It sounds romantic: a faux fur mattress, an open fire and the company of a
loved one in the North Norfolk countryside.
But throw in separate sleeping bags, an open-air sprint to the bathroom and
an inquisitive badger… and a weekend in a tipi (as the company spells it) is not
your average chocolate-covered strawberries and fluffy bathrobes break.
It was certainly more memorable than a boutique hotel though, and I’d venture
more romantic - snuggling is vital when there’s only canvas between you and a
cloudless winter night sky.
We were staying in one of four tipis in Burnham Deepdale, a village in what
is now a trendy length of North Norfolk coastline. The tipis are part of a happy
little commune of hostel accommodation, a cafe, shop and campsite. The site
buzzes in summer and quietly simmers the rest of the year when only the brave
venture under canvas.
It dipped to nine degrees one evening, and well below that at night – I could
see my breath inside the tipi, nevermind outside.
Apart from the canvas walls, rough carpeted floor on a raised wooden platform
and the faux fur mattresses, our other item of life sustaining kit was a
chimnea. It took a couple of attempts to master - via near suffocation by smoke
inhalation for trying to burn damp wood - but before long the tipi was toasty.
That said, we slept in tracksuit bottoms, sweaters and alpaca socks that
haven’t seen the light of day since leaving Peru. This is essential gear for the
small hours, when the glow has gone from your chimnea embers and the mercury
drops to single digits.
It was late October when I stayed there with three friends – yes, the other
two might have taken the edge off the romance, but we needed them for their body
warmth…
I was also pleased of the company when one of our party, a wildlife
enthusiast, chased a furry interloper from the threshold our tipi.
Whether a badger had really tried to invade our tipi at 3am I’ll never know,
but my suspicions rest with the mind-bending properties of Norfolk Wherry, the
peaty local ale that we’d enjoyed in abundance at the excellent White Horse pub,
a ten-minute walk from the site.
Each tipi sleeps up to six people in the basic accommodation described above,
and while the toilet block is a two-minute dash across the field, its
under-floor heating and blasting hot showers are worth the soggy feet. The
lights are on sensors to save electricity, and there are other
environmentally-sound practices - recycling bins, solar panels, hedges retained
for wildlife habitats, and crop rotation.
The information centre is also well equipped, with a shop selling all manner
of camping paraphernalia, including charcoal (to use on the metal barbeques
dotted around the site), torches, batteries, folding chairs, beach towels,
games, plus OS maps, leaflets on local attractions, pubs and restaurants and
local transport information.
It’s here where tipi guests check-in and are given a rechargeable lantern and
a lesson on handling the flaps of the tipi and lighting the chimnea. Then you’re
on your own, with just a 24-hour mobile number to reach whoever is on call. This
number is also to report noise, strictly banned after 10pm to deter party
animals who pine for the raucous campsites and open-air parties of other coastal
hostpots, like Newquay.
That’s not to say there’s no party spirit. The White Horse is a lively pub
where bar billiards, live sports screenings and the afore-mentioned selection of
local ales attract residents and tourists. The back of the pub is an elegant
restaurant overlooking the Norfolk marshes and Scolt Head Island in the distance
– a stunning backdrop at sunset.
Order mussels from the daily-changing menu (£7.25 starter, £9.50 main) and
they will have travelled a matter of metres from the mussel beds on the marshes.
Other specialities include innovative fish dishes with samphire, sometimes
called sea asparagus, which is an acquired seweedy taste best eaten in July and
August, and is harvested nearby. There are also plenty of meat and vegetarian
dishes – pan-fried fillet of Norfolk pork with roasted root vegetables (£11.95),
cassoulet with Puy lentils and thyme jus (£11.95) and home-made tagliatelle with
baby spinach and oven-dried tomatoes (£9.50) are some examples.
There’s also great food at the Deepdale Café on-site, which includes some
wonderful warming breakfasts, from a Full English (£6.50) to steaming porridge
(£1.50) and home-made muesli (£1.50). The afternoon cakes are superb, and the
lunch menu includes daily specials, with imaginative dishes such as crayfish and
parma ham salad and classics like fish pie, all for around £8 a dish.
Working off this hearty food is no problem with the breadth of activities you
can do from Deepdale. Walks from the site include two circular routes into the
countryside keeping to the grassy strips set aside for walkers, horse riders and
cyclists, around the edge of the fields. The Deepdale website has maps to
download or there
are various guided walks throughout the year, including fun themed events such
as a walking Christmas quiz, a spooky Halloween walk, and events throughout the
year taking in coastal scenery and wildlife commentary.
Cookery courses, pub quizzes and Sunday night barbeques are also laid on, so
there’s no chance of running out of things to do. We booked a day’s sailing with
the Oceanus Sailing Scool in Wells-next-the-Sea, which is 15 minute’s drive
away.
It’s run by a laid-back local lad Jimmy Goodley, whose host of equally
easy-going instructors offer professional and fun courses, from a two-hour
taster session to a full Royal Yachting Association qualification. We spent a
glorious afternoon bobbing along the coast at the mercy of limp winds, admiring
the coastline and enjoying Jimmy’s sea faring yarns.
We also took a trip to see the seal colony at Blakeney Point. Around 500
Common and Grey seals live on the remote stretch of sand, amusing sightseers
with their barking, lolloping and playful swimming.
After a wind-whipped speedboat ride back to Wells we were chilled to the bone
and were directed to the Albatros, a pub, guesthouse, restaurant and café aboard
a Dutch North Sea Klipper, run by an eccentric couple. They serve what in my
book beats a Hot Toddy hands down as the ultimate winter warmer. Horlicks and
Amaretto is liquid blanket and slippers – a mug later we were warmed and
rosy-cheeked, ready for another night in the tipi. If wherry brought badger
hallucinations, what would this wicked concoction bring?
Need to know
Deepdale Tipis (tel. 01485
210256) charge from £40 per tipi per night for up to two people and from £75 per
night for three to six people. Each tipi sleeps up to six people. There is a
toilet and shower block on site with underfloor heating, and there are a number
of metal BBQs for use on the site.
The Deepdale Information shop is a treasure trove of maps, leaflets on local
attractions, pubs and restaurants, local transport information and camping
essentials including charcoal, batteries, torches, beach games, drinks and
snacks. It also offers internet access.
Those staying in tipis should bring pillows, sleeping bags or duvets, towels
and cooking or eating equipment if they intend to self-cater. Faux fur
mattresses, foldaway chairs, and the chimnea with wood is provided, plus a
rechargeable lantern. Dogs are allowed on the campsite but not in the tipis.
Deepdale Cafe
(tel. 01485 211055) on site serves food from 7.30am to 4.30pm (last orders), and
is licensed. There is a petrol station and supermarket on site, which sells
bread, milk, toiletries and other basic provisions.
Tables at
The White Horse (tel. 01485 210262) should be booked ahead as it is popular
for lunch and dinner. The pub/restaurant also has 15 bedrooms, with rates from
£50 per night.
For more information about the East of England region, to get ideas on
accommodation, restaurants, events etc, go to
www.visiteastofengland.com
