Dragonfly Glamping

A mile and a half east of Lawrenny in Pembrokeshire, newly opened Dragonfly Camping is home to some suitably quirky glamping accommodation. It’s befitting for the area. This is, after all, the most sheltered stretch of the coast, where the long, deep river estuary – Cleddau Ddu – is populated with sailing dinghies, kayaks and tiny tending rowboats that to and fro from yachts. In summer Lawrenny Quay is abuzz with folks in deck shoes and buoyancy aids. So, along with Dragonfly’s resplendent shepherd’s hut, where better to stay nearby than in a floating, boating, buoyant glamping home?

Set on a small lake on 300-acre Little Pencoed Farm, the Kingfisher Housboat is safe from the ebb and flow of the tidal estuary and, instead, stays remarkably still on its calm, quiet waters. Nevertheless, the home gently shifts as you step aboard, reminding you that this is very much a floating abode, while the exterior decking means, on a sunny day, you can jump straight into the lake for a swim. Inside, the floating cabin is all exposed pinewood and timber finish. There’s a master bedroom (with a king-sized bed), a bathroom and an open plan living space with a modern kitchen and a sofa bed for two more campers. It’s luxury living, just with water on every side.

Back on terra ferma the Kingfisher is accompanied by a second luxury dwelling, a two-person shepherd’s hut, built by local craftsmen. The attention to detail is superb. An inbuilt double bed is supremely comfortable, cocooned at one end of the hut, while a stove warms the entire vessel and a beautiful (and vast) copper basin provides a rustic sink in the kitchen space (worthy of a fancy farmhouse). Space inside has been cheated by adding an extra, up-cycled horsebox next door – it houses an off-grid bathroom with a gas-powered hot shower and allows for extra room inside the hut itself. There’s even space to pitch an extra tent outside, too, if you fancy bringing a few more people along, though proper tent campers should head to Dragonfly's sister campsite run by the same family, Dragonfly Woodland Camping in the trees just a short stroll away.

It’s a half hour walk into Lawrenny village, home to all the traditional essentials – a shop, cricket club and 12th century church. It’s a little further down to the quay where the boat club is neighboured by a popular tearooms. The garden there makes for a great place to have a cuppa before or after walking a stretch of the waterside footpath, which takes you through the trees of National Trust-owned Cleddau Woodlands. The trail is a part of the longer and renowned Pembrokeshire Coast Path, while the endless popular beaches of the county are all within easy driving distance too.