Rules of the fire

Camp nights are what many guests remember most once they’re home.

After dark the temperature on the grassland drops fast. We light a fire, grill meat, boil tea; someone plays, someone sings, someone says nothing at all and just watches the flames. Look up and the Milky Way is right there.

On nights like that we keep only a few rules.

One: horses first, then us

The first job at camp isn’t pitching tents. It’s unsaddling, brushing, watering and tethering the horses on good grass. They’ve carried you all day; they rest first.

In a caravan, the horses eat before the people do.

Two: fire only where it belongs

We light fires only where we’ve chosen, cleared all around and well away from tents and dry grass. The plateau is windy and the grass is dry; one stray spark can be a disaster.

Before bed, the last person to leave the fire puts it out: soak it, bury it, and hold the back of your hand close until there’s no heat left.

Three: drinks after the horses are away

Of course you can have a drink by the fire. But there’s riding tomorrow, so go easy. Anyone who has been drinking doesn’t handle the horses.

Four: twenty minutes without your phone

We won’t take anyone’s phone. We just suggest that at some point by the fire you put it in your pocket and sit quietly for twenty minutes.

Listen to the fire, to the horses tearing grass in the dark, to the wind. You may realise how long it’s been since you heard silence itself.

Five: leave nothing

When we break camp in the morning we put everything back: all rubbish packed out, ashes buried, stones returned to where they were.

The next people here should find the grassland exactly as we did.

That’s all of them. The rest of the night belongs to the fire, the stars — and you.