All about Westley Farm

Cows in the afternoon sun

Westley Farm is an inspiring place. A hive of activity, from farming to making yurts to running many courses. Julian and Hege own the farm and run the courses, whilst Blue and Graham take good care of the yurts and their guests. All four follow a green and sustainable approach to all that they do. Julian uses no artificial fertilisers or pesticides on the farm and limits the use of weed control to spot treatment when unavoidable. The varied habitats of traditional hay meadows, ancient woodland, regenerating coppice and species-rich limestone grassland on the farm have ensured Westley's acceptance onto the Higher Level Stewardship Scheme. With the help of a few local friends, Hege, an archaeologist, runs some fascinating courses including bushcraft and foraging. Other courses can be arranged too, from pottery to painting, so just ask and see what's available.

Blue and Graham started making yurts about 5 years ago. They love their craft and it's there to be seen in Sapperton Yurt. The little details make a massive difference and they've both got that canny knack of knowing how to make things creatively and cleverly.

Compost loo with a view

Environmental policy

Westley Farm is committed to sustainable tourism and you'll see many examples of this during your stay. In the farmhouse they've installed solar water heating for keeping up with all the summer linen washing. As part of their efforts to reduce the impact of the business on the environment, they also offer full recycling facilities to their guests and are investigating the possibilities of providing their own electricity from a wind turbine.

Here are just a few of the many things they're doing to reduce their carbon footprint and make your stay as green as possible...

Sapperton Yurt has its own recycling and composting bin.

Ask Blue before your stay about their free pick-ups to and from the local train station. There are details of local walks and maps you can borrow. A local cycle hire company can deliver bikes to the farm for you to use during your stay.

Cleaning is environmentally friendly too, using products such as Ecover.

Much of the farm is under Higher Level Stewardship Scheme which means they encourage wildlife and protect and enhance habitats for rare and endangered species.

Wildlife

Westley is teeming with wildlife and part of the charm of staying at Sapperton is simply walking around the fields and forest.

Julian and Hege are doing their best to encourage the Marsh Fritillary butterfly to breed here with the help of Natural England. Though not overly impressive to look at, its success here is important as it only breeds on one other site in Gloucestershire, which happens to be nearby. As part of their Higher Level Stewardship, they commissioned a professional survey of their flora and fauna and discovered, among other things, that they have dormice in the woods. Rabbits are everywhere and the scrub is a refuge for many small mammals, beetles and plenty of nectar for bees and butterflies. You are bound to see deer, buzzards, hawks and bats, and hear the hoot of owls and the bark of foxes. In summer, orchids thrive in the wildflower meadow.

B&B

There are five self-catering cottages and three other yurts at Westley Farm, so you can come as a group or with friends.

All of the yurts have their own private clearings and are on the other side of the farm to Sapperton Yurt. They do all share use of the Old Barn back at the farm. This is a fully equipped kitchen, with washing machine, tumble dryer, drying rack, flush loo and showers. It also has maps and local information leaflets as well as books and games to borrow. There's an outdoor washing line in the vegetable garden. Sapperton has its own bathroom facilities within its clearing so you don't actually need to leave your little woodland area.

Getting there

Westley Farm, Chalford, Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL6 8HP

By car

Coming to Westley Farm is very easy as they're just off the A419, halfway between Cirencester and Stroud. From the A417, follow signs to Cirencester (industrial area). Go round Cirencester ring road to A419 Stroud. Six miles out of Cirencester look for a lay-by on the right, opposite Aston Down gliding airfield. The next turning on the right is marked 'Westley Farm Holiday Cottages'.

By train and bus

Leave the car at home and arrange to be collected from Stroud or Kemble, the nearest train stations. There are National Express services to Cirencester and Stroud bus stops.

By glider

With a good wind, it would technically be possible to arrive by glider, landing at Aston Down, Cotswold Gliding Club. It would then be a half-mile walk to Sapperton Yurt. No one has arrived this way before, but a free organic hamper and a pat on the back to the first that does.

If you are getting to the Cabin by train, bus or any other non-car means you can think of be sure to take a photo and enter our Go Greenly competition to win a 4 night stay at The Wagon or The Ark.

Things to do

Sapperton Yurt from above

Things to do on the farm

The pictures pretty much say it all...walk in the woods, or lie in a meadow watching the clouds. Take a picnic with you if you like - or include one of the local pubs on your route. You could even take part in one of Westley Farm's many courses. Sitting on the deck of your yurt, immersed in glorious greenery, or snuggled by the fire in the evening, you may wonder why anyone bothers to go anywhere else...

Outdoor & active

Noah's Ark will deliver and pick up hired bikes to the farm, allowing you to explore the Cotswold lanes.

The more adventurous may take a flight in a glider - the club at Aston Down is half a mile away.

Places to visit

Stroud’s Museum in the Park has some interesting prehistoric and post-Middle Ages stuff and a good local geology room.

Cirencester’s Corinium Museum (mainly Roman of course) is worth a trip.

Northleach’s Museum of Mechanical Music is small, odd and charming in equal measures.

Gifford's Circus is an amazing touring circus. Small and charming in the way a circus should be. It stops at Minchinhampton (almost) every year. So if the circus is in town, make sure you go.

Uley Bury (an Iron Age hillfort) is just a short drive away near Hetty Pegler’s Tump (a Neolithic long barrow) and at the bottom of the hill, there’s a brewery (oh joy!) run by a local character. His beer is also sold in the village pub.

While you’re in Uley, why not go to the beautiful Owlpen Manor - Vita Sackville-West’s favourite place – for tea and cake after mooching round the house. The village of Uley lies in a sort of bowl surrounded by oddly shaped hills and ridges.

Rabbit in the Golden Valley

Woodchester Mansion is an unfinished Victorian high gothic house in a wooded valley with lakes. As all good gothic mansions should, it has a resident population of horseshoe bats. There are guided tours, or you can explore by yourself. Afterwards, go to Giuseppe’s Italian restaurant at the Nympsfield Gliding Club. Giuseppe serves genuine Italian food with great character in the gliding club’s no-frills canteen. He also sells olive oil, fresh parmesan and other Italian treats.

Dunt Valley between Westley Farm and Cirencester is a great place to walk. It's a very different shape to Golden Valley, home of Sapperton Yurt, and has five late Saxon/early Norman churches all within 5 miles of each other. Then pop back to the Golden Valley village of Miserden for lunch at the pub. After lunch visit the Miserden Estate nursery which has very good prices for high quality plants. The house and gardens are occasionally open to the public.

Minchinhampton Common is an area of land managed by the National Trust but grazed by all with commoners’ rights. Not only does it have great views of the valleys either side, and valuable flora and butterflies, and three pubs all with excellent food, it also has an ice cream factory! Absolutely delicious, but watch out for curious cows - because it’s a common, cows roam around freely; on the grass, on the road, right next to you as you lick your ice cream.

Courses & classes

Spring foraging weekend - On this course, you'll identify and gather some seasonal, edible and tasty examples of the local flora and look at different ways to prepare and cook them. By the end of the weekend you will have enough knowledge to sample and harvest a variety of plants on your own days out in the countryside.

Coming soon...

Owl Prowls with TV's Chris Sperring - Chris Sperring MBE is Conservation Officer for the Hawk and Owl Trust, as well as an experienced Naturalist and Broadcaster. Take an evening walk through the farm with Chris as he identifies the local owls and describes their habits and habitats. Small groups only so book early!

Awakening the spark – Basic bushcraft course focusing on fire by friction, making bowls using fire, spoon carving, shelter building and tracking with Chris Holland. This course opens the doorway to the world of bushcraft, introducing the basic skills necessary to feel at home in the great outdoors. The final course content is subject to the interests of the group but is likely to include most of the following: fire-making and management including fire-by-friction, improvised shelters, wild edible and medicinal plants and simple campfire cookery.

Ask Hege for details of courses available during your stay.

Also local experts on butterflies, bee keeping, moths and more are all available to give guided walks and talks.

Festivals, celebrations and special days

Westley Farm Open Weekend falls in early May. Last year's event included falconry and ferreting displays, heavy horses working in the woods, local cider producers with ample opportunities to sample some tasty ciders, local artists exhibiting their work and a solar powered gig ‘Wandering Ska’. Next year's weekend will surely be even better, hopefully with the return of the festival food tent, and many other surprises.

Apple Pressing Day will be in late October. The communal hydraulic press draws in neighbours and friends for a day of washing, mashing and pressing. Inevitably some (much) cider is tasted and then a song or two follows…

Eating & drinking

Eating & drinking at Westley Farm

Chester and Teddy

There's an abundance of local produce to be eaten while staying at Westley Farm. Stroud Farmers’ Market is a 'foodie' paradise and even the local village shop does a fine line in local and seasonal delicacies and produce. You don't even need to walk there, as the two Chalford donkeys Chester and Teddy will deliver groceries up the steep narrow lanes from the village shop every Saturday morning - and to your yurt if you order it! Don't forget the foraging opportunities too...probably best tried after the foraging course.

In Minchinhampton, there's an excellent local organic dairy which has a shop selling their own eggs, milk and cheese. Really good bread is also sold there from the best baker in Stroud. Minchinhampton also has a high quality butcher selling locally reared meats, and a vegetable shop.

Prince Charles lives nearby in Tetbury and has opened two shops there: one’s an organic vegetable shop.

You'll find details within the yurt of local places to eat and local food producers. You can even arrange for groceries to be delivered to the farm on the day of your arrival and a couple of local suppliers and restaurants will deliver too.

Pubs & restaurants

Ragged Cot, Minchinhampton (2 miles). A 17th Century former coaching inn that makes best use of local suppliers, expertly cooked.

Bell Inn, Sapperton (4 miles). Award winning gastro-pub with an innovative and seasonal menu.

Crown, Frampton Mansell (5 miles). Hege and Julian's absolute favourite. A 17th Century cider house with home cooked food and a roaring log fire.

All about Westley Farm

Cows in the afternoon sun

Westley Farm is an inspiring place. A hive of activity, from farming to making yurts to running many courses. Julian and Hege own the farm and run the courses, whilst Blue and Graham take good care of the yurts and their guests. All four follow a green and sustainable approach to all that they do. Julian uses no artificial fertilisers or pesticides on the farm and limits the use of weed control to spot treatment when unavoidable. The varied habitats of traditional hay meadows, ancient woodland, regenerating coppice and species-rich limestone grassland on the farm have ensured Westley's acceptance onto the Higher Level Stewardship Scheme. With the help of a few local friends, Hege, an archaeologist, runs some fascinating courses including bushcraft and foraging. Other courses can be arranged too, from pottery to painting, so just ask and see what's available.

Blue and Graham started making yurts about 5 years ago. They love their craft and it's there to be seen in Sapperton Yurt. The little details make a massive difference and they've both got that canny knack of knowing how to make things creatively and cleverly.

Compost loo with a view

Environmental policy

Westley Farm is committed to sustainable tourism and you'll see many examples of this during your stay. In the farmhouse they've installed solar water heating for keeping up with all the summer linen washing. As part of their efforts to reduce the impact of the business on the environment, they also offer full recycling facilities to their guests and are investigating the possibilities of providing their own electricity from a wind turbine.

Here are just a few of the many things they're doing to reduce their carbon footprint and make your stay as green as possible...

Sapperton Yurt has its own recycling and composting bin.

Ask Blue before your stay about their free pick-ups to and from the local train station. There are details of local walks and maps you can borrow. A local cycle hire company can deliver bikes to the farm for you to use during your stay.

Cleaning is environmentally friendly too, using products such as Ecover.

Much of the farm is under Higher Level Stewardship Scheme which means they encourage wildlife and protect and enhance habitats for rare and endangered species.

Wildlife

Westley is teeming with wildlife and part of the charm of staying at Sapperton is simply walking around the fields and forest.

Julian and Hege are doing their best to encourage the Marsh Fritillary butterfly to breed here with the help of Natural England. Though not overly impressive to look at, its success here is important as it only breeds on one other site in Gloucestershire, which happens to be nearby. As part of their Higher Level Stewardship, they commissioned a professional survey of their flora and fauna and discovered, among other things, that they have dormice in the woods. Rabbits are everywhere and the scrub is a refuge for many small mammals, beetles and plenty of nectar for bees and butterflies. You are bound to see deer, buzzards, hawks and bats, and hear the hoot of owls and the bark of foxes. In summer, orchids thrive in the wildflower meadow.

B&B

There are five self-catering cottages and three other yurts at Westley Farm, so you can come as a group or with friends.

All of the yurts have their own private clearings and are on the other side of the farm to Sapperton Yurt. They do all share use of the Old Barn back at the farm. This is a fully equipped kitchen, with washing machine, tumble dryer, drying rack, flush loo and showers. It also has maps and local information leaflets as well as books and games to borrow. There's an outdoor washing line in the vegetable garden. Sapperton has its own bathroom facilities within its clearing so you don't actually need to leave your little woodland area.