LINGS MEADOW Glamping Norfolk

Glamping Norfolk

Lings Meadow is a small eco camping site on the Norfolk and Suffolk border offering glamping in a magical stardome and a living van/shepherds hut combination. You can also book a Slow camping option if you are looking for wilder glamping. The Slow camping base camps have an empty 5.5m bell tent with coir matting floor, canvas tarp shelter, fire pit with hanging grill and outdoor cooking kit including kindling rocket stove, kelly kettle and cast iron pans.

The meadow is the perfect quiet spot for hiding away amongst the tall meadow grass and stargazing around the campfire. We are only able to accommodate up to twenty five guests at a time so the site is naturally quite quiet and has a relaxed, friendly and communal feel. As we are small the meadow is also perfect for groups of family or friends who would like to book the whole site for a get together. The glamping accommodation and tent pitches are set in amongst the natural 4 acre meadow. The meadow changes over the season, with short grass and flowers in April and May, lush long green grass and swooping house martins in June, clouds of butterflies in July and tall golden seed heads in August and September. Each year we change the layout of the pitches depending upon which areas of the meadow need to be cut and which are given a rest and left to grow.

THE STARDOME – sleeps up to 5

Somewhere between a yurt and a geodesic dome you will find the stardome. Curved wooden arches entwine to form a perfect hemisphere above your head and stars and pentagons are formed where the arches cross over each other.

Covered in canvas, with a 6m wooden floor beneath your feet and a window above you to the sky, the stardome will be your magical home on the meadow. And on the colder nights you can warm yourself by the wood burning stove. The stardome will sleep up to five, in a double, single bunk beds and two single futon beds. It has its own area cut into the meadow with outdoor seating, a fire pit and campfire tripod and grill. If you prefer you also have access to the communal camp kitchen.

We will provide

• 1 double bed and mattress (with duvet, two pillows and linen)
• 2 single futons and futon mattresses (with duvets, pillows and linen on request)
• 1 set single bunk beds (with duvets 1 pillow each and linen)
• extra blankets
• homemade furnishings
• storage for your belongings
• fairy light chandelier and a lantern
• selection of books
• fire pit with tripod, hanging hook and grill
• wooden fireside benches/table
• basket of logs (wood can also be bought on site)
• eco firelighters and matches
• cooking utensils/kettle/cast iron pots and pans
• one pot wood fired rocket stove (and kindling to start you off)
• cutlery and dishes
• cool box with freezer blocks
• water carrier
• storage box for food

THE SLOW CAMPING BELL TENTS (2 available) – sleep up to 6
The handmade, heavy duty 5.5m bell tents have their own areas in the meadow with a fire pit, tripod and grill and canvas cooking shelter. You also have access to the communal camp kitchen. The tent can accommodate up to four adults or two adults and three children.

We will provide …..

• Empty 5.5m bell tent with ground sheet and coir matting floor
• Picnic bench
• Fire pit with tripod and grill
• Cast iron frying pan and dutch oven
• One pot wood fired rocket stove (and kindling to start you off)
• Kelly kettle for boiling water
• Flint and steel for fire starting (we also provide matches and fire lighters!)

You will need to bring …..

• Beds (unless you have pre-booked futon mattresses)
• Towels and bedlinen
• Cooking kit
• Cool box
• A torch
• Extra layers and blankets
• A good book or two
• Binoculars
• Your own gas stove and canisters if you would feel more comfortable using one that you are used to from home

SHEPHERDS HUT & LIVING VAN– sleeps 4
If the romantic in you is looking for outdoor living combined with old world charm then we could have just the thing. We fell in love with our Norfolk shepherd’s hut and handmade living van at first sight. They have both been lovingly restored using reclaimed materials and have found a home at the top of the meadow.
Windhover living van has two double bunks and Ranny shepherd’s hut has a pull out double bed. They both have side tables and seating. They can be used as two bedrooms for up to four people, or as a bedroom and separate living space. Both have windows on either side and a stable style door for your view out across the meadow. They also have their own wood burning stoves for warmth (although they are pretty cosy anyway) which can also boil your kettle.

Ranny & Windhover come fully furnished with all the kit that you might need for your stay. We include duvets, pillows and linen for the beds. Please bring towels. The hut and living van have been converted to solar power. We also provide a lantern and fairy lights. The solar panel next to the hut also provides power for two USB points.

We will provide;

• 3 double beds with duvets, 2 pillows and linen
• Extra blankets
• Fold down side tables
• Storage cabinets
• Fairy lights and a lantern
• Fire pit with hot plate
• Wooden picnic table
• Basket of logs and kindling (wood can also be bought on site)
• Eco firelighters and matches
• Cooking utensils/kettle/pots and pans/teapot
• Chopping board
• One pot wood fired rocket stove for cooking (and kindling start you off)
• Cutlery and dishes
• Cool box with freezer blocks
• Water carrier
• Washing up bowl
• Selection of books and playing cards

Outside Ranny & Windhover have their own sheltered seating area and a fire pit with hanging grill to star gaze around at night whilst cooking your tea. As far as we can we have tried to be true to their past, and the ethos of Ling’s Meadow, and want to capture that feeling of simple living outdoors.

TENT PITCHES ALSO AVAILABLE

OUR FACILITIES
All of the communal facilities, compost loos, shower and bike shed, are designed to have as little environmental impact as possible and are together at one end of the site. Cut paths wander their way from here to the bell tents, huts and pitches. We believe that the meadow really belongs to the local wildlife, so we always leave a large section undisturbed for the roe deer, barn owls, tawny owls and hares. For the same reason we keep the meadow vehicle free (we provide trolleys for moving kit around). The farm is not connected to the mains and we have had to be creative when providing our toilets and shower. The farm philosophy has always been to tread lightly on the land and we want to continue to do what we can to protect the environment.

CAMPFIRES
Camping is just not camping without the opportunity to sit by an open fire, toast marshmallows and watch the sunset over the meadow. Our large brick-edged communal campfire is lit with lanterns, has log seating and looks out across the fields around the campsite. It has its own tripod and grill for campfire cooking. We also provide smaller fire pits with grills on each pitch. Seasoned logs can be bought on site (￡5.00 a trug) or at the local farm shop. We provide eco firelighters and matches and we also have a fire lighting kit so that you can have a go at starting your fire with a flint and steel! Marshmallows are available to buy in our camp kitchen!

CAMP KITCHEN
Our camp kitchen has worktops and shared camping equipment for cooking and dining. It also has storage boxes for food and a cool box. We provide a single pot wood fired rocket stove for cooking. At night the kitchen is lit with solar powered lights. We provide facilities for recycling glass, paper and kitchen food waste. We also have a mini freezer for freezing your cool blocks in the bike shed. Tables and seating can be found in a large canvas communal tent with views across the meadow.

INFORMATION CENTRE
To let you know about recent wildlife sightings, activity on the farm, local walks, cycle rides and upcoming events we have an information area here too. For budding naturalists we also have an explorer kit with identification charts and magnified bug boxes.

WASHING UP
A covered washing up area can be found in the kitchen. There are two large butlers sinks with draining boards and eco friendly washing up liquid and tea towels. All of the water on site is drinking water but we also provide a stand pipe here to make it easier to fill up water containers.

COMPOSTING TOILETS
Composting toilets are a great solution where conventional toilets are not an option and they provide a fantastic way of saving water. We want to do our best to help fuel the idea that composting toilets can be both practical and beautiful, so we have made ours spacious, light and airy with their own sink units, mirrors and potted plants.

SHOWER
Our third wooden hut contains a large shower with space to get changed and hang up your clothes and towels. The water for the shower is heated using a combination of solar panels and our rocket stove. The water heats up in the afternoon, ready for showers in the evening or the next morning. When we are busy we don’t have enough hot water for everyone to have a hot shower every day so we ask that campers are considerate of others when using the facilities. We often overhear our campers comparing tips on how to save water and as well as making us smile, we know that it helps to boost the communal feel of the site.

BIKE SHELTER
We want to encourage our campers to use sustainable transport where possible, so we provide a bike shelter on site that can take up to six bicycles. We have a small selection of bikes that can be used free of charge during your stay. We make sure that the tires are pumped up and they are ready to go, but all of the bikes are second hand and have seen many adventures before so we ask that you check them to make sure that you are happy before you set off.

OUT AND ABOUT
We are only 12 miles from the historic town of Bury St Edmunds, 33 miles from Norwich and 40 miles from Cambridge. There are lots of things to see and do in our area but here are just some

• Knettishall Heath
• High Lodge at Thetford Forest including Go Ape Tree Top Adventure or a Segway ride
• Suffolk coast including Southwold
• North Norfolk Coast including Cromer and Holkham
• Pretty villages of Lavenham and Long Melford
• Royal estate of Sandringham
• Ickworth House
• Blickling Hall
• Grimes Graves flint mine near Thetford
• Sutton Hoo
• Framlingham Castle
• Bury St Edmunds, it’s Cathedral and Regency Playhouse
• Cambridge
• Historic city of Norwich with castle and cathedral
• St George’s Whisky Distillery which offers tours
• Wyken Vineyards and Farmers Market
• For the children Jimmy’s Farm, Banham Zoo, Thrigby Hall, Oasis Camel Centre and BeWILDerwood

PRICES From
STARDOME
starting at ￡245 for two nights – with reductions for longer stays (up to 4 people)

SLOW CAMPING BELL TENTS
starting at ￡70 for one night – with reductions for longer stays

SHEPHERDS HUT (Ranny) & LIVING VAN (Windhover)
starting from ￡245 for two nights – with reductions for longer stays per week

EXTRAS From
Wood ￡7, kindling bundle ￡1, Locally made Charcoal (Full 5kg bag) ￡10, Locally made Charcoal (Half Bag) ￡6
10% sustainable travel discount if you arrive by public transport
Open end May to middle September
Sorry no pets