How Tor and Christian Carver created William’s Den, East Yorkshire’s ‘hidden gem’

Visitors to Tor and Christian Carver’s holiday cottages in a sleepy village in East Yorkshire would often travel out of the area to find things to do.

When they heard this, the couple were inspired to do something about it and put their area firmly on the map.

And now, they’re reaping the rewards of their years of planning and hard work as proud owners of William’s Den – a new, unique destination where children’s imagination can simply run wild.

Tor explains: “You hear about places like the North Yorkshire Moors and the Yorkshire Dales, but no one really talks about East Yorkshire.

“When we heard that visitors to our holiday cottages were travelling out of the area to find things to do, it inspired us to create something new and exciting on our doorstep which would bring tourists here.”

She continues: “We travelled around the UK and even to Holland and France to do detailed research about what tourist attractions there were. We wanted to find out what other people

were doing, what worked well, and equally what didn’t work well. We had a clear picture in our mind of what we wanted, and what we didn’t want.”

Although this ‘research’ fuelled their ideas and imagination, the final concept for their project came from much closer to home – their son William.

When asked how he wanted to celebrate his fifth birthday, William came up with the simple concept of wanting to take a few of his friends into the local woods to explore, build dens and cook food on a campfire.

Tor remembers: “The kids loved it. It was great to see the smiles on their faces, hear their shrieks of joy and just watch their imagination.

“It was this day which finally gave us the exciting vision of what we wanted to create. We think the best childhoods start with imagination and adventure. We grew up in the countryside surrounded by open spaces and the freedom to play outside in all weathers for hours on end. Our childhood years were spent endlessly running, jumping, cycling, exploring, den building and using our wild imaginations to entertain each other until it was time for bed.

“On his birthday, William and his friends relished the freedom and space to play outside. We realised all kids needed these wide-open spaces where their imaginations could run wild.

“Wouldn’t it be great if we could create this playscape for others to enjoy? A safe place with wide open spaces where children can learn through play, push themselves, learn from each other and get hands on with nature.”

Tor’s original career was in the media. She spent several years in London working with CNN and Reuters travelling the world and covering glitzy events such as the Cannes Film Festival and bands’ album launches.

She’s always been extremely creative and interested in the media, and at one stage set her sights on moving to New York and becoming a film director. But after returning to her beloved East Yorkshire, meeting Christian, getting married and having their son William, she realised that family life wouldn’t fit with this.

She explains: “Being a film director would have been a major commitment and it wouldn’t be fair as I wouldn’t be able to juggle being a mum with the demands of travelling around the world.

“Moving from my media background into setting up our own business was a complete change for me. But the thing that kept me going was my focus, passion, and determination. I always knew what I wanted and just set my mind on it.

“I remember the very first day I sat down with a pen and a large piece of wallpaper. I drew lots of clouds and filled them with ideas of what I wanted and how to get there.

“The design concept took about two-and-a-half years and then construction took about nine months before we opened in early July 2016.”

Tor’s passion for helping youngsters explore their imagination and creativity is clear for everyone to see,

She says: “We need to invest in children from birth to 18 – building their confidence, enhancing their skills and resilience, and helping them go beyond their boundaries. There’s nothing I like more at the end of the day than to see a child with rosy cheeks and muddy knees.

“I often hear parents saying ‘We’ve had an amazing day. The only problem is my children don’t want to go home.’ This makes me feel extremely emotional, and I know I’ve achieved what I set up to do.”

Central to the site is the unique indoor playground - created by experts in play and built by skilled craftsmen who used sustainably sourced materials from woods on the estate.

The playground incorporates a huge six-metre high Ancient Oak linking to a tree house, with swings, balancing pole branches, bridges, and a three-metre slide into a sandpit below; a

cascading stream, pool, and rainmaker to stimulate a rain shower; and the Forest Glade and Eagles Rest where children can play hide and seek.

Like many other businesses, William’s Den has had a challenging couple of years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tor comments: “As Covid developed, we sensed that more and more people were becoming worried about visiting. We wanted to be extremely responsible and closed the site about a week before the formal country-wide lockdown was announced.

“The main difficulty was that even as things started to gradually open, we still faced certain restrictions. For example, there was a time when people could come and walk around the estate, but they couldn’t sit down for a coffee.

“But we have a fantastic team here, and everyone pulled together and remained strong. Whilst I never want to see anything like the lockdown again, we can brush ourselves down, learn from the challenges and move forward.”

Recently, the venue triumphed in the prestigious National Farm Attraction Network (NFAN) awards – winning in the Best Food & Beverage category.

Tor comments: “This fantastic endorsement of our food offering left us overwhelmed and very proud. It was also a fantastic tribute to our loyal and hard-working staff and our brilliant suppliers. This was a team effort."