizlopi, Martha Tilston Band, Furrow Collective, ODi, Dan Whitehouse, Moscow Drug Club, Flats & Sharps, Macaferri Club, Winter Mountain, Murphy’s Lore, Drew Allen, Big Tent & the Gypsy Lantern, Kadia, Beth Johnstone, Tim Somerfield, East Creek Union, Djambo, The Jack Ratts, Threadbare Ravens, Tred, Aimee McKenzie

Saturday
The South, Idlewild Acoustic, Sally Barker, Sarah Savoy, Phil King Band, Gigspanner, Martha Tilston Band, Roving Crows, John Langan Band, Gren Bartley Band, 4Square, ODi, Lizzie Nunnery, Louise Jordan, Threepenny Bit, Sarah Savoy (workshop), Sound of the Sirens, Macaferri Club, Big Tent & the Gypsy Lantern, Kadia, Mother Ukers, Catherine Burke Band, Feral Beryl, Kaia Vieira, Aimee McKenzie

Sunday
Turin Brakes, Lloyd Cole, Blair Dunlop, Emily Barker & the Red Clay Halo, Caravan of Thieves, Coco & the Butterfields, Chris Wood, Amadou Diagne Band, Gren Bartley Band, Vena Portae, Alex Roberts, Tinderbox, Polly Paulusma, Fearne, Aimee MacKenzie, Ian Brown, Will McNicol, Flats & Sharps, Gill Sandell, Emily Barker (solo), Tori Read, Kate Lomas, The Jimmy Hillbillies, Ceilidh Band, Quinns Quinney, Krista Green, Inu

A Beginner’s Guide to Eco Stays

(This article was originally published in Ethics Girls magazine)

A decade ago, the concept of eco-friendly travel was, in many people’s minds, limited only to camping – roughing it under canvas whilst chopping your own firewood, communing with nature and truly ‘getting away from it all’. That will never lose its appeal for many, but 21st century ‘eco accommodation’ comes in many more guises.

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From glampsites to luxury resorts, we are now spoilt for choice when it comes to eco (or green/sustainable/responsible – call it what you will!) places to stay on holiday. Here’s the Goodtrippers guide to selecting the right eco stay for you…

The Luxury Eco Resort: For those who love some indulgence on holiday… Usually found somewhere exotic like Thailand or Australia, luxury eco resorts offer beautiful rooms plus high-end facilities and services (massages, spas, room service) but are run on renewable energy, built from sustainable materials, and employ local people on good wages. Try Longitude 131 an award-winning eco-sensitive resort in the Australian outback near Ayres Rock run entirely on solar energy; or Golden Buddha Beach Resort on the Andaman Coast of Thailand which is built from sustainable materials, minimises power usage and provides good jobs for local people.

The Eco ‘Lodge’: Without the ‘bling’ of a luxury eco resort, the eco lodge is no less special. Often more rustic, an eco lodge could consist of a collection of separate ‘bungalows’ or huts in a style unique to its location – whether that be jungle, snowy mountain range, beach or lakeside. For outdoors enthusiasts, eco-conscious Nimmo Bay Wilderness Resort in British Columbia, Canada, offers six cosy cabins situated lakeside; or Our Jungle House in Thailand is an eco-friendly cluster of romantic treehouses.

The Ethical Hotel: Many hotels around the world boast environmental standards (reducing, recycling and reusing where possible) but some are going the extra mile to do something above and beyond what the average person would do at home. Bardessono is a LEED platinum-certified hotel in California’s Napa Valley, with a tonne of energy-saving technology, sustainable materials and recycling plans for a high-tech green stay; or try the 4-star Lancaster Hotel in London with its strong environmental and community policies, and its own Rooftop Honey Farm!

The Sustainable B&B: Cosier and more down-to-earth than your grand hotel, a sustainable ‘bed and breakfast’ will often keep it local with its own kitchen garden produce, handmade organic toiletries and low energy usage. One of only four officially certified organic B&Bs in the UK, the Orchard Farmhouse Organic B&B in the Dorset countryside offers an exclusively organic breakfast amongst the peace, quiet and picturesque views; for a chic city B&B The Zetter Townhouse in London sources water from its own borehole and uses eco-friendly paint throughout.

The Glampsite: If you can’t bear to be without home comforts, a ‘glampsite’ (glamorous camping site) is a million miles away from a leaky tent. Whether it be sleeping under the stars in a glass pod near the Arctic or snoozing under canvas on the African plains, these more unusual choices are hard to beat. Eco-conscious Campi Ya Kanzi in Kenya is a safari dream that is solar-powered and works in partnership with the local Maasai community; the cluster of geodesic domes of EcoCamp in Patagonia is packed with green technology allowing you to fall asleep under the stars; or try the Barefoot Yurts in East Sussex, UK, which are 90% built from reclaimed materials with solar lighting and a composting loo.

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