Why Glamping
Why glamping?
living in a ‘thin’ place’.
I’ve always enjoyed camping but most of my childhood holidays were spent in a very old run-down cottage in South Devon. This ancient structure had no electricity or heating so it felt a bit like camping! We would rise with the sun and sit by hissing kerosene lamps in the evenings, playing card games with the winner being the person with the most used matchsticks! It was an adventure going to the outside toilet, with a dim torch as your only protection against the wildlife that lived there. You always hoped the ancient old spider would stay in his lair during your visit into his home!
My dad, Bernard Maddock, would transform from a mild-mannered Government architect into an Indiana Jones style hunter… he’d disappear off into the dusk with his shotgun and we’d enjoy eating rabbit pie the next evening! The competition this time was counting who got the most lead shot out of their rabbit meat, arranged neatly in a little row around the edge of your plate! I think we were told that lead was poisonous… So, life in Old Sorley Cottage near Kingsbridge was rather like camping. I spent every summer holiday, from being in utero up to the age of twelve, exploring the local area, the coast or the wilds of Dartmoor. Since those beautiful, innocent and glorious days I’ve always had an inner excitement when heading off to the south-west of England.
History has held a fascination for me for a long time. I read a huge, fat book about English History in my late teens (after having studied history at school) and loved every moment of it. In later life, I’ve found myself studying key episodes in the history of the British Isles, often seeing principles that seem to be relevant to life in the UK now. Somerset is a very old English county and, more recently, I’ve visited there… walking, camping and learning to love its ‘special place’ feeling, especially in and around Glastonbury. That fabled town is indeed a special place for reasons I will cover in the future.
With this cocktail of distant and recent experiences swirling around my subconscious and mixing with a coagulation of imagination and prayer, a vision of a high-quality camp, or ‘glamping’, site came to me. ‘Glamping’ is luxury camping, where you don’t have the hassle of doing annoying things like putting up a tent or inflating a bed. Everything is provided for you so that the experience becomes almost like being in a hotel room but under canvas. Your literally get the best of both worlds! Hotel comforts with the sounds and smells of nature very near to you.
The concept of living in a ‘thin’ place comes from Celtic Christianity. The Celts invaded the British Isles from about 600 BC onwards and either defeated or co-existed with the earlier inhabitants across the islands that now make up the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) and Northern Ireland. The beliefs of the Celts seemed to have prepared them well to respond positively to the preaching of the Christians who arrived in Britain during the first century of the Christian era. Many happily converted to this new faith, based on a crucified god-man who came alive from death and blazed a path for us to follow to heaven.
Celtic Christians flourished for over 600 years across the British Isles and they were renowned for seeing Christ in nature, high quality study and craftmanship and, in places, developing centres for prayer. These places were known to be where the heavenly ‘realms’ seemed to come very close to the earth… hence the thinness of a thin place, where the veil dividing earth and heaven becomes almost transparent. Angels were often seen and heard in such places. The dividing barrier between earth and heaven being ‘thin’ meant the supernatural world could break through into people’s everyday experience quite easily. When you are trying to fall asleep in a tent there is only a small layer of canvas (or oil-based polymer!) between you and the outside world. You are lying in a thin place. It helps if you’re lying on a comfortable bed with a warm duvet and, if needed, a hot water bottle by your feet! If you’re distracted by a thin sleeping mat and sloping ground, you’ll be less likely to appreciate rarely heard noises. If you can relax and just listen, the owls sound louder. Other wildlife is heard, often unidentified! The wind wafts your dwelling, with guy ropes swaying and stretching… almost as if you were on an old sailing ship! You can sense the outside world in a new way as you sail into it, while drifting off to sleep. You can smell it. This is a good picture of what it is like being in a thin place spiritually. The Glastonbury area of Somerset is known for being such a thin place. I’m excited about the chance to set up a glamping site near Glastonbury! For me personally, it would blend my love of camping and nature with my fondness for the south-west of England, due to distant childhood memories and life changing spiritual experiences in this region.
My vision is to find a friendly land owner who is willing to rent out or sell a field or two (with me having got the necessary planning permissions) and set up a dozen high quality glamping tents (with modern day Celtic style roundhouses to follow), with necessary facilities alongside, and invite anyone who wants to enjoy the ‘thinness’ of this part of Somerset to come and stay… and pay for the pleasure! It may be busy, secular city-folk who want a short break or a week away exploring a beautiful part of England rather than flying off overseas. It may be spiritually-minded seekers of the divine. People of any faith or none would be welcome. The goal will be to develop a…
Heavenly Canopy
Glamping in a Beautiful Mystical Setting
If you would like to be a part of the team that develops this vision and makes it a reality, please contact me: HERE