Stylish Shepherds Hut with Amazing Views, Knighton

A shepherd’s hut in a garden above Knighton

This hut stands on a timber platform in a big sloping garden on the edge of Knighton, with the roofs of the town below it and a hillside under conifers behind. It sleeps two. Guests on Booking.com score it 9.5 out of 10 and mark the location 9.7.

Inside the hut

Cream boarded walls and a varnished pine ceiling arching over a tie beam. The bed is at one end, made up in flowered cotton, with a round fretwork mirror above it and a brass light either side. At the other end there are two armchairs by the French doors, one blue velvet with a tartan throw over the arm and one tan. Beside them sit a round side table, a shelf unit, a clock and a radiator, because this is a hut you can use in March.

The bathroom and the kitchen

Both are full-size rooms rather than corners of the hut, and that is what lifts this one. The bathroom has patterned floor tiles, a walk-in shower behind a glass screen, a vanity unit with a basin, a WC, an illuminated mirror, a heated towel rail and a hairdryer on the wall. The kitchen is a bright white room with a parquet-laid wooden floor, a chunky table with two mustard chairs, a tall fridge, a coffee machine on open shelves, and a worktop with a kettle and toaster.

The sloping lawn

The lawn is wide and drops away downhill, with a copper beech standing in the middle of it and a bench beyond. Shrub beds run down one side, and there is a raised bed of cosmos and dahlias at the end of the hut. Two metal sun loungers sit out on the grass. From the platform you look over the slate and red brick of Knighton to the long wooded hill behind, and the evening light comes in over the far side of the valley. Stepping out of the door onto a mown lawn rather than a farm gate is what people book this one for, and it is why it works in the shoulder months.

The Heart of Wales line

Knighton has a railway station, and it is one of the best reasons to come. The Heart of Wales line runs a hundred and twenty-one miles from Swansea to Shrewsbury, taking most of a day to do it, through country you cannot see from any road. There are four or five trains each way from Monday to Saturday and two on a Sunday. Many of the stops along it are request stops, so you tell the conductor when you get on and the driver stops for you. A return to Llandrindod Wells, a look round the town and the train home again is a whole day out without a car.

Getting here

Knighton sits on the A488 right on the border — the station is actually over in England, a few hundred yards from the town. There are shops and pubs within walking distance downhill, which is unusual for a hut like this. Ludlow is about seventeen miles east if you want a bigger day out.

Good to know

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

Is the bathroom private? Yes, and it is a full-size room with a walk-in shower.

Is there a kitchen? A separate room with a table, a tall fridge, a coffee machine, a kettle and a toaster. There is no hob or oven.

Can you walk into town? Yes, it is downhill into Knighton.

Is there a railway station? Yes, on the Heart of Wales line.

Is there heating? Yes, there is a radiator in the hut.

Is there parking? Yes, on site.

What does it cost? From around £118 a night for two.