It is now 6 years since we took our children Isabella Skye and Saffron Willow then aged 5 and 3 on a tipi holiday in Cornwall. We fell in love with the tipi tradition and decided we had to bring the experience to our home county of Cumbria.

Setting up and running 4 Winds Lakeland Tipis has been an enjoyable and rewarding task involving many of our friends and family. We have often taken guidance from Native American teachings and looked to the earth for answers. Where the tipis should be sited? We needed to choose our locations wisely and take into consideration many aspects of the land we were going to use as our 4 Winds Tipi locations. (See: Our Tipis page)

And in 2008 the abnormally wet weather conditions really challenged us, the site, our tipis and our guests. We have made a few minor changes to the landscape to allow for any excess water we may get in 2010 (hopefully we will have a drier year). Our main task is to offer affordable and unique Lake District camping experience for families. 2009 was our first year operating from a National Trust campsite. The experience has been very enjoyable and the staff and facilities have made the 2009 season our most successful yet both in terms of bookings and customer satisfaction. We will be operating from Low Wray campsite again in 2010 and hope for an equally successful season.

On our Journey with 4 Winds we are always learning and ask guests to comment on what aspects of the 4 Winds experience they liked and what they think could be changed for the better. We felt the need to do this as our first tipi holiday had been quite basic and we felt we needed just a few more comforts to be able to really enjoy the experience (See: Our Tipis page). We are proud to have had many great testimonials and press reports regarding the standard of our site and tipis.

Many thanks to all who have stayed with us. Below are just a couple of guests recommendations.

“Thank you for an amazing tipi experience. We will definitely be booking to come again.”

- Emma and Chris Catterall, Manchester - 2009.


“Just a quick note to say thanks very much for a fantastic weekend. The setting was beautiful and the tipi was amazing. We all had a great time. The kids now want to live in a tipi.”

- Rob, Kate, Amelia and Isabel Boon - 2009.


We have now had many wonderful and entertaining occasions in our tipis and met some amazing new friends. Being involved with tipis has given our children some truly unique experiences and has taught them much more about life and their environment than any textbook could. For ourselves the experience has reawakened the simplicity and joys of our childhood.

As you enter the pages of this site the true magic of the tipi experience will unfold.

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Introducing Us

Lee Duckworth is a cabinet maker and wood craftsman who makes decking platforms, fencing, pergolas and many other outdoor structures and has made the carvings and woodcrafts on the tipi sites.

Suzanne Duckworth has a background in Art and Drama and has a degree in Sociology and Health and a PGC in Dementia Studies specialising in therapeutic and creative dementia support. Suzanne’s main interests are art and crafts.