The East Midlands could one day enjoy the kind of tourism success the Cotswolds has basked in for decades.
The overlooked region, which includes South Northamptonshire, Rutland – England’s smallest county, as well as parts of rural Leicestershire and Lincolnshire, is being dubbed ‘The Notswolds’.
Fans say this rural portion of England’s ‘middle’ has similar attributes to The Cotswolds, Norfolk’s posh northern third and the Lake District, all of which have enjoyed a veritable monopoly on those seeking countryside escapes in recent decades – only without the price tags.
South Northamptonshire in particular already has a host of famous faces residing within it, including 90s supermodel Claudia Schiffer and husband Matthew Vaughn, gallery owner Jay Joplin and Earl Spencer and his wife, Professor Cat Jarman. Geri Halliwell-Horner and Christian Horner, meanwhile, live on the Northamptonshire-Oxfordshire border.
The announcement earlier this year that international hospitality brand Nobu has chosen 185 acres of Rutland for its ‘first-of-its-kind’ UK resort looks certain to pin a new destination on the cool crowd map.
The Japanese-inspired company, which has more than 50 restaurants and 38 hotels globally, revealed it has struck a deal to transform Woolfox, an upmarket and well established popular country club close to Stamford.
The Notswolds – which covers South Northamptonshire, Rutland and parts of Leicestershire and Lincolnshire, is awash with regal properties, including Althorp, the ancestral home of Earl Spencer and the final resting place of Princess Diana
Celebrity residents of the Notswolds include Matthew Vaughn and Claudia Schiffer, left, and Charles Spencer, who shares his country pile with archaeologist wife Professor Cat Jarman
Build it and they will come? What Nobu might look like according to artist’s impressions
It’s a down-to-earth spot, affectionately known to locals as ‘Ruddle’s Puddle’ (named after Sir Kenneth Ruddle, the late owner of a nearby brewery) and in the summer months, the waters are a busy haven for picnicking day-trippers, the kind who might prefer sandwiches and a flask of tea over sushi and flutes of Moët.
Celebrity sightings in Rutland’s country pubs simply don’t happen, and the triangle of cities framing the county – Peterborough, Leicester and Nottingham – are outshone by cultural big hitters such as London, Manchester and York.
However, the region’s tourism fortunes could now all change in the swish of a sashimi knife – and there’s plenty for discerning travellers to enjoy, with the East Midlands slowly carving out its own middle class visitor path.
The patchwork fields are as easy-on-the-eye as the country’s more popular rural tourism hotspots and, while Rutland’s quaint villages may not yet have the middle class gloss of Chipping Norton or Burnham Market, there’s plenty of footfall from the aforementioned cities to ensure Nobu will work.
Nobu’s decision to go for a slice of the country chic tourism pie – demolishing the existing golf club and driving range in the process – is almost certainly inspired by the successful blueprint created by Soho Farmhouse in the Cotswolds.
The hip members-only hotel and spa has become a countryside go-to for the rich and famous since it first opened in 2015. Meghan Markle held her hen party at the Oxfordshire retreat ahead of her marriage to Prince Harry in 2018 – and everyone from Taylor Swift to Bella Hadid and Dua Lipa have since descended.
Stamford, with its creamy stone and high-end independent shops, can rival any Cotswolds high street for charm – and is just ten miles from the planned Nobu site
Nobu has already divulged, via a series of artist’s impressions, that the Woolfox makeover will also include a private members club, as well as a hotel with 25 hotel lodges and 57 holiday lodges plus wellness facilities that include a spa, swimming pool and state-of-the-art gym. And, of course, a signature Nobu restaurant.
Why has Nobu – which is also building a 76-storey property in Manchester – pointed its commercial compass at a region many of its target audience have never holidayed in? Easy, it’s an unsaturated market – unlike the Cotswolds – with bags of potential.
The brand was founded in New York in the 90s by Japanese chef Nobu Matsuhisa, with the backing of De Niro, amongst other high profile names.
Its restaurants quickly became a byword for celebrity; Tom Cruise, The Kardashians and Taylor Swift are all regulars at the Malibu outpost.
Kate Winslet once uttered that Nobu’s food was ‘Heaven on earth and sex on a plate’. Along those lines, ex tennis idol Boris Becker famously conceived his third child after an illicit encounter in a cupboard at London’s Nobu in 1999.
16th century English country pile Burghley House lies just 20 minutes from Woolfox and makes for an impressive afternoon out
The Woolfox country club in Rutland will soon feel the Nobu effect, after the global brand announced it had partnered with the low-key resort to create a brand new hotel, private members’ club and restaurant on the site
What started with sushi restaurants has now evolved into a global hospitality empire. In this quiet corner of the East Midlands, the brand says it will ‘reimagine the Nobu lifestyle as a nature-led retreat, blending luxury hospitality, world-class dining, and refined living with a slower, more restorative pace.’
The nearest town is Stamford, a ten-minute drive away and just over the border in Lincolnshire. This affluent market town, with the River Welland running through it, already has a faithful following thanks to its 16th and 17th Clipsham stone architecture, independent shops and characterful pubs.
Luxury hotel and restaurant The George, right in the heart of town, is booked up weeks in advance and Stamford has provided an authentic backdrop to plenty of period dramas, including the 2005 film Pride & Prejudice, in which it almost outshone Keira Knightley.
If the Cotswolds has Highgrove, then regal Burghley House fills a similar role here. A short drive from where Nobu will land, this enormous 16th century ‘prodigy’ was built to honour Queen Elizabeth and has gardens designed by Capability Brown.
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