In the 2007 edition of guide we
commented on how festivals like
Glastonbury and the record-breaking
temperatures of summer 2006 had
changed the face of camping. Britain’s
appeal as a summer holiday playground
suddenly became incontestable, with the
soaring heat and blue skies luring people
from the polluted and unbearably hot
towns and cities in favour of the
countryside and sleeping under the stars.
Camping, once seen as a cheap holiday
alternative for healthy outdoor types
before developing into a mainstream and
relatively inexpensive leisure activity for
families and the active retired, was
suddenly very ‘cool’, appealing to a wider
cross-section of society.
There’s no such thing as
a typical camper now
Since then, despite a succession of wet summers,
camping continues to be the coolest and, in some
cases, a most glamorous way to unwind. In 2009, with
the economy in freefall and the weak pound making
an overseas holiday very expensive, many people
opted for a ‘staycation’, or a holiday closer to home,
and camping, as it has always done, offers a good value
family holiday. With sales of camping equipment up
over 40% and the Camping and Caravanning Club,
who have over 120 quality campsites across Britain,
experiencing a rapid increase in membership and a
27% increase in advance bookings, it has been a boom
year for campsites, with hardly a patch of grass
available during the peak school holiday period. It is
true to say that the 2009 credit crunch has seen a
significant increase in traditional camping.
Cool Camping
Cool camping is about escaping the urban bustle and
getting back to the simplicity of nature. Less is more
to the contemporary cool camper, who shuns the
larger, organised and more sophisticated sites with
posh toilets and takeaways, in favour of the smaller,
laid-back and down-to-earth sites, often with minimal
facilities and few rules about where you can pitch your
tent. Essential ingredients are a stunning location, a
great view and the ability to build your own fire.
Pitch up at one of these simple ‘cool’ campsites and
you’ll probably find an eclectic mix of tents, vans and
folk, perhaps a tipi in one corner, a converted army
vehicle, restored classic VW campers, and smart
BMWs and four-wheel drive vehicles parked alongside
tiny two-man tents. Favoured small campsites set in
unspoilt surroundings and to be found within these
pages, include Cloud Farm at
Oare in Somerset, South
Penquite Farm at Blisland and
Ruthern Valley Holidays at
Ruthernbridge, both in Cornwall,
and the three National Trust
Campsites in the Lake District, in
particular Low Wray Campsite
near Ambleside.
cheap tent in the Lake District. Campsite owners
speak of fractious first-time campers abandoning new
tents and driving home having tried in vain to pitch in
the dark and driving rain. The answer in often raindrenched Cumbria is the Camping Pod, a quirky, cosy
timber tent – perfect for less-hardy ‘cool’ campers who
are adverse to sleeping under nylon or canvas. They
are landing all over the Lakes and are proving hugely
popular in an area where there is a demand for
alternative, affordable accommodation. 
Camping Pods and
Wooden Wigwams
Camping soon loses its charm
and appeal if you experience a
wet weekend away in a leaky
Main: View over Eskdale, Cumbria
Above: Woodclose Caravan Park, Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria.
Inset above: Cotswold View Touring Park, Charlbury,
Oxfordshire
Carry on
Glamping
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By David Hancock
Above: Eskdale Camping & Caravanning Club Site,
Boot, Cumbria
A cluster of ten pods can be found in a small copse
at Eskdale Camping and Caravanning Club Site, which
is located near Boot in a stunningly beautiful and
peaceful valley below Scafell Pike and the Hardknott
Pass. The pods sleep four and are made of locally
sourced timber and insulated with sheep’s wool. Pod
dwellers need to bring their camping gear (minus the
tent) and they enjoy the benefits of the site facilities,
including a drying room and first-class toilet facilities,
all for £37 per pod.
Pods can also be found at the Quiet Site near
Watermillock, and at the National Trust Sites at
Wasdale Head, Great Langdale and at Low Wray (the
latter two have larger, family pods) in the Lake District.
Elsewhere, the Camping & Caravanning Club has pods
at their Bellingham (Northumberland), Great
Hockham (Norfolk), and Isle of Skye campsites, and
they have been erected at Cotswold View Touring
Park at Charlbury in the Cotswolds.
Offering a little more comfort and perfect for
families are the larger, more spacious wooden
wigwams, which generally sleep up to five people.
Those at Woodclose Caravan Park in Kirkby Lonsdale,
Cumbria are equipped with foam mattresses,
electricity for lighting, a mini-fridge and kettle, and each
wigwam has an outdoor area for cooking and a fire
basket. You can also enjoy the wigwam experience at
Barnsoul Farm, at Shawhead, Dumfries & Galloway
and at Waren Farm Caravan Park near Bamburgh,
Northumberland, where the wigwams overlook the
beach and glorious coastline.
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Glamping – the Ultimate in Cool
Glamorous camping, or ‘glamping’, has evolved in
recent years, with stylish alternative camping spots
springing up all over the country, following the
popularity of the luxury tents, carpeted cabins and
customised double-decker buses that accommodate
celebrities and the well-heeled festival-goer on
Britain’s flourishing festival circuit. Camp Kerala at
Glastonbury and Cowes, where Britain’s glitziest
glampers stay in stunning Rajasthan shikar hunting
tents kitted out with every conceivable luxury for
£7,000 for four nights, kick-started the five-star
camping experience. The growing number of
alternative ‘boutique’ campsites, which have made
canvas chic and ‘glamping’ more accessible, offer the
ultimate eco-friendly and sustainable holiday
experience. Here you stay in ready-erected
Mongolian yurts, luxury bell tents or Native Americanstyle tipis, which are often heated by solar power, or
you can choose to sleep in a converted shepherd’s
hut or a rustic stone barn, or why not push the boat
out and stay in a shiny American Airstream trailer, or
you can hire a re-conditioned VW campervan kitted
out with Cath Kidston fabrics.
The ethos behind it all is that just because you’re
sleeping in a tent or trailer you don’t have to abandon
your senses of style and comfort, and you can still look
good while experiencing the great outdoors and
getting back to nature.
Yurts,Tipis and Furnished Tents
The ultimate eco-tent for the ‘cool’ camper is the
Mongolian-style yurt, a wood-lattice structure covered
in canvas or felt, with a domed roof and usually a
raised, wooden floor. Expect a lesson in Bohemian
chic as most are kitted out with futon-style beds,
colourful, hand-made woollen rugs, throws and
cushions, Moroccan lanterns, a central wood-burning
stove, and a fully-equipped campers’ kitchen; some
have stylish bathrooms and toilet tents attached.
For that ‘back to nature’ experience, with all the
home comforts you need, book one of the four yurts
(Goldilocks & Daddy Bear, Mummy Bear, Baby Bear –
for cosy couples) at South Penquite Farm in Blisland,
Cornwall. Tucked away in peaceful glades with great
views, they have their own fire pit and you can buy
home-produced lamb burgers and sausages to cook
over the fire. This working organic farm also has a VW
camper for hire and offers Bushcraft courses. Yurts
with stunning views of the Langdale Pikes in Cumbria
can be found on the National Trust’s Great Langdale
Campsite, or if you prefer views of the rolling Purbeck
Hills, book a yurt at Herston Caravan & Camping Park
near Swanage in Dorset.
Mini-reservations of authentic Sioux tipis are
popping up on farms and small campsites across
Britain. One such community sits in a corner of
Roebeck Camping and Caravan Park near Ryde on the
Isle of Wight. The tipis are simply furnished with carpet,
camp beds (bring you own bedding), a heater and a
gas stove, and there’s a central fire circle. The tipis and
solar-heated bell tents at the National Trust’s Low
Wray Campsite near Ambleside, Cumbria, and the tipi
and lavvu (a traditional Swedish tent) at the Eisteddfa
site near Criccieth, Gwynedd, offer more comfort with
colourful kelims, sheepskins, futon beds and fullyequipped kitchens, with the Eisteddfa tipi enjoying
glorious views over Cardigan Bay to Snowdonia.
Above left, centre and top right: Long Valley Yurts
at National Trust sites in Ambleside and Great Langdale,
Cumbria.
Above bottom right: South Penquite Farm, Blisland,
Cornwall
Once only encountered on luxury Kenyan safaris,
ready-pitched tents are becoming popular at camping
parks. Some of the tents, like those at Shieling
Holidays on the Isle of Mull, which are pitched beside
the sea with views to Ben Nevis, are canvas cottages
with proper beds, bathrooms, electricity and spacious,
carpeted rooms. You can experience other safari-style
camps that offer en suite showers and room service,
at a price.
Good Food and Camping
The perfect complement to simple outdoor living in a
tent is wholesome and hearty food bought from local
farm shops and cooked on a camping stove. Many
farms have had to diversify to survive, with some
opening farm shops and developing campsites.
Caerfai Farm on the Pembrokeshire coastal path near
St David’s is an organic eco-farm, powered by
renewable sources – solar, geothermal, wind and
biomass energy – and its owners make mouth-watering
cheddar and Caerphilly cheese. Here you can pitch up
and stock up with freshly-baked bread, free-range eggs,
organic cheese, bacon and sausages and local
vegetables from the on-site farm shop, and feast by the
tent with sweeping views across Caerfai Bay.
… now, how ‘cool’ is that?
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