Penny Thomas has always favoured adventure holidays over lying on a beach. But this year, with UK destinations in such demand during the pandemic, she found a unique way to avoid the crowds.
Rather than staying in a busy campsite, or trying to get a rare available holiday home, Thomas, her partner Pete Matthews and labradoodle Betty checked into a 13th-century church. “It was the appeal of doing something a little bit different… I hate being disturbed by other people’s noise. You don’t get that when you’re sleeping among the dead,” she says, laughing.
The couple, from Warwickshire, are among record numbers of British holidaymakers who have gone “champing” – camping in churches – this year. The Airbnb-style service for redundant churches, which was started six years ago to bring new people into the empty buildings and help fund their upkeep, is usually very popular with international visitors. But, with coronavirus travel restrictions in place and huge demand for UK-based staycations, Champing, the official name of the Churches Conservation Trust (CCT)…
