Cool Camping. Laura James

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      Picture credit: The Tipi Company

      One of the great advantages of a tipi, is that you can have a fire in it. If you don’t want to light one directly on the ground, you can have a wood-burning stove, a fire bowl or a cast-iron chiminea. Drifting off to sleep in a tipi, while the fire crackles, is an intensely relaxing experience.

      The shape of the tipi, as well as being practical, has spiritual significance. According to Greg Bramford, from The Tipi Company, “traditionally the tipi was a temple as well as a home. The floor of the tipi represented the earth on which we live, the walls the sky, and the poles the trails from earth to the spirit world, the links between man and the great mystery”.

      There are a number of places where you can go and camp in a tipi. Many are included in the listings section. Also, there are companies who hire out tipis and will erect them at a site of your choosing. This can be a campsite, field or festival.

      “I used to hire tipis for guests to sleep in when I had parties in the countryside,” says designer Alice Temperley. “Then, a few years ago, I broke my shoulder rather badly and was bed-bound for a couple of months. When I was allowed to get up, my husband walked me to the orchard and he had bought me a tipi with coloured ribbons hanging from the poles. It is the most romantic gift I have ever had.

      “In the summer, I sleep in my tipi whenever I go home to Somerset for the weekend. I have a big Balinese bed in there and lots of sheepskin, so it’s a little luxury countryside retreat.

      “I love tipis because they are just so special. Romantic and spacious and whenever I sleep in one I feel as if I’m not in the English countryside, but some magical place somewhere that cannot be explained, really.”

      Glastonbury festival’s Emily Eavis says: “I love tipis. A tipi is the most beautiful place to camp. There are always lots of tipis at Glastonbury. They’re all over the site and then there’s the tipi field. It’s amazing. They look really beautiful against the skyline.“

      Picture credit: Tipi.co.uk; The Tipi Company

       Tipi tips

      Fire safety

      Remember to take a small fire extinguisher and a sharp knife in case you need to get out of the tipi quickly and your exit is blocked. Both of these should be hung from a string attached to one of the tipi poles and should be clearly visible.

      Looking good

      You can make your tipi look fantastic by hanging strings of beads from the poles inside, using fur throws and lots of cushions. Ribbons tied right at the end of the poles look great blowing in the wind.

      Stay cool

      The smoke flaps of your tipi act like a natural chimney and should, of course, be open whenever you have a fire inside the tipi. In the summer, though, they can also help create a through-draught which will keep the interior comfortably cool in warmer weather.

      Picture credit: Tipi.co.uk; The Tipi Company

       getting it up

       The alternative guide to erecting a tipi

       1. Stand there looking perplexed

      You’ll attract a crowd eager to advise

       2. Chat for a bit

      You’ll make friends to join you in the tipi

       3. Suggest opening a bottle

      A glass of wine will pull things into focus

       4. Get out paper and a pen

      Draw a picture of how the tipi should look

       5. Phone a friend for advice

      Gossip and let them talk to your new friends

       6. Elect a leader

      They’ll lose face if it all goes horribly wrong

       7. Check the local hotel guide

      Suddenly the great indoors is looking very attractive

      Picture credit: Canvas Chic

essentials yurts

       everybody yurts

      Hired by Madonna for her parties and bought by many people as second homes, yurts are simply gorgeous.

      Out of all camping structures the yurt is perhaps the most flexible. They’re surprisingly portable and easy to put up, but are robust enough to stay up for long periods. In Mongolia, the word for yurt (which is actually Russian) is ‘ger’ and it means ‘home’.

      The yurt is self-supporting. The frame is made from individual sections of wooden lattice work and the cover is made from canvas, felt or skins. The roof ring is the most complex element of the yurt. It’s into this ring that the roof poles slot.

      Nigel Harvey, a passionate camper who left school to become a shepherd in South America, knows a thing or two about camping. He runs a brilliant company called Ride World Wide, which arranges holidays on horseback all around the globe. The company uses Yurts in Mongolia and Nigel loves them. “I love the family life that goes on inside a yurt,” he says. “And there’s a lot of interest in the way they’re put up. You have to lift the ring with sticks and prop it up. It’s actually quite a mechanical feat.

      “The yurt is amazingly intricate and has walls which keep in the warmth and a ventilation system which is little more than a cloth on a pole. It works really well though.”

      While arguably the coolest thing to camp in, the yurt is actually practical and, importantly, comfortable. If you’re tall you don’t get the same sense of being cramped in a yurt that you do in an ordinary tent.

      The yurt is also one of the most proven of camping structures. Jonathan Morriss, of Bruton Yurts, agrees. “The СКАЧАТЬ