Vage walking
I have recently been lucky enough to stay at Hendra Retreat Holiday Barns as a base for some of my walking, and would like to thank wholeheartedly, Bridget and Tom for their warm and hospitable welcome. Upon arrival I was welcomed as an old friend rather than a customer, and was delighted to be given a tour of what they have achieved (and are rightfully very proud of) with their complex of barn conversions (real homes from homes).
This self-catering holiday accommodation (which you can book for a single night, a mid-week break, a week or longer) is great for families and welcoming for pets, with a field for dogs and children to roam adjacent to the barns, and enclosed areas at the rear of each where you can have a BBQ if you wish. Although self-catering, Bridget and Tom ensured that there was tea, coffee and milk
However, let me start with my arrival. Driving into the tarmacked courtyard, the three barn conversions are on our right. First `Piglets`, then in the centre `Milking Parlour` and at the end `Owls Roost`.
They have been cleverly remodelled in such a way that as you walk through the front door, you are left thinking that you have just entered the tardis. I stayed in The Milking Parlour, which sleeps 4 (a double room and a room with two singles), and was immediately struck by the warmth and cleanliness. The high standard of fitting and the clean lines, give an airy feel, and as I walked up to the open plan lounge/diner/kitchen with three roof windows, I felt immediately comfortable. and although I found the mattress to be extremely comfortable (and this shows the level of commitment Bridget and Tom have to your comfortable stay) they are in the process of replacing all the mattresses with memory foam.
The bathroom has a good sized shower and ample room for drying off, whilst also having a toilet and a washbasin with plenty of room for toiletries, and as I have previously stated, a newly laid tile floor.
With the thick barn walls and the secluded location, I found that I slept like a log and did not hear a thing until morning (not even the resident owl!).
As I said, I stayed in `The Milking Parlour` which can sleep four. However, if you need a little more space or have a larger party you could book either `Owls Roost` which has en-suites for the four it can sleep or `Piglets` which can sleep nine! Having been in all three, I can attest for the same clean lines, the same high standard of fitting and most of all the same cleanliness, warmth and comfortable layout and furniture that greeted me with The Milking Parlour.
Each of the conversions also has a welcome folder telling you of places to visit or things to do in the area, but I found of particular interest the photo`s at the rear of these folders giving a record of the conversions taking place. Where I stayed had been the actual milking parlour, and it is most definitely different!!
These ideally situated barn conversions are barely 5 minutes from the North Cornish town of Camelford, known as the Gateway to the Moors, and therefore perfect for those of us who are wishing to walk to Rough Tor (pronounced Row Tor) or Brown Willy (Bron Wenilli in Cornish, meaning Hill of Swallows). However, Camelford is also the central hub for the National Trails of the Moorland Walk, the Watermill Walk and the Camelford Way.
They are also a superb base for coastal walking, being just 5 miles from Trebarwith Strand, and only a little farther from Tintagel, St. Nectan`s Glen and Port Isaac, and I look forward to sharing many of these walks with you, as I return again to Hendra Retreat Holiday Barns to use as my base.
Camelford itself is served by two Pubs, a Fish and Chip shop, a Spar and a Co-op. It has good parking within the town centre, as well as good public toilets. It is also worth chatting with Bridget and Tom to know where they have negotiated special prices for their guests.
I look forward to returning again very soon to use Hendra Retreat as my base for walking in this spectacular area, and highly recommend them.
I hope that you will support this lovely couple and not just during the summer. They are open for bookings all through the year, and of course, out of season you can have far more of the moors, beaches and the coastal paths to yourself.
Hope to see you there!
Andrew
Spotless and ideally located for Tintagel, Trebarwith Strand, Boscastle and St Nectans Glen. Just ideal. Will be back.
Shannon
Owl's Roost was a cozy and comfortable home while we visited the area. We loved the modern and spacious shower room. The location was very convenient and easy to find, and the lane leading up to the property was really pretty with the bridge and canopy of trees. The area was so quiet and we slept like babies after a very long day of touring around Tintagel.
Jayne
The memories the ‘milking parlour’ will stay with us forever, This really is a home from home, the little touches throughout are absolutely amazing, they have thought families all the way from the carpark to the field and then walking into the most amazing conversion We’ve seen, so well equipped from pots to pans down to a bottle opener and when you open the fridge to find an amazing little package was above and beyond. Tom, Bridget and their wonderful son, made us feel so welcome, would we stay again? Yes yes yes. 100% Thank you all for such kindness shown.
Charlotte
Fantastic place to stay slept 6 adults and 4 children, plenty of space and parking for 3 cars. Hosts were there to meet us upon arrival. We were staying here due to a family wedding nearby and Bridget kindly offered to be our taxi service for the evening as it was Bank Holiday weekend and she said we would struggle getting one with such short notice, we thought this was lovely of her 😊 all in all great place to stay, fantastic amenities, we cooked a lot in the house and it had everything we needed. Absolutely recommended!!
Kaye· Group trip
Tom and Bridget have thought of absolutely everything to make your stay perfect! We were so comfortable and "at home" and just wished we could have stayed a little longer. Having two bedrooms, both with beautiful ensuites, was a totally luxury and the beds were really comfortable. The cottages are ideally situated in a very quiet location yet close enough to the amazing north Cornwall beaches. We would love to come back.
Hilary
Lovely countryside location. The accommodation was more spacious than we imagined and was spotless, perfect for our family of four. Bridget was great and gave us loads of advice for local travel, parking etc. The kids loved the board games on offer and were delighted they could watch Netflix in the evenings. We only stayed three nights but this place has everything you need for a longer stay. We hope to book again. Would definitely recommend this place.
Naheed
Where can i start from. Tom and Bridget has been absolutely amazing hosts. They worked around me from the point of booking until I left the barn. I would highly recommend this barn to anyone without a doubt. It has been one of the best barns I have ever been to. Both worked around my needs and let me sign in late. Thank you very much for providing such as amazing experience to me and my family. I will definitely go back in future.
Martin · Group trip
We arrived Friday evening to be greeted with a fantastic Cornish cream tea in a beautiful converted barn in the middle of stunning countryside. The accommodation was amazing. An ultra modern converted barn with absolutely everything provided including washing machine, dish washer, tea coffee, towels, and an extremely detailed welcome pack highlighting all the activities and locations that could be visited nearby. We met Bridget on the Saturday and she was lovely. She recommended places to visit during the day and told us of some lovely places to eat in the evening. We will definitely go back and stay again as it truly is an immaculate home away from home set in an absolutely amazing location.
John
A great week at this beautifully restored barn. The perfect location for us to relax with our young family and nicely located for our regular trips to the beach and other days out. The barn was adequately sized and equipped to a high standard. The garden area was a safe space for our elder daughter to play in. Tom & Bridget were very welcoming with great communications before and during our stay. A great holiday and highly recommended!
Lauren
Owls roost was perfect. With 2 good size rooms with en-suites and double sized shower. There were so many thoughtful touches (key rack, coat rack, chocolate biscuits, extra pillows in the wardrobe, a hair dryer, washing up liquid, milk etc...) the place was spotlessly clean and warm at night. Bridget came over the next day to introduce herself and gave us a fantastic recommendation of going to port Issac for NYE to watch the fireworks. It was a wonderful suggestion and it made our night. Would absolutely stay again and hope to this summer. Thank you for having us and happy new year :-)
A fabulous Barn for a Family Get Together!
We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Hendra Farm. We stayed at Piglet barn which accommodated 6 adults 3 children and a 1yr old. The barn was very spacious with a great size living area (with a TV and a lovely sized dinning table) for us all to spend time in. The kitchen was fully equipped with a kettle, dishwasher, microwave, cooker, oven, toaster and two Fridge- Freezers. It has ample amounts of cups, glasses, plates, bowls, cutlery and pots and pans to cook with. There's 2 great sized bathrooms (1 included a bath tub). The shower is amazing!! It really has great water pressure!! All 3 bedrooms are a great size with good amount of storage space and all three rooms have a TV. The beds are super comfortable. You have a washing machine inside the barn that you can use. You can dry these in the garden or they do have a tumble dryer that you can use (you need 20p coins to get it to work though) There is a lovely little garden space that our children used and liked. They do have a field nearby that they say you can use to play football in. They had enough parking spaces outside of the barn. It really is home away from home! Checking in and out was very simple. Tom and Bridget are such a lovely couple. They are so warm, friendly and approachable. We needed some help and they sorted it out very quickly and spent some time with us explaining the history of the farm. They let us view the smaller barn and even that had a spacious living area. One of the many things I liked about this barn is that Tom had invested the time to restore and renovated the old farm barns himself. They have a folder inside the barn that have pictures that show their journey in making the barns. They have a visitors book in the barn and we read every comment and all the feed back was great feed back. I would highly recommend this barn to anyone who wants to get away and spend some quality time with friends or family. In terms of location- Hendra farm is at the top end of Cornwall and is about 1hour 45mins from Lands end. You're about 30-40mins from Newquay There are two fantastic beaches near by that were recommended to us that we too would highly recommend. Polzeath Beach or Trebarwith Beach! Trebarwith is a bit smaller but has so much character. Tom and Bridget- Once again thank you so much for being very welcoming and friendly. We had an amazing time and we were super comfortable. We genuinely hope we have the privilege of coming back again to stay at Hendra Farm. x