The UK treehouse staycation the whole family will love

WHAT did you do during that first Covid lockdown? Bake bread or binge Tiger King on Netflix?

I thought I was pretty impressive for painting my garden fence — until my recent visit to By The Wye, a tree house glamping site in Hay-On-Wye on the border between mid Wales and Herefordshire.

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Despite having their hands full with two kids, Dan and his wife Edith, plus his parents Dawn and Steve, built six treetop safari tents which opened for that 2020 summer of staycations.

The site is a luxury back-to-nature woodland experience in a magical spot next to the River Wye.

It’s also just a three-minute walk into the world-famous literary town and at the edge of Bannau Brycheiniog, the newly rebranded Brecon Beacons.

The tents are furnished with everything you need, from woodburning stoves to en-suite showers, a kitchen with an electric hob and an outdoor fire pit for evening cookouts.

There are also thoughtful extra touches such as new pairs of knitted socks using Welsh wool, a jar of marshmallows for post-BBQ treats and books on the local wildlife you can spot from your deck.

Dan is a local boy through and through. He is second-generation Hay-On-Wye and, growing up, he and his mates would sneak into the champagne-fuelled showbiz parties that accompany the annual Hay Literary Festival.

As a result, he knows about anything worth eating, drinking or experiencing in the area. And there is plenty of all three.

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I was astonished by the endless local produce. We drank Black Mountain coffee and Lucky 7 beers, visited the Hay gin distillery, slurped local sheep-milk ice cream and slathered Welsh brie on crackers — all picked up from Hay-On-Wye’s many delis, pubs and cafes.

I’d practically drained my bank account before I even set eyes on the 20-plus bookshops, numerous antique shops and the fabulous Prints Of Hay store run by the artist Aidan Saunders — who also runs a local print club using the 19th-century printing press in Hay Castle.

Of course, my four-year-old isn’t interested in any of all that — except for the ice cream.

But that was no problem, because thanks to our glampsite location we were also in children’s paradise.

They’ve thoughtfully created kids- only secret paths, “worm hotels” and mini play areas from felled trees throughout the site, so there is always something for little people to investigate.

Dan and his seven-year-old son took my boy on their fantastic Woody Wildling Adventure.

At a bargain £15 for each child, with two adults free to tag along, my son went bug-hunting and created a bug hotel before building a campfire to toast marshmallows while learning all about the plants and trees surrounding us.

Even better, Dan loaned us a bat tracker which provided plenty of evening entertainment as we listened to the animals darting among the trees above our heads.

With a £2 fishing net bought in town, my son caught his first “tiddler fish” from the riverbank, just 20ft from our treetop tent.

And he basked in the morning sun on our deck while reading up about local bugs and birds, then bathed in the evening sun while soaking in our private outdoor bathtub, as we cooked up nightly feasts on the firepit.

We also spent a wonderful afternoon cuddling newborn lambs and ducklings and feeding alpacas, pygmy goats and miniature horses at the nearby Drovers Rest farm.

We were so busy that we only made it into the Brecon Beacons National Park once during our stay, but we had a great time hiking up the hills among the wild horses.

Every night, after some stargazing from our deck, we fell asleep exhausted — in the super-comfy beds in our log fire-warmed tent, listening to the river rushing by.

If it all sounds just idyllic, that’s because it was.

We came home armed with a new print for my son’s bedroom, some wonderful secondhand books and a collection of antique toy soldiers and egg cups, but most importantly some wonderful memories.