SATURDAY FEBRUARY 16 2013 WEST COUNTRY LIFE 23WCL-E01-S222 WEST COUNTRY LIFE SATURDAY FEBRUARY 16 2013 WCL-E01-S2

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H ow ’s this for a Saturday morningroutine: get woken up early by thekids, sort out breakfast, get themwashed and dressed, take the oldestone to football and then head to theshops with the youngest.

Try to find space for a pram in acoffee shop. Fail. Pick the oldest oneup from football, covered in mud,

head home. Sort out lunch. Then thefood for the Saturday night sleepover.Endure Saturday night sleepover.C o l l ap s e.

Sound familiar? Then try this one.Wake up on Saturday morning.

Make the kids breakfast as the suncomes in through the enormous win-dows and horses nibble the grass in

“h ap py ”, the cottage was a reallabour of love, and was built to be asenvironmentally friendly as pos-s i bl e.

The filling in the wall cavities isstraw, the giant wooden beams thatcross the lounge/kitchen area werereclaimed from the old St Lawrence’sHospital in Bodmin (and date back tothe 1600s) and all new material usedin the building of the cottage – be itstone, gravel or wood – was sourcedl o c a l ly.

And for those who like to think ofthemselves as energy-efficient, agiant digital display just inside thefront door lets you know how muchpower is being used, and how much ofit comes from the array of solarpanels on the roof.

Pat and Dave Smith, who run Bos-inver with a very hands-on approach,built Lowen with the idea of it beingas green as it could be. But whilethey’ve succeeded in doing that (thecottage is zero carbon and energyself-sufficient), it hasn’t detractedfrom the comfort guests feel.

Three double rooms (two en suite),with a twin room, allow for largegroups to stay, and the master bed-room is enormous.

The floor-to-ceiling windows in thelounge and dining area let in lots ofnatural light, and just outside horsesgraze in a large meadow, which is

travelframed by a view of distant hills. Andtucked around the corner from theveranda is an “extra” that will makemum and dad’s eyes light up – a hott u b.

So there are plenty of reasons tohang around the cottage, but alsoplenty of reasons to venture furtherafield into the farm.

The farmyard is home to dozens ofducks, chickens and geese, as well assheep and goats, and almost everyday farmer Dave leads anyone whowants to down there to feed the anim-a l s.

Seeing exciting animals throughthe fences of a zoo is one thing, butkneeling down while eager beakspeck at the seed in your hands is areal treat for children (although if theadults in our group were honest, theywould admit they probably enjoyed itjust as much as the young ones). Justhave some wet wipes at hand to helpwipe away the sheep slobber.

The farm, which sits in 30 acres ofwoodland and wildflower meadows,also has a wild animal trail, outdoor

Dream stay on thefarm is far fromrealms of fantasy

Forget the usual Saturday struggle, life at Bosinver Farmin Cornwall offers the perfect respite, as Steve Mellendiscovers. The wonderful blend of farmyard fun, beaches,a cosy fire and even a relaxing hot tub are a perfectantidote to all the stresses and strains

the meadow outside. Take the kidsdown to the nearby farmyard wherethey get given wellies and feed theducks and chickens. Then feed thesheep (all by hand, of course).

Go back to the house, prepare apacked lunch and head for the beach,where the kids tire themselves out.Back home as the sun sets, eat dinnerin front of the fire, before packing theexhausted kids off to bed. Oncethey’re asleep, mum and dad retire tothe outdoor hot tub and try to spotshooting stars.

If the second scenario sounds ap-pealing, then I have good news foryou, it’s not from the realms offantasy, but is something you canenjoy at a very special place in Corn-wall.

Bosinver Farm Cottages, a series ofself-catering properties on a farm atTrelowth, on the outskirts of St Aus-tell, offer a unique experience.

Each cottage – there are 19 in all,varying from ones for four people upto large family groups as big as 12 –comes with its own space, meaningthat although other groups are stay-ing nearby at the same time, yourprivacy isn’t infringed.

We were fortunate enough to stayin the most recent addition to the set,and arguably the jewel in the crown –L owe n .

Named using the Cornish word for

Bosinver Farm Cottages may be the perfect family retreat. There are many to choose from,including Coliza Cottage, pictured uppermost here. Bottom: Steve Mellen and family tooka drive to the picture postcard harbour at Mevagissey

‘Named using theCornish word forh a p py , thecottage was a reallabour of love, andwas built to be asenvironmentallyfriendly as possible’

Bosinver Farm Cottages, a series ofself-catering properties on a farm atTrelowth, on the outskirts of St Austell,offer a unique experience, writes SteveMellen. Our main picture shows Lowencottage, with one of Lowen’s bedroomsabove

factfilePrices (for a week) at Bosinver rangefrom around the £380 mark for afour-person cottage in the low season,to over £2,000 for the bigger propertiesin the high season. The website has avery easy to use tariff page.

Bosinver Farm Cottages, Trelowth, StAustell, Cornwall PL26 7DT. Tel: 0172672128. Email: Via the website atwww.bosinver.co.uk.

Bosinver has been shortlisted in theSouth West Tourism Excellence Awards2012, the winners of which will beannounced shortly. Bosinver isshortlisted in the category of ‘selfcatering holiday of the year’

The number of cottages at Bosinver Farm,but all have their own space

19heated swimming pool and soft playbar n.

In the course of a week you’ll wantto head off site, despite the charms ofthe farm, and there is plenty to seeand do within a short drive of thes i t e.

Excellent Cornish beaches such asPorthpean, in St Austell Bay, and ParSands with its dunes, are not far away,and plenty of others are withinre a ch .

The Eden Project is the most obvi-ous tourist attraction nearby, butvery close are the Lost Gardens ofHelig an.

We took a drive to the picture post-card harbour at Mevagissey, wherewe ate chips looking out to sea whilenearby fishermen cast their lines outinto the waves.

Fun as that was, though, thethought of an evening in Lowen luredus back early. Probably the urge to befirst in the queue for the hot tub.

passportJeremy Gates

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