This evening, as my sous chef Rupert stood on his chair next to me prepping the vegetables for supper, he turned to me and said “Mummy, how long until we see the goats again” I assumed wrong when I thought he was referring to the goats at one of the local pubs, as he quickly corrected me and said “no, the ones from our holiday”.
A few weeks ago, we had the pleasure of being invited to spend a long weekend in Cornwall at Tredethick Farm. A farm who specialise in holidays for families with young children. The farm spans across almost 80 acres but everything they do is on a small scale, and oh my gosh what a sweet place it was to spend a few days, playing unwinding and simply being together.
Although I didn’t share our exact location while we were away on social media, my inbox was flooded with messages from previous guests of Tredethick Farm. They had recognised where we were immediately and shared the love they have for the place and memories they made there with their own families, which was a real testament to how wonderful a place this is. We also met some lovely returning guests who were on their second stay and had returned with friends of theirs and their children. To be honest I actually feel quite emotional as I recall our time at Tredthick Farm, it was such a happy place for us and we made some lovely memories there. I miss it, there was something about this place which was so calming and grounding, and it worked its magic on all of us.
The drive from Sussex to Cornwall is a long one, yet no matter what time of year, I always find that it’s a drive worth taking, and this trip was no different.
As is always the way with us, we set off much later than we had hoped to, as such it was dark by the time we pulled up outside Wagonhouse which would be our home for the next few days.
After a long drive with two little people who travelled exceptionally well given that they had been recovering from a cold, from the moment we arrived at Trederthick Farm, I felt my shoulders drop and I felt relaxed.
While we set about unloading the car, Rupert busied himself by grabbing his little suitcase and taking himself off to “his room”.
The chest of draws was quickly filled up with his clothes without being asked, and the bedside draws were neatly stocked with the toys he had carefully selected to come away with. His room was simple but so sweet for a little person, and he loved it more than his own it appeared (he also took pride in keeping it much tidier)! It might be a strange thing to comment on but the curtains in here were gorgeous, so thick, heavy and scrumptious with an ABC animal pattern on, which both the children liked discovering the many different animals on.
With the car unloaded Chris offered to cook supper, allowing the children and I to play together and get settled in. They were so excited and took to running up and down the hallway as the three of us played games of hide and seek before Rupert decided it was time to run a bath for Darcie and himself.
Once supper was on the table, the children’s favourite, dirty pasta, (Spaghetti bolognaise for those not in the know)! we all gathered around and discussed what our lose plans would be for the duration of our stay. On the lead up to our visit I had spent quite a bit of time on the farm’s website, which I must say I was extremely impressed by. All the information I could have possibly wanted was right there for me which was extremely helpful and saved me a lot of time doing my own research, especially when it came to where to eat, visit, play, and calculated distances.
That evening was possibly one of my favourite evenings as a family, it was filled with fun laughter and the need to be nowhere or do anything other than simply be together. Rupert made a hot chocolate for himself and Darcie while we had a cup of tea and we all snuggled up under a duvet on the sofa laughing together as we watched 101 Dalmatians (the one with Glenn Close). We did miss our dally’s.
Waking up on that first morning was exciting as we did not know what would be behind the curtains. It was a welcome autumnal sight that’s for sure.
We were scheduled to meet and feed the residents of the farm at 9am with Farmer Jenny, so had been up bright and early eager to start the day and explore the farm. Darcie still found time to do some drawing before we headed out the door with her new favourite friend Piggy watching over her.
The feeding started with the pigs I never knew they could be taught to sit for their food! The children were tasked with hiding carrots throughout their woodland pen before we made our way over to the goats.
The goats turned out to be a firm favourite for Rupert and Darcie, both were so natural and easy in their company as if it were an everyday occurrence to be surrounded by them.
With the goats feed, it was on to the chickens. If only I could have bottled up all the smiles and giggles that came from this experience. It was lovely to watch as the children again so naturally took to this new task.
After feeding the chickens the children were able to select their fresh eggs from the hen house.
Soon after the animal feeding, we set about exploring the rest of the farm. We played outside first, in the playground and on the balance bike/ride on tractor track. Tractor Tilly was a highlight for Darcie and the light up scooter on the bike track a highlight for Rupert, he hid this at one point under tractor Tilly so that no one else could use it!
It was then indoors to the soft play area and then across to the sandpit located in another of the barns.
Lunchtime came around rapidly and as we began pulling our boots back on to head out the door of the play barn, I grabbed a couple of the scavenger hunt bags for our afternoon walk on the fun farm trail. We made our way back to the cottage for a warming lunch and more time together playing before making our way out to explore the 80 acres or so of farm.
It was a bit drizzly, and halfway through the walk the children grew grizzly due to their colds, in hindsight we should have all stayed back at the cottage and had a nap. Any other day this woodland walk would have been a pleasure to go on as it had lots of areas to keep children interested and walking. When things went downhill, they did so quickly, Darcie fell asleep in Chris’s arms and Rupert wanted to be carried, but only by Chris! This led to frustration for all.
We eventually made it back and all peace was restored. I had planned to keep the children back while Chris popped to the shops to get supplies for the next couple of days but the children didn’t want to potentially miss out on a magazine and some tasty treats! So off we all went.
We arrived back at the farm cooked supper and soon after went for an evening swim and hot tub under the stars.
The littles came home had a bath and went to bed promptly that evening allowing Chris and I an evening just the two of us which is extremely rare.
Little did we know at the time that the children would allow us this luxury the next night also. The welcome hamper of scones, jam and cream was devoured during these evenings together, as we watched Christmas films with a glass of wine.
On the Sunday afternoon after a morning of fun on the farm we tore ourselves away for a lunch out and walk around the Lost Gardens of Heligan. Somewhere that I visited last when I was probably no older than Rupert right now. We arrived for lunch and took this in Lobbs Cafe which was a cosy place to have lunch. It had a handy corner of toys and activities for the children to bring back tot the table, (obviously ours choose to sit right next to it and still took all the toys etc back to our table)!. Thankfully ours were the only children in there at the time.
The Shop was a hit with all but Chris’s wallet! The children had some pocket money and this went on two very pretty but annoying whistles and books to read together back at the cottage.
The gardens were well worth a visit and the playground was extremely fun! The gardens were beautiful and interesting, the children particularly enjoyed running through the jungle area and seeking out the giants of the woods. At the time of our visit they were busy setting up for their Christmas event “In the Night Garden” which I can only imagine will be spectacular, I’d have loved to have seen this in all its glory.
Returning back to the farm after our day out we when straight into the soft play area for 30 minutes or so before then getting changed and taking a swim and hot tub.
Back at the cottage, I cooked the dinner and poured the wine.
After dinner I sat and read the children the books we had purchased earlier in the day, they were then both more than ready for sleep for the second day in a row.
Come Monday morning and as much as I am a home bird and was looking forward to getting home to the horses and dogs, I knew I would miss this special place and the pace of life and carefree nature of it, and hoped that we would perhaps return one day before the children are much older.
To finish off our stay at Tredethcik Farm the children got to ride on the lovely new addition to the residents of the farm, Toots, a sweet Welsh Mountain pony, and I had a nice horsey chat with the lady who was leading the children.
For once we had dry weather during a trip to Cornwall, but to be honest I think Cornwall is gorgeous whatever the weather. A winter break at Tredethcik Farm would be just as nice a summer stay I feel. And a spring break where there would be the chance to bottle feed lambs from early Feb through to mid April even better still!
Out and about there are endless opportunities to explore the Cornish coast and countryside with many places only a short drive away.
In total there are 7 cosy cottages to choose from at Tredethick Farm ranging from 3 bed + cottages to 6 bed + cot. We stayed in Wagonhouse which was perfect for us, very well laid out and thought out, I think we could have all quite happily moved in!
Such attention has gone in to making this a great place for young children to roam and play from all the play areas, which included a play barn with large sandpit, another barn made into a soft play, outdoor balance bike track which also had ride on tractors, then there was also a playground. Additionally, there is a heated swimming pool, hot tub garden, the opportunity to feed the animals by hand, pony rides, and the farm trail through the woodland with play areas throughout.
Upon waving goodbye to the residents as we drove down the driveway we decided to visit the Cornish coast, I mean how could we visit Cornwall and not say hello to the sea. I knew the tide times meant that the sea would be closer than we’d have liked but I simply couldn’t allow us to go home without a trip to see the sea. And so with Rupert ever the optimist like myself, we parked up and walked down a little lane to a beach near Fowley, Rupert happily waving his net in the air thinking he’d be catching some fish. In reality he came back with a cuttle fish for a friends tortoise and a stone to be painted in Cornish style. The café we hoped to stop in at for a brunch was closed for refurbishments. I was gutted as had been looking forward to a coffee here and at first it appeared open, turned out the doors were just open for the contractors. Hopes dashed rather quickly.
The beach trip was short lived and we were quite hungry by this point so drove a short distance to Bodmin on route home, or at least I made it part of the route home. It was a few days before the anniversary of when we lost Shiva two years ago, (for any new readers, my dog of a lifetime). Before the children, before we were engaged even Chris, myself and the dogs had spent time on Bodmin Moore one autumn, and I felt compelled to go to one of the places we walked there and had a nice day together. We pulled into Cardinham Woods and the weather was much the same as it had been on that day all those years ago back in 2017, sunny and warm. The children let of some steam in the park while we waited for our lunch to arrive and low and behold the exact same table was free as we had sat at previously. I made a beeline for it and soon after a little robin came and sat behind me and sang a sweet song. I took comfort in this, as the saying goes a robin appears when a love one is near.
I felt her with me then as I often do. We had our lunch and once the children were asleep in the car I did weep for my best friend, but happy tears for the almost 15 beautiful years she spent with me and all the places we went and all the memories we made along the way in our chapter together. There we go again with the tears!
Carrying on the sentimental thoughts, Cornwall has always been one of my happy places both from childhood and adulthood, and our time at Tredethick Farm and memories made have only added to this. The most relaxing time away we’ve had yet. Come the end of each day, our normally restless children slept all night through, and I put that down to how relaxed we all were.
Ours and the children’s laughter is now trapped in the walls of Wagonhouse, the once old cattle shed at Tredethick Farm, from all the games played and time enjoyed together here. All the cosy corners of the cottage that Rupert turned into dens. At one point one of his dens contained half of the kitchen utensils along with every single pillow and cushion from the cottage.
It was a welcome break to spend this time together as a family and not having to focus on anything other than simply being together. As much as we felt lost without, and missed the dogs, this break was very much needed and appreciated. And based on this evening’s conversation with Rupert, I doubt it will be long before we are checking into Tredethick Farm once more. Once just wasn’t enough neither was three nights long enough.
Love for now
Emma x