Looking for a holiday with a difference close to home this year? Then why not try award-winning glamping in a beautiful woodland. ROBERT OWEN reports

EVER heard of a tree bog?

Me neither. Until we stayed at glamping site Cosy Under Canvas, in Powys, that is.

It’ a toilet with willow around the edge which feeds from nutrients in urine and leaves other waste matter to break down into compost. It’s genius.

And it’s part of the sites off-grid, eco-friendly policy, which includes wood-fired showers, fire pit and solar lights.

But do not be mistaken into thinking Cosy Under Canvas is basic. Far from it.

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We stayed in one of its spacious geodesic dome tents, which comes complete with fluffy sheepskin rugs, comfy king sized beds, cocoon seats, and even a glorious wood-fired hot tub.

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Sure it takes three hours to heat up, but from chopping wood with an axe, getting the fire started, feeding the flames, and watching the temperature rise, the toil – for me anyway – made relaxing in the water afterwards while gazing at the stars all the more memorable. I loved it.

I also loved cooking with the site’s outdoor pizza oven. When ready to use, it was so hot that the entire inside brickwork turned white and the pizza baked in a matter of minutes. My wife called it the best thing I had ever cooked her.

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Tasty dough can be bought from the owner, Emma. You just supply the toppings.

There’s also a fully kitted, communal camp kitchen, which has everything you could possibly need. Just don’t bring any oven baked ready meals. Cosy Under Canvas is all about slow cooking.

The site is unlike anywhere I have ever stayed before.

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From the large wheelbarrows for moving your things from car park to dome across a postcard-perfect wildflower meadow, to the cosy corner lounge located in the centre of the site which is filled with board games and activities for kids, it’s a woodland retreat that will leave you feeling relaxed and recalibrated.

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In a world where it is nigh on impossible to disconnect from the relentless pull of the internet through our phones, Cosy Under Canvas offers up the opportunity to unwind and re-connect with more important things in the most natural way of all.

Less than an hour-and-a-half from Newport, Cosy Under Canvas, which opens up for the season today, is minutes from literary haven Hay-on-Wye.

Prices start from £32.50 per person per night.

For more information, see https://www.cosyundercanvas.co.uk/