The story of how we got started with yurts, cafes and glamping sites

THE WENSLEYDALE EXPERIENCE

A small, independent, family-run business

The Wensleydale Experience offers an immersive, integrated experience of Wensleydale life. Based in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales, we provide guests with a unique place to stay in our luxury yurts or 18th-century temple folly, both with fantastic views. We run farm tours and experiences from our yurt site (also a working farm), and educate visitors in an authentic way about local agriculture. We work with several on-site partners to offer further services: Fairhurst's at Berry's farm shop and café provides homemade local food and gifts; and The Healing Collective provide in-yurt complementary therapies for a truly relaxing stay. Find out more about our story below!

Setting up the yurts

People always told us how lucky we are to live in Wensleydale - with spectacular scenery and rolling hills.

We were looking into ways people could stay on site and get immersed into the magic of Wensleydale. So when a friend suggested Yurts, it seemed a no brainer! With lots of hard work, we launched our first two yurts in April 2018, with the first year being 95% occupied! In 2019, we had five yurts, and now in 2021, we have a sixth planned! All our yurts are named after trees that live in the forest where the yurts are situated: Larch, Oak, Elder, Hazel, Rowan and Beech. We've been so fortunate to get some great feedback from our amazing guests on TripAdvisor and Google Reviews.

BRINGING ON BOARD THE TEMPLE FOLLY

A unique, romantic couples stay

We started managing stays in our gorgeous 18th-century converted temple folly in 2019. This provided a fantastic, romatic, secluded and private spot for couples to spend a weekend, a week or a month! We saw huge demand for our wood-fired hot tubs in our yurts, and so decided to furnish the folly with a brand new couples wood-fired LuvTub and we haven't looked back since.

Starting Farm Tours and Experiences

Educating visitors in an authenthic way about where their food comes from, and having fun along the way

We set up our short farm tours and half-day farm experiences in 2019 to give our visitors a chance to experience sustainable farming life here in Wensleydale. It is surprising how many children who come on the farm tours have never touched or fed a sheep, lamb, pig, goat, pony, calf, cow or rabbit. Our farm experiences now form part of the English National Parks Experience collection.

SUPPORTING OTHER LOCAL BUSINESSES

From local produce to Indian head massages, our yurt and folly guests can experience it all on-site!

When we first established The Wensleydale Experience brand, we were absolutely certain of our core goal: to provide our visitors with an integrated, immersive experience of Wensleydale life. With this in mind, we have worked hard to bring together several different on-site elements. Through our own business, we provide luxury accommodation, and farm tours and experiences. We also work with several on-site partners to provide additional fantastic experiences! Fairhurst's at Berry's is our on-site café and farm shop, supplying delicious local produce and meals. The Healing Collective is our on-site complementary therapy service, offering Indian head massages, reiki, reflexology and more. We have a range of local walks that start from our yurt site - including the popular Meadow Walk! - and have recently started offering farm retreats in collaboration with Emma's Dale.

MEET THE TEAM

We have a small but usually frighteningly efficient team on board at The Wensleydale Experience. Our site manager, Tim, runs the yurts, folly, farm tours and more. Tim lives on site and provides great support for our guests - nothing is too much trouble. Olly is our general manager and owner; Sally is in charge of the books; Bridget is our expert consultant; Steph is in charge of social media and marketing; and Claire heads up our housekeeping team.