Maggie The Showmans Wagon at Oakpond Cottages Whitchurch
MAGGIE THE GLAMPING WAGON IN SHROPSHIRE
Maggie is a restored horse-drawn showman’s wagon for two on a working farm near Whitchurch, North Shropshire, close to the Cheshire border. She sleeps two adults (21 and over), has her own private pitch, a fully fitted bathroom a few steps away, a separate kitchen and living hut, and the option of using a luxury indoor hot tub. This is proper adults-only quiet: dark skies, resident barn owls, and three pet sheep for neighbours and just yourselves. Maggie is completely private and not near our cottages and overlooks our Shropshire fields.
Guests may see rabbits, our nosey cattle, lots of birds including our barn owl.
She has a history worth knowing about. Maggie travelled with the circus, where she was home to the clowns and fortune tellers, and was pulled by one of the circus horses. Her hand-painted roof shows the gypsy horses belonging to a previous owner, who lived in the wagon with his parrot — and when the current owners renovated her, they found sunflower seeds still tucked under the floorboards.
Inside there’s a memory foam double bed (4ft 2in x 6ft 2in) made up with good bedding, and an original gypsy table that’s ideal for cards, board games, or a morning coffee while the sun comes up over the fields. Step out onto the bespoke balcony and you’re surrounded by fairy lights, with a rocking chair for two beside the buddleia trees where the butterflies gather, and a picnic table for eating outside. Guests may see our cattle in the distance and will also see the rabbits and birds around the wagon site.
The Fluffy Butt Hut
Next door to Maggie is the Fluffy Butt Hut — the cooking, eating and lounging space, complete with a cuddle chair built for two. It’s properly equipped with a two-ring hob, microwave, fridge, kettle, toaster and all the utensils you’ll need, plus a radio and a TV with a large DVD library (DVDs only — no streaming out here, which is rather the point). There is also a usb point in the wagon and the hut.
What’s Included
- Double memory foam bed with quality bedding (bring your own towels)
- Private bathroom in a separate building, a few steps away from the wagon — flushing toilet, spacious shower, central heating
- The Fluffy Butt Hut with full cooking facilities
- Cooking oil, washing-up liquid, soap and tea towels supplied
- Large DVD library and TV
- Private balcony, picnic table and outdoor seating
- Safe parking in the cottage yard
- Good mobile signal across the site (and wi-fi in Maggie from car park)
- Complimentary welcome tray: tea, coffee, milk, sugar, biscuits, fruit juice and homemade cake
The Hot Tub
Guests can add the Frogs Retreat — a private indoor room housing a five-seater electric hot tub with two loungers, a waterfall and a bank of jets. It’s held at 38°C at all times, so there’s no waiting for it to heat up, and the room is heated with coloured overhead lighting and glass doors opening onto the fields. The hot tub is private and not shared. Just request it when booking for an additional fee of £15 pn (to set up and prepare) for the first two nights stay and then £10 pn daily.
Good to Know
- Adults only, ( 20+ )
- Unique glamping wagon
- Sorry no pets, due to the farm animals
- Strictly no smoking in or around the wagon
- Bedding supplied
- No fire pits or BBQ trays
- Towels supplied
- Cars park in the cottage yard, not beside the wagon
- Close to a canalside village with circular walks and tearooms
- Brown Moss Nature Reserve with its beautiful woodland walks
- Three good pubs within a 10 minute drive
Also at Oakpond….
Alongside Maggie, the owners run three award-winning self-catering cottages. Oakpond (dog friendly) and Oaktree are on the farm and overlook a wildlife pond and are only ever let one at a time, so guests have the place to themselves. Oakwood is a detached country bungalow a mile away in Ightfield, with a woodburner and a large garden securely enclosed by six-foot fencing for dogs and walks lead straight from the door onto the Shropshire Way and to The Olde Jack Inn.
Two of the cottages are dog friendly and the hot tub is only available to the farm cottages and Maggie. Guests who book the hot tub have sole use of the hot tub during their stay and is not shared. The hot tub room is on a first come, first served when booking.
The Local Area
Maggie sits on the Cheshire–Shropshire border, with Staffordshire and the Welsh border both an easy drive.
- Walking and wildlife — The Shropshire Way and the Sandstone Trail both pass nearby. Brown Moss Nature Reserve is ten minutes away, and there’s Wenlock Edge, the Long Mynd, Delamere Forest, Grinshill and Corbett Woods, Haughmond Forest (walking and cycling), Twemlow Woods, and the Beeston and Peckforton Hills. Audlem, the canalside vilage with tearooms has six circular canalside walks and Whitchurch has fifteen. Birdwatchers should head for Wixall and Fenn’s Mosses; Prees Heath Common covers 140 acres of heathland and is the only place in the Midlands to see the rare silver-studded blue butterfly. There is also a cycle route at the end of our lane for any keen cyclists and we have bike storage.
- Gardens — Wollerton Old Hall, Hodnet Hall, Dorothy Clive Garden and Bridgemere Show Gardens are all within reach.
- National Trust — Attingham Park, Erddig, Benthall Hall, Dudmaston, Shugborough, Tatton Park and Biddulph Grange.
- Days out — Alderford Lake for wild swimming, paddleboarding and the aqua park; BeWILDerwood; Cheshire Farm Ice Cream, home to the country’s largest children’s sand playground; the British Ironwork Centre; Cotebrook Shire Horse Centre and Nature Park; Oulton Park; Ironbridge; RAF Cosford; and Crewe Heritage Centre. Golfers have Hill Valley and Hawkstone.
- Towns — Chester, Shrewsbury, Nantwich, Whitchurch and Market Drayton, plus the lakes at Ellesmere.
PRICES
From £80 per night
Friday/Saturday £120 pn
Sunday and Week Days £110 pn
Week £560
Bank holiday weekends minimum stays 3 nights only
Open Spring until October