CORNISH YURT HOLIDAYS

“As die hard campers, this was 5 star ++ luxury, which we adored and was a perfect way to celebrate 20 years of marriage. We especially loved the bath, but also the more subtle things : camping ‘wild’ with no mown camp site grass and no tiny pitches with taxing neighbors. The yurt at night, lit only by the tea light lanterns, whilst cooking simple local produce on the wood burning stove, (no pubs for us – ours was here!!). The sound of acorns plopping on the roof in the night, looking up at the sky all through the night, the sounds of birds as arrivals scrabbling around outside, even the sound of rain added to the sense of serenity and well being. Who needs tropical beaches or game reserves! Soon our yurt research will be complete and we will buy our own.” Fiona and Joe (2007)

New for 2008. .......on the whole we are not going to change very much ....if it's not broken etc..... We are still going to go on not being a typical campsite.... Visitors can still be as private as they want to be, in as much comfort as we can dream up and Nature is interfered with as little as possible. But there are one or two things we would like to change............

There has been alot of stuff written about eco holidays this last year but there are still very few genuine environmentally friendly holidays about . The living lightly philosophy of our work at Yurtworks has always been the very basis of what we do since we started in 1997. This same ethos has been extended to Cornish Yurt Holidays since 2001.Over the next few weeks Ithere will be more detail about what we are doing on the land and the ideas behind it on the About Us page .

A very important part of what we do here is to make it easy for people to live in Nature, not uncomfortably and not for long maybe, but closer to it nonetheless .We don't have gravel paths and hook ups for elecricity , we don't have play areas and games rooms , but we do have the countryside and you don't have to look too far into it to find a wonderful range of stuff to see and do.

So the main changes this year are about making it easier and more fun for people to get the most out of their stay here ..............

Campcraft Courses from July onwards through the school holidays. The plan is to run one day or half day courses each week and aim to cover different methods of lighting campfires, different fire lays and fire safety, safe knife use and handling, and cooking on a camp fire. They will be aimed at all ages over the age of eight ( but children between 8 and 16 must be accompanied by an adult). The price for the day is to be confirmed.

Farm Walks: Part of the fun of going away is exploring new places, on your own, without a guide, and I would be the last person to discourage it but this year for the first time we will also be doing some guided walks through the summer holidays around the farm and workshop for an hour or so, so that you can start to feel at home here and learn a little about yurt making in the process. They are free and optional and aimed to give you a quick insight and an introduction into the history, natural and otherwise, of the area.

We have also put together a Welcome Pack for each yurt full of useful information, maps of the area and of the farm, yurt life guidelines, useful phone numbers etc.

Green Technology. This year we are putting in some simple low watt solar lighting in the 16ft yurt . Not only will it make reading and playing games easier, if you are interested in this kind of off grid technology it will also be a good opportunity to see a simple system in place.We shall also be installing a passive solar system to heat the water for the washing up area.

Inside/outside the yurt……… we are going to put small porches on the front of the yurts to stop rain blowing in when the door is open and to have somewhere to put boots and other wet stuff.

Of course, I am sure we are in for a beautiful summer and it won’t be rain much at all, so for sunnier more balmy days we will be hanging hammocks between the trees for dreaming and star gazing.

Yurtworks Skills courses run throughout the year covering various craft skills like bow making, yurt making, or basket making ( please see our Courses page for more details). Some run for a day others for longer if you book in good time in should be possible to combine a peaceful holiday with a hands on practical course learning a new skill. Booking a yurt stay and a course at the same time entitles you to a 10% discount on the price of a course (not applicable to the Camp craft courses).

The Holidays.........

With burning log fires and big open skies on the edge of Bodmin Moor the yurts are in a beautiful spot. Leaving your car behind, you come out on foot through the oaks and gorse to a view of north Cornwall that stretches from moor to sea. Following a meandering path for 120 metres  down unspoilt natural heathland, lined with blue bells and wood anemones in May and Tormentil and Willow Herb in summer, you emerge through an archway of gnarly Cornish oaks into a small sheltered field.

The deep green yurt is hard to see against the backdrop of oak and hawthorn trees and sits on a level wooden base, felt lined for maximum insulation. Sixteen feet across with standing room all round the yurt interior is in warm contrast to the greenery all around. It is lined throughout in red and yellow with beautiful hand stitched mongolian embroideries and woven bands in rich colours all around the walls. The floor is covered in carpets and rugs with futons and big cushions to flop onto. The yurt frame itself is made here in our workshop from coppiced ash with wiggly poles reaching up to the overhead wheel with a clear window to the sky. Lanterns, suspended from the roof poles, cast a warm glow and beautiful shadows in the evenings. It sleeps four to five people comfortably.

The wood burning stoves are set to one side leaving the middle of the yurts free and the view through the wheel unspoiled by a flue. The stoves warm the yurts up in minutes and have flat tops good for cooking on or you can use the small gas cooker beside it. There are plenty of cooking utensils, pots and pans, storage for food and shelves hanging from the trellis.

The 20ft yurt is about 200 metres from the car park, has white canvas covers with coloured linings and mongolian embroideries around the walls. The space and the light coming in through the canvas roof gives this yurt a bright airy feel. Erected on a deck in a separate field about 100 metres from the 16ft yurt, it is secluded and surrounded on two sides by Cornish hedgerow trees with an open view to the south west that stretches out across Cornwall.

The bathroom yurt is a short stroll away from either yurt and is also on a painted wooden base with rugs on the floor. The specially designed Coromandel wood burning water heater provides hot water through a spout straight into the roll top bath which stands in the middle of the yurt. It may take a little longer, but lying in the bath with the wood burner crackling away you can look up and see the trees and sky above you and time doesn’t really matter.

"We leave totally charmed by our days here with delicious memories to take away.We all love the loo and think it should be called “the throne”, so beautiful it is. I’ve relished every new part of being here from the lack of mirrors and light switches to washing up in such a beautiful kitchen(what a view) and reading stories until the candles burnt out, we never looked at a clock. Since slowing down, I’ve got that childish feeling of being excited all the time and not knowing why!” Lucy, April 07

The compost toilet is in a mini yurt or yurtlet with a big 60” wheel above and a lovely beech seat to sit on, and a painted wooden floor as a base.

In the reception area there is a fridge and freezer( there are separate chill boxes in the yurts), to keep things cool and facilities for recharging phones and other chargers. There is a small Moroccan barbecue outside the yurt and we  can provide locally produced charcoal, organic sausages, beef burgers, sausages and bacon, as well as eggs from our own hens.

Around and about: It is a peaceful setting away from the hurly burly of daily life, surrounded by beautiful trees and birdsong often with buzzards wheeling overhead. But it is just on the edge of the village, a 10 minute walk to the shop and the pub and only a half hour drive to the north coast. There are fine walks onto the moors and down into the valleys or you can wander through our fields and woods down to the banks of the river Camel. A little further downstream is the start of the Camel Trail, a cycle route which follows the river all the way to Padstow. There are local maps in the yurt and we are always here to help with places to visit.

 

updated january 2008