‘We make £11,000 a year from an old hut’

Demand for glamping has exploded and many have invested in historic dwellings to take advantage of the boom, writes Samantha Partington

‘MANY MAY HAVE LOOKED AT THESE HUTS AND VIEWED THEM AS RUBBISH’ Sue Jewell

Neil Burrows had spent most of his life driving past “the rusty hut”, an abandoned shepherd’s wagon in a field at the side of the road in Kent. But one day in 2015, as he was passing by, he was shocked to see that it had gone. Mr Burrows, a 68-year-old farmer, stopped his car and tramped over the field to investigate.

Left in the ground was a wheel hub with the maker’s mark Marshall, Sons & Co, Gainsborough, a manufacturer of steam and agricultural equipment in the 1800s. Realising its heritage, he set off to find it. The hut had been dumped in a farmer’s field nearby. He agreed to pay £1,500 to take it off the farmer’s hands.

Mr Burrows and his wife, Wendy, 64, saw the potential to turn the hut into a distinctive five-star retreat and they created Greenhill Glamping, near Dover. “We weren’t just saving history, we’re making modern use of history,” said Mr Burrows. The income would be used to subsidise their farm, Alkham Court, and their bed and breakfast business.

Demand for unusual stays among

British holidaymakers has soared by 44pc since 2019, according to the data firm AirDNA. Glamping, a luxurious take on camping, has particularly attracted tourists’ attention: a report from Sykes Holiday Cottages found that demand this year was 46pc higher than in 2021 and 94pc higher than in 2019.

Shepherd’s huts, elaborate tents and other glamping set- ups are the most common type of holiday let offered by farmers because they can be cheap to set up and therefore offer a quicker return on investment. David Brown of the website Farm Stay UK said: “Farmers have had to find alternative income streams to support themselves, both before and after Brexit.”

The Burrowses used £ 20,000 of their savings to transform the hut over 15 months. With a passion for woodwork and restoring antique furniture, Mr Burrows did the remodelling himself. An 18th- century piano top has been turned into a shelf and an antique sheep-dipping tool is now a curtain pole.

They have since bought another hut and charge £145-£160 a night, based on a two- night booking. Shepherd’s Hut and its twin, Ploughman’s Retreat, generate about £11,000 in annual profits each. It took the couple about three years from opening the huts to recoup their initial outlay. Cleaning costs of £ 5,000 a year are the biggest drain on their profits.

Last year, when foreign travel was restricted, was a “bumper” period for the Burrowses. Although this year is quieter, they have had lots of repeat customers.

In 1999 Sue Jewell, 66, and her husband moved from near Southampton to buy Boturnell Farm, a 25-acre holding in Liskeard, south- east Cornwall. They quit their day jobs, as they expected to live on the takings from the farm’s two holiday lets .

But the cottages failed to bring in

CORNWALL

From £175 a week