Berkshire

<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-8745 size-full" src="https://berkshire.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2017/05/Glamp-hant-6.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="667" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2017/05/Glamp-hant-6.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2017/05/Glamp-hant-6-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2017/05/Glamp-hant-6-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2017/05/Glamp-hant-6-720x480.jpg 720w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" />
We&#8217;re all guilty of swiping and scrolling too much, so checking out of the digital world and reconnecting with simple pleasures in life – fresh air, fizz and fresh baked goods – can really hit the spot. When Muddy Hampshire editor Mary, went to stay at this cute Shepherd&#8217;s Hut, it proved to be so good, we had to drag her back to her Muddy desk kicking and screaming.
It is early spring, oxygen-clear, and I’m ambling through Frenches Farm in the North Wessex Downs.
In tow, two errant daughters (mine), one beautifully behaved granddaughter (Anna’s), a tiny dog called Giny and Anna White, the brains and energy behind <a href="http://www.escapeandretreat.com/frenches-farm/">Escape&amp;Retreat’s</a> glorious shepherd’s hut.
This is for you: honeymooners, tired couples, bouncing families, walkers, authors, horse-riders (you can livery here) and everyone who longs to plug back into nature, with some serious creature comforts on the side.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-8742 size-full" src="https://berkshire.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2017/05/Glamp-hants-8.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="750" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2017/05/Glamp-hants-8.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2017/05/Glamp-hants-8-300x225.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2017/05/Glamp-hants-8-768x576.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2017/05/Glamp-hants-8-667x500.jpg 667w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" />
Wet-nosed cows eye us inquisitive, their bulk protecting day-old calves. This is a real-deal Hampshire farm: all tractors, silage, grubbing bantams and lark song. We’re high-up here, blue-dome skies and a galaxy of daisies stretch telescopic. On a clear day, with a good pair of binos, you can see The Rosebowl, Hampshire’s Cricket Ground, in coastal Southampton.
Up we go, an easy scramble for my three-year-old Lily overjoyed by small calves, although guests can drive if they prefer. And there it is, sheltered by woodland, corralled by a fence, cows ruminating beyond; a gentle eyrie for soul-soothing, fire-pit roasting and long hot-tub soaks.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-8744" src="https://berkshire.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2017/05/Glamp-hants-7-720x480.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="667" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2017/05/Glamp-hants-7.jpg 720w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2017/05/Glamp-hants-7-300x200.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" />
The shepherd’s hut is spick in its cream, grey livery, and there’s a Norwegian, wood-fired, hot tub where guests soak, lulled by vast sunsets, smouldering cedar and a glass or two of fizz. Inside there’s a surprisingly roomy, luxy, Scandinavian vibe, all retro tungsten lights (powered by the quiet generator); linen sheets; deep pillows; crisp, white dressing gowns; and a heavenly foam mattress: guests wake to sunrise on the curved-earth horizon beyond the hut’s stable doors.
The standard and presentation is hotel-high, easily comparable with hostelries on the far-pricier end of the spectrum. Don’t expect faceless booking systems, though, Anna is on-hand via phone or email from the very beginning until departure. This is personal service. There’s a gally kitchen, where you’ll find breakfasts of homemade bread and farm eggs, a small fridge and a seating area perfect for hunkering down with boardgames and a glass of red and when the weather’s wild.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-8747 size-full" src="https://berkshire.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2017/05/Glamp-hant-4.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="678" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2017/05/Glamp-hant-4.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2017/05/Glamp-hant-4-300x203.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2017/05/Glamp-hant-4-768x521.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2017/05/Glamp-hant-4-720x488.jpg 720w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" />
Guests stay all year round. It’s cosy-toes in here with the beautifully made fire that looks like a wood-burner but is in fact electric so zero risk, zero hassle. In a woodland glade behind the hut, the magical bathroom has a hot shower, running water and a carpet of bluebells, snowdrops or lily-of-the-valley depending on the season. The magic continues by the front door, with a tiny fairy garden — made by previous guests or woodland elves, who knows? But my girls were entranced!
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Anna, a chef by trade, provides home-baked supplies plus home-made cordials and beef from the farm. Throw a steak on the fire-pit or one of two bbqs, crack open a Merlot and enjoy. Sorry did someone say safari? If you can drag yourself out of the hot-tub then pull on your walking boots and zig-zag Hampshire’s foot and bridal paths for miles, there’s a specially made OS map on the wall and another to take with you. Hurstbourne Tarrant is an easy leg-stretch and <a href="http://georgeanddragon.com/">The George and Dragon</a> is definitely worth the effort, another option is <a href="http://www.theoaksmannell.com/">The Oak</a> in Smannell.
Oh, and did I mention that there is no high or low season and no cynical school holiday price-hike? A policy that says it all about this special, secret corner of the Hampshire countryside.
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The Muddy Lowdown
Price: £150 per night weekends/ £125 per night week days. RATES THE SAME ALL YEAR ROUND.
Sleeps: Two in the hut’s double bed, but children/family/friends can pitch tents in the fenced space for £10 per pitch. Only groups that know each other though, this isn’t a public campsite.
Included:
<ul>
<li>A bottle of something special on arrival.</li>
<li>Log-burning hot tub.</li>
<li>Fire pit.</li>
<li>BBQ x2 — gas and charcoal.</li>
<li>Breakfast hamper, including homemade bread and freshly squeezed orange juice.</li>
<li>Tea/coffee/milk/sugar.</li>
<li>Bathrobes/towels/sheets/duvets/pillows</li>
<li>Cups, kettles, tea-towels. etc.</li>
</ul>
Optional extras:
<ul>
<li>Taxi from the train station. Anna can arrange this or will pick-up herself.</li>
<li>Homemade meals, hampers or soups.</li>
<li>Homemade cordials.</li>
<li>Quails eggs.</li>
<li>Frenches Farm beef.</li>
<li>Local sausages.</li>
<li>Meat boxes.</li>
<li>Farm tour.</li>
<li>Vegetarian/ vegan/ gluten-/ dairy-free.</li>
</ul>
Escape&amp;Retreat at Frenches Farm, Little London, Andover, Hants, SP11 6JG.
07887 484 088, anna.frenchesfarm@gmail.com, <a href="http://www.escapeandretreat.com/frenches-farm/">escapeandretreat.com</a>.
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Shepherd’s Delight, Hants

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