Catherine and her partner Ian run the site, lovingly furnishing each yurt with wooden floors, a handmade double bed, a table and chairs for candlelit dining and a wood burning stove with a supply of logs. They are snugly fitted out with feather down duvets, Egyptian cotton sheets, fluffy towels, Secret Cloud bathrobes, Staffordshire wool blankets and sheepskin rugs. Glamping guests are also treated to a locally sourced breakfast hamper and each yurt has its own private wood-fired hot tub. Guests are also welcome to use the wood fuelled barrel sauna and the site now offers massage treatments by candlelight in 'Shepherds Rest' in front of the roaring fire.
But despite the luxury – this is also an eco-friendly site and has earned the Environmental Quality Mark from the Peak District National Park each year since 2011. Each yurt has its own compost loo, the shower rooms are fitted out with solar panels and insulated with sheep’s wool, while lighting is by candlelight and solar fairy lights. Every effort is also made to source products locally from the yurts themselves, to the handmade toiletries and the sustainable Staffordshire charcoal for the BBQ. Breakfast hampers are perhaps the most local of all – with meat and vegetables directly from the surrounding farms!
The site is just beneath Ipstones Edge, where the Staffordshire Wildlfe Trust manages the nature reserve with the help of a small herd of Shetland ponies. The Trentham Estate (01782 646646) is around half an hour by car and has gardens, the Monkey Forest and “aerial extreme” high ropes, and Alton Towers is 5 minutes away
Catherine recommends The Yew Tree (01538 308348) in Cauldon. Something of an antiques museum, it even has a couple of pairs of Queen Victoria’s stockings – and real ales. Or The Marquis of Granby (01538 266462), Ipstones, 2.5 miles away