Hidden on an island simply 50 miles south of London is Elmley Nature Reserve, a 3200-acre stretch of marshland on the low-lying Island of Sheppey in Kent. 9 years back, Georgina and Gareth Fulton took control of the reserve from Georgina’s dad. He had actually handled the estate for years, changing what was as soon as extensive farmland into a globally crucial wetland website that draws in 12,000 visitors a year, the majority of whom can be found in winter season when the shallow scrapes and ponds are filled with unusual migratory birds.
Wanting to widen the appeal of the reserve, the Fultons bought a handful of remote shepherds’ huts, offering visitors the chance to remain over night on the reserve and end up being totally immersed in the languorous rhythm of the landscape. At the exact same time, they transformed the spacious, mid-19th century grain shop at the centre of the website into a common occasion and dining area. A couple of years later on, the surrounding run-down Victorian farmhouse was carefully brought back. Today, Elmley maintains that end-of-the-world environment, albeit– rather actually– with included animal conveniences.
Let’s take a trip.
The primary center at Elmley– the café, barn and farmhouse– is at completion of a two-mile track. As you approach, the market on the coasts of the river Swale declines and unknown shapes appear both on land and in the sky. It’s not uncommon to find the resident barn owl sliding in between fence posts, alert hares hunkered in the turf, and lapwings bouncing around on the breeze.