Glamping at the historic Samlesbury Hall on the edge of the magical Ribble Valley, perhaps Britain’s best kept tourist secret, is the perfect tonic to get back to nature and away from it all, as IWAN GABE DAVIES found out on a recent trip.

HAILED as the ‘Switzerland of England’, the stunning Ribble Valley in Lancashire deserves to be better known.

In the northern part you will find the Forest of Bowland, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty that stretches over the border into the Yorkshire Dales.

It’s great for walks or just admiring the lovely landscape and visiting its picturesque villages.

A great base for exploring this gorgeous part of the world is Samlesbury Hall (www.samlesburyhall.co.uk), a striking stately home that is a wonderful half-timbered black and white medieval house that was built in 1325.

In the grounds, in an area known as The Hamlet, sit 28 colourful shepherd's huts, some of which are dog-friendly, that provide quirky, rustic and snug accommodation that will long live in the memory.

These en suite cabins are surprisingly roomy and sleep four with seriously comfy beds complete with two double bunks in European oak and memory foam mattresses, spacious showers and electricity to keep your mobile phone charged.

The huts are well heated and lit, including a camping lantern to add a further rural touch to your stay (and to light for a moonlit walk).

You will be also have your own little pit and marshmallows to toast if you want to huddle around a campfire.

In the morning, treat yourself to the excellent full English breakfast at Samlesbury Hall with their own free range fried hen’s egg, delicious bacon, sausage, roast tomato, hash brown, field mushrooms, beans, toast and butter.

Dinner and drinks are also served at the hall but it is best to check if it will be open during your stay as it is a popular venue for weddings, especially at weekends, and reserved for guests only when booked for ceremonies.

If you do need to find somewhere to eat, a superb village pub called the White Swan (www.whiteswanatfence.co.uk), which was recently awarded a Michelin star, at Fence, near Burnley, takes some beating. Although it is half an hour away in the car, it is more than worth the journey.

If you do venture through the Forest of Bowland, there’s a fabulous pub in the village of Slaidburn, that feels like it’s in the middle of nowhere, called Hark to Bounty (www.harktobounty.co.uk) that dates back to the 1300s.

Contact details: Samlesbury Hall, Preston New Rd, Samlesbury, Preston, Lancashire, PR5 0UP, Telephone: 01254 812010, Email:

enquiries@samlesburyhall.co.uk. Website: www.samlesburyhall.co.uk.

You can stay at the shepherd's huts all year round. Prices start from £25 per person.