Bert’s Kitchen Garden: How an eco-campsite in North Wales became a haven for frazzled Londoners

I’m lying in a warm bed in North Wales. As I drift off to sleep, the sound of gentle rain patters on the roof above my head; the following morning, I awake to a smattering of soft birdsong just outside the window. I wonder to myself: have I fallen into a meditation app? I certainly feel calmer than I have in weeks, the ongoing soundscape very different to my usual city concerto of bleeps, pings and bustling tube platforms. But no, I am in fact nestled a shepherd’s hut nestled in the haven without Wi-Fi that is Bert’s Kitchen Garden.

I arrived at Bert’s as a frazzled Londoner in search of a place to switch off, where I could turn to the most time-trusted of all remedies to sooth my soul: good old-fashioned nature. It’s the staycation that I’d heard much about. People vowing they’d never camp again until they pitched up in this spot. Being heralded as a remedy for family holiday disasters. It all sounded great – the only problem was… I hate camping. I set a lot of store by my creature comforts; you know, things like hot showers, cosy duvets, not going for a wee in a bush.

Fortunately, Bert’s doesn’t just cater for campers. It’s a campsite that is equally welcoming to camping sceptics like me. It was set up in 2019 by Ali and Ian Paice, who were exhausted Londoners themselves when they decided to look for a place to truly put down roots with their three children. The criteria: find a place that cost less than £500,000 in a community where they could build a new life. They alighted on a farmhouse and its surrounding land in the dainty Welsh village of Trefor and made it their home.

Bert’s – named after the campervan they had travelled the world in, which was later used to serve food from – became their business, a place that would offer the chance to “sleep, eat and escape”. Here, visitors would find a place to eat great food grown on site, where families could let their kids run free (multiple rope swings adorn the trees), where the site could act as a base for exploring the beautiful Llyn Penisula or just hanging out at the beach round the corner, and where, of course, non-campers could still flock without fear.

It took a year to prepare the site, which back in 2018 was in a battle against…