Locations

Fabulous Walks in UK National Parks – The Lake District

2911 days ago.

The Lake District National Park

The Lake District is famous for its often-changing weather, beautiful villages, glacial ribbon lakes and rugged fells. It has more historic literary associations than pretty much anywhere else in the United Kingdom and market towns such as Kendal, Keswick and Ambleside are ideal bases for exploring the area.

Stone Leys Cottage, just two miles south of Coniston, is the quintessential Lakes cottage. This double fronted slate property was built over two hundred years ago for the wheelwright at Coniston Hall and is ideally situated for exploring the lakes. There are easy walks through the fields to Coniston and to Torver along the lake through fields and ancient woodland.

Stone Leys Cottage

The Old Man or the Old Man of Coniston, is a fell in the Furness Fells and has a number of well-marked paths to the summit. The remains of abandoned slate mines are a feature of some aspects of the fell and there are plenty of inquisitive sheep around who make take the opportunity to rifle through your food bags! The extensive view from the summit on a clear day includes much of the southern Lake District, Morecambe Bay, Blackpool Tower,Winter Hill in the Pennines, the Lancashire coast and even the Isle of Man.

For more information visit:

Visit the Lake District

or

Lake District Walk

visitdarmoor.co.uk
Locations

Fabulous Walks in UK National Parks – Dartmoor

2912 days ago.

Dartmoor National Park

Dartmoor in the south west of England is a stunning landscape which provides amazing views, awe inspiring granite tors, deep wooded valleys with fast flowing rivers, and rugged, wide open spaces. The park has a huge array of gentle walks and more challenging trails depending on your level of fitness and inclination.
Dove Cottage near Yelverton is a cosy, mid-nineteenth century cottage in the peaceful village of Buckland Monachorum, perfectly situated for exploring all that Dartmoor has to offer.

Dove Cottage

There’s a mid-length circular walk starting and finishing in Yelverton which takes in part of the West Devon Way. The five and a half mile walk walk should take around two and a half hours at a leisurely pace and incorporates opportunities for lunch or liquid refreshment either in Yelverton itself or in Clearbrook roughly half way round. There is also an option for a slightly shorter walk from here if the ground is too muddy. Highlights of the walk include Hoo Meavy Bridge, a granite bridge over the river Meavy, originally built in the 1700s and the Plymouth or Drake’s Leat, a watercourse constructed in the late 16th century to draw water from the River Meavy to supply Plymouth with water and was one of the first municipal water supplies in the country.

For more information visit:

Visit Dartmoor

or

Drakes Dartmoor

cairngorms.co.uk
Locations

Fabulous Walks in UK National Parks – The Cairngorms

2914 days ago.

According to the Ramblers Association, walking has numerous benefits, namely health, social and community, economic and environmental. So, get your walking boots on and, in the next five days we will be discovering 5 fabulous walks in UK National Parks, all with an inviting Aga Cottage nearby.

The Cairngorms National Park

The Cairngorms National Park is as packed with riveting history as it is walking trails. Nearly all the villages in the park have their own community paths leaflets available which show the local trails and detail points of interest. There are also a number of longer routes including the Speyside and Deeside Ways. The park is laced with trails used by cut throat cattle rustlers and whisky smugglers and coffin carriers, transporting bodies from isolated homes in the hills for burial in villages like Chapeltown.

Beagle Cottage is a bright and welcoming home in the popular Badenoch and Strathspey village of Newtonmore, near Aviemore. There are an abundance of walks from the doorstop, including the Wild Cat Trail, among mature woodlands, open hills or beside the Spey River.

Beagle Cottage

A little further afield is the enchanting Loch an Eilein, or ‘Loch of the Island’, hidden in the forest of Rothiemurchus, this beautiful spot was once voted Britain’s best picnic spot and remains one of the most loved places in the UK. Here you can step back in time and retrace the steps of the Highland Cattle rustlers whilst taking in the views of the hauntingly beautiful Highland Castle. There are many opportunities for spotting rare wildlife such as the Red Squirrel and Scottish Crossbill. There are three self-guided walks around the estate which take between one and a half and three hours. The path around the loch is suitable for motorised wheelchairs and off road buggies and is part of a wider network of paths that constitute the 50km Rothiemurchus Way. And don’t worry if you haven’t had time to prepare a picnic, the Druie Café restaurant provides a varied menu of local produce from 9.30am to 5pm.

For more information regarding the Cairngorms visit:

Walking Trails in the Cairngorms

or

Discover Rothiemurchus

Look out tomorrow for Day 2 of our walking adventures in UK National Parks

Competition

Easter Melt Hunt Competition

2958 days ago.

***** THIS COMPETITION HAS NOW FINISHED ******

We love the unique new scented wax AGA melts by Blake and Bull and think they are perfect for use in your AGA holiday cottage. Simply place them on the top of the AGA to experience the lovely, scented aroma.

scented-wax-meltWe love them so much so that we have teamed up with Blake and Bull for this Easter Melt Hunt competition. They retail from £19.80 each and we have 3 to give away this Easter. The fragrances up for grabs are Jasmine & Orange, Wild Fig & Grape and Fresh Linen.

How to Enter the Competition

Follow the four clues below to find the holiday property page that contains the image (like the one above) of the scented wax melt and three lucky winners will will each receive a fragranced wax melt. Competition Ends Easter Monday, 28th March at 6 pm.

Clue 1

The location of this property is often symbolised by a daffodil.

Clue 2

Our four-legged friends are welcome.

Clue 3

The number of guests that the property can accommodate rhymes with ‘alive’!

clue 4

A Rocking Horse awaits!

When you have found it, click on the wax melt image which will take you to the page to complete your name, email address and the property name that has the image of the wax melt.

Happy Easter Hunting!

Start Searching

Competition Terms and Conditions

Just for Fun

A new Aga at Chideock Cottage…. or is it?

2987 days ago.

It wasn’t until we stumbled upon ‘The AGA Exchange Shop’ in Dorset one wet, Friday afternoon in early February that we had even considered Flo needing ‘surgery’. Flo is our sturdy blue Aga and has lived at Chideock Holiday Cottage for over 40 years. She has served up lots of hearty meals and always provided a warm, cosy home for her visiting guests, many of whom have returned to spend time with her again and again.

We’d visited nearby AGA shops and always purred over the new, gleaming AGAs in the showrooms knowing that our Flo perhaps didn’t quite have the same beautiful figure to match but, nonetheless, we were proud of her, she always performed well and we wouldn’t ever want to replace her.

So, it was a revelation to find that we could just give her a bit of a makeover by fixing her top and tired, saggy lids for reconditioned new ones. The ‘procedure’ was completed yesterday and she has made a full and complete recovery following overnight observation to ensure her temperature restores to normal levels.

Here are her ‘before’, ‘during’ and ‘after’ pics.

Recipes

How to Cook Aga Made Pancakes Like Jo Wheatley

3003 days ago.

Bake Off winner, Jo Wheatley, is a dab hand at cooking on the Aga – she even has a website dedicated to it called Jo’s Blue Aga!

It’s Pancake Day (Shrove Tuesday) on Tuesday, 9th February 2016 and here’s a simple recipe that Jo has put together.

You Will Need:

3 eggs
1 cup of plain flour
1 cup of milk
20g melted butter
pinch of salt

Jo Says:

“I find this a really simple method and the easiest way to make pancakes. Just use a cup (any sort of cup, tea, or coffee mug as long as you use the same for everything) of plain flour, a cup of milk and 3 eggs, about 20g melted butter and a pinch of salt. Whisk them all together. I cook mine on the cooler AGA hotplate with a reusable mat, but they come out just as fab in a large non-stick frying pan which is brushed with a little light oil. Ladle some of the batter into the pan or onto the mat, wait until the pancake has a dry appearance and then flip over and cook until golden”.

We Say

These are yummy with freshly simple granulated sugar and squeezed lemon juice.

For Jo’s favourite fillings, see Jo’s Favourite Pancake Fillings

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Recipes

Aga Cooked Steak with Chippy Chips for a Holiday Treat

3005 days ago.

Alice, of Brambleberry Jams, has shared with us one of her favourite treats that she and her family always enjoy when on holiday. It’s a very simple and easy Aga method dinner and is perfect for when you want a quick, but tasty ‘evening in’ holiday treat.

What You Will Need:

  • An Aga!
  • Cast iron frying pan
  • Steaks (whatever your favourite cut is)
  • Chippy Chips
  • A bottle of your favourite red wine

Whilst You are Out Enjoying Your Day:

During your afternoon exploring, pop into the local butcher and pick up some succulent steaks – whatever cut you fancy but ask his advice on what’s the best deal of the day. Later, on your way home, pop into the local chippy as the last thing you do before you head back to your warm cottage. Don’t feel guilty, you are on holiday and chippy chips always taste nicer when you are away!

When you get back to the cottage, keep the chips wrapped up in their paper and pop them into the bottom oven with the dinner plates (this is the warming oven and on most Agas it is on the bottom right).

Method

Heat the cast iron frying pan up in the roasting oven (that’s the top one, usually on the right) for 20 mins so it’s really hot. Don’t worry, it won’t melt and the Aga won’t catch fire! Meanwhile, unwrap the steaks and put them on a dinner plate and place on top of the simmering hot plate lid to warm up to room temperature (that’s the right hand plate – leave it down so you just put on top of the silver cover). Also, don’t forget to get the red wine opened and put right at back of the Aga on the black flat surface to enable gentle warming.

Next, massage a little cooking oil and seasoning into the warming meat. Then remove the hot, dry, frying pan from the oven and it on the boiling plate (that’s the hot hob plate on the left) and drop the oiled meat in. Be careful not to grab the hot handle with your bare hand! Keep turning the steak every minute for a maximum of 10 mins to be medium done. Leave the cooked meat to rest while you get the chips out of the warming oven and onto your warm plates and then pour your wine.

Alice Says:
The secret of this lovely treat is in the warming of the steaks and pre-heating the pan. It really is the prefect holiday dinner that could only be made on an Aga in 30 mins …. and with only 1 frying pan to wash up!

We Say:
Congratulations, you have just learned all about the Aga ovens and hot plates. Now, wasn’t that easy?

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