A Little Bit Of Stardust

A piece of bare land beside the River Wyre has been used to create stylish accommodation that would suit any rock star,

- Roger Borrell

THERE was a time when bed and breakfast in a pub could be a rough and ready affair. Fast forward a decade or two and the best inns have rooms that are state of the art and stylish with food comparable to top restaurants.

So the pressure now is not just to be good but to stand out from the crowd. Step forward Julie and Patrick Beaume at the award-winning Cartford Inn in the pretty riverside hamlet of Little Eccleston.

They brought together artists and artisans to work with them on creating two of the most striking ‘pods’ to be found anywhere in the north. ‘We still aren’t sure about the word pod,’ laughs French-born Patrick. ‘But we don’t like to call them lodges – and cabins doesn’t sound quite right.’

They do defy description. To call them large wooden boxes on stilts might be technically accurate, but it hardly does justice to constructions that are architecturally interesting and very eco-friendly. They are also quirky – one ‘pod’ has a ceiling that is 5 per cent bigger than its floor space and the second is built the opposite way. Not quite the ‘crooked house’ you once found at fairgrounds but dramatic enough to make you stop in your tracks.

The wood that covers each of the steel frames comes from old floorboards rescued from a disused mill in Liverpool and the roof is definitely green having been planted with sedums. Guests stay warm thanks to an eco air source heat pump.