Essex self catering holiday cottages

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Essex self catering holiday cottages

Pond Cottage is an annexe of Pond House and was once the home to two farm labourers and their families. Maintained to a very high standard it now enables us to offer an idyllic stay on a working farm in one unit sleeping 4 people with two en suite bedrooms. The cottage has full, oil fired, central heating, electric cooker, washing machine, dishwasher, microwave, fridge/freezer, Freeview TV with DVD player, radio and WiFi. A tumble dryer, garden washing line, patio and BBQ are also available for guests to use.

The ground floor rooms are open plan and face south. Maps of the farm are provided for bird watching and walking, local area maps with suggested cycle rides and ideas for trips out are also available. Books, magazines and games are also provided to help make your stay a happy relaxing and enjoyable time.

The bedrooms both have en suite facilities plus remote control TV, clock radios, hairdryer and face south. Pets are welcome by prior arrangement only and I request that guests please bring old towels etc for wet and muddy feet.

We are 2 miles from the seafront and beaches of St Osyth and Clacton. A good base for Frinton, Walton and the Essex Sunshine Coast. The Farm is mainly arable and guests may walk the farm footpaths to take in woodlands and ponds. Good base for bird watching along the Essex Coasts. Pets welcome by arrangement. Non-smoking, sleeps 4 people. Open all year round and short breaks available.

Roger and Brenda are looking forward to welcoming you to Earls Hall Farm. Pond House is a redbrick, Victorian farmhouse with a large garden consisting of herbaceous borders, a large pond and woodland area where guests may wander and relax. Pond Cottage is an annexe of Pond House. Great care has been taken to provide comfortable yet informal accommodation for guests staying in Pond House, for bed and breakfast and in Pond Cottage. Many little extras are provided and we try to provide for all your needs so you can relax and enjoy your stay.

The house is situated in the centre of our family run farming business which is predominately arable, growing combinable crops. Beef cattle are fattened in the winter, sheep may be grazing the reservoir banks in summer and we produce Farm Fresh Bronze Turkeys for the Christmas market. Guests are encouraged to walk the lovely footpaths around the farm and enjoy the wildlife. We also have a Caravan Club 5 Pitch meadow.

Fishing is available, but only by prior arrangement and clay pigeon shooting, horse riding and golf are all within 2 miles.

We are approximately 2 miles from the coast either through the historic village of St Osyth or head for the seafront of Clacton, a busy seaside town with good amenities and shops.

Fishing

Course fishing is allowed on our reservoir but guests must have a Rod License. No fishing without prior booking, please contact us for more details.

Bird watching in and around the area

Always keep in mind that what you may see will depend on many variables like the weather, season, time of day, state of tide and your identification skills. Enjoy yourselves!

Walking From The Farm

1. The footpath north from the farm towards St Osyth Heath provides views over agricultural land with Hartley Wood to the east and High Grove to the west. In recent years, Common Buzzards have been regular visitors to this area and can sometimes be seen over the two woods as can the more common Sparrow hawk and Kestrel. Yellowhammers are still resident here and in winter you might see Fieldfares, Redwings and Corn Buntings whilst the attractive Yellow Wagtail is a summer visitor.
2. On the south side of the B1027, a pleasant walk starts at Rouses Lane (a short distance east of Earls Hall Drive) turning west to St Osyth Lodge Farm (short circuit) or continuing past Rouses Farm and then west to Daltes Farm (long circuit). This area remains a stronghold for the Corn Bunting during the breeding season and several pairs are generally present often announced by the jingling song of the male, usually from a prominent perch. Little Owl is another species that frequents this area though less easy to see.

Sites Within 15 Minutes Drive From The Farm

1. Great Holland Pits is an Essex Wildlife Trust (EWT) reserve with a rather concealed entrance but parking space for some 8 cars 100 yards back from the road along an unmade track. As well as the main path leading on from the car-park, a series of smaller trails go off especially to the left. These can be muddy in winter or after heavy rain. A good mix of woodland and scrubland birds can be found here such as Green and Great Spotted Woodpecker, and the common warblers in summer. The speciality of the reserve is its population of Nightingales which will be in song from about the third week of April to at least early June. An early morning or evening walk will be best for hearing them although they sing sporadically during the day.
2. Howlands Marsh is another EWT reserve which can be approached from a lay-by on the B1027 on the outskirts of St Osyth or by parking near the Boating Lake and walking initially west along the north side of St Osyth Creek, turning north after some 400 yards. This route leads to a hide overlooking the main marsh. There is a courtesy footpath to a second hide overlooking Flag Creek which can be reached by continuing along the footpath for another ¼ mile or by approaching from the lay-by as above. In winter, waders such as Black-tailed Godwit and sometimes Avocet, as well as the more numerous Redshank and Curlew, are often present in Flag Creek (except at high tide) along with Shelduck and Brent Geese whilst the fresh-marsh hosts many hundreds of duck especially Wigeon and Teal mixed with smaller numbers of Shoveler and Gadwall. Raptors such as Merlin, Hen Harrier and Short-eared Owl sometimes put in an appearance whilst he Marsh Harrier and Barn Owl can be seen in summer also. There is a heronry visible from the reserve and in recent years Little Egrets have roosted here in increasing numbers though they tend to fly in during the final hour of daylight. Those familiar with its song might also detect the secretive Cetti’s Warbler from one of the footpaths whilst Reed and Sedge Warblers can be heard and seen more easily during the summer months.
3. Colne Point Nature Reserve is also managed by EWT with some input from English Nature. Access is via Lee Wick Farm along a driveable but very bumpy track. There is a designated parking area on the reserve shortly after the track crosses the seawall but be warned that this area floods on high spring tides. It is well worth pausing along the access road, especially near the small sewage-works, and surveying the adjacent farmland. Large flocks of Lapwing and Golden Plover are often present in winter and there is a chance of seeing a hunting Hen Harrier, Merlin, Peregrine, Barn Owl or Short-eared Owl. From the car-park, the track passes a row of privately owned chalets before reaching a bridge that crosses a tidal creek. A voluntary warden is sometimes present in the hut beyond the bridge and the track then continues to the open shore. A large list of species have been recorded on the reserve perhaps best known for its summer population of the protected Little Tern. Nesting areas are likely to be fenced off and in summer, visitors are asked to walk below the high tide line to minimize disturbance to other shore nesting species such as Ringed Plover and Oystercatcher. Because of the risk of flooding, visitors unfamiliar with the geography of the reserve should not venture far beyond the warden’s hut without first checking a tide table or seeking local advice.
4. Holland Haven Country Park is signposted from the B1032 at the far end of Holland-on-Sea. Drive up the access road to the pay-and-display car-park or walk from a nearby side-road checking the small wood on your left where you may find a roving tit flock, a party of Goldcrests or even a Firecrest in spring or autumn, and in summer, Blackcap, Common and Lesser Whitethroat, Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff may be present in this area. From the car-park, continue to follow the coastline in a north-easterly direction after checking the various hedgerows and bushes for possible migrant species in due season. Shortly after the sluice, it is possible to turn left to an obvious hide which overlooks a sizeable scrape. This area attracts hundreds of wildfowl in winter and smaller numbers of waders including such species as Ruff and Common Snipe and occasionally rarities. It is worth checking the roosting gull flocks as Mediterranean Gulls drop in from time to time. From the hide, there are paths across the meadows leading eventually to Frinton Golf-course and back to the sea wall. Skylarks and Meadow Pipits should be obvious here with the possibility of Yellow Wagtails in summer where cattle are grazing. A look out to sea might produce a passing Red-throated Diver (winter), Common, Sandwich or Little Tern (April-September) or even an Arctic or Great Skua (most likely from August-October). A few Sanderlings are often on the beach here in winter and an odd Purple Sandpiper can sometimes be found on one of the breakwaters or the seawall.
5. Excellent views of the River Colne can be obtained by parking near (but not too near!) the ford at Alresford Creek and following the riverside path first west and then north at least as far as the wood by Alresford Grange. Shortly after the start of the wood, a footpath off to the right provides the option of completing a circuit returning along the edge of a complex of flooded pits to the road, leaving a short walk down to the ford. Whilst high tide may be better for checking the river for diving ducks such as Goldeneye and Red-breasted Merganser (winter only), especially in the morning when any sun will be behind you, the waders will be on view as long as there is exposed mud. Flocks of Black-tailed Godwits and Avocets several hundred strong currently winter in the Colne Estuary and there are often impressive flocks of other species such as Golden and grey Plover, Knot, Dunlin, Redshank and Curlew. An odd Spotted Redshank can sometimes be found in Alresford Creek. Yellowhammer, Bullfinch, Long-tailed Tit (all year) and common Whitethroat (summer) may be seen in the adjacent hedgerows and Green and Great Spotted Woodpecker, Treecreeper (all year), and Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler and Nightingale (summer only) are amongst the species that might be seen or heard where the paths pass close to the wood.

Sites Within 30 Minutes Drive From The Farm

Sites Within 45 Minutes Drive From The Farm

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Essex self catering holiday cottages