Set in the heart of a beautiful woodland close to Stamford Bridge and just a 20 minute drive from York, theirs was the first true glamping site in Yorkshire and it wasn’t just a pioneering business, it was their way of leaving the stress and strains of urban life for a new way of living and working.

Christian is a landscape architect by trade and Carolyn is a fashion designer but their entrepreneurial spirits had led them into designing and making contemporary fireplaces, which transformed the industry and led to a Prince of Wales medal and to them launching a CVO Firevault, a swish showroom and restaurant bar in London, deemed a “triumph” by Harper’s Bazaar.

They have no regrets about leaving the bright lights behind to escape to the country and set up Jollydays, which they describe as “swapping a glamorous life for ridiculously long hours and a life lived in wellies - and we couldn’t be happier.”

The site is still going strong despite many other providers jumping on the glampsite bandwagon.

Part of its charm is that it is truly authentic and eco-friendly with a Green Tourism Gold Award.

None of the structures they have created are permanent and, other than the odd pole and the biodigester, nothing is dug into the ground, so nature can carry on pretty much regardless of human presence.

It also uses very little electricity and used water is sent to the biodigester or a reed bed and then released into the ground.

“We started with safari tents but we realised that they weren’t suited to the Yorkshire weather and they were hard to keep clean and dry and the moisture was brutal so they sometimes only lasted a couple of months,” says Christian.

Something more substantial was called for so they swapped to huts, which have two bedrooms, a living space and woodburning stove plus a private shower hut in the communal shower and toilet block.

The latest addition are new bothies, though they are like no other bothy and defy the dictionary definition of “basic shelter”.

They are timber framed and tin clad with two double bedrooms, a double sofa bed, a woodburning stove, bathroom with shower and roll top bath, a fridge, two ring gas hob and a veranda with barbecue.

What really sets them apart is the fabulous decor with “magical” the watchword when the interiors were being planned.

Scenes hand-painted by artists, including Carolyn and the Van Outersterp’s daughter Galatea, cover the walls and decorative wood mouldings have been made and installed to great effect.

The Queen Mab bothy, named after a fairy in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, features a sitting room ceiling painted as a skyful of birds while the bathroom is something Botticelli would wonder at and the handmade headboard in the main bedroom is a Gothic masterpiece.

King Auberon and The Magician are both equally astounding with their finishing touches now just about complete.

What hasn’t changed at Jollydays is the opportunity to truly get away from it all and live more or less off grid with no TV, no iPads and no phone because there is no wi-fi.

This requires some screen addicts to go “cold turkey” but the benefits are abundant.

“It takes a few hours for some adults and children to settle without access to a screen but they often say that they then go on to have the best night’s sleep and that’s because they aren’t being bombarded with information on their phones and there’s no TV, so no negative news.

“Add in the trees and fresh air and you have a place where you can truly relax,” says Christian, who adds a word of warning.

“Our accommodation is high end glamping but we have to manage the expectations of some guests.

“We are in the woods so it can be dry and dusty in summer and muddy when it rains and if you leave the light on and the door open in your accommodation, moths will fly in.”

Bring suitable footwear and clothing is the Van Outersterp’s plea as this allows you to enjoy and make the most of the stay at the site, which is open year round.

“The woodland setting plays a huge part in what we offer,” says Christian.

It offers what is now known as forest bathing, that feeling of happiness and well-being that comes from being calm and quiet amongst the trees while observing nature.

That is what keeps Christian and Carolyn going through the long working days and helps clear the mind to make room for ideas.

Along with setting up another, smaller site The North Star Club, near Market Weighton, in the Yorkshire Wolds, which has woodland suites and offers woodland weddings, the Van Outersterps have recently created The Northwood Trail next to Jolly Days

It is billed as England’s first fairy sanctuary and fairy museum, perfect for glamping guests and day trippers alike.

“There is a lot of competition in the sector and so new ideas and investing in our sites is vital,” says Christian.

Useful Contacts: www.jollydaysglamping.co.uk; www.northstarclub.co.uk and www.northwoodtrail.co.uk

Extra copy if needed: *Forestry England has a great guide to forest bathing, which is a Japanese practice that brings calm and a feeling of happiness and well-being.

It isn’t hard to master and involves being calm and quiet amongst the trees and observing nature around you whilst breathing deeply.

Visit www.forestryengland.uk/blog/forest-bathing

The family who are putting art and magic into off-grid glamping in a Yorkshire woodland