Owner of Ribble Valley's 'best' glamping site on her success

Having retired from teaching after 21 years, Joanne Collinge worked alongside her husband and children on their dairy farm but was certain there was a way to bring more economic benefits to the farm and secure it for the next generation.

She gave herself five years to build five pods at her site at Little Oakhurst Boutique Glamping and make a profit, otherwise she would throw in the towel.

Now five years on she has hit her goal, turns over £200,000 a year, and has featured on Channel 4’s Four in a Bed.

Glamping pods at the site (Image: Joanne Collinge) Joanne said: “I could have very easily at this point thrown the towel in, but I made my site through blood, sweat and tears - out of a necessity to survive.

“The emotional turmoil of leaving teaching drove me to create my own destiny and prove to myself that nobody would ever dictate or define my future without my say-so.

“I knew nothing about glamping - had never been, and the last time I went camping was in my teens and I hated it.

“But I told myself it can’t be harder than teaching and off I went.”

Joanne Collinge and daughter Lucy with one of their awards (Image: Joanne Collinge) Starting out with a piece of farmland - two acres of poorly drained grass - and £1,000, she bought two yurts and got help from a retired neighbour who built two bathroom huts equipped with toilets and hot water.

She continues to use materials sourced straight from the farm and offers a unique story of sustainable and eco-friendly tourism, with cow mats used for insulation and fallen trees from recent storms chopped into usable wood.

Joanne said: “Right from the start I knew that I couldn’t afford luxuries or new things, so my journey began with salvaging and restoring materials right off the farm.”

Joanne set her glamping site up on husband Andy's dairy farm (Image: Joanne Collinge) Set on family values, the site doesn’t provide TVs or WI-FI and instead looks to go back to basics where conversation is the stimulant rather than staring at screens.

Joanne added: “Most people don’t realise the beauty the Ribble Valley has to offer.

“I now have a beautiful haven, a peaceful site where visitors can sit back amongst the nature and watch the world go by, and where the wildlife can get as close as possible - we have deer, various owls, foxes, badgers, and of course the farm animals.”

Now Joanne’s business continues to thrive, picking up the Green Tourism Award and the Ribble Valley Best Small Business 2024 prize.

She also looks to give back, donating to local charities as well as Water Aid, which looks to provide sanitary water to third-world countries.