Oh Cornwall, you have our hearts! It had been years (when Bertie was 1 and we stayed at the Bedruthan) but finally we made it back. And what a treat of a trip! One of the hallmarks of an amazing staycation, is the struggle it creates to find somewhere better when you start researching where to stay next year! Bluebell Down Farm in the far west of Cornwall was just that. Comfort and luxury, mixed with a perfect rural setting and stunning views across the fields to the sea.
This Easter we took our first cottage holiday with a dog in tow. I’d naively assumed that ‘dog friendly’ cottages would mean less nice, but thankfully that isn’t true. With Poppy and her things in the car as well as us and all our things we set off west to Cornwall, about as far as you can go without driving into the ocean! All the way to Morvah on the Penwith peninsula.
Bluebell Down Farm is off grid, up a bumpy track, on the edge of the village of Morvah in Cornwall. Essentially drive to St Ives or Penzance and keep going along the coast road and eventually when all you can see is sheep and Cornish ‘hedges’, you’ll know you’ve arrived!
I booked through Aspects Holiday and had no complaints. The cottage was particularly well-priced and both the company and the house-keeper were very helpful.
The cottage is upside down, to maximise the views down to the coast. We were amazed at how big it was too. Normally when you look at photos on a holiday website they are wide-angle and make things look bigger than they are, but on this occasion they hid what a treasure the cottage was!
You enter the living floor of the cottage up some stone steps and walk into a large kitchen area with big dining table and a corner sofa as well. Plenty of space to spread out and oodles of storage space for food and bits to be put away tidily. There’s a massive picture window which I assume used to be where hay bales were winched into it as a barn.
At the far end of the kitchen there’s a low doorway into the lounge area, which is beautiful. A sweet wood burning stove, plenty of soft seating, TV and many DVDs and books and above all two wonderful window seats with spectacular views. This is the kind of space that wants cold evenings and storms outside!
The two bedrooms are down two separate stair cases. This is worth bearing in mind if you have toddlers or younger children. In the main bedroom (steep stairs down from the middle of the house) there was a super king size bed which was incredibly comfortable and an adjoining en suite with a shower. The second bedroom down the other stairs (off the kitchen) was a twin, again very comfortable. There was a second family bathroom down here which had a bath, as well as a hallway to spread out the clothes airer.
The cottage has such beautiful decor. Someone with artistic flair has put it together, very jolly well. Lots of pattern as well as colour, it looks good and it’s a comfy space too. It’s a very rural spot so completely dark at night. Each room has a nightlight that is also a torch which is very handy.
Outside the property there is a semi-enclosed lawned garden. Poppy loved this space and we blocked off the entrance with a couple of garden chairs. In the garden is a sturdy set of table and chairs and plenty of sun as well as shelter from the wind. Whilst the views from the windowseats look west to the sea, the garden is at the front of the house looking east. Hidden away round the side of the house in a lean to structure is a washing machine and tumble drier.
There is also a shepherds hut at the property which you can rent. Nobody was there during our visit. It looked lovely, the same view down to the coast and it’s own lawn area. There are a couple of neighbouring farm houses but they have a separate entrance road and we didn’t see the people there at all.
The drive up to the house from the main road isn’t too bad, if you go the right way! The driveway to the house is bursting with bluebells and wild garlic in spring, and so many rabbits. When we arrived we drove a different way to the written instructions and along what felt more like a footpath than a road. But once we got our bearings we found the proper route in, which wasn’t too tricky. It did feel narrow in our SUV, and I would not recommend driving a sporty number here!
Mobile service at the house was non-existent which makes a nice change. There is WiFi which is perfectly fast, but intermittent. This didn’t bother us as we wanted to switch off. When I annoyingly had to work, with a bit of patience, and sitting near the router, it was ok. In the evenings rather than watch TV, we sat by the fire with our books.
Morvah is the nearest village, there isn’t a shop here but there is a little coffee shop and gallery. We didn’t visit it this time but have sheltered from the rain there many years ago and I can confirm it is lovely! The nearest good food shop is the Coop in St Just, stocked far better than a well-stocked Coop! There are other shops like a deli, baker and butcher in St Just too.
The nearest pub is The Gurnard’s Head and I don’t think I could name a better local pub – it’s charming and on this visit we had an excellent Sunday roast before having a good coastal walk to burn off the calories we’d just eaten. Another treat is the Tinners Arms in Zennor.
Staying at Bluebell Down Farm is for people that like being outdoors with limited data! There is a plethora of walks and it’s in a bit of Cornwall that many people don’t drive to. There are footpaths passing the end of the drive way and it is a short walk up to Chun Quoit, which is an standing stone Neolithic burial site as well as nearby the ruins of an Iron Age fort – Chun Castle.
We walked out to the beautiful and difficult to get to Portheras cove which I can’t recommend enough. It’s such a well located cottage to be able to get to somewhere like this so easily.
Other trips we took were to Geevor Tin Mine which is an absolute must, and their food offering is restaurant spec. Also nearby is the stunning bay of Sennen where the boys had a surfing lesson. We also walked from Cape Cornwall to Botallack and back, and to Nanjizal from Porthgwarra. St Ives isn’t far off either. We popped to Newlyn one evening to feast at Mackeral Sky, as well as mooching around the villages of Marazion and Mousehole at other tines.
Driven distances are tiny in this bit of Cornwall, they take a while to do but the number of miles is small. This was particularly good as we didn’t need to charge our EV during our visit. There are super fast chargers at Exeter Services and Redruth Costa.
Cornwall we will be back just as soon as we can find another cottage just as special!
