Tilly Gypsy-style Caravan Hut

A red gypsy-style caravan near Llangorse

Tilly is a gypsy-style caravan clad in red boards with a green pitched roof, scalloped bargeboards and a little chimney, standing on a smallholding between Llangorse and Talgarth, about seven miles from Brecon. It sleeps two. Guests on Booking.com score it 8.8 out of 10.

Inside

Wooden steps with a handrail climb to a half-glazed stable door. Inside it is cream tongue-and-groove on the walls and ceiling with striped red and white curtains at three windows, and the bed is made up in white with olive and red cushions and a tartan blanket. Two wicker armchairs face it across a pale wood floor, and there is a red-framed mirror on the wall and a little round-cornered table with a jug of flowers on it. It is small, and it is meant to be — this is a caravan, not a cabin, and the charm of it is that nothing has been squared off.

What is in the caravan and what is not

You sleep in the caravan and do everything else in the buildings across the grass, which you share with the other units here. Cooking and eating happen in a limewashed cabin — pitched boarded ceiling, fairy lights strung along it, a green-clothed table, a wicker chair, and a black tiled recess with logs stacked in it. The long unit has a stainless sink, a draining rack, wine glasses on the top and three open shelves of pans, bowls, plates and a toaster. The shower room has a glass-doored cubicle, a vanity unit with a basin, a mirror and a WC.

Outside

Pots of geraniums stand on the platform and marigolds come up in the gravel bed, with a striped table and two chairs alongside. Pansies are out by the cabin doors and there is a lean-to built on the far end. The site is a wide sweep of mown grass with mature trees round the edges and the hills beyond. A green hut with a red roof stands at one end, the caravan in the middle and a dark shepherds hut at the other, so there is plenty of space between them.

Llangorse Lake

The lake is a mile and a half down the road, and it is the largest natural lake in south Wales. It is a mile long and about 340 acres, and shallow enough to warm up in summer. There is a common at the northern end with a slipway, and you can hire a rowing boat or a canoe there in the season. It is best known among fishermen for pike, and among birdwatchers for the winter wildfowl that come in. A path runs along the shore from the common, and there is a sailing club on the lake. On a still evening the whole line of the Black Mountains sits upside down in it.

Getting here

It is about seven miles into Brecon for a supermarket and three the other way to Talgarth. Trains are no use here — Abergavenny is a twenty-mile drive — so come by car and take the farm track slowly.

Good to know

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

Is the shower private? No — it is in a separate building shared with the other units.

Where is the kitchen? In a shared timber cabin across the grass.

Is there a lavatory in the caravan? No, it is in the shower building.

Is there heating? There is a wood burner in the caravan.

How far is Llangorse Lake? About a mile and a half.

How far is Brecon? About seven miles.

What does it cost? From £75 a night for two.