Danderi Retreat

The Pembrokeshire Coast has long inspired great works of art. The likes of Graham Sutherland and Augustus John have perched on the rocks here, washing the blues, greens and browns across their canvas. Sandy beaches back into undulating hills, criss-crossed with dry stone walls that rise and fall through the river valleys. The picture perfect scenery is plain for all to see and in the small village of Glandwr, Shanna Mandira crafts her own take on this slice of West Wales.

When you first park your car in Danderi it’s a short walk from the main house into the garden. Push through the wooden gate to the orchard, where two levels of flat grass are surrounded by trees, and here the curving canvas of a geodeisic dome is snuggled in one corner. The colourful interior has a futon style double bed, flanked by bedside tables with candle-lit lanterns. Outside, a picnic bench and deck chairs allow you to make the most of summer evenings. The camp kitchen is one of the most unique spaces onsite. Naturally shaped wooden pillars hold up a corrugated roof that shelters a dual gas hob and all the utensils you're likely to need. It gives a bush-craft feel to what are really just the day-to-day commodities you’d want in a well-stocked kitchen. Back up in the house there is also a fridge you can use, accompanied by proper bathroom facilities.

A true camper forgoes the morning wander in favour of the more natural ablutions close at hand, in-keeping with the off-grid orchard setting. Hanging from the tree, a solar powered shower bag provides a most refreshing morning wash. If you’ve been graced with moody Welsh weather then it can be a bracing couple of minutes, but shivers down the spine may be as much from the pleasures of au naturel showering as from the lack of sun-warmed water! The rusticity of soaping off the smell of wood smoke as you look out across the surrounding trees is a unique pleasure.

If all the back-to-nature glamping beckons out your inner rambler, then the walker’s country beyond could not be better. It’s a 15 minute drive to the Preseli Bluestone Mountains and the mysterious Gwaun Valley. Both are riddled with superb footpaths, while the famous Pembrokeshire coast path is perhaps the pick of the bunch. Taking in cliff-top views and sheltered sandy coves it’ll remind you (as if you needed it) what makes West Wales so beautiful. Back at camp, Shanna runs rainy-day creative workshops in her studio gallery, the perfect chance to lay down your own watercolour landscape. We did say it might bring out your inner artist...