Up Sticks Glamping

“Home comforts with the great outdoors right on your doorstep”, is how Charlotte Taylor succinctly describes her family-run glamping site, set amid the saplings of a young perry apple orchard at the foot of the Malvern Hills. “No rushing to the supermarket or squeezing in towels and bedding. Everything is here”.

The 17-acre rural patchwork of meadows, hedgerows and glistening natural ponds certainly seem to cater to every need. The farm pantry sells everything, from local beer and homemade cakes to olives and sausages, while the glamping accommodation itself comprises a pair of family-sized safari tents each with an upstairs mezzanine level, as fully equipped kitchen, sofas and proper beds. Throw in the bikes that are available to rent and the family-friendly pub right next door and you quickly realise there’s not a thing that you could want for. In fact, apples and pears from the fledgling orchard will eventually be used to create the farm’s very own homemade cider and perry. Then even the pub will be surplus to requirements!

Of course, a glamping sites needs to offer more than just a place to bed down for the night. Up Sticks also matches its comfortable accommodation with bucket loads of charm and the attention to detail is exceptional. Fluffy towels are ready in your private bathroom, there’s a breakfast pack provided for your first morning and a glass of cool white wine awaits you in the fridge. The twinkle of the fairy lights that thread around the safari lodges and walkways gives an almost other worldly feel whilst the woodburner and Kadai fire pit cast a warm glow across the canvas as the sun goes down. Each tent has a fire pit, BBQ and pizza oven and they offer pizza kits to make your own.

When you do break the spell and head out to explore, the Malvern Hills – a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty – the footpaths and mountain biking trails are the most obvious way to start (with onsite wash-down facilities for bikes and boots on your return). The rivers Severn and Wye await for paddling downstream or a quiet picnic.

Not that you need to leave the campsite to get close to nature. You can help chop wood for the campfire, use the bug kits in your safari lodge to hunt for miniature wildlife in the pond or pet the rare breed sheep and pygmy goats, collect eggs from the hens, and tend your own little vegetable patch by the lodge. They also have a large communal tent with crafting kits, scavenger hunts for kids, ping pong table, coconut shy and wellie wanging and during summer periods offer workshops such as screen printing, sewing, foraging and more.