The wooden-framed yurt combines chic comfort with rustic charm

An inky black sky hung over us at midnight as we crunched our way down a gravelled pathway in a quaint Cornish farm. A busy little beagle followed in our footsteps, as we shone our torches across a sea of darkness. But then my husband and I had been warned by Chris Fellows, the owner of Pencuke Farm, about Spencer the beagle and his penchant for midnight walks.

Who was more eccentric, you might ask? Spencer for his midnight walks or could it be us with our plan to set out glamping, in the middle of autumn.

Glamorous camping or glamping is the newest trend in the world of the travel-happy. Since we have been there and done that with camping —scouting for a camping site, setting up tent, checking for wind cover and the works — we were craving the creature comforts of home. And at the other end of the scale, I’m a bit jaded with the modern hotel experience — I don’t want to be insulated from nature.

The picturesque cliffs of Kynance Cove, the southernmost Cornish tip of Lizard Peninsula

So, when we came upon the idea of glamping, offered in fascinating bell tents, yurts, tipis, eco-pods, airstreams, vintage vans, wooden gypsy caravans called roulettes, and even horse-drawn carriages, we jumped into the market. We opted for a yurt in the middle of the 20-acre Pencuke Farm in Bude (North Cornwall).

Lit up by lanterns and a crackling fire in a log burner, our dwelling was a wood-framed one, true to the original yurt that is a native of the Central Asian steppes. It was spacious with a massive oak-framed bed, crowned by a circular skylight. The surprise factor? It was without electricity, and so, we had to pile in wood into the fire burner. As I did it, I felt a bit like a girl scout. But, sadly, the fire eventually dies out. And chances are, you’ll wake up early with bright light streaming in through the skylight. Nevertheless, your bleary senses quickly relay the information that you are in a refrigerated yurt.

In the morning, I checked out the furnishings inside the yurt — from the wooden lattice structure on its cloth walls to the porthole-like openings. It was our mini-home, kitted with a dining table, chairs and a chest of drawers. It even came with a small stove and all sizes of pots and pans, guaranteed to bring glee to a diehard camper armed with packets of noodles. I am not, so we nibbled instead on bakery-bought pain au chocolat.

Guests can experience typical Cornish farm life on Pencuke Farm, without compromising on luxury; (below) Mouse, the resident male Shire cross, is quite the crowd-puller

Even though a lot of glamping sites offer activities such as gold-panning, sport, crêpe making and fairytale themes, Pencuke (Cornish for ‘Swallows End’) chooses to avoid all these gimmicks.

Located in the parish of St Gennys, it offers the authentic farm experience.

Accordingly, we plodded through the muddy fields to meet the farm’s livestock — a pair of Exmoor ponies called Alex and Jasper who were off to explore the farm by themselves. Then, there were a primitive breed of small deer-like sheep called Castlemilk Moorits, some Portland sheep, and the large white, British Lop pigs.

My favourites were a pair of beautiful horses — Mouse, a male Shire cross, and Ebony, a Welsh cob crossed with an Arab. Ebony was a female with attitude — she insisted on showing us her beautifully shaped hind quarters, much as we tried to coax her.

Yes, the natural experience without any extras is what adds to the charm of glamping at Pencuke Farm. As Fellows points out, “Here you are camping but with the material comforts — our showers and bathrooms are a cut above the basic camp site shower blocks. And, we have limited the number of yurts in the farm to four.”

The glamping experience was complete as we hit the great outdoors and went climbing cliffs in Kynance Cove around the southernmost Cornish point of Lizard Peninsula, rambled around the ancient town of Marazion and St Michael’s Mount and watched the sunset at Land’s End, the extreme westerly point of Cornwall.

After all our excursions when we flopped down inside the yurt, we were relieved that we did not have to get down to the business of folding our tents the next morning. That for us was the golden moment of glamping. Quirky, off the beaten path, and, one with nature.

GLAMP GUIDE

The deal is glamorous camping, but the key word remains ‘camping’. So, carry your hygiene essentials such as toothbrush, toothpaste and soap.

The emphasis is on going green — try out biodegradable soaps and shampoos.

Lastly, arm yourself with powerful flashlights.

Photographs by author