Where?
Nestled on the Isle of Sheppey, on the coast in North Kent near unfashionable Sittingbourne, where it’s all industrial parks and industrial plants, is this haven of wilderness. Elmley Nature Reserve is a twitcher’s paradise, 3,300 acres of wild marshland which allows its abundant bird population to thrive – wildfowl and waders and birds of prey - as well as hares, rabbits, frogs and all the less cute creatures below the soil and waterline.
While getting on and off the island is a nightmare of traffic systems seemingly designed to drive people insane, the intention of staying on the Nature Reserve is to escape from all the concrete stuff. Seclusion and peace is the aim here, a place to ditch the devices and absorb the green stuff.
Style
This is a glamping site on a farm. So this is all bell tents, shared rustic outdoor kitchens, amid the acres of marshland. Festival vibes for bird lovers and those in need of a reset.
Which room?
Look, my family – my partner and two children – are not big campers. We do not camp. Canvas makes us weep.
We stayed in a woodland bell tent the first night, which had electricity and comfortable beds. Still, it was something of a struggle for us, with a night spent mostly searching for real or imagined creepy crawlies.
We were much more at home for the second night, which spent in one of the new huts on the site. These look small on the outside but are surprisingly roomy on the inside. We were in a spanking new hut called The Isle, which was designed by the owners of Elmley and custom-built. It was beautifully put together, with a woodburner, and a lovely (and most welcome) indoor shower (as well as an outdoor bath, for more exhibitionist types).
There was one kingsize bed and a day bed for the kiddies, which was fine for my 9 and 12 year old, and never felt cramped. The hut was super-quiet with huge glass doors offering great views across the reserve. Here, we finally had the true peace and tranquillity we were after, a memorable time spent gazing across the moody marshland at the birds, with no TV, no WiFi, just games and chat and the kind of togetherness we always forget to do. Recommended.
Food & drink
Self-catering is the thing here, with small kitchens in the huts and fire pits available with every tent.
We took advantage of the breakfast which can be delivered to your accommodation, a nice luxe touch. We had pleasing bacon sandwich in a tin box, croissants, plus juice. £12.50 per person was steep but worth it. Teas and coffees were free in the outside kitchen.
In the evening, a pretty courtyard is open for people to enjoy Wood Fired pizzas from the outdoor oven. It’s £27 per person for pizza, salad and dessert, or a £70 deal for a family of four, pizza, salad, dessert each. The available local drinks were very limited – we had a bottle of red as that was the only wine left, and it wasn’t great for the money – but it’s a nice relaxed setting, with sofas to relax on in Linhay Barn, an plenty of outdoor space where the children can run around with each other.
Facilities
Of course, everything is about observing nature, and there are daily tours of the reserve by guides. It seemed most people were opting for the walking tours, though there are 4x4 tours for certain parts of the reserves and private tours available. There’s specialist Butterfly and Dragonfly experiences, and Owl and Bird of Prey experiences, for fans. The barn owls are the big win as far as we were concerned, but there’s also Peregrine Falcons and Buzzards in the skies over the site. Binoculars are available to hire.
A wellness centre is also on site for healing and rebalancing massages, adding to the sense of rejuvenation here.
There’s also some board games and badminton sets on site to keep kiddies entertained.
Extracurricular
The Ferry House pub is probably the best around Sheppey, which is very much a luxury gastro pub with an award-winning small plates menu. Beautiful views across the Swale too, a real find.
For more standard pub grub fare, there’s The Three Mariner’s or try The Admiral’s Arm Micropub for a great selection of beers and ciders.
Day trip wise, there’s Whitstable down the coast, about an hour away if you’re lucky. Sittingbourne was also pretty cute, a nice little jaunt off the island.
Best for…
Twitchers and campers, and stressed out city folk in need of some phone-free time.
The details
The huts start at £257 per night, the tents start at £120 per night. elmleynaturereserve.co.uk
