A toilet and electricity-free stay in a caravan park took rustic to new heights for ANNA CAREY
‘IF THE weather’s nice it’ll be heaven.” I’m not sure how many times I said those words before heading off with my husband and two friends to Lovelane Caravans in the Lizard Peninsula, deep in the Cornish countryside.
Lovelane is a field full of gorgeously restored retro caravans from the 1950s and 1960s, run by Anna Bingham. This isn’t (shudder) “glamping” – the caravans are beautiful but authentically toilet- and electricity-free. Which is why we were a bit worried about the weather.
As it turns out, the weather was mostly terrible, but we had fun anyway. The field includes a variety of caravans, but my husband and I stayed in a shepherd’s hut, a little wooden structure on wheels, while our Cornish friend and her five-year-old daughter were across the field in a pink 1958 Sterling caravan. Much of our hut was taken up with a large and comfortable bed, bedecked in a hand-made patchwork quilt. With its checked curtains fluttering in the breeze, it’s a rustic dream.
The caravan, which sleeps two when its seats have been turned into a bed, has all its original features, and we spent a happy few minutes opening all its tiny cupboards and exclaiming over the lovingly sourced vintage china and cutlery. All the caravans are full of authentic retro fittings (the caravan includes Agatha Christie novels in their original dustjackets), and I drank my morning tea out of a 1935 King George and Queen Mary silver jubilee mug.
The youngest member of our party was keen to have a go on the nearby swing hanging from a tree. As we adults took turns to push her (and sometimes have a go ourselves) in the late afternoon sun, Lovelane really did seem like heaven, not least because Roskilly’s, the famous organic farm, is just a few minutes walk away.
We headed to the farm cafe for some delicious ice-cream before strolling to the nearby village of St Keverne to dine at The Greenhouse, a celebrated organic restaurant. We feasted on amazingly good haddock and chips before returning to our cosy new homes.
Charming as our accommodation is, it's not perfect. Although the website informed us that all we needed to bring were towels, our hut initially contained no form of illumination apart from a pretty, but useless, old paraffin road lamp, which gave about as much light as a car's indicator. Luckily the St Keverne Londis provided us with candles, and there's something lovely about curling up on the patchwork quilt reading Daphne Du Maurier's Frenchman's Creek(a novel set in the Lizard) by candlelight as the rain clatters on the roof.
OF COURSE, THIS loveliness vanishes whenever you need to go to the loo in the night, which entails a dash across the field to the light-free washing station.
In daylight, however, the washing station is charming – there’s a large sheltered sink, and a separate bathroom and lavatory. Hot water is unlimited. It was weirdly fun washing dishes and brushing teeth in the (more or less) open air, and bathing in the large tub, its exterior painted with Victorian-style kittens, was a joy. And the night-time toilet runs weren’t quite as bad after Anna Bingham delivers us some LED lights and a wind-up lantern.
Cornwall is full of amazing little beaches and coves. The nearest to the campsite is at Coverack, just over a mile away by public footpath. Guided by the yellow arrows embedded in gate posts, we followed the path across fields and down tree-shaded tracks, clambering over ancient stone stiles. The Famous Five-obsessed five-year-old had a brilliant time, insisting on being called Timmy and guiding us to the next arrow. When we arrived at the village, we ate pasties so delicious that even our Cornish friends were impressed.
The next day, however, a ramble was out of the question. It was lashing, so we donned rainjackets and drove to Cadgwith, a beautiful fishing village full of fairytale cottages. Even the hideous mizzle, as Cornish mist is known, couldn’t curb our enthusiasm.
There is so much to see in Cornwall that visitors are spoiled for choice, even in bad weather. We stopped off at the famous off-licence in Constantine, which sells £10,000 bottles of brandy (we get a bottle of plonk). And the hut seemed cosier than ever when we all pile in for a hot drink on our return.
The next day we bid farewell to Lovelane, but our Cornish adventure wasn't over. We visited the Minack Theatre near Land's End, an amazing open-air theatre created out of the cliff face by a woman called Rowena Cade. The sun is out at last, and a rehearsal of folk legend Martin Carthy's musical adaptation of Lark Rise to Candlefordwas taking place below us. As the cast's voices rose into the air, we sat on the grassy seats, eating pasties and gazing out at one of the most beautiful sea views I've ever seen.
I suspect we’d happily live in our Cornish hut forever if every day could be like this. Who needs electricity anyway?
Three nights at Lovelane Caravans costs from £180 (€217). See lovelanecaravans.com or call 00-44-01326-340406