Coast and Camplight: 'We gave up life on a narrow boat to open an off-grid glamping site on a farm near Whitby'

"The story of Coast and Camplight doesn’t begin with us, it begins more than 50 years ago with Ed’s mum and dad, John and Kathryn, a teacher and a dog groomer from Middlesbrough, who decided to risk it all to try and live ‘the good life’,” explains Verity.

"In 1970, they gave up their lovely flat and sensible jobs and bought Low Rigg Farm, a run-down old farmhouse with sloping fields, a wood, a beck and a sensational view between Whitby and Robin Hood’s Bay. I really think they were a bit clueless,” says Ed.

The couple’s aim was to be self-sufficient, growing their own vegetables, raising cows, pigs, chickens, geese, as well as two children, Jo and Ed.

"It was a pretty idyllic childhood,” recalls Ed. “It was a massive playground with so much freedom to play in the woods and on the farm, but we did help mum and dad on the farm as well.”

However, Ed was determined to make his own adventures and left home at 18.

“I was desperate to get away by my late teens as it felt very isolated. And so I was determined to travel to as many places as I could and do as many things as I could.”

Over the next 20 years, Ed did everything from helping renovate a stately home to running paintball sites and bars, via tree surgery and beekeeping, although he never really left the UK.

“I didn’t want to live anywhere, I just wanted to work my way round Great Britain and to live in as many big cities as I could.”

Although he travelled extensively, Ed says he still had wanderlust but was sick of renting rooms in houses and decided he needed a place of his own, but still wanted to freedom to travel, and so he bought a narrowboat.

He met Verity on a dating site – she says she was drawn to the photo of the narrowboat and Ed’s dog and was ready to quit her 9-5 life and have a bit of an adventure.

"We met in 2010 when Ed was living on his boat ‘Joker’ on the Leeds Liverpool canal with his lovely Labrador Lewis. We spent some very happy years mooching about on the canals and rivers of the UK, having some adventures and living a simple off-grid boat life.

"You move on every two weeks and travel at two miles an hour – it’s the laziest way of seeing the country. We spent summers camping and going to as many festivals as we could manage.”

In 2016, they sailed ‘Joker’ into Hebden Bridge, and she never left.

“There was a massive storm, and the Calder Valley had flooded badly, and the Canal and River Trust said wherever anyone is, you have to stay for six months.”

"We took a mooring for the first time since we’d had the boat, and made it our home as well as making lots of friends along the way,” says Verity.

“Of all the places we could have washed up in, it was perfect for us and we loved it.” But they had always had it in their minds that one day they’d start their own business, something outdoors and creative.

"We wanted to build something or make something, incorporating lots of the things we’d learnt along the way – the self-sufficiency of boat life, the sparkle, fun and creativity of festivals and Hebden Bridge, and the love of the outdoors,” says Verity. But nothing seemed right.

Then one sunny summer, when visiting Ed’s mum and dad on the now unused farm, they were camping out in the fields with friends and realised there really could only be one place for them to build their business – out there in the fields and Coast and Camplight was born.

“I had always thought it was looking a gift horse in the mouth, but I understood that Ed wanted to plough his own furrow,” says Verity.

But even Ed realised the amazing opportunity they had to make their dream a reality.

“We came back to the farm in 2018 to start our own grand adventure of building Coast and Camplight off-grid glamping site,” says Verity. “The timings worked well. Ed's parents are in their 80s now, and we are close by.” As the farm is in the National Park, they needed planning permission before they could start erecting the safari tents.

"It’s typical North Yorkshire,” says Ed. “Nothing is flat, and we’d never built one of these things before, so we started with the flattest possible site. That was to become Northern Skies.”

The tents came flat-packed, and Verity says it was like constructing a giant piece of Ikea furniture. “We wanted it to be as light a touch as we could on the environment,” she says.

It has its own spring water, composting toilets and willow banks. All lighting is solar or via rechargeable batteries, and eco-friendly washing products are provided.

“We wanted to reuse and recycle. I also have a really bad charity shop habit, and so the tents gave me somewhere to put all the things I’d collected,” she adds.

“Having lived on a boat, there is so little space that we had a rule: if you buy a book, you have to get rid of a book,” says Ed. “So now it’s the opposite.” It means that each of the four glamping sites has its own unique, if slightly eccentric, identity.

The site is truly wild: ancient woodland to one side with a beck running through it, and fields which they are rewilding full of wildflowers, bees and butterflies.

"The wildlife runs riot, with deer, owls, badgers, bats and all manner of wild birds regular visitors,” says Verity.

To preserve their wilderness and peace, no cars are allowed on site; visitors walk down the fields to their camps, leaving the outside world with their cars at the gate.

“Our camps are completely off-grid, making it perfect for those looking for a digital detox and to get away from the stresses and strains of modern life,” says Ed.

Despite the back-to-nature feel of the site, all the camps have a luxurious feeling despite being completely cut off from the outside world, with proper beds, comfy mattresses and their own hot showers; luxury bedding and fluffy towels are provided.

"Each camp has been hand-built entirely by us from scratch from things that are recycled, found, car-booted, made, upcycled, saved or rescued. Some things are on their third or even fourth life on the farm,” says Verity.

“Nothing says glamping to us like a real fire at the end of the day, toasting marshmallows, sharing stories and putting the day to rest. Each camp has a fire pit for you to do just this.”

Three of the camps (Northern Skies, The Wild Woods and Writers’ Retreat) have spacious safari tents with a double or king-sized bed and bunk beds, perfect for families with a log burner inside, a separate bathroom and a composting toilet.

The newest camp, The Outpost, is a 5m Moroccan-themed bell tent, designed with couples in mind and a spectacular view of Whitby Abbey. There are plans to add more tents and possibly a cabin, but Ed and Verity are determined to keep their ethos of seclusion and privacy.

"Due to its hilly nature, you can’t see another tent from your own camp, and that’s something we want to maintain. It needs to be the ultimate getaway.”

www.coastandcamplight.co.uk