Forest trip’s a fine cure
Claire Spreadbury and her brood head to Cheshire to reconnect with nature
Forest rangers Gerry and Mike lead us into the trees and brief us on how to build a shelter. Rosie, 11, shuffles about looking for wood while Poppy, her 8-year-old sister, runs about the forest enthusiastically grabbing everything needed to make the A-frame.
We’re in Cheshire’s largest woodland, at Forest Holidays’ brand-new site in Delamare Forest, and we’re getting stuck in.
Immersing ourselves in nature has never felt better, as we build a bench and herb garden for our den.
We’re all pretty proud of it. And as a reward, we mooch over to another part of the forest, where the kids use Swedish fire steels to light the camp fire, and toast and gobble fluffy marshmallows until we feel sick. The 11th Forest Holidays site is deep in Delamere. Dark wooden lodges are dotted about and despite being new, the site looks reassuringly rustic.
We’re in a White Willow Premium cabin, which has lots of fancy extras, like two robes per person – one for the lodge, one for the hot tub, Hypnos mattresses, a Nespresso machine and Nutribullet, a wireless charger and inbuilt Bluetooth speaker, complimentary Prosecco, and an outdoor grill, fridge and pizza oven.
I keep finding myself swinging in the egg chair, staring out of the floor-toceiling windows. Waking up to the light of a new day streaming through the tall pines is a delight. And being surrounded by forest feels wonderful for the soul.
Smatterings of dappled sunlight make the tree trunks glow as we amble towards the reception to sign up for the Peter Rabbit trail (£7.95 per child). Rosie might have rolled her eyes (again) at the mention of Beatrix Potter’s most famous character, but the holiday spirit soon kicks in, as we meander round the one-mile track, looking for clues, spotting birds and learning about nature.
It’s easy to feast like kings here, whether you bring all your food and cook in the kitchen, order food or recipe boxes that make life easy (the pizza packs, £17 – which come with readymade dough and toppings to make and cook two pizzas in your outdoor oven – are utterly delicious), or stop off at the Forest Retreat and enjoy food and drink made by someone else and not served in your home – which still feels like a novelty.
Sink a refreshing bottle of Peroni or watch the sun dip down behind the trees over a G&T while the small folk explore the two-towered treehouse, beautiful bug hotel and handmade adventure playgrounds, which include a fallen sweet chestnut tree, lovingly carved into a bench by sculptor Andy Burgess.
For a proper treat, afternoon tea (£17.50 per person) is delivered and set up wherever you want it in your cabin. Forest-themed crockery comes with an array of Tea Pigs pyramid bags, and delectable sandwiches, scones, cakes and pies are piled high on wooden towers.
We can hardly move after gobbling less than half of it, but it sets us up for an afternoon of mountain biking. The undulating landscape makes for the perfect play area as the hire bikes’ giant tyres (£32 adult/£28 child, for the whole weekend, or bring your own) bump and hop across hills, streams and grass-strewn woodland.
Rosie squeals and gasps as she follows her dad down steep and scary paths.
Maybe it’s the fact I’ve been staring at the same four walls for 14 months, but I’m not sure Saturday nights with the family get much better than making pizza, cooking it outside, playing giant Jenga on the deck and splashing about in a hot tub watching the stars come out, all the while surrounded by trees in the middle of a forest.
HOW TO PLAN YOUR TRIP
White Willow Premium cabins at Forest Holidays in Delamere start from £830 for a two-bedroom lodge for four nights. Visit forestholidays.co.uk.