Eco Chic Cottages - The Chestnuts and Culls Cottage are Places where Luxury and Sustainability meet.

Have a fantastic holiday, and tread lightly on the earth.

When we opened The Chestnuts holiday cottage over ten years ago, Eco Holidays had a touch of the worthy about them. They were often dimly lit - using as few lights as possible, swaddled in thick dark curtains to keep the warmth in and the cold out. Extra layers were often de rigueur to keep your core temperature up. I remember one eco-holiday where I barely removed my bobble hat - inside! But we knew the ethos was right; we just needed to do it differently.

Holidays are a special time to relax and indulge yourself; they shouldn’t be about giving things up (such as comfort) or wearing extra layers.

The Chestnuts and its sister cottage, Culls, deliver just that, and most of our guests don’t start looking for an Eco property. As far as we are concerned, all properties should do what they can

Our Favourite UK Walking Festivals for a Weekend Break

Walking with a group is a great way to discover spectacular locations while making new friends. The UK has roughly 80 walking festivals, encompassing everything from gentle woodland strolls to gruelling mountain ascents. Most are run by local ramblers passionate about sharing their knowledge with visitors, and with summer approaching, this is the perfect time to choose an event and book your place. Here are a few of our favourite festivals in some of the most beautiful parts of the UK. For each festival, we have included a recommended holiday cottage to stay in, while enjoying your walking holiday.

 

## Ulverston Walkfest

Friendly Lake District event for ramblers of all ages and abilities. Set in the southern fringes of the Lake District, Ulverston Walkfest runs from April 27 to May 6, emphasising respect and care for the environment. The festival includes a series of guided hikes

Holiday Cottages Near Our Favourite UK Child-Friendly Theme Parks

The UK has fantastic family attractions that are more than just a fairground ride - where kids can drive diggers, race sheep or meet mysterious woodland characters. From North Yorkshire to Devon, here are a few of our favourite small children’s theme parks.

The Big Sheep Rollercoasters, ‘EWEtopia’ indoor adventure playground, animal petting, lamb-feeding and sheep-racing on the North Devon coast

You will find this much-loved family attraction in Abbotsham, inland, from Westward Ho! Beach in North Devon. Sheep Racing (Red Ram wins by a nose ahead of Sheargar), Pony rides, animal shows, lambs to bottle feed, piglets to pet, sheep dogs at work, indoor adventure playground, the biggest rollercoaster in Devon and an award-winning brewery make the Big Sheep a great day out for the whole family. Venture there too early in your holiday, and be prepared for your children to demand a return visit.

A Selection of Our Favourite Holiday Cottages and Nearby Beaches in Dorset

We’ve matched a choice of delightful holiday cottages with one of Dorset’s fabulous Jurassic Coast beaches to inspire ideas for a memorable seaside self-catering holiday.

Dorset’s Jurassic Coast is home to incredible geology and an abundance of dinosaur fossils. This unspoiled stretch of sandy bays, towering cliffs and secret coves is a UNESCO World Heritage Site – a status shared with natural wonders of the world, such as the Great Barrier Reef. Whether you want to hunt for fossils, swim, sunbathe or spot dolphins from the coast path, holidays in Dorset are an excellent opportunity to explore this enchanting environment. We have a variety of holiday cottages in Dorset to choose from, none of which are more than a few miles from the coast. Here is a selection of desirable coastal cottages linked to some of Dorset’s fabulous beaches in this beautiful county, which we highly

A short break in pet-friendly holiday cottages in the Peak District is not complete without a visit (or two) to a local pub, along with a walk or a stroll there and back. Frequent visitors to the Peak District, dog owners, Wendy Boast and her husband, Neil, from Visit Peaks Holiday Cottages, like to sample old and new favourites each time they visit. Here’s a selection of some of their favourite pet-friendly Peak District pubs

  The Stable Bar

The Stable Bar (part of the Monsal Head Hotel and Restaurant) is 100% dog friendly, and its location is possibly one of the best in the Peak District for walks and views. From the Monsal Head, you overlook the Monsal Head viaduct and Monsal Trail, which has stunning scenery all around. The Stable Bar is a short diversion off the Monsal Trail, and there is plenty of parking if arriving by car. The Stable Bar food and beer are always good quality, there are some doggy snacks at the bar for four-legged friends, and

From fresh seafood and Cornish ale at Falmouth Harbour to the finest Yorkshire Dales cheese in the market town of Leyburn, food festivals are a great opportunity to get to know a region through its food and drink. Food festivals are also an excellent excuse to spend a weekend somewhere you haven’t visited before – and we have a variety of holiday cottages within a few miles of some of the UK’s best events. Here are a few of our favourite UK food festivals, from Sandringham in Norfolk to Abergavenny in Wales.

 

Powderham Food Festival, Devon

Delicious Devon cheese, meat and cider on the grounds of an ancient castle Powderham Food Festival takes place at Powderham Castle and Grounds, near Exeter. Visiting the castle’s ancient deer park by the Rive Exe estuary is lovely at any time of the year but particularly appealing when it is full of stalls selling the finest fresh produce from across the county. The festival is open from 9 am to 5 pm on

Glenuaig Lodge, a remote Highland holiday cottage on the Glencarron Estate, has been selected by The Daily Telegraph as one of the Top 10 Remotest Holiday Cottages in the UK.

This converted hunting lodge on the Glencarron Estate in Wester Ross can only be reached by 4WD vehicles - unless you fancy lugging a suitcase for 2-3 miles over rough terrain. If you want to get away from it all at any time of year to find yourself where eagles and magnificent stags outnumber humans, then take a look at Glencarron's page on My Favourite Holiday Cottages. There's no need to be totally alone - it sleeps eight and has all the backup generating power you would ever need, so you'll be snug and cosy inside its metre-thick walls even in the depths of winter.

Click here to read the complete list of The Telegraph's 10 Remote Cottages.

Yorkshire Dales Tea Rooms

The Yorkshire Dales are home to some of England’s most inspiring countryside, with heather moors, flat-topped hills and green valleys scattered with drystone dykes, farms and villages. The Dales are a paradise for walking; after that, there’s no better way to end a day of exploring than with afternoon tea at a traditional tearoom. We have a variety of holiday cottages in the Yorkshire Dales to choose from, and none of them is far from cosy tearooms where you can enjoy a pot of freshly brewed tea and a slice of homemade cake. In the meantime, here are a few of our favourite Yorkshire Dales tearooms.

 

Mill Race Traditional Teashop, Aysgarth Award-winning tearooms by the Yorkshire Dales’ most famous waterfalls

With delicious food and river views, Mill Race is a must after a walk around spectacular Aysgarth Falls in Wensleydale. These traditional tearooms are at an 18th-century mill overlooking the Upper Falls. Expect

The Holiday Homefront

Welcome to the April 2018 edition of The Holiday Homefront. This is a bit of a bumper issue. Over the past four weeks, we have found many ‘must-read articles’ you’ll past four weeks that you’ll need to relax with a cup or glass of something while you take it all in.

Main Image: Holly Tree House in Herefordshire

 

Pick and Choose to Read the News You Need

The Holiday Homefront is a free publication, but it will mainly appeal to anyone owning or managing holiday cottages (or planning to). It is published as and when we have a full house of interesting articles to tell you about - which is usually, but not always, once a month.

Our format is to include a title and a short snippet that conveys the purpose of the article and the benefits in store should you choose to read it in full. To read the whole story, click on the link.

You’ll also find a copy in the News section on our website: Click here to see back issues