Just like everyone else this year, my wife and I have puzzled about where to go this year for our main holiday.
We realised very early on that our beloved cruise line was not an option, and we decided that any thoughts of leaving these shores for sunnier climes was a risk not worth taking.
At the beginning of June, we were thinking about abandoning any thoughts of a summer break until a casual chat with a friendly taxi driver, who was taking us on a short local journey. He informed us that we were his last job for a couple of weeks as he and his family were off to a farm on the Northumberland Coast.
He was so enthusiastic about the place that we decided to look at the Annstead Farm Cottages website. (www.annstead.co.uk)
We’ve never considered Northumberland for a holiday before as places like Bamburgh Castle, Craster and Seahouses are more like day trip destinations for us as we live just two hours away in the neighbouring County of Durham.
We were impressed with what we saw on the website, and the Trip Advisor comments confirmed everything that our taxi driver had told us. (We did of course look to see if there was a review on Silver Travel Advisor first before consulting Trip Advisor).
So impressed were we that we searched availability in the hope that there might be something to suit us, but unfortunately everything was booked up solid until the middle of October.
We left our contact details with the owners in the hope that there might be a cancellation, and much to our surprise and delight, a dog friendly cottage sleeping two people became available in the middle of August.
Annstead Farm is situated between the delightful villages of Seahouses and Beadnell. Access to the sandy beach is directly opposite the farms entrance and through a kissing gate, and a hop and a step across the nature reserve dunes.
It’s a busy 600 acre family run farm and there is no escape from that fact in the month of August anyway as they busily bring in the harvest.
Our cottage, The Tackroom, is a delightful and very modern conversion of a former stable which sleeps two in a large bed and is one of a number of high-quality cottages around the farm which can accommodate up to 6 people.
A recent addition is a popular coffee shop, converted from a horsebox with outside seating, serving a range of coffees and other delicious temptations including homemade cakes and cookies.
The farm also boasts two superb caravan and tent sites, one of which is reserved for adults only, and accommodated within the former high walled garden. Just what they got up to in there I’m not sure, but maybe they just like to get away from noisy kids.
We are reliably informed that, like our taxi driver, some people return year after year, and having sampled a week here ourselves we can understand why.
