Herefordshire self catering holiday cottages

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Herefordshire self catering holiday cottages

 

 

 

Docklow Manor is a splendid early Victorian manor house with two adjacent stone holiday cottages (chronicled each week in The Independent's popular column Tales of the Country). Guests are welcome to explore our five acres of rambling gardens and woodland, which look out over miles of unspoilt English countryside towards the distant Black Mountains.

The holiday cottages have been tastefully refurbished by Jane and Brian Viner. Each one has its own period charm, with many original features such as oak shutters, yet all modern comforts, including well-equipped kitchens and bathrooms, comfortable beds, sofas and armchairs, books, games, colour television and video. Fresh cut flowers and a welcome hamper greet new arrivals, and a home-cooked meal can be waiting for you by prior arrangement, at a small extra cost.

The cottages are also a short walk from the King's Head, an excellent country pub.

The rambling Victorian garden and grounds help to make Docklow Manor a wonderful place for a holiday. There are formal lawns, woodland, a kitchen garden, an orchard and lots of benches on which to relax and take in the superb views. Children are very welcome - we have three of our own - and there are goal nets in the garden and a tree house in the woods. Table tennis and table football are available by arrangement.

Docklow Manor stands at the end of a long private drive, safely away from the main road. We have abundant species of mature trees, including two enormous Wellingtonia redwoods, and varied wildlife, from buzzards and sparrow hawks to badgers and hedgehogs.

This is a truly unspoilt part of rural England, an England of hop fields and apple orchards, of rolling hills, ancient timbered villages and centuries-old churches. Docklow Manor is in the heart of wonderful walking, fishing, horse-riding, cycling and bird-watching country, yet is just five miles from the attractive market town of Leominster, celebrated for its many fine antique shops.

A little further away are the delightful towns of Ludlow (famous for its Shakespeare festival and Michelin-starred restaurants) the bookshop Mecca of Hay-on-Wye, Malvern and Ledbury.
The historic cathedral cities of Hereford and Worcester are 20 and 25 miles away respectively. The marvellous castles of the Welsh border towns are within easy reach, as are some of England's finest National Trust houses and formal gardens. Stratford-upon-Avon is just over an hour away by car.

There are weekly markets in Ludlow, Leominster, Bromyard and Ledbury, and numerous small shops selling superb local produce.

We can arrange excellent fishing for you at the nearby Docklow Pools, as well as horse-riding and cycling. There is a golf driving-range five miles away, and Kington, England's highest golf course, is a 35-minute drive. It is a terrific course, well worth the trip.

For those who enjoy walking and bird-watching, Docklow Manor could hardly be better located. We are happy to provide guests with packed lunches in cool bags (with 24 hours' notice). There are several working farms nearby where children are permitted to milk the cows and feed the lambs.

We are particularly well located for easy access to some of the country's most scenic racecourses. Ludlow and Hereford are 25-minute drives, Worcester is half an hour away, and Cheltenham about an hour.

Docklow is on the A44 between Leominster and Bromyard, about a 35-minute drive from the M5 motorway. From London the drive takes approximately two hours 40 minutes; there are also railway stations with taxi ranks at Hereford and Worcester, and a station at Leominster.

From junction seven on the M5, take the A44 (and briefly the A4440) following signs for Leominster and passing through Bromyard. Docklow Manor is a 10-minute drive from Bromyard. You first pass through the village of Bredenbury, after which look out for a sign on your left for Nicholson Farm, and a sign for Uphampton, a house on your right.

Start slowing down shortly after you pass Uphampton, and at the end of a line of trees on your left you will see the Docklow Manor sign. Turn left into our driveway, just beyond the lodge. If you reach the King's Head pub on your right you have gone slightly too far.

Once on our drive, guests bound for Manor and Yewtree Cottage should take the left-hand fork (there is a small car park opposite the telephone box) and then pass under the old clock tower, while Woodlands Cottage guests should continue to the manor house where the cottage is on the left. The key will usually be left in the door.

Tel 01568 760668

www.docklow-manor.co.uk

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Herefordshire self catering holiday cottages