Three years ago now, Claire and I set off for Wales, to spend several amazing days far away from roads, electricity, phones and people. Our home was the tipi above – Waterfall Tipi, and it was here that Claire agreed to marry me. Ever since, we have wanted to bring a tipi to Lackan Cottage Farm – they are a fantastic space to spend time in, and the perfect venue for the many meetings we have here, as well as another place for visitors to stay. Low impact living doesn’t get much better than a tipi.
So when the time came and I couldn’t resist any longer, I called Michael at Eco Retreats, and as luck would have it, he had the tipi that had been pitched at the Waterfall available to buy (they renew their tipis regularly). So a not so little piece of our family history is coming home, and we can’t wait to see it out in the camping field. Now all we have to do is prepare all the poles that we will need for it – no mean feat, as they are all 30 foot birch trees that must be de-barked, sanded and oiled before we can use them. So despite the pouring rain, we are working away at them, aided of course by Bettina.
We can’t resist putting it up as soon as possible, but it will be pitched properly from the spring, when we’ll be inviting visitors to sample its unique atmosphere.