The Luxury Travel Magazine
The Luxury Travel Magazine
There’s something magical about glamping, all the luxuries of a five-star hotel but the freedom of nature and all the benefits that brings. On a clear night, you can sit on the wooden deck and count the stars until the air gets chilly, knowing that your cosy bed awaits when it is time to slumber. Inside the tent, one enters an age when explorers roamed Africa on safari with their accommodation draped in finery. Except you are not on the continent, you are on Brook Meadow farm in the East Midlands. Instead of the night filled with calls of elephants and the roar of lions, you’ll hear birdsong and moos of cows. This is what you can expect while glamping at Marabou.
Beside a lake where swans and geese swim freely, stands the Maribou, a two-storey three-bedroomed safari tent. Located on the border of Leicestershire and Northamptonshire, this is a haven for nature lovers looking to escape the manic pace of the city. Guests access the glamping area via a footbridge over a stream and find a landscaped glamping-only area with a barbecue and fire pit. The tent is raised up by timber stilts, allowing glampers to sit with a glass of champagne while enjoying the lake views from the deck.
The colonial-style safari tent takes inspiration from Sydney Pollack’s 1985 Oscar-winning film, ‘Out of Africa’. As you step up onto the deck and into the tent, discover a space where you can imagine Meryl Streep’s character Karen living with Denys (Robert Redford) surrounded by design elements from both Africa and colonial times. This part of the English countryside is made for nature enthusiasts looking to explore the outdoors. Beyond the camp, guests will enjoy a scenic walk one mile south of Welford to the former grounds of Hemploe Hall. The Jurassic Way footpath begins at a wonderful reservoir, whilst outstanding canal walks can also be enjoyed. Other nearby attractions include the ten-acre garden at Coton Manor and Althorp House.
Brownlow Hart bought 400 acres of arable land in 1913 that Brook Meadow Farm now stands on. A generation later, his son Jasper and his wife Mary became cattle farmers and during that time, Mary thought of an innovative way to clothe their children by advertising their homestead as a Bed and Breakfast. From these humble beginnings, they have turned 20 acres of the land into an oasis for holidaymakers with accommodation set around a five-acre man-made lake. Years later, their grown-up daughter Claire returned to Brook Meadow and helped turn it into an award-winning camp, recognised among the best for camping and glamping, winning a silver award for the Visit England Awards of Excellence 2022. She helped to plan the Maribou tent as well as the neighbouring Sunbird bell tent, and introduce the Silverstream caravans, a cosy space for two with lakeside views and a barbecue area. Using her skills as an award-winning interior designer she also revamped the Nuthatch lakeside cabin and other former fishing lodges into luxury accommodation.
At Maribou, Claire wanted to create a world from her favourite movie where guests could step into a scene from the film ‘Out of Africa’. As you move into the living area, you have antique-style chairs covered in African-themed fabric with wooden carved arms and a rattan-style sofa has fold-down arms and is draped with fur rugs. You’ll find a toasty wood burner for chilly evenings and a well-equipped kitchen with a hob and stove and an outdoor firepit and dining area. There is a large dining table with curled knots and a kitchen area to the back of the tent equipped with a Smeg fridge and appliances and an ornate Welsh dresser filled with golden and copper teapots, and another filled with goblets and cups and saucers.
The master bedroom contains a four-poster bed just like the one in Out of Africa with billowing white curtains framing the four posts, striped sheets, and a giraffe-themed cushion to complete the references to Africa. The bathroom is particularly decadent with a freestanding tub, draped in curtains, a rainfall shower head, and a Victorian sink with swan taps as well as a leather seat where you can sit and read a book underneath carved elephants near the mirror.
There’s a communal table with ornate knots – a space where the whole family can socialise. Fairy lights on rope knotted into heart shapes are strewn across the top of the tent. Climb up to the mezzanine area and find another king-sized bed for adults and two fabric beds built into the wall for children, while downstairs is a small cabin bedroom perfect for more children or another couple.
When the sun sets, the tent comes alive with the music of nocturnal animals. The howl of a fox and the hoot of the barn owl echo around the tent, piercing the silence, save for the sound of the crackling fire, your own chatter and nature’s lullaby.
A fifteen-minute drive down the road is the quaint village of Thornby where you’ll find the Red Lion – a traditional pub with a 400-year-old heritage serving real ales and a range of wines, spirits, and ciders. History is all around in the ornaments and artifacts not to mention lots of photographs of the pub’s patrons stretching back centuries.
The menu contains innovative starters like grilled asparagus with crispy hens’ egg, devilled aioli, and chervil oil. There are also hearty mains like roast rump of lamb with parmesan polenta, ratatouille, wild garlic and anchovy pesto is a speciality that melts in the mouth and the pesto accentuates the taste, while the ratatouille balanced on the polenta bursts with flavour. For dessert, the dark chocolate and raspberry mille-feuille with pistachio biscuit completes the meal.
The next morning the farm owners can arrange a fresh breakfast hamper full of tasty smokehouse sweet back bacon, outdoor-bred pork and herb sausages, sourdough bread, rustic bread, fresh milk and eggs from Lafette Fleurie, delivered by owner Nicola Ashe. Nicola was inspired by The Sound of Music – hence all the items are handwrapped in brown paper packages, tied up with string. You can cook up your breakfast then enjoy the meal while sitting out on the deck gazing over the lake. As well as breakfast, the site can arrange for a cream tea or bakery hampers – even a private chef for fine dining and Japanese food at weekends.
Furthermore, everything from the milk to the eggs is sourced locally, adding another feather to this resort’s cap for being sustainable. As a third-generation family farm, the current Brook Meadow owners are passionate about wildlife conservation and environmental issues. From planting 50 acres of trees, creating a five-acre lake to attract wildlife and birds, generating 50 per cent of the electricity used on-site, harvesting rainwater, sourcing food locally, planting 300 metres of native hedging around the camping area and building an organic, ‘natural’ play area, Brook Meadow is dedicated to sustainability. The farm rears bovines which it takes to market regularly and allows guests to meet the animals.
There’s plenty to do for families from free-of-charge open-air cinema nights in the cowshed to regular pizza vans and fish and chip deliveries. There’s also a shop, and the opportunity to collect your own eggs with Mary the farmer’s wife, or go on a farm tour with Jasper. Kids can play in an organic playground with fallen trees and take part in pond dipping, with grass circles to run around on and a rope swing over the lake, while ‘big kids’ discover quad biking, clay pigeon shooting and off-roading available at ‘Avalanche Adventures’.
If you want an escape to Africa, you only must venture into the English countryside. This is a best-kept secret that you will want to discover for yourself.
