Riverside Retreats Shepherds Hut, Newtown

A shepherd’s hut in a walled garden at Newtown

Riverside Retreats Shepherds Hut stands on the lawn at The Pump House in Newtown, below a stone retaining wall with the town above it. It sleeps two, and at around £63 a night it is one of the least expensive shepherd huts in Mid Wales. Guests on Booking.com score it 9.3 out of 10.

Inside the hut

A curved pine ceiling on exposed beams, pine walls and a pine floor. The bed is at the far end under a small curtained window, with three deep drawers built in beneath it and a small blue floral print on top. Leaf-print curtains hang at the windows either side. A blue two-seater sofa with a leaf-print cushion sits in the middle with a log side table beside it, and there is a flat-screen television and a clock on the pine wall. A white painted sideboard runs down one side with two high stools pulled up to it.

Sage green units and a tiled shower

The kitchen is a run of sage-green units with chrome handles under a wooden worktop. There is an induction hob, a stainless sink with a black tap, a matching sage kettle and four-slice toaster, and a wall cupboard over. Mugs printed with hens sit on the cupboard top. The shower room is separate, lined in white brick-bond tiles with an electric shower behind a glass door. A second small room holds a WC and a corner basin. Both look out onto the lawn.

The walled lawn

A wide lawn with stepping stones laid across it, geraniums along the foot of the hut, a cream arbour seat set against the stone wall and a wrought iron bistro table with two folding chairs. There is a timber shed and a lean-to at the top of the garden and a row of photinia in full red leaf along the boundary. The stable door has a diamond panel in it and opens onto all of that. Being in a town garden rather than a field, it is level underfoot and lit at night, which suits anyone who does not fancy a torch and a gate.

The Textile Museum

Newtown was a flannel town, and the building that shows you how is about fifteen minutes on foot. The Newtown Textile Museum at 5–7 Commercial Street is an 1830s weaving shop. The looms are on the top two floors, with three pairs of back-to-back cottages underneath, so the weavers lived below the work and climbed a ladder to it. The displays take you from fleece to finished flannel and take in the tanning and clog-making that went with it. It is open Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from twelve until four, from the end of April to the end of October.

Getting here

Newtown is on the A483 and has supermarkets, a cinema and plenty of places to eat, all within walking distance of the hut. Newtown station is on the Cambrian Line from Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth, and the hut is a walk from it, so you can come here without a car at all.

Good to know

How many does it sleep? Two, in one double bed.

Is the shower room private? Yes, and the WC is in its own room.

Is there a kitchen? Yes — induction hob, sink, kettle and toaster.

Can you walk into town? Yes, the hut is in Newtown itself.

Is there a railway station? Yes, on the Cambrian Line.

Is there a television? Yes, on the wall.

Is there parking? Yes, on site.

What does it cost? From around £63 a night for two.