Our first "Glamping" trip

One day out of the blue, my wife asked me if I had ever thought about going Glamping.  I must admit that I had never expected these words to come from her mouth but it was out there now and needed to be discussed.
It turns out that she had already looked at a few websites so was able to show me what she was talking about and it looked pretty good and worth looking into further.
As there was a Bank Holiday coming up shortly we decided to give it a try and decided to go to Secret Valley in Somerset for a few days and booked into a Reindeer Lodge.  It was called a Reindeer Lodge as it was next to a field of reindeer. The trip down was a little busy, lots of bank holiday traffic but we found the site quite easily after leaving the motorway and once we had dropped our bags off we went to explore the area. It turns out that we were only a few miles from bridgewater and just around the corner from the nearest pub.  While the distance was walkable it did involve a country lane with no footpath so we decided that pub was not worth the risk and we would stay in site for the evening.

The lodges themselves are brilliant, I thought it was an excellent idea and perfect for the first time camper or someone who cannot face the idea of losing touch with civilisation completely.

Each hut has its own Fridge, a Microwave and a kettle as well as an electric heater.

The seating area at the back easily converts to beds and there was plenty of room for the two of us so we only used half of the space and left the other half set up as a sofa.

Outside there was a picnic table and a firepit/ bbq for cooking.

It seems like they had thought of everything as no sooner had we settled in the owners came around on a little tractor.  Every night they do the rounds with their provisions so you can buy fire wood, coal, Wine, Cider, Electricity cards and other little things you may need.

I thought having the toilets and shower block a 5 minute walk away would cause a problem but it is something that you easily get used to and the route takes you past all of the other animals. They had Chickens, Reindeer, Goats, Ducks and Rhea’s.  We nicknamed these Chris and Di.  Well, I did. My feeble attempt at humour was treated with the derision it deserves by my wife.

Our first nights sleep was surprisingly comfortable, we woke quite early though but that may have been the animals making noises that caused our early morning.  Breakfast was Bacon cooked on our new gas stove and a fried egg and a few cups of coffee and we were ready then to hit the road. We had decided that we’d head over to Lynton and Lynmouth.  It had been a few years since I had been there and I had totally forgotten that this meant a trip up Porlock.  For years my parents had told tales about Porlock, I had never actually driven up it myself and I still have not had the privilege as Mrs B was in the driving seat today.

It is not so much that it is a steep hill or the fact that it is a winding road but the combination of the 2. You will get to a very steep part and find that it is taking you on a very steep bend at the same time.  One of the corners has a fantastic house right in the Apex of the corner.  I dread to think how many times they have found a stray car in their front garden.

We had a great day out exploring the Valley of the Rocks, a trip up and down on the incline rail way, fish and chips and a sunburnt head were all part of the days fun.  On the return journey we even had time to stop at Watchet for an ice cream before heading back to the site.

The second day took us to Wells, the plan was to see the Cathedral but we actually ended up spending the day going around the Bishops Castle and seeing the actual Wells that gave the city its name.  We had another brilliant day of sunshine but it was all to change when we got back to the site.  I had just got the BBQ lit and the rain came.  It was quite light at first but got heavier.  Luckily the cooking was done before we were totally washed out.

It is amazing how creative you can be with limited resources.  In the 3 nights we cooked on the Barbeque we didn’t have the same food twice and we refused to use the Microwave.

The rain didn’t ruin our last evening, we just hooked our phones up to our portable speakers, put the heater on and had a few drinks while we watched the sun go down around us.

On the whole we had a great first Glamping experience and I would certainly do it again and would not hesitate to go back to Secret Valley.  On our pre dinner walk on the last evening we found the place that does the Mountain Biking, Boarding and all of the other activities that we had not had time to do over the weekend but I look forward to returning and having a go at some of these.
If you want to know more about Secret Valley then please follow the link:

http://www.secret-valley.co.uk/