Holiday glamp in old Maltese bus was just the ticket for my needs

Seeking a short break with a difference, LYNETTE PINCHESS set off for Melbourne Hall and Johnny Vegas's Field of Dreams glamping site. It turned out to be a wise choice

- LYNETTE PINCHESS

T'S not the first time I've been glamping. It's usually those luxury pods and huts in a wood or a field, sometimes with a hot tub. But this is glamping Vegas-style. Not the bright lights of Las Vegas but Johnny Vegas' Field of Dreams.

The Lancashire actor and comedian's project to set up a glamping site with unloved vintage vehicles that have been beautifully restored was well documented in two series of Channel 4's Carry on Glamping, which revealed the ups and downs of turning what seemed like a pipedream into a reality.

We were staying on Patricia, a dilapidated bus that Johnny bought after a drunken 2am eBay bid.

What he didn't realise was the bus was in Malta, so viewers saw the whole shenanigans of getting the vehicle over to the UK. The epic mission was delayed when the tanker transporting it caught fire at sea.

Finally arriving in the UK after five months, the restoration turned out to be a bigger job than expected when the bus had to be dismantled and rebuilt. With its magnificent new look, the bus was named after his beloved late mum Patricia, but disaster struck again, when the brakes failed and it careered into a barn. denting the bodywork around the headlights.

After starting out in Yorkshire, the glamping site relocated to Melbourne Hall in Derbyshire. The last part of the drive to the Field of Dreams is picturesque, past a tree lined body of water known as "the pool".

We're amongst the last guests of the season to be staying at the site, where we're met by Cheryl, who looks after the vehicles and gives us the grand tour of Patricia.

Opening a drawer to show us the cooking implements, she says: "Johnny put these in here himself."

The glamping pods we've stayed in before have been fine and dandy. There's nothing wrong with the wood and magnolia surroundings, but they're often bland and 'vanilla'. Patricia is the complete opposite - a tutti-frutti, full of quirks and character.