Evaluation: Willow Cottage, Bovey Tracey, Devon, UK

Willow Cottage is certainly one of Devon Hideaways’ hand-picked luxurious properties. A rural, romantic retreat for 2, on the fringes of the Dartmoor Nationwide Park, completely positioned for locating Devon. This snug cottage is simply one of many self-catering choices positioned on Little Dunley Cottages’ 24 acres of rural tranquillity close to Bovey Tracey and Newton Abbot.

Little Dunley is quietly secluded however inside strolling distance of the native pub, The Claycutters Arms, and solely 20 minutes’ drive to the closest seashore. It’s an idyllic website that reminds guests that Devon is as a lot a vacation way of thinking in addition to certainly one of England’s favorite counties.

A soothing land of bucket and spade seashores, fish feasts, headland walks, indulgent ice-creams and smugglers’ coves. A spot the place the creativeness involves life.

But close by Dartmoor is a harsh terrain of granite, tussocks and tors mendacity on the cooled lava of a volcano that has been extinct for 280 million years: a venue for wild adventures of climbing, swimming and strolling.

Does some other nation function such different magnificence?

The welcome

Codes for the gates to Little Dunley and for the important thing field to Willow Cottage had already been e-mailed previous to our arrival. Then it’s just some yards from our parking house to the entrance door to unpack.

The cottage

Willow Cottage is certainly one of 4 single storey properties accessed by a neatly landscaped pathway.

Open-plan residing gives a lightweight spacious space for kitchen, eating space and lounge. A two-seater couch is in place for leisure from a 54 inch flat display screen SMART tv that permits you to signal into your common apps.

The bed room incorporates a king-size double mattress and enticing decor of discrete lotions and greys. Rustic prints of sheep and flowery landscapes remind us that we’re hidden away deep in Devon’s patchwork of inexperienced valleys.

A big walk-in bathe, each rainfall and directional, has Elsyl toiletries at hand within the lavatory.

Underfloor heating, making Willow Cottage a comfy retreat is managed by two thermostats: one within the residing space, the opposite within the bed room.

The services

A coated patio hosts the hot-tub, perpetually set at 38 centigrade and serviced twice a day by Little Dunley’s workers. All we’ve to do is uncover it, step in and calm down.

Thick evergreen hedging and hazel hurdle fencing present privateness for a backyard of astroturf garden, sun-loungers and a desk and chairs for al fresco eating.

Past neighbouring Hazel Cottage there’s a small laundry room with washer and dryer.

Additionally it’s a mere three minutes’ stroll to the tennis courtroom, floodlit for night play. 4 completely different species of carp swim within the two fishing lakes with a 12 pounder the largest catch to date.

The placement

Willow Cottages is on the shoulder of the 368 sq. miles of the Dartmoor Nationwide Park. Over 450 miles of paths invite guests to discover England’s highest level south of The Pennines.

Africa might have its Large 5 however Dartmoor has a Little 5 that may be equally elusive. Seek for the threatened Marsh Fritillary butterfly, cuckoos that winter within the Congo, the world’s greatest slug rising as much as 20 cm lengthy, otters and the uncommon blue floor beetle. Black-faced sheep, ponies and thick-haired Galloway cattle are simpler to identify.

On the coronary heart of the blanket bogs, mysterious mires, gray granite and Hound of the Baskerville mists that make up Dartmoor sits Princetown. It homes a free-admission Dartmoor Nationwide Park customer centre with all of the maps, historical past and data you have to discover.

A brief stroll away, The Dartmoor Jail Museum tells the story of an establishment initially established for prisoners of the Napoleonic wars and the 1812 conflict with America. A cemetery accommodates 1217 French and 271 Individuals inmates who died.

The macabre museum information that prisoners’ boots left an arrow imprint in order that they might be tracked in the event that they escaped. Although Frank Mitchell, The Mad Axeman, was by no means recaptured.

Reveals vary from cardboard mannequin F1 automobiles that prisoners created to move the time by way of to menacingly improvised weapons, knifes and a knuckleduster topped with 6 inch nails.

At Buckfast Abbey, which celebrated its millennium in 2018, a floor-to-ceiling stained glass window of Christ, providing his physique and blood within the Eucharist, fascinates guests. Students imagine that the colors of the face echo these on the Turin Shroud.

The English Riviera, lies a brief drive to the south west, the place palm leaves flutter in Brixham, Paignton and Torquay.

Different good touches

Inside an hour of arrival, Dominic, from the Little Dunley workers, knocks on the door to examine that each one is effectively and that we’ve settled in.

A bottle of glowing Prosecco is a part of the welcome pack that additionally gives tea, espresso, sugar and milk.

The price

Quick breaks start from £510 while seven night time breaks price from £705.

The perfect bit

Devon is a foodie’s dream. A really well-equipped kitchen – full with tall fridge-freezer, hob, oven and dishwasher – encourages visitors to work their culinary magic with the county’s contemporary produce.

Close by Ashburton, with its impartial outlets, hosts a meals competition. While, often in late September and early October, the English Seafood Feast, together with an early morning tour of Brixham Fish Market takes place in over 30 eateries throughout the English Riviera.

The ultimate verdict

Willow Cottage gives clear, crisp, modern consolation in a removed from the madding crowd location. But it’s inside straightforward driving distance of the contrasting landscapes of primal Dartmoor and the alluring English Riviera. A romantic escape for all seasons.

Disclosure: Our keep was sponsored by Devon Hideaways.