The wonderful thing about this particular Yurt-tent-like-thing was that it was on a working farm in Hesket Newmarket, under the shadow of Blencathra, an imposing mountain in the North East of the Lake District National Park. The farmer, John, turned out not only to be a wonderful host, but he also provided us with a candid, colourful and fascinating insight into the inner machinations of a livestock farm struggling to survive in the 21st century. B, on the other hand, just thought he was cool because he drove a quadbike.
On our first morning at the farm, we stood enthralled as the farm's 500 sheep were sheared by three men with steel backs from New Zealand.
The view from the Yurt.
The standard format of a day on the farm started with cooking eggs and bacon on the wood burner, playing football with B, walking around breathtaking lakes in the shadow of majestic mountains in the afternoon and reading by candlelight in the evening. All this before drifting into a cosy long sleep as the wind and rain lashed the tent through the night, safely in the knowledge that those nice folks at Featherdown Farms had designed this structure to keep it dry and warm enough for fair-weather campers like my lovely good wife.
We visited places of natural wonder, like this beautiful waterfall near Ullswater.
And looked around a couple of places associated with Beatrix Potter, the author of "Peter Rabbit". This picture is of her home at Hilltop, now in the hands of the National Trust, together with more than 4000 acres she donated to the preservation society after her death.
B also made friends with a couple of boys on the farm.
Wild ponies with Saddleback on Blencathra in the background.
John the farmer stokes the bread oven for cooking pizza.
The view to Fairfield from Lake Windermere.
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