Yurtworld

Frontier Stoves from Cornwall

2012-01-30T03:20:00.000-08:00

The Frontier stove is made by Camping Solutions, in Cornwall, initially developed for disaster relief agencies, it incorporates plenty of features that make it a useful bit of kit for the domestic market as well. Long gone are the days of roughing it in drippy nylon tents. The advent of bell tents, safari tents, domes, pods and yurts, shows that we like our camping a little bit more comfortable than previously and if this means taking some of the mod cons camping then so be it. I personally draw the line at the kitchen sink, but a stove, that's a bit different, a stove can make the difference between misery or magic, divorce or devotion. It is easy to dream of sitting around the campfire in the evening with stars overhead, but due to the weather or overzealous regulations it is not always possible to have a campfire outside. So a lightweight stove like this is a perfect solution.

The Frontier stoves are very compact: the three legs fold up under the body of the stove, all the lengths of flue slide inside the fire box and even the small ember tray below the door can be unclipped and put inside to prevent it catching or getting lost. Packed up, it only measures length. 450mm x d.200mm x w.250mm. and assembly takes a matter of minutes. It even has its own carrying handle.

I was concerned that the size of the flue (60mm) would not provide adequate draw but in practice found it was easy to light and no problem to keep in, of course, like all fires and stoves, the drier, more seasoned wood you put in it the better it will burn. There is a baffle on the first section of flue to limit the draw and the door latch has a small catch to allow more draft through the door. The flat top is perfect for boiling a kettle on or frying up some eggs, constructed from mild steel it takes very little time to heat up to a useful cooking temperature.

There is no reason why it should only be used inside a tent or other structure, it is also just as useful outside in the same way that you might use a barbecue. The five lengths of flue are self supporting (although they would be safer supported ) and they do get hot, being uninsulated, so you would need to be mindful when there are children about. The stove itself heats up very quickly, so again you would need to be cautious with children running about, but that applies to all fires. The tripod legs are locked in place and provide a very stable support.

The Frontier Stove is unlikely to replace the wood burners in more permanent settings, but would be ideal for temporary camps especially if you were running some bushcraft or similar outdoor activities and you needed an indoor/undercover source of heat and cooking. The price of £129.99 plus £9.99 p & p from campingsolutions.co.uk makes it a useful bit of kit that will keep you warm without burning a hole in your pocket.

Low Flying Butterflies at Risk.

2012-01-03T02:30:00.000-08:00

Although the rare pearl bordered fritillary butterfly has been here for some time we haven't been able to do as much as we would have liked to encourage it, a little bit of ride clearance here and there, some bracken control etc. However we have recently signed up to a 10 year land stewardship scheme with the aim of doing more to help it survive. This will involve increasing the stocking rate on the farm, making more rides through the bracken and brambles, cutting back some of the scrub growth and some more coppicing of the overstood hazel stands.

There are a number of reasons for the butterflies demise, most linked to the way the land is managed, among them is the decline of violets , the principle food plant; the spread of dense scrub due to an absence of foraging/browsing animals hasn't helped either, and the overgrowth of traditional coppice into small woodlands presents high barriers that the butterfly cannot fly over or around.

The english countryside has been managed by man for so long there are no pockets of wilderness left and while it is often over managed or badly managed, I am broadly speaking in favour of any kind of management that will increase rather than diminish the biodiversity of an area. It is true the pearl bordered fritillary with its reluctance to fly high, requiring low level heathland without too many obstacles like hedges and woodland to hinder it, will not be quite as versatile as its more adaptable cousins like the silver washed fritillary, but it will be a great challenge to see if we can bring a greater variety of life to this hillside and help the butterflies at the same time.

With only 2 months left before the nesting season starts we start work this week. If you live locally and would be interested in helping out for a day or two please get in touch.

10 Years On.

2011-05-31T01:56:00.001-07:00

It was touch and go whether we would get it ready but the Ash Field Yurt finally had a new deck and a new pod in time for the opening day of the season. As it turns out it’s our 10th year running Cornish Yurt Holidays, an anniversary that has crept up on us, as it doesn’t seem that long ago that we started with one yurt on the top of the hill. After that blew away in a gale we moved lower down the hill in 2005 and slowly increased the number of yurts from one to three plus the recently added Pod. After many successful seasons and two successful planning applications along the way I hope we have found a good balance for us, the land and for those who come and stay.

However when I recently had an enquiry for a possible order for over a hundred yurts for a holiday site in France I realised that we haven’t grown very fast at all. There are now so many new yurt holiday businesses cropping up all over the place, each one bigger, greener, more sustainable, more luxurious than the last.Trailing through the directories, the web site homepages and the newspaper reviews it sometimes gets hard to tell one from the other.

Where does it all go from here? There are already multi pod yurts, yurt villages, yurt tree houses, yurts on boats , and at least one two storey yurt, so the possibilities go on, but despite the media’s obsession with what’s new, and a clear commercialisation of the alternative holiday market I’m not sure it’s about all that. Yurts work, which is why they have been around for so long, and in the right place with the right approach they can be enough in themselves. We have made Cornish Yurt Holidays the place we would like to go on holiday and very often this is the only place we go on holiday. It is always very special, even 10 years on, so we are going to keep on keeping it that way and let the place work its magic.

New for 2011

2010-12-28T04:32:00.001-08:00

With the weather turning warmer in the south west at least and the new year just round the corner, the idea of spring doesn't seem so far fetched. Although wary of new year resolutions the plan is to have a few more useful entries on the blog in 2011 and to put out a newsletter every quarter...

Although there are now yurt camps with 10 plus yurts, we are keeping it small just three yurts each one in its own field, one toilet/ig-loo for each yurt, and the bathroom yurt and solar shower to share between them.

Although it was up for the last part of the season the solar shower is the most significant new addition, part up-turned boat, part gothic archway the distinctive shape and big view of moss covered hawthorn trees is a very different type of shower.

The 10ft yurt pod attached to the 20ft Ash Field yurt will be up for April 2011, giving a separate but attached yurt for the kids and space for the adults to relax more comfortably in the evening. In the bathroom yurt we have finally found a suitable comfy chair and a place to rest your cuppa or glass of wine.

We are also installing a washing machine and dryer (not anywhere in earshot of the yurts), to make it easier for to those with young families to keep on top of the laundry without traipsing off to Wadebridge or Bodmin.

Although doing very little seems to be a popular past time for many who come here, this is rarely an option if you have children. In addition to the swings and hammocks we will have a sandpit, and a big pile of sticks and stuff for building shelters. There will also be a slackline ( a kind of low level tightrope ) for the adventurous or foolhardy of all ages.

For more details of the facilities and other ideas about what to do click here

To see the 2011 calendar and tarif click here.

Wood and Rush

2010-11-19T11:05:00.000-08:00

There is no doubt that making a chair from a tree is more difficult than it sounds, more difficult than yurt making too I am sure, but despite the obvious complexities, the notion of starting with a tree, felling it, cleaving it, axing it, drawknifing it, etc. until you have nineteen or so bits of wood that go together to make a simple chair, is a wonderful thing.

I am more proficient with the wood than with the rush seating which is how I came to spend an excellent weekend on one of Linda Lemieux courses on the edge of Dartmoor learning how to weave the rush into a chair seat. A woman of many talents and endless patience Linda grows her own willow for her beautiful baskets and harvests her rush for chair seats. The hospitality and excellent tuition makes for a great weekend . For more details see www.woodandrush.net

World of Interiors

2010-11-14T06:05:00.000-08:00

Ed Osbornes hand made stoves are featured in this months issue of World of Interiors. They have one picture of the gas bottle stove which is one of many of the full range of stoves and ranges that he makes. Portable and efficient, easy to light and good for cooking on we have used them for years in our yurts and have supplied them to many of our yurt buying customers. To find out more info about Parp stoves phone 01363 860001

Recent cancellation

2010-05-18T13:11:00.001-07:00

Recent cancellation - Bank Holiday weekend - 28th May

Weekend Bluebell Break for two for £160.

A short notice cancellation has come up in our 16ft Green Man yurt from the 28th May for 3 nights. It sleeps 2 with its own ig-loo just behind it. With a late spring Cornwall is looking beautiful at the moment, the yurt is surrounded with bluebells and the oak trees are just coming into leaf, and though the water in the river is still goosebump cold the air is getting warmer and the bees are buzzing at last. Altogether too good to miss but if it doesn't get booked we may have to go down there ourselves. Click here to make an enquiry.

Signs of Life

2010-01-21T14:20:00.001-08:00

There's a certain mystique around the ability to read tracks and signs; a sense of wonder surely helped by a childhood spent watching old westerns where Indian scouts read seemingly invisible signs in the dust or notice a bruised blade of grass on the prairie. It was usually portrayed as a skill outside the experience of your average white man. It doesn't need to be, of course, but it is a much neglected craft and one of the most rewarding in developing our understanding of the habits of our local wildlife.
Painstaking and occasionally obsessive, tracking/sign reading is an exercise in learning to look, learning
to move with animal stealth, learning to listen, and even learning to smell in a new way. All your senses including your
intuitive sixth are finely tuned. It is part observation and part
interpretation and a perfect antidote to the channel zapping, google
scrolling that our eyes are used to. It is a way of telling stories about the
countryside, building up a picture of the creatures who live there and the
significant landmarks and boundaries of their world.

Living in such a populated country, tracking and reading signs is made more difficult by one sign being overlaid by
another. Hiking boots may be kind on your feet but they leave a heavy mark
where they tread. However when it
snows its as though a whole new landscape has been laid down in front of you.
It sometimes seems like vandalism to disturb it, but it is a perfect time to start learning to read the signs and see how much wild life is teeming
around you.

Above: Shire horse and wallaby tracks. Below: Fox and blackbird

For a good introduction see "Animal Tracks and Signs" by Preben Bang and Preben Dahlstrom

Cornish yurt Holidays - new for 2010

2010-01-14T12:00:00.001-08:00

All this snowy weather has provided a much needed if not entirely welcome opportunity to catch up on the office work. We’ve been making a few changes to the website so that it gives more information about the place and what we do here. The new Cornish Yurt Holidays website, which will run along side the Yurtworks site will be up and running by the middle of February but in the meantime…

The new booking calender has already made it much easier for people to see what is available and the price of each week.

The gallery page has more photos of the farm, the yurts and what to see around and about.

We are staying with just three yurts so that we retain the peace and seclusion of the place. However we are making a few improvements to ensure that it’s a yurt experience visitors remember for all the right reasons.

We are making new double beds for all the yurts from local wood; a king size in the 20ft Ash Field Yurt and standard doubles in the two others. Futons are great and we will keep one in each of the 20ft Ash Field and 18ft Oak Wood Yurt, but a proper bed and mattress gives that touch more comfort and loads more storage underneath.

Along with the Farm Walk Map we shall be providing more information of local walks in the area. One of the beauties of the place is that you can just start walking from your yurt to explore some lovely places without getting into your car. The two tallest tors in Cornwall, Roughtor and Brown Willy can both be walked in a day from the village with grand views that take in the north and south coasts.

The solar shower will be up and running by the start of the season. We are building a wooden shower building similar to our Ig-loos , a bit like an upturned boat with a vaulted roof and cedar cladding.. The bathroom yurt remains the same apart from a new set of covers.

Because we are replacing them with beds we have two futons for sale if you are interested please let us know.

Kyrgyz-British Society Launch

2009-11-23T04:01:00.001-08:00

Recently in London I went to the launch of the new Kyrgyz - British Society a smart do in the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Portman Square attended by the ambassador, diplomatic staff, writers, business men, magazine publishers, aid workers and one yurtmaker.
The Society is a new initiative to promote Kyrgyz culture, business opportunities and tourism in the UK. The idea is to arrange various events through the year for Kyrgyz nationals resident in the UK and for anyone else interested in Kyrgyz life, culture and business.
Membership is £50 for the year, the website is still under construction but you will find contact details on the website.

End of Season offers

2009-10-01T03:46:00.001-07:00

As the season draws to an end the weather seems to get better and better, with barely any sign of the wet for over three weeks. Visitors have been making the most of the sunshine with early morning dips in the river and at last we get some evenings with a fiery sun setting behind the campfire.

We still have a few vacancies at a special end of season price of £180 for two people for four nights, they are midweek breaks so not ideal for everyone but when the weather is this good you have to make the most of it. Availability from 12th October - 16th October and from 19th-23rd October.

We close at the end of October and all the yurts come down for the winter. The calender for next year will be going up shortly as will a new Cornish Yurt Holidays website, but for those who like to plan ahead we are already taking bookings for next year.

Bushcraft Availability

2009-08-12T05:45:00.000-07:00

Despite the unpredictable weather, so far all the Family Bushcraft days have gone ahead - a little bit of drizzle seems a poor excuse to delay the event. It is bushcraft after all, it's all about feeling at home in nature whatever the weather.

We no longer do the nature walk and instead do Natural and man made Shelters, partly because its more useful in this weather but also alot more fun.

Dominic and Cathy's granite Story Circle beside the De Lank river has turned out to be a wonderful location with the sound of the stream behind and the burning log fire in the centre. As it is on the other side of the farm the only access is in the Land Rover which is a lurching, off road ride along farm tracks which helps wake everybody up before we start.

After shelter building and a quick coffee and juice break we move on to a bit of skewer making before preparing the bannocks. Cooked on sticks over the fire it's hand onbread making without pans and cook pots. Ingredients have ranged from chocolate and cheese together (not great) to cinnamon and sultana and rosemary and cheese.

After sharing out the bannocks so everyone gets to try the different flavours and a short lunch, we move on to fire making, always popular not always easy especially in the rain. It was very impressive to see three out of the four groups make fire from a bow drill ember as the rain poured down around them.

These are family days suitable for all ages over seven,and a very hands on introduction to bushcraft and outdoor living skills.

Spaces still available for the last one on the 24th August at £20 per person for the day.

Last Minute Availability

2009-08-06T07:36:00.000-07:00

Has just been booked -Sorry to anyone who has been trying to get through.(Last minute getaway now the sun has finally come out. Due to a very last minute cancellation we have a week in the 18ft oak wood yurt for only £395 ( should be £545 ). week starts tomorrow 7th August. part week also available).

Summer Bushcraft Courses

2009-07-23T01:54:00.001-07:00

The day long family Bushcraft courses that we will be runing from next week through the summer holidays have been really popular, with only a few spaces left on the 25th August. We shall be running one in the autumn too , dates to be confirmed.

We have added a Cornish Lobster Pot making course with Dave Drew to our autumn programme (17th Oct). Even if you don' live near the sea , have no boat and no possible chance of using the lobster pot they are beautiful objects that capture the spirit of a not so distant past where we were more capable at living with just the natural resources at our fingertips.The skills learnt on this course can be adapted to make other items, but the pot in itself is a wonderful piece of real craft.

The Berry Picking Basket making course on the 5th September coincides with the backberry, sloe and other wild fruits season. It is a day long course and is a very good introduction to basket making.

Both courses cost £35.

welcome

2009-07-02T16:10:00.000-07:00

She is by no means unique in the UK and though she has been here for over three years now it is still a strange sight to open your yurt door in the morning and see a wallaby looking back at you.

Last year she was joined by a male who stayed around until christmas until disappearing ... the joey was born early this year and has only just outgrown its mothers pouch. The male is back on the scene after all the hard work has been done and no doubt has plans to extend his family further.

A previous "wild" wallaby was shot several years ago with a tranquiliser and was unintentionally killed. The wallaby that is here now was almost captured two years ago in front of local news cameras, before the attempt was aborted. For the time being they remain largely unbothered by people, but as their population grows and their collective appetite increases, I wonder what future they will have.

It will be interesting to follow the story of the Loch Lomond wallabies, introduced onto the island of Inschconachan in the 1940's and now numbering over 60 and threatening native species by eating all the vegetation.There is serious talk of a cull which will rival the Hebridean hedgehog cull for controversy.

But we are some years from that dilemma here at the moment with only two and a bit wallabies; we can just watch with wonder as a joey half the size of its mother tries to clamber back into her pouch .

Just a test

2009-06-16T08:28:00.000-07:00

This is obviously not very interesting. Just a test post to kick off the Yurtworld blog.

There are many more interesting things to see on our website however. Click here to visit Yurtworks.