Hello! Please note that we are always happy to consider requests for stays shorter than our listed preferred minimum of 7 nights.
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Our genuine Finnish lodge is the perfect hideaway, sitting in peaceful countryside, yet only 4 miles from the coast at Clovelly.
The vaulted ceilings, plentiful full-length windows and patio doors give the lodge a light and airy feel. Combine that with the scent of pine that still gently perfumes the place, and you feel at one with the fields and forests you see all around you. It has an access ramp rather than steps, the accommodation is all on one level, and it's one step out on to the enclosed private deck, where you can sit back and relax – chairs and tables provided! The lodge has plenty of wall-mounted heaters, so even in cooler seasons you'll be really comfy. Guests tell us -- and we agree -- that it's a great base for exploring the surrounding territory, which has so much to offer the visitor.
The major supermarkets will deliver internet orders to the lodge. The nearest shop is in Woolsery (2 miles). For a bigger choice of shops, Bradworthy and Kilkhampton are within 15 minutes, and Bude and Bideford within 20 minutes. There's also the Atlantic Village Outlet Shopping Centre in Bideford and, a bit more specialised, the Dartington Crystal factory and shop in Great Torrington.
The lodge is fully equipped, from teaspoons to roasting tins, from corkscrew to tea cosy, from TV/DVD to Scrabble, and all bed linen and towels are provided.
The attractions of the area start with the fishing lakes that are part of the site. They're a lovely place for non-anglers to walk, and they offer good fishing for roach, tench and carp. Your lodge rental includes two free permits for fishing there.
You may find yourself surprising an otter or a deer in the vicinity and, if you're a birdwatcher, you'll find plenty to occupy you, whether around the site, along the coast, on one of the designated paths (such as the South West Coast Path, the Tarka Trail [also for cyclists] or one of the four Hartland Peninsula Heritage Walks. It's just a 20-minute drive to Tamar Lakes at Alfardisworthy, where the upper lake offers watersports, a playground, a café and a wheelchair-friendly lakeside path, and the lower lake has an accessible hide, from which cormorants, sandpipers and ospreys are often visible -- to add to the herons, kingfishers and egrets to be seen at the upper lake.
There are plenty of places within a short drive of the lodge to keep children entertained, including The Big Sheep and the award-winning Milky Way. The (seasonal) Penstowe Manor pool and leisure facilities, 15 minutes away at Kilkhampton, prove popular on days when the weather is not so good. Penstowe also has restaurants and bars, but there's no shortage of fish & chip shops, pubs and other eateries within that distance of the lodge.
The Atlantic coast of Devon and Cornwall -- a dramatic mixture of rugged cliffs and sandy beaches -- is nearby, with ample opportunities for walking, cycling, surfing, golf, beach activities etc.
There are also houses and gardens to visit within a few miles, including Hartland Abbey, Rosemoor RHS Garden and Docton Mill Gardens & Tea Rooms. There’s also a choice of museums: Hartland Quay, the North Devon Maritime in Appledore, the Burton Art Gallery & Museum in Bideford, Great Torrington Heritage Museum & Archive, The Museum of Barnstaple & North Devon (including the Tarka Gallery), Holsworthy Museum and, across the water, in Braunton there’s the Museum of British Surfing. A drive towards Exmoor could take you to Arlington Court and the National Trust Carriage Museum.
Carriages could be seen closer at hand, at Hartland Abbey, during the filming of the 2008 BBC Sense and Sensibility adaptation. The Abbey and its estate have a long history of this kind of activity, from the days when Walt Disney came to film his original adaptation of Treasure Island right up to the BBC’s 2016 series of John Le Carré’s The Night Manager. Along the way, it featured in a production of Rosamunde Pilcher’s The Shell Seekers (Die Muschelsucher, for the benefit of her large German fanbase).
Wherever your interests take you, Tamar Lodge will be waiting to welcome you back after your day spent exploring what North Devon and North Cornwall have to offer. We’re biased, but we think you’ll love it!
