Diddylake Shepherd Huts

It’s not often you get to stay in the heart of a National Landscape, within a Site of Special Scientific Interest, or on a Dark Sky Reserve, but Diddylake is in the middle of all three. The site consists of two handbuilt shepherd’s huts situated by the ruined Diddylake House on Cornwall’s Bodmin Moor. It feels a world away from just about anything and is all yours for the duration of your stay.

This is a solo-hire site and both huts are for you. One is your bedroom with a wood-burning stove and thick blankets keeping it cosy in any weather. The other is your kitchen with hobs and a dining table plus a barbecue and fire pit just outside. A shower and compost loo are in their own wood-and-wavy-tin hut down by the old house. The whole site is off grid and has been put together by host Jackson with recycled finds and local timber, giving the spaces a homely, timeless feel and excellent eco-friendly credentials. There might be a chilly stroll to the loo or a dash between the huts here and there, but it all gives you a sense of living in a different age and in a real wilderness.

Jackson’s home, the farmhouse, is a few hundred metres away, and doesn’t intrude on you at all, but it’s still close enough that you can wander up for assistance or to visit the cows he keeps. Beyond that, you have the whole of Bodmin Moor on your doorstep and the coast within easy reach. You can split your days between rambling in the hills and surfing from Cornwall’s beaches; generally enjoying the great outdoors. You’re certainly in touch with that here. Even lounging at the huts, you’ll not want for wildlife encounters. Birds include red kites, buzzards, swallows and skylarks to mention just a few. Listen carefully and you could hear a cuckoo. Deer and fox are frequent visitors and if you keep your eyes peeled you might see butterflies, dragonflies, newts and frogs. A camera comes in handy out here where there’s more wildlife than people and at night, that seclusion is brought home further by spectacular starry skies.