Tucked away on the quieter western shore of Windermere you’ll find the delightful rambling estate of Wray Castle, once the summer abode of a young Beatrix Potter. Nearly 50 years ago the National Trust turned the grounds into what is now one of Cumbria’s loveliest campsites with pitches in fields, pitches (and pods) in woods, pitches right on the lake shore – a real somewhere-for-everyone place. But still there was something missing. ‘What about’, cried people who wanted to stay there in a yurt or a bell tent, ‘people who want to stay there in a yurt or a bell tent?’
Now, with the arrival of Long Valley Yurts, that cry has been answered. In a field bordered on one side by trees and the curiously spelt Blelham Beck, and just beyond a very well maintained if somewhat barracks-like facilities block, sit two yurts and three bell tents awaiting your indulgence.
It’s a widely held belief – based, it must be said, on nothing more tangible than empirical evidence and historical documentation – that yurts are a form of dwelling emanating from the Central Asian steppe (where they are often known as gers) rather than, say, north Africa. One must therefore congratulate the good people at Long Valley on the inspirational brainwave that led them to decorate the yurts here as if they were from Morocco. The furniture, rugs, and even the lanterns conjure up a vision of old Marrakech. There’s also a fully equipped kitchen so visitors can bang out some falafels to accompany their tabouleh and hummus. It’s post-modernism given a jokey twist. ‘Was Genghis Khan’, they appear to be asking, ‘actually an African?’
What we can be sure of is that north Africa is, as a rule, is hotter than Cumbria, so to redress the balance, extra warmth comes courtesy of a wood-burning stove for which firewood and kindling is provided. Should it rain, you can curl up smugly snug with your nearest and dearest or rifle through the games chest and beat them into a pulp at Monopoly or similar. And when bedtime comes, everyone can forget those arguments about which player would have won first prize in the beauty contest, and drift off to sleep gazing up through the skylight at the constellations above.
But it’s not all lying back and thinking of Orion. The owners are more than happy to organise a whole host of activities to get your teeth into (literally, in the case of the bushcraft course). Trained instructors will take you rock climbing, abseiling, ghyll scrambling, mountain walking, mountain biking, Ray Mears-ing, or, perhaps most excitingly, canoeing – you can paddle from right outside your front door, down the Blelham, and out on to Windermere.
England’s largest lake is, naturally, a Mecca for lovers of all kinds of aquatic pastimes, with local companies offering a chance to try out sailing, waterskiing, and windsurfing. Or, if that’s all a bit too much, you can always hop on one of the many cruisers that chug remorselessly back and forth over the water.
Long Valley Yurts also has bell tents and yurts at two other sites in the Lake District: Great Langdale (beneath the mighty Langdale Pikes) and Borrowdale (near the pretty hamlet of Grange). However, if your heart is set on Low Wray, but you prefer to stay in pointier accommodation, your luck’s still in: 4 Winds Lakeland Tipis has set up a number of the iconic conical tents in the other half of the bell tent/yurt field, creating a whole community of alternative outdoor dwellers.
