GLAMPING AT THE WRIGGLY TIN
IN ONE LINE
A field full of quirky off-grid glamping huts in the heart of the South Downs countryside
SETTING THE SCENE
After wrapping up work on the Friday of the August bank holiday weekend we shut down our laptops and jumped on a train headed south, bound for a completely off-grid long weekend at The Wriggly Tin Shepherd Huts. The endearingly named ‘Wriggly tin’ is collection of unique and quirky huts (many clad in wriggly tin) tucked away in quiet corner of Hampshire and run by a friendly fellow named Alex. This is a great spot to come to if you want all the benefits of camping; nature, cooking outdoors, star gazing and quiet, with just a touch more comfort (and a whole lot more charm). We stayed 3 nights, which was a great amount of time to truly unwind and unplug.
OUR HUT “THE WRIGGLY INn”
The newest of the 8 huts, ‘The Wriggly Inn’ is a pint sized house which comes complete with shower and composting Loo. Most of the other huts have to head to the communal wash hut for their bathroom breaks (and water!), so we felt very smug to have the luxury of our own private facilities! The hut also has a small kitchen, outdoor fire-pit & indoor log burner with store and oven, bunk bed (double on the bottom, single on the top) and a dining table. While theres no electricity, Alex has thought of some clever ways to make you forget this by providing a mini “fridge” (an old military cooler) and a set of wonderfully nostalgic kerosene lanterns. Theres even a solar charged USB hub to keep your phone and camera charged up, not that you’ll find a signal very often!
THE SURROUNDING AREA
The Wriggly Tin has a brilliant visitor’s book that will be sent to you after booking. It includes suggested walks and local pubs and restaurants if you fancy exploring the local area. During our stay we made the easy walk over to the charming village of Hambledon, where we stopped by the tea room for scones before happening on a local fair. We also had a glass of wine at Hambledon Vineyard and on the following day walked to The Bat and Ball for lunch with a side of cricket (This corner of the world actually claims to be the spot where the rules of cricket were first drawn up).
GOOD TO KNOW / WHAT TO PACK
Depending on your priorities, there are plenty of options for huts, some dog friendly, some with hot tubs! Some with their own loos and showers and some with room for a whole family. The huts are all really well equipped for a long weekend stay. Alex will supply crisp linens, fluffy towels and most of the supplies you’ll need for a few days cooking; plates, cups, cutlery, pots, pans etc There’s also cooking basics like salt, pepper and oil although you will need to bring all your food with you.
We’d highly recommend pre-ordering the breakfast hamper and one of the ‘first night meals’ to lessen the amount of food you need to bring with you. Though there’s a couple of pubs within about 30mins walk of the cabin if you crave a pint and meal out.
Try not to bring too many foods that need refrigerating as there is limited space in the cooler
Bring slip on shoes for ducking in and out of the hut and walking shoes for exploring the local area
Bring spare teatowels or paper towels
A good book or other forms of analogue entertainment
THE HIGHS AND LOWS
We had such a lovely slow weekend out at the Wriggly Tin, it was wonderful to be completely surrounded by nature and we loved living without electricity or wifi (at least for a few days!) It was like a step back in time and by the Monday morning we felt fully recharged. Our highlight was cooking our meals on the open fire and sitting amongst the tall summer grass without feeling like we had to ‘do’ anything.
As for the lows, we would have preferred the surrounding field to be completely private, but even though there are other huts visible, they were at least well spaced and we actually rarely spotted anyone else, expect far in the distance. The biggest low was unfortunately a less than perfect sleep. Because the bed in the inn can be converted from a double to a single (great for friends, not great for couples) the mattress has a hard split in it and this was so uncomfortable and in such an awkward spot that one of us was always either laying painfully on top of it or squished against the wall to avoid it. We’d suggest other couples to request the split mattress be swapped out for a full double (which Alex let us know was possible, but sadly only after our stay!).
GETTING THERE
The nearest station is Petersfield, which is a quick one hour train ride from Waterloo and about a 20minute (approx £25) taxi drive from The Wriggly Tin. Alex has a list of taxi companies that service the station, although we might suggest you skip “Hambledon Cars” as we had pre-booked them and they never showed! Thankfully there is also a cab rank at the station and we got lucky to find a backup cabbie. Our return trip was booked with A2B Taxi and while slightly more expensive they were professional and efficient.
