On holiday in Britain you can travel back in time
By Kate Simon
There can be few more persuasive reasons to holiday on these shores this year than the sight of the current chaos at Britain’s airports. Yet staycations have been on the increase for some time and, despite the relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions on international travel, the trend doesn’t seem to be abating. VisitBritain, the nation’s tourism agency, predicts that more than 20 million of us intend to take an overnight trip in the UK this summer.
And there’s nothing like a cost-of-living crisis to turn people’s thoughts to the nostalgic and inexpensive notion of camping. There are now more places to pitch up, too, since farmers milked the extension to planning laws during Covid that allowed them to open their fields to campers and caravanners for longer, from 28 to 56 days a year. (Though there’ll be fewer farm gates opening as the rule reverts to normal in England and Wales, if not Scotland and Northern Ireland.) Free spirits can wild camp. In fact, you can even plan ahead and book a wild pitch – surely a contradiction – through Wild With Consent.
For those of us reticent about roughing it, there’s always the feather-bedded option of glamping, and there are more glamping sites than you can shake a tent peg at these days. Even some of the country’s top hotels have got in on the act – one of the poshest, Chewton Glen in the New Forest, put treehouses 35 feet up in the canopy of its woods several years ago. You’d better have deep pockets, though. They cost from £1,350 to £3,500 per night to stay in.
Most of us must set our sights a little lower, yet we’ll still find plenty of variety, including quirky choices such as geodesic domes, all manner of wooden pods, and – vested interest alert – one of my clients, Tapnell Farm Group, has just upcycled four former pig pens into luxurious little rooms for two on the Isle of Wight.
But some sites don’t just promise a wholesome break in the outdoors. From bunting-strewn bell tents to shepherd’s huts and railway carriages, a glamping holiday can help you to travel back in time, too.
One particularly kitsch choice is surely the Airstream American trailer. There are whole campsites devoted to these silver beauties, such as Happy Days Retro Vacations near Saxmundham in Suffolk, Tin Can Camping near Mundham in Norfolk, and The Wells Glamping near Bromyard in Herefordshire. At Gooseberry Field, near Pluckley in Kent, your Airstream comes with a Victorian wood-fired hot tub.
New to the scene is the Airstream just parked up at Brook Meadow near Market Harborough in Leicestershire. Even the Eden Project in Cornwall has got in on the act, with the opening, earlier this spring, of a YHA hostel that features Airstreams among its accommodation (pictured).
Seasoned glampers can also tick off brand new shepherd huts at Siôr near Conwy and Brook Cottage Shepherd Huts near Pwllheli in North Wales, Wheatsheaf Huts near Banbury in Oxfordshire, Wantisden Park near Orford in Suffolk, Foot of the Downs near Shoreham-by-Sea in West Sussex, Dogsworthy Huts near Lynton and Lynmouth in Devon, and Nori’s Nest near St Ives in Cornwall. There are newly repurposed railway carriages, too, at Muiredge near Auchterarder in Scotland and First & Last Carriages near Aylsham in Norfolk.
There are almost as many websites rounding up the country’s mushrooming glamping sites, including Pitchup, Canopy & Stars, Hipcamp, Kip Hideaways, Glamping Hideaways, Quality Unearthed, Go Glamping, GlampingUK, and Cool Stays. So, plenty of choice – and no need to set foot in an airport.
Phil’s Beer Notes
The spot to camp is, of course, right next door to a supply of good draught ale, and a lot of pubs these days offer glamping in the grounds beyond the beer garden. The White Dog Inn at Ewhurst Green, East Sussex, has authentic tipis that sleep five and come with futons, cushions, fairy lights and a gas stove – plus local brews on the pumps.
The Travellers Rest at Trevarrian does what it says on the...er... sign, offering pods that resemble upturned hulls overlooking the north Cornish coast, each with a smart TV for when it gets dark. Or you could go to the bar for the full range of St Austell beers.
For beers that are even more local, the Snowdonia Parc, at the foot of Mount Snowdon, boasts its own microbrewery, and a good night’s sleep in its small, but comfy, glamping pods beside the River Gwyrfai. And for the adventurous anti-glamper it has to be the Tan Hill Inn, highest pub in Britain, made famous by Ted Moult’s double-glazing adverts. No need to book, just rock up, pay your tenner over the bar and pitch your tent or park your van in the wilds, not forgetting to order a pint of Yorkshire ale.