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© Lakeside Cottage 2011
Lakeside Cottage is wonderfully centrally situated in South Hams for visiting all the delights that this area has to offer. It also has ease of access to the A38 dual carriageway which is 5 miles away. Situated around Devon are castles, both ruined and inhabited ones, gardens, historic houses and towns, craft centres, wildlife parks, a zoo, a model village, the National Marine Aquarium, a Benedictine Monastery - so much to see and do and at the end of the day there are many excellent restaurants and pubs serving food to wine and dine in.
Wild and ruggedly beautiful
*Dartmoor National Park is just 3 miles away. With its wooded gorges, rivers tumbling over rocks and impressive Tors (tor = a rock outcrop formed by weathering, usually on or near the summit of a hill), there are wonderful walks and drives (with plenty of small car parking areas). There are also two notable hotels with excellent restaurants, both set in acres of stunning grounds. Gidleigh Park, near Chagford, is one of England’s finest small country house hotels; Holne Chase, near Ashburton, is also a small country house hotel, with a very ‘comfortable’ ambiance.
*Erme Valley Trail, a 3 mile walk from Ermington to Ivybridge (with a rural river valley landscape) passes by the entrance to Lakeside.
*Bluebell woods - at the beginning of May there is a carpet of bluebells in Ermington Woods, which are just around the corner.
*Mothecombe, Wonwell and Bantham – some of the lovely clean beaches of the South Hams are nearby, the nearest about 4 miles from us.
The historic, small town of
*Totnes is a short drive away. Here you can, among other things, travel on a steam train to Buckfastleigh, look around a ruined castle on a hilltop, pay a visit to the Dartington Hall Estate which has one of the finest English gardens, a Craft Centre (with 11 shops, 2 restaurants plus workshops), a 14th C.Barn cinema and a good restaurant in the imposing baronial hall which is located within the Medieval Courtyard.
*Paignton has an excellent Environmental Park Zoo, its 85 acres set mostly in woodland; a steam train which travels 7 miles along the Torbay Coast to Kingswear, from where there is a ferry across to Dartmouth.
*City of Plymouth, a maritime city with the historic Mayflower Steps, from where the Pilgrim Fathers set sail in the Mayflower on their famous journey of discovery. Plymouth is also home to the National Marine Aquarium, the excellent Theatre Royal and nearby Saltram House (NT)’.
*The Riverside Mill at Bovey Tracey, a gateway town to Dartmoor, is the home of The Devon Guild of Craftsmen with an exhibition gallery and craft showrooms, both having a changing programme of work shown.
*Babbacombe Bay has a model village with miniature landscaping, lakes and waterfalls.
*Buckfast Abbey. With parts dating back to the 12th C. Buckfast Abbey, at Buckfast near Buckfastleigh, is a living Benedictine Monastery, the monks returning here around a century ago after an absence of 350 years. There is more to see than just the Abbey - three gardens, gift and produce shops and a restaurant.
*The Eden Project, near St. Austell in Cornwall, is about a 1 1/2hr drive and is a collection of massive Biomes, each with a different climatic condition, housing wild plants and crops which reflect the diversity of our planet. It was constructed in an exhausted china clay quarry and has become one of the best known attractions in the South West.
*The Jurassic Coast in Dorset is about a 1 3/4hr drive and is England’s first natural World Heritage Site, here fossil-hunters walk the beaches between Lyme Regis and Charmouth – Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre identifies fossils found in the area; the oldest rocks date back 185 million years (the Jurassic period), these are at Orcombe Point, Exmouth, in East Devon.
*Castles. If you enjoy looking around castles there are plenty to choose from, both ruined and inhabited and some with wonderful gardens. In ruins are Berry Pomeroy Castle, at Berry Pomeroy near Totnes, a romantic ruin which has numerous interesting legends associated with it; Totnes Castle, at Totnes, is set on a hilltop and is a great example of a Norman motte and bailey castle; Okehampton Castle is another romantic ruin, at Okehampton on the northern edge of Dartmoor National Park, and it was once the largest castle in Devon. Dartmouth Castle was built in the 14th C. as a fortress to guard the Dart estuary and the homes and warehouses of the wealthy medieval merchants. Of the inhabited castles (and these all have excellent grounds and gardens) Powderham Castle is set in an ancient deer park beside the River Exe, it was built over 600 years ago and is still the home of the Courtenay family whose ancestor Sir Philip Courtenay had the castle built; Castle Drogo (NT) not far from Exeter at Drewsteignton was the last castle to be built in England, it has stunning views over Dartmoor and a delightful formal garden; Compton Castle, a dramatic fortified manor house was built between 14th C. and 16th C. and is another castle which is still the home of the family which built it, interesting gardens with a Rose Garden and a Knot garden.
*Gardens. Some of the nicest gardens to visit :- The Garden House at Buckland Monachorum, near Tavistock, is 10 acres with a feature terraced walled garden around a ruined vicarage; Coleton Fishacre (NT) at Kingswear, is a luxuriant garden by the sea and has a house with an Art Deco influenced interior; Lukesland, at Ivybridge is 24 acres set in a small valley and is especially lovely when rhododendrons and magnolias are in flower; Bicton Park, East Budleigh near Exeter, has over 60 acres of botanical gardens, an Arboretum and a 19th C. Palm House, which is over 20 years older than the one at Kew Gardens.
*Animals. Dartmoor Zoo, on the south western edge of Dartmoor near the village of Sparkwell, has probably one of the most comprehensive Big Cat collections in the South West and is well worth a visit, its variety of animals too many to mention here; Living Coasts in Torquay is the place to go to see some sea animals - penguins, seals, birds and stingrays; The Miniature Pony Centre at Moretonhampstead has some lovely birds of prey as well as ponies.
*Shopping. The Cathedral City of Exeter, with its very good University and large student population, is one of the liveliest cities in the south west. Since the opening of the new Princesshay shopping centre in 2007 it has developed a buzzy, big city atmosphere and is definitely a must for a shopping trip.