Attempting to channel my inner gymnast while swinging high from an oak tree overlooking Slane Castle turns out to be a bit stupid.
All around me in a tree as old as the castle itself, lithe people are tumbling dramatically under a blanket of green leaves. They seem happy out in the harnesses they have been carefully strapped into by the good folk who look after the tree-climbing adventures at the Rock Farm glampsite, so I decide to give it a whirl.
Seconds later I am dangling upside-down in the tree, stuck in a most undignified position as the harness tightens its vice-like grip on my inner thighs. The screams of a boy soprano from Vienna would have nothing on what passes from my lips in the seconds that follow.
Once I am disentangled from the knot I have tied myself in by a lovely Spanish man called Luca – and once the tears of pain and shame have dried up – I am able to resume my tree-climbing experience and the world is suddenly a better place.
The tree-climbing on offer here is as unique as it is brilliant. A series of ropes dangle from the treetop, and, using knots and loops, even the weakest and most inexperienced of climbers – people like me – can scale hitherto unimagined heights after a few minutes of fairly simple instructions. It is completely safe – despite my mishap – and looking out over the Boyne Valley from the top of an old oak tree is incredible.
The idea is wonderfully simple but, despite its simplicity, Rock Farm is the only place to offer organised tree-climbing in this part of the world. It is just one of the mini adventures offered by the Mount Charles family, who lovingly converted a portion of their almost entirely organic farm into a high-end ecofriendly glamping site in 2013.
Like the view from the treetop, the glamping experience at Rock Farm is awesome. It has become a labour of love for Carina Mount Charles and her husband, Alex. By any measure their attention to detail is remarkable, with environmentally sound twists at every turn.
Slane Castle estate has been in the family for more than 300 years. The couple took over 150 acres in 2010 and almost immediately set about converting it into an organic farm. “We knew that would cost a lot of money, so we figured we would have to diversify and do some form of eco-tourism,” she says, as she helps me out of my tree.
“We decided on glamping. This has always been our favourite field to walk on,” she adds, looking back at the small but perfectly formed site. A notion they had at the beginning was to create “some kind of mini festival” that would have run in concert with the big gigs taking place in the castle grounds, “but we knew we couldn’t do it because the field overlooks the backstage area of the castle”.
Apparently rock stars and their entourages would not take kindly to being overlooked by a bunch of hipsters in yurts. And in this place, everybody yurts. There are shepherd huts in one of the fields, but the real stars of the Rock Farm show are the yurts.
Yurts – as you may or may not know – are elaborate tents that have been beloved of musical festival glampers for the guts of a decade, and staying in one provides the quintessential glamping experience.
They have come a long way since they were the home of choice for the Mongol hordes who roamed the Steppes of central Asia more than 2,000 years ago. The yurts of yore most likely did not come fitted with ridiculously comfortable double beds and a large single one, a dressing table, handmade soaps and shower gels, a Stanley stove, towels and ecofriendly fire lighters. There is also a basket of various types of logs, allowing campers to choose the sweet woody fragrance that will fill their yurt.
It also seems highly unlikely that the “walls” of the Mongol yurts would have been festooned with twinkling fairy lights. You get all this and more at Rock Farm. The thick canvas covering the sturdy wooden structure is pleasingly dark, so it blocks out much of the early-morning light, which facilitates the deepest of sleeps. It is very fancy.
Before climbing trees and sleeping, we have to get to the site. To do that we skirt a sleepy Slane and follow a long and winding road past dozens of Tamworth pigs lolling about in the sun and into the heart of the farm, where, spread out over three fields , the glampers play.
The beating heart of the site itself is Le Shack, a communal living area where a well-stocked kitchen and all the necessary accoutrements as well as gas-heated showers can be found.
And in keeping with the site’s ecotourism vibe, there is also is a compost toilet that uses an odd combination of sawdust and water to keep things flowing in a manner that is not malodorous. It might sound daunting to the dainty, but is far from traumatic.
The wood fire-heated communal hot tub is great. At least, it looks great. I am denied a chance to have a go because I have forgotten to pack swimming shorts. When I go for a gander, a hen party is already firmly ensconced in the water stewing themselves, and I reckon it would be wildly inappropriate for me to join them without the necessary attire.
Instead I head back to Le Shack to make a pizza, using a special pack supplied by the farm. We are given the bases, the cheese , the pasatta and a few toppings. They are good, but the best thing is not the actual pizza but the manner it which is cooked. The owners have built a clay oven – with their own bare hands – and all we have to do is fire up the wood and cook the pizza. Actually, we don’t even have to do that, as one of the very obliging staff lights the fire for us.
The site is situated on the banks of the river Boyne and is as well-served as you might expect. There are rambling woodland walks along lovely river banks. There is kayaking, yoga and all sorts of other things to keep you occupied.
The Rock Farmers rent electric bikes to tourists and arrange two-wheeled tours to nearby Newgrange, the Battle of the Boyne site and – naturally – Slane Castle. There is an element of cheating to the cycle tours, given the power-assisted nature of the bikes, but there can be few nicer ways to spend a summer day than an effortless cycle through our history – culminating in a hot-tub soak.
Unsurprisingly, given its well-thought-out design and unique charm, Rock Farm is popular. Getting yourself a yurt during the summer might be a challenge. Mind you, with the stove, the duvet and a wicker hamper full of blankets, the yurt would be a grand place to stay even on a cold autumn night.
“A lot of the business has been driven by word of mouth,” Mount Charles tells me. “People came and then they told friends. When we started there were two or three glamping options in the country. Now there are dozens. I’d love to say I was a hipster and there at the start, but I think I’m too old.
“I know that we are part of a trend, but I have not come to this for faddish reasons. We would hope people can raise their eco-awareness on a visit here. We are certified by Ecotourism Ireland, and that makes us keep thinking about how we can do things better, how we can do things in a more ecofriendly way.”
- Series concluded
