Larbert farmer John moves from mucking out to glamping up

John Watson secured £48,000 of funding to diversify an arable farm in Larbert and create a luxury glamping site that is now fully booked until autumn.

Located just off the village’s Moss Road, Kersebrock Kabins is operated by John and his children Lyndsey (32) and Derek (35).

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Having already added a private livery yard to the 300 acre farm 15 years ago, the Watsons spotted an opportunity to turn an unused piece of farm land into a glamping site that would provide visitors with a peaceful rural setting close to good transport links and Falkirk’s main attractions.

With the help of Business Gateway Falkirk they successfully applied for the £48,000 grant from Kelvin Valley and Falkirk LEADER and added that to the £30,000 the family personally invested in installing the three wooden self-catering cabins.

Lyndsey said: “My dad is always looking for new ways to supplement the farm’s income. After doing some research he discovered there was potential funding available to install cabins on the farm, so we began looking at every type of glamping accommodation and decided on the cabins after seeing them at The Royal Highland Show last year.”

It took John and Derek five months to clear and prepare the site before the cabins were installed. They then landscaped the one acre site and the cabins opened last month with bookings from as far away as Germany, France, Poland and Spain.

Sleeping up to four guests, each cabin has a built-in double bed and a pull out double sofa bed. There is also underfloor heating, en suite with walk-in shower, sink, toilet and heated towel rail, kitchenette with hob, microwave, kettle and toaster and a flat screen television with free view and two of the cabins offer a private five-seater hot tub.

Lyndsey said: “Right from the start we wanted the cabins to appeal to as wide an audience as possible – from seasoned campers to people like myself who have never camped before and like to stay in boutique hotels.”

Visit the website www.kersebrockkabins.co.uk for more.