Inspired by life on the edge of the Arctic Circle, a couple have produced the ultimate garden building where they can eat year round from a barbecue which doubles as central heating.

The temperature was turning decidedly crisp outside, but Sara and Richard Whittall were warm and cosy in the garden munching on food they had prepared on the barbecue.

And that was in mid-February!
The sky darkened and temperatures plummeted, the Whittalls were still sitting snugly in their garden quarters, for this is the couple who have done two things since starting their business in June - revolutionised barbecues and learned to control the weather …in a manner of speaking.

They invented the Anglo Igloo, effectively an upmarket shed with a warm secret - what they call the ultimate barbecue. While that wonderful style of food is readily to hand, the attractive garden home is warm as toast, thanks to the cookery section doubling up as central heating.

So while the rest of us stashed away the garden gear in September, the Whittalls have been enjoying barbecued food with friends and family several times a week, a convivial atmosphere where guests on wall-mounted seating face each other across the barbecue.

'In fact we spent Christmas Day in the garden,' said Richard, pictured below with Sara. 'You don't expect to be sitting in the middle of your garden on Christmas Day entertaining 10 other people.'

The barbecue-come-heat source in the middle of the hexagonal-shaped timber building in the garden enabled Richard to cook a 14lb turkey to perfection.

The couple were inspired to develop the Anglo Igloo idea after a round Europe trip which took them to the fringes of the Arctic Circle.

The business was launched last June, and since then Richard has been kept busy at his workshop in Braishfield, making and erecting the Igloo.

Now what they call the ultimate barbecue house can be seen at Humbees of Marwell, opposite the entrance to the zoological park.

The show igloo was put up in the garden centre to give people more of an idea of what it was all about, as both Richard and Sara had experienced difficulty in articulating just what made their invention special and what they meant by the 'Anglo Igloo experience.'

'We tell people about it and they way 'oh'. Then they come in here and they say 'OH,' says Richard, trying to get over the difference between knowing in theory what the Igloo is like and the effect he has witnessed on friends and family of actually living the experience. 'As soon as they walk in, the penny drops.'

And this divide was also clear to Humbee's owner Rob Humby, when he saw it being assembled. 'I thought it was a nice looking building, but a shed,' he said. 'Since I have been inside and experienced it I have drastically changed my opinion.'

Rob said he was impressed by the quality when he saw it was made from two-inch thick timber; so much so that he tried it out with his family when the outside temperature was at freezing point. 'I would not normally dream of sitting out in the garden at this time of the year.'

For many, the lure of the outdoors and a return to a simpler, more basic way of life remains the stuff of dreams.

But a Winchester couple and their two children lived that dream - and now they hope they can help others to sample a taste of the freedom they enjoyed.

Richard and Sara Whittall, who are both 37, and their daughters, Megan (5) and Holly (3) spent an idyllic nine months last year travelling around Europe and Scandinavia and into the Arctic Circle as far as it was possible to go in their home-made motor home.

They have just returned to their Olivers Battery home with more than just the memories and teeming photo albums. They bring the inspiration to help fellow Britons enjoy outdoor life, whatever the weather and without venturing far from home.

Richard and Sara have formed the Anglo Igloo Company which provide what they describe as a 24 hour leisure-zone, a hand-crafted outbuilding which has, at its heart, their specially-developed 'ultimate barbecue' and fire and smoke control system.

Built-in seating for up to 15 people around the inside of the hexagonal-shaped structure means family barbecues and garden parties need never be abandoned due to the fickle British weather - and warmth of the central fire allows year-round use.

Richard and Sara drew their inspiration for the Anglo Igloo from the Lapp people, who call themselves Sapmi, reindeer herders who live in a lavvu - wigwam style tent with a central fire.

The family actually bought their own lavvu and camped our in the middle of the Arctic tundra in temperatures of minus 15 C and below, relying on the central fire for warmth and cooking and spending the night in reindeer skin sleeping bags.

'We decided even before we went that, when we came back, we didn't want to return to the rat race,' says Richard who is now a self-employed sales trainer.

'We were hoping to come back with an idea to develop.'

That idea came to them on a cold January evening, sitting in front of the chimenea in the garden of their Old Kennels lane home. Though not as cold as the Arctic, their thoughts returned to the lavvu and the idea was born - make it permanent and anglicise it.

Their garden is now graced with the prototype, complete with padded seating, a central barbecue big enough for several people to cook at once, and an adjustable chimney hood to be raised and lowered according to the type of central fire - wood or charcoal.

'Everyone has said how much they love it and ask when they are going to be invited round,' says Richard, who designed and made the central barbecue and chimney hood. 'It will appeal to everyone,' said Richard.

'It is ideal for people who enjoy the outdoors but who get frustrated with the weather,' added Sara. 'It is also good for people who enjoy entertaining and it's a great party zone.'

The absence of a television and microwave from their conceptual design of the Anglo Igloo provides an escape from what Sara sees as the packaged life.

'People recognise now that the British life-style is 'packaged'. You just switch the TV on, have pre-packaged meals - you don't have to do anything any more.

It was this wish for an escape which spurred the Whitetails in their plans to travel in the first place.

Sara had travelled the world before - Richard hadn't but wanted to. 'We were both professionals in the job market place for a long time and we were both disenchanted with it and wanted to do something as a family before the children reached the age when they couldn't be taken out of school,' explained Richard.

He got the idea to build his own motor home when the family were on holiday in Spain and he saw an old German army truck which had been converted into a caravan.

At the time, Richard was a sales manager and lived in Bristol, although he had grown up and attended school in Winchester. He got up at the crack of dawn, spent four hours commuting each day and hardly saw the children. Sara, too, was at her wits' end at the end of each day, juggling child care with household chores.

They had planned their adventure, but the events of September 11th, 2001, brought them forward by about 18 months. 'I have always been a 'live for the moment' person,' said Sara. But it sometimes takes something as horrendous as September 11th to kick start things.'