The New Outdoor Games Area

(Boules court not actually curved in real life!)

Our new level and grassy games area is now complete and has already proved very popular with our guests (you can see an earlier news post about its construction here).

It has a purpose built full size boules court, a goal and balls for playing football, croquet and badminton sets, and deck chairs.

All overlooking the pond and fields and fenced off to make it secure for children.

Clematis

Clematis, our one bedroom cottage suitable for 2 adults plus a child, has seen a lot of changes in the last couple of years, including a new bathroom with underfloor heating, a new fireplace and even a new king-size bed. We are also in the process of painting a lot of the pine furniture in the cottages, including Clematis, and we think it looks fantastic (see bedroom photo above). Being our smallest cottage, Clematis also benefits from being our cheapest, so if you're a new family or a couple it is the perfect way to experience Knowle Farm for the first time. 

Coming soon...

This summer we have been working on a new area at Knowle Farm, just beyond the tennis court. We have raised and levelled the ground, positioned a load of old railway sleepers into a big rectangle, and grown some grass on the rest of it.

Creating the raised flat area

The rectangle is going to be a boules court, and it has been filled with several layers of differently sized gravel to create just the right surface. Boules is a simple game that any age can enjoy, and is great for a whole family to play together.

Packing down the layers of gravel

The rest of this levelled area is going to be a grassy space to play other games on - maybe football or badminton. We have 44 acres of land at Knowle Farm but until now none of it was really suitable for such things - all the trees, rivers, ponds, hills, and yes, sheep, tended to get in the way.

The (almost) finished area

This will of course be fenced in so that parents can be safe in the knowledge that their children won’t run off.

We won’t start using it just yet to give the new grass time to settle and to give us time to put in a few finishing touches (like the fencing and the goal posts), but we plan to have it ready to use by early next year.

Dartington Deer Park

A new walk has opened in nearby Dartington which we would very much recommend. Starting at the beautiful Dartington Estate (which is itself worth a visit), you will pass by open fields, ancient woodland, grassland meadows and along the River Dart. As the name suggests you will also have the chance to spot the deer that call the estate home.

You can either do a short there and back walk (about 15 minutes each way) or the full circular walk which will take around an hour to an hour and a half.

It is pushchair friendly though we'd recommend one that can handle some light off-roading. At the beginning or end of the walk we'd also recommend stopping at The Green Table cafe just up from the car park for some excellent locally sourced meals, cakes and drinks.

Countryfile Feature & Spring Offers

We have been featured on the Countryfile website as one of "the best farmstays for spring" - http://www.countryfile.com/article/holiday-ideas/best-farms-stays-spring.

To celebrate we've reduced our prices until the end of May - just visit our 'Prices & Availability' page for details. With our sheep currently right in the middle of lambing the next few weeks will be the perfect time to visit us.

This is our first lamb of the year  - born just a few days ago and only minutes old in this photo