25 delightful new holiday homes for 2013...

We recently mailed out our first supplement for 2013, with 25 new holiday homes for you to choose from in our growing collection of special places to stay in the beautiful West Country.

Here are a few to whet your appetite:

A few yards from the pub in Noss Mayo, on a lane that winds beside the river and through National Trust woodland to the coast path, is Pink Cottage. This pretty, colour-washed, 18th century Grade II listed cottage is in a handy spot for pubs, walking and river activities and enjoys pleasant views over the creek. Sleeps 5, no pets. 

Crooked Chimney Cottage is located 50 yards from the bridge and riverside village green in Altarnun. This Grade II listed, granite-built cottage sits prettily, end-of-row in a small terrace with a burbling mill leat passing the front door. In a sheltered valley on the north-eastern edge of Bodmin Moor, this is great a base for exploring moors or dramatic coastline. Sleeps 5, pets welcome.

In the tiny hamlet of Cross Green, 3 miles north of Lifton and just 2 miles from the A30 in beautiful, unspoilt farmland is Jane's Place, a recently renovated cottage. You are welcome to explore the owners’ beautiful large garden that leads down to a big pond, woods and 21 acres of farmland to wander. There's plenty of storage space for your bicycles, golf equipment and surfboards, so make the most of this brilliantly accessible and welcoming spot - great for exploring both the coast and moor. Sleeps 5, pets welcome.

Pittards Farm Cottage is a neat, detached, red brick and hamstone cottage, thoughtfully converted from former stable buildings with big arched windows and beams remaining. Around a mile from South Petherton in the smaller village of East Lambrook, this is a stylishly done, comfortable base, well placed for numerous houses, gardens and churches of great interest. Sleeps 2, no pets or children, except pre-crawling babies.

Take a look through the supplement, which can be viewed on our website here, or use the Advanced Search function on our website to see which of our cottages best suits you. And of course you can always call us for human help on 01647 433593.

Short on time? Don’t forget, if you can’t get away for a full week between November and the week before Easter (excluding school holidays), you can book a three or four night break, whilst some properties also offer a  two night weekend booking (with 6pm check out on the last day). Two night breaks can only be booked within 28 days of departure.

Dig deep into the West Country for hidden holiday gems – directions included!

Great local knowledge is the key ingredient when hunting down a secluded West Country cottage or holiday home with just the right amount of peace and tranquillity, balanced with nearby attractions.

Driving through the winding West Country lanes as they open out onto views across beautiful countryside and seascapes, it should feel like you’re about to make an important discovery – so take a look at some of our holiday cottages that have hidden gem appeal in abundance. Each one comes with directions carefully written by our team, who have been to visit each one personally.

Acorn Cottage, close to the top end of Roadford Lake country park in Devon, is tucked away off a no-through farm lane (with one farm beyond). The cleverly converted carthorse stable hides a suntrap patio and lawned garden surrounded by big oak trees and 12 acres of the owners’ adjoining woodlands where owls, buzzards and deer are often spotted.  The spectacular 730-acre reservoir and country park in beautiful, sparsely populated farmland is a popular place for watersports, fishing, birdwatching and walking.

Hill House Farm Cottage, in the pretty village of Upper Weare, Somerset, sits high on a quiet lane, giving superb panoramic views from all rooms. Look across expansive green fields towards Cheddar Gorge in one direction and the Mendip hills and Crook Peak in the other. The Gorge’s natural beauty or the nearby golf course might just be able to tempt you away from the cottage itself.

Stonehaven Cottage is nestled in a hamlet between Bideford and Barnstaple in north Devon. The journey through deep winding lanes reveals a wing of a handsome detached house converted from 16th century barns. The Tarka Trail cycleway and lovely Tapeley Park Gardens, plus the sandy beach at Instow, are all nearby.

Sheltered by mature trees and an ancient hedgerow, Briar Cottage, in Tregadillett, north Cornwall, has all the character you’d expect from a former gamekeeper’s cottage. It stands on a little-used lane and has a garden full of shrubs with long tranquil views and great proximity to stunning nature walks, fishing, boating and a steam railway stop.

For more ideas, take a look at our hand-picked holiday homes in Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset. 

Enter the Soil Association Raffle and win a week’s holiday!

As a company based in the West Country, with our properties strewn across some of the most fantastic natural landscapes to be found in Britain, we share many ideals with the Soil Association, a membership charity campaigning for planet-friendly food and farming.

If you buy organic food at your supermarket, you’ll likely have spotted their logo – the Soil Association symbol is the UK's most recognised trademark for organic produce. When used on food packaging, it tells you that produce is certified to high organic standards and provides an assurance of organic authenticity.

The Hayloft, Kentisbeare

If organic living is important to you, you’ll be pleased to hear that this year, together with Maddocks Farm Organics, we’re supporting the Soil Association by providing part of the first prize for their Summer Raffle - a week’s holiday for 12 people at The Hayloft in Kentisbeare, east Devon. The winner will also receive £1,000 spending money - and there are super prizes for the runners up too.

The Hayloft, a very roomy and comfy house beautifully converted from a barn, is just over a mile from both Kentisbeare and Cullompton, in the middle of rolling farmland and on the edge of the Blackdown Hills. The property is located on a 5 acre organic smallholding (loads of fresh vegetables available), which you are welcome to walk, with lovely views across miles of countryside. We’ve had lots of positive feedback from people who’ve enjoyed happy holidays here.

Whether you’d like to enter the raffle yourself or sell tickets to raise extra donations, you’ll need to request your books of tickets by 12th September and return your entries by 29th September. The draw will be made on 30th September. So be quick and good luck!

You can find full competition details on the Soil Association website.

We’ve some other lovely holiday homes on organic farms or smallholdings. Take a look at Mallard Cottage (pictured left) in Poltimore, east Devon, a comfy cottage in the grounds of the owners' 60 acre organic farm which you are welcome to roam or Stickwick House on Dartmoor, a fine, Grade II listed, 18 century Georgian country house surrounded by lush farmland and a 50 acre organic farm. 

In the South Hams, you’ll find delightful Crannacombe Farmhouse on an 80 acre organic farm in the beautiful river Avon valley and excellent Blackthorn Barn near Kingsbridge on an organic 300 acre sheep/beef farm which you are welcome to wander. Or how about spacious Merryfield Farmhouse in St Cleer, south Cornwall, beside a 114 acre organic farm?

The Soil Association is the UK's leading environmental charity campaigning for sustainable, organic farming and championing human health. You can follow them on Twitter and Facebook.

Countdown to Devon Open Studios 2011…

As part of our sponsorship of Devon Open Studios we’re supporting five impressive artists as part of their Emerging Artist Bursary Scheme. We’ve already profiled Kirstie Benbow, Melanie Beer and Amy McCarthy – here we take a look at Nigel Waters and Francesca Dawson.

Nigel Waters is a painter working within the mediums of painting and photography. Interested in modern British and American culture from 1950 to the present, he describes his sculptural paintings as “a creative response to a setting using partly observed and partly automatic mark making.”

Nigel works with people with disabilities and his work reflects his interest in the tactile nature of art as a multi-dimensional impression rather than the conventional visual format.

“These visual perceptions include light, colour, overlayed forms and peripheral reflections which altogether create a complex multi-layered image.”

The bursary will enable Nigel to put on an exhibition to generate sales and this in turn will fund his next body of work. He would also like to further develop his skills by taking an MA at art college. See Nigel talking about his work and winning the bursary on YouTube.

Nigel’s work can be seen at Exeter Northcott Theatre, Stocker Road, Exeter, EX4 4QB.

Francesca Dawson (L) with Helen Hayes from Helpful Holidays

Francesca Dawson graduated with a first class BA (Hons) Fine Art in 2007 and currently manages an art gallery (Gloss) in Exeter and creates her work in her spare time. Her passion is for drawing, and she is currently producing a series of pieces influenced by a selection of the Grimm’s fairytales including The Seven Ravens and The Fox and the Wolf.

She explains: “I have used the traditional characters as inspiration and have adapted them to suit a contemporary audience as I believe their stories have a universal appeal.”

Francesca is also greatly inspired by fashion photography and illustration which is evident in the female characters she portrays. Her work conveys a juxtaposition between beauty and subtle macabre, through visual narratives using various drawing and mixed media.

The critical feedback that she hopes to receive from the visitors to her show will help her develop as an exhibiting artist and the bursary will be a great help towards the cost of hosting her exhibition. See Francesca talking about her work and winning the bursary on YouTube.

Francesca’s work can be seen at The Granary, Oxton, Kenton, Exeter, EX6 8EX.

If you’re in Exeter on 1st September, it’s well worth attending the launch of Devon Open Studios 2011 at Exeter Northcott Theatre. See details below:

Running from 3rd to 18th September, Devon Open Studios is a great opportunity to meet and chat with artists and see the creative process first hand.

A free event guide is available by post or online showing all the artists and venues, colour coded by area, so you can plan a tour of the studios that interest you. And if you need a place to stay, take a look at our holiday cottages in Devon available during the event.

You can also link up with Devon Open Studios on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

What do you like to discover on holiday?

Whether you’re holidaying on the moor, by the sea or in river country, there’s so much history and nature to discover on your doorstep in Devon.

If you stay at The Hayloft in Lower Cator, a hamlet in a hill-farmed valley in the heart of southern Dartmoor, you’ll find miles of lovely moorland and riverside walks amidst spectacular scenery. One of the holidaymakers who stayed here described the “riot of colour and wildlife” and there’s a wealth of archaeological sites to visit too.

It can be great fun to plot your walking route to call in at country pubs – try The Rugglestone Inn in Widecombe-in-the-Moor, a popular, ‘real Dartmoor’ village world-famous for its fair. The Hayloft is an excellent, upside down cottage (one of two converted from a big barn) in a truly beautiful location; a peaceful retreat after busy days out.

In the heart of Axminster, you’ll find lovely Coombe House, big, semi-detached and Grade II listed, originally built for the local abbot in the 16th century. There’s history all around you here. Axminster is a bustling little town with 300BC Celtic origins and nearby is the imposing Jurassic Coast – miles of stunning coastline and ancient geology recording 185 million years of the Earth's evolution.

After hunting for fossils and exploring rockpools, relax in the property’s big enclosed, walled garden shaded by a lovely mature beech tree – and you’re welcome to roam the friendly owner’s garden and help yourself to seasonal fruit and veg.

In the heart of the historic fishing village of Appledore, quirky Peelers Cottage has 1732 origins and once served the village as a police station and gaol. The picturesque village is well placed at the mouth of the Taw and Torridge estuary.

Make a hearty packed lunch and head off on your bikes to explore the famous Tarka Trail (you can hire cycles in Bideford, just 2 miles away) – you’ll find an abundance of wildlife. A good route is Bideford to Torrington which takes you up the Torridge Estuary on the old railway bed. Or how about a boat trip from Bideford to breathtaking Lundy Island to see its rich and diverse flora and fauna?

For more holiday ideas, browse through the rest of our holiday cottages in Devon.

Meet the artists during Devon Open Studios…



Painting by Melanie Beer

Any art lovers amongst you will recall our post back in June on our sponsorship of Devon Open Studios again this year. In this post, we’re delighted to introduce two more of the five impressive artists we’re supporting as part of their Emerging Artist Bursary Scheme.

Kirstie Benbow is a recently self-employed artist who is a part-time Fine Art student at Plymouth College of Art. Since starting the course, her inspiration has changed from design-led, designer/maker crafts, to emotionally-fed conceptual art. Her range is wide – there are few visual art forms not now represented in her work: wire and shredded paper forms, sculpted female figures, horses, humorous three-dimensional birds….

Kirstie says “It has been a fascinating process, to move from printmaking and textiles to painting, a new discipline for me, focusing on the use of colour (mainly oils) in abstract garden themes. I hope to take painting forward into my professional practice, backed up by my history of printmaking, textiles and sculpture.”

Printmaking remains Kirstie’s ‘lead’ discipline. Again, she is inspired by gardens and hedgerows, using recycled materials, dried plant stems and seed heads, dead insects and other finds from her garden. The delicate monotype images she creates are strongly evocative of seasons and emotions past.



You can see Kirstie’s work at Heathfield Farm, Heathfield Road, Denbury, Newton Abbot TQ12 6ES.

Melanie Beer paints with acrylics using loose brush strokes to capture her local land and seascape in a painterly, impressionistic style. She has also recently begun to work with fused glass to create the movement, colour and flow of the ocean and has several commissions. Melanie says “The challenge for me is to capture nature’s tranquillity with light colour and texture. This bursary from Devon Open Studios has given me a great opportunity to reach a wider audience and get my career off to a head start.”

You can see Melanie’s work at Sunnybank, Cudhill Road, Brixham, TQ5 9JQ.

Running from 3rd to 18th September, Devon Open Studios is a great opportunity to meet and chat with artists and see the creative process first hand.

A free event guide is available by post or online showing all the artists and venues, colour coded by area, so you can plan a tour of the studios that interest you. And if you need a place to stay, take a look at our holiday cottages in Devon available during the event.

You can also link up with Devon Open Studios on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Celebrating artistic talent in Devon…

Did you know that Devon has more working artists than any other county in the UK? From 3rd to 18th September 2011, the Devon Open Studios project, with over 370 artists exhibiting in 146 venues, creates an ideal opportunity for art lovers to visit Devon. You can meet the artists in their studios and even see them in action. It’s a phenomenally successful venture - there were over 25,000 studio visits during last year’s event – and we’re delighted to be sponsoring the project again this year.

For 2011, we’re also proud to support their Emerging Artist Bursary Scheme to help fresh talent develop their young careers. Our bursaries are going to the five impressive artists below who express their creativity through a variety of media, ranging from photography and mosaics to crayon:

• Amy McCarthy - glass (pictured)
• Kirstie Benbow - mixed media
• Melanie Beer – painting and glass
• Nigel Waters – mixed media
• Francesca Dawson – drawings

We’ll take a closer look at each of these five artists over the coming weeks, starting with Amy McCarthy. Amy’s stained glass and mixed media is inspired by the beautiful Devon landscape and she produces striking, simple designs which reflect her love of colour. Waste glass and recycled or found objects are incorporated in to her mixed media mosaics which have been exhibited around the South West.

Amy set up an online shop and art glass studio in 2009 after a career in mental health. In a remarkably short time, she has built up a thriving studio with a steady stream of commissions and a busy exhibition diary.

Recycling and environmental art are a dominant passion; last summer she won ‘South West Water’s Artist Prize’ for a large public sculpture that utilised an old bath and discarded glass to create a vibrantly coloured sail boat cruising on a mosaic sea! She intends to create more large sculptures by casting recycled glass. This is a very experimental area of glass art and she’s keen to develop her skills in enamelling, fusing and slumping glass by investing in a kiln for her studio.

The bursary will help Amy with the cost of a gazebo to exhibit her work in this year’s exhibition and with the preparation and promotion of her private view event.

You can watch Amy demonstrate her technique in this video – as you’ll see, her creations are full of colour and vigour and we can’t wait to see more of her work throughout the year.

View our holiday cottages in Devon to book a cultural break in September and follow the studio trail to visit some of the most beautiful, unexplored parts of this county.

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Summer holidays - we all deserve them!

Not long now to those lazy, hazy days of summer - it will soon be time to dust off the suitcase and pack it to the brim for another year's break. We’d love to welcome you to the wonderful West Country for a week (or perhaps two) away in one of our fabulous holiday cottages.

There’s plenty to do; think of the endlessly different beaches and coves, and the rock pools to rummage around in. Shake the sand from your toes and venture upwards to explore vast expanses of high moorland. 

Drink in the terrific views, sample the delicious local food and enjoy our unique and quirky festivals. But remember to put your feet up, tune in to a quieter pace of life and relax in this wonderful corner of England.

We’ve a huge variety of properties for you to choose from (such as this charming house with its own outdoor pool), scattered throughout Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset; from toes-in-the-water cottages to grand country houses for those special holiday gatherings. All have been carefully inspected by us, star-rated for quality and come with our wholehearted recommendation as good places for happy holidays.

View holiday cottages available during July and August on our website where you’ll find lots of big photos and can check live availability, make a shortlist and email it to your friends or book and pay securely online. 

Our telephone team (01647 433593) are regular visitors to all of our holiday homes, so do make use of their expertise and experience to help you make a good choice. Don’t forget, you can also request our FREE 224-page brochure online or ask us to pop one in the post when you call.

We look forward to welcoming you here soon.

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Father’s Day treats in deepest Devon…

We’ve picked out a couple of ideal cottages for celebrating the father-child bond this Father’s Day. Both options are crammed with Dad-friendly activities to show the old man how much you love him.

  

Keep active Dads occupied with a week away for a Father’s Day treat at Fixit Cottage near Kingsbridge in south Devon. There’s plenty to keep him busy with on-site coarse fishing in three well-stocked lakes plus use of a shared indoor swimming pool, games room with table tennis and pool, a health suite with a well-equipped gym and therapists offering massage and pamper treatments to calm him down after a busy week. Converted from a farm barn, the bright beamed cottage is quietly situated beside a stream-valley meadow just a mile from the town centre.Sleeping four, it’s priced at £720 (£180 per person) for a week from Friday 17th June.

For a luxury treat, book a week from Saturday 18th June in a stylish granite lodge in the grounds of Bovey Castle on Devon’s Dartmoor. Here, Dad and family can have use of this stunning hotel’s facilities – which means they can enjoy a complimentary round of golf, play tennis or croquet, practice cricket, take a swim, go riding or fishing, try falconry or clay pigeon shooting, learn how to make sloe gin, dine in the hotel and much more (some activities extra). Each lodge sleeps six plus the family pet and is priced from £1,204pw (£201 per person).

Here are some more holiday cottages still available for Father’s Day.
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Cornish charm and Devon donkeys…

From an eco-friendly haven to a former village sweet shop, we've some fantastic and unique holiday cottages to add another dimension to your next West Country break.

Rainwater harvesting, heat reclaim ventilation and an air source heat pump for heating and hot water give the recently refurbished The Linhay in the South Hams an attractive, forward-thinking quality many holidaymakers seek. On the site of an ancient settlement and surrounded by five acres of fields with distant views to Dartmoor and south to Noss Mayo, the proximity to nature - including a private woodland with a stream and sightings of rabbits, pheasants, a barn owl, woodpeckers and buzzards - is superbly fitting.

The Linhay is a detached, upside-down property near a collection of small villages. Essential shops and good food pubs can be found in Newton Ferrers. At low tide, follow the footpath across the creek or use the pedestrian ferry to coast walk to the secluded beach at Wembury. Mothecombe has the nearest sandy beach and is 4 miles by car.

Collaton Farmhouse and Collaton Farm Cottage are on the same site as The Linhay and can be rented together. A semi-detached and more traditional building, Collaton Farmhouse is clad with roses and wisteria, with a large and lovely, sheltered enclosed walled garden and sun trap terrace. Collaton Farm Cottage is a pretty, part slate-hung, west-facing end of the original house, with its own entrance and sunny, lawned garden with terrace looking over fields and woodland beyond.

Cornish charm is found in abundance in Mousehole, on the western tip of Cornwall. This pretty fishing village is a horseshoe of granite cottages, shops, good restaurant, cafés and pub round its harbour. Fisherman’s Haven, an enchanting 18th century Grade II listed cottage,nestles in a tiny cobbled lane and the interior reflects its artistic owner’s flair and imagination. Plenty of good walks on your doorstep and the superb Minack Theatre and sandy Sennen cove within 10 miles.

Hartland in north Devon is home to The Olde Sweetshop, a 17th century terraced cottage, once the village sweet shop through which donkeys walked to be shod at the back (now a lawned garden). Hartland itself is an attractive village with shops, pubs and a lovely former abbey set in a remote, beautiful area with spectacular cliffs at Hartland Quay; an ideal base for exploring the coastal path. The nearest town is Bideford and closest beach is Westward Ho! - the only place in the British Isles with an exclamation mark in its name!

Search our selection of more than 600 West Country holiday cottages to find a special place to stay.

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Venus SUP Championship proudly sponsored by Helpful Holidays…

Stand up paddle boarding (or SUP for short) seems to be taking the West Country by storm, so we’re delighted to announce our sponsorship of the second annual Venus Riders Family SUP Championship in south Devon at the end of May. 

Stand up paddle boarding is one of the best sports for the whole family to enjoy. Standing on top of a long board, you glide along the surface of the water using a long paddle, a little bit like a gondolier! It's a perfect way to see the West Country coastline and great exercise too.

It sounds idyllic, doesn't it? But there is a competitive side too, as the event at Blackpool Sands proves. The Championship will attract experienced and beginner SUP boarders of all ages between Tuesday 31st May and Friday 3rd June 2011. Contestants aged 8 and above can take part in qualifying heats with the aim of making it through to the grand final on Friday, where three eventual winners will be crowned. Registration for the heats is at 9:30am on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for all wannabe SUP champs and it’s free to take part.

Hosted by the Venus Company, the event aims to put the South Hams firmly on the map as THE place for SUP in the UK. Building on the runaway - or paddleaway - success of the 2010 four-day competition, it is hoped hundreds will come along to participate again this year. It makes a great spectator sport too, for those who want to stay firmly on dry land.

The Venus Company has six environmentally friendly and socially responsible cafés, five in stunning beachside locations in south Devon and north Cornwall - Blackpool Sands, East Portlemouth, Bigbury-on-Sea, Tolcarne and Watergate Bay – and their most recent enterprise at the shops at Dartington centre near Totnes. Venus also has a watersports arm to the business based at Bigbury-on-Sea and Blackpool Sands and demand for SUP tuition has never been higher.

If you fancy yourself as the next Venus Riders SUP Champion, make sure you take part in this year’s event. Go to the Venus Company website - www.lovingthebeach.co.uk - to sign up for the 'Friends of Venus' newsletter to ensure you are kept up-to-date with event details.

New to SUP? Why not book some SUP lessons with Venus Riders to get in some practice before next year’s competition? Visit the SUP page for more information.

For an added incentive to get down to the Championship at Blackpool Sands and try SUP or watch the entrants, there’s a chance to win a £500 Helpful Holidays voucher in the free prize draw. So, see you there!

View a list of our holiday cottages in the South Hams to find just the right place for a happy holiday at great value.

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Finding a little slice of West Country life to suit you…

Neatly ordered villages of higgledy-piggledy houses are part of the charm of West Country life. But how do you go about finding one for you and your loved ones to cosy up in? How do you know which ones are near a beach or a market town and where to go for a good pub meal or a day out?

We've done the leg work for you. Our Advanced Search will help you quickly generate a shortlist of suitable holiday cottages. Each of our property pages then describes the local area, the holiday cottage itself (plus lots of big photos) and the places to go and things to do within easy reach and further afield. The star rating and holidaymaker comments are also helpful guides to choosing just the right place to stay.

For some, the choice is as simple as being by the coast or in the countryside. Here’s a couple of super examples.

First is a 'neat as a pin' late Georgian terraced cottage in the pretty and peaceful village of Flushing, Cornwall. The beautifully renovated home looks out over a bustling harbour so you can watch the passing boats or get out and about, perhaps using the pedestrian ferry to nearby Falmouth. There, you can indulge sailing fanatics further with a trip to the National Maritime Museum or soak up some history at Pendennis Castle.

Second is this dear semi-detached cottage with lovely long serene views over Marldon village, on the South Hams border. Rolling, lush hills and the nearby John Musgrave Heritage Trail make this a brilliant spot for nature lovers. Situated on a narrow lane 400 yards up a steep hill from a good food pub and church, this little enclave of Devon offers a picture-perfect slice of West Country living.

To see more West Country holiday cottages, visit www.helpfulholidays.com

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Revealing the newest additions to our holiday cottage portfolio…

We've been hunting out hidden holiday cottage gems to add to our hand picked 2011 collection across Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, Dorset and the New Forest. 

The result is a supplement of 23 new and returning holiday homes for you to choose from in our growing portfolio of more than 600 coastal, countryside and West Country town retreats. Sleeping two to sixteen guests, prices range from £205 to £4,200 per week and pets are welcome in many.

The tempting additions to our collection include Elmfield, a handsome detached house in Sampford Brett, Somerset, described in 1704 as ‘No.1 Gentleman’s Residence’. Calamansack, a hamlet beside the broad Helford River in Cornwall, is home to Creek Cottage, an enchanting, old cob cottage with wonderful views. 

Haye Barton Farm (pictured) is ideal for a larger gathering: the property in south Cornwall sleeps up to 14 and is a detached, completely private, south-facing farmhouse on three levels, looking out over 115 acres of farmland and bluebell woods which are all yours to roam and enjoy with care. 

Other highlights include part of the west wing of a 13th century farmhouse sleeping four in north Cornwall where scenes from ITV’s drama Doc Martin are filmed (new series starts later in 2011). Or how about this lovely spacious family house in the South Hams, Devon - a real Swallows and Amazons-type area - just a stroll from an excellent pub? 

Our Explore the Area map on each property page of our website will help you plan your stay. It's full of West Country events, pubs, restaurants and places to visit. Plus, this year's edition of our ‘What Shall We Do Today?’ booklet includes special offers for some of the most popular attractions. 

As always, we've visited each of our holiday homes in person to inspect them and give them a star rating, so we can wholeheartedly recommend them. Our telephone team (01647 433593) are all experienced property visitors and will be delighted to guide you. 

All our properties can be viewed online but if you would prefer to peruse them the traditional way (turning over the corners of the pages you want to visit most!), you can request a free copy of our brochure online or by calling us on 01647 433535. 

Happy reading!

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Planning a big event?

The Royals can't be the only ones with a big event on their hands this year but we don't all have a palace to fall back on for the venue.

If you’ve been tasked with planning a ‘do’, fear not! Helpful Holidays can come to your rescue with huge holiday homes and grand houses suitable for large gatherings, both formal and informal. True to our name, we can answer any questions you have about the suitability of our big houses to help you find the best match to your needs.

Here are two suggestions that would be perfect for a once-in-a-blue-moon get together over the summer or Christmas holidays or for a special celebration or small conference at any time of year.

Outstanding Brimpts Barn is right in the heart of Dartmoor National Park, where the East and West Dart Rivers meet in a beautiful wooded valley. It sleeps 32 people if you are prepared to bunk up, otherwise 20 very comfortably in ten double or twin bedrooms, all en-suite.

Spectacularly positioned amid trees looking across the deep valley to open moorland and tors, it is one of five ancient tenements of the moor and has been farmed by the same Dartmoor family for more than 30 years. The owners have received a wildlife habitat award from Prince Charles, as well as farm diversification and food producer awards. Cream teas have been available in the farmhouse since 1914 and as the Visitors’ Book of 1933-1947 catalogues, even during the war people found holiday refuge at Brimpts.

Part of the joy of staying here is the range of both energetic and gentle activities available. Most popular are the farm tours by Landrover, but there is also climbing and abseiling instruction on the 30’ high climbing tower, mountain biking tours, orienteering, pony riding – or simply enjoy a scenic walk or a soak in the hot tub.  

Stunning Rashleighayes Farm, sleeping 16 and set on a working farm with its own outdoor pool, is the ultimate fusion of work and play. Just 1½ miles from Bickleigh Bridge and 3 miles south of Tiverton, this is a house of tremendous charm, a special place of ‘treasured isolation’ in its own deep, hidden, beautiful and unspoilt valley.

The original 17th century house has been sympathetically extended. Its south-facing patio and enclosed lawn garden complete with barbecue are great for lazy summer days. The owner is a farmer and environmentalist who will be delighted to show you round the 150 acre working farm, winner of a Devon Wildlife Trust Silver Award and Highly Commended in the 2008 'Britain's Most Beautiful Farm' awards.

The big comfortable living room and enormous kitchen/dining room are ideal for relaxing and socialising and there’s plenty to keep you entertained in the games room with 10’ home-cinema/TV screen, baby grand piano and half-sized snooker table.

We’ve hand-picked around 600 of the finest self-catering holiday cottages in Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset. Take a look at the rest of our Big Houses to find a special place for your event.

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