Meadowgate - Kirstie’s pride and joy…

What a delightful location, completely unspoilt - all peace, calm and tranquillity and just a short walk from the beach. It has to be one of the best settings for a family holiday this summer - or any time of the year for that matter.

You’ll find Meadowgate just over ½ mile from Welcombe Mouth cove, surrounded by meadows and woods. This totally secluded detached house, belonging to Kirstie Allsopp and featured in her Channel 4 show 'Kirstie's Homemade Home', stands in its own big garden and is set back from the little-used access lane - if a car goes down that road once every 30 minutes then it’s rush hour!

Welcombe Mouth cove is a short walk down a National Trust path through woods, which are now a sea of bluebells. The path runs alongside the river and then rises up a little so that you have a wonderful view of the sea. You can also drive down to the beach, so send Dad ahead with all the picnic and beach gear! It’s a sensational cove set between spectacular cliffs in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Meadowgate has been completely renovated, brought to life and made into a charming home full of colour, fun and family comfort (you may have followed its progress on Kirstie’s show). Just about everything has been provided for your comfort and convenience. It’s a smashing house in a stunning location.

Watch the ebb and flow...

For peaceful seclusion, there could hardly be a better choice of holiday location – detached, with unobtrusive neighbours, fantastic views, warm, comfortable, and a lovely east facing balcony, where you can enjoy breakfast and watch the little one-track train plying back and forth all day between St Ives and St Erth on the main line, and plot the ebb and flow of the tide against the rocks on Carbis Bay beach.

And in the very best part of Cornwall – the mild, very beautiful, south-west peninsula, virtually surrounded by sea, and everything within easy reach – St Ives , 1½ miles away along a beautiful coastal path in one direction, and Lelant, 2 miles, away in the opposite direction, both with option of train or bus return journey; the splendid variety of shops in Penzance (6 miles away), the beautiful surfing beach (and the masses of beautiful primroses along the coast path in Spring) at Sennen Cove, for example.

The chance for more serious walking, a large number of interesting gardens/ancient sites within easy reach, an excellent leisure centre in St Ives offering swimming pool and a variety of things to do, good eating places, or just to sit and chill out and gaze at those fantastic views, almost everywhere you go. And Tesco a stone’s throw away.

We’ve made 5 visits between 2001 and 2008 – says it all really.

Wonderful countryside views

My first and abiding view, after the long and steep drive down, is the small field ablaze with daffodils, primroses, and even a few primulas. A veritable feast of colour and delight, to city eyes especially, but also for my country ones.

I had arrived at West Huckham Farm – a superbly converted 200 year old barn with Saxon origins deep in the Quarme Valley 3 miles south of Wheddon Cross – a peaceful, restful, spacious house, quiet and secluded but not isolated (two not-too-near neighbours), with its beautiful countryside view, seen from strategically placed seats outside, or from the west facing conservatory. Wonderful sunsets, of course, having enjoyed the sunny mornings through the east facing French windows.

Comfortable beds – double with en suite bathroom upstairs: shower-room down, with another two bedrooms. Squidgy sofas, a highly efficient woodburner, and music equipment sounding magnificent in the large ground floor area - it would be hard to find a happier, more relaxing place to stay.

The perfect blend of ancient and modern…

We ventured southwards deep into unknown East Devon lanes on a gloriously warm early March day, leaving a surprisingly dusty cloud for spring behind us. Farmers on the rush, dragging massive rollers across grass meadows and spreading fertiliser with their hopes fixed on that first cut of silage hopefully before Devon County Show in mid May so they can squeeze a few hours away before life becomes too hectic.

Eventually gentle wooded valleys with a blush of green lead to the ancient site of Sutton Barton Farm with its 500 acres of arable and dairy and a holiday home with a mixture of ancient old features and the modern facilities of saunas and hot tubs – who’d have thought them so useable in mid March! It might even be warm enough for a bar-b-que in the sheltered terrace next to the massive games room with its own bar – sadly you have to stock it yourself…

An ancient Collie dog lies flat-out in the sun-lit courtyard and cows can be seen getting their first taste of spring grass in a distant field. It’s nearly 10 years since Sutton Barton and Helpful Holidays first got together and many, many bookings later it remains one of the most popular of the 600 plus holiday homes the company has on offer.

Reach for those crayons

Win a holiday worth £400 in the Helpful Holidays painting competition. All you have to do is send us your drawing, sketch or painting, lovingly created whilst holidaying in one of our West Country holiday cottages. Just make sure your entries reach us here at Chagford by the end of September 2009. Winners will be announced shortly afterwards.

The Competition is open to all ages, young and young at heart, so do have a go, we’re not expecting Constables - you never know, your next visit to the West Country may just bring out the creative genius within you and earn you another break courtesy of Helpful Holidays!

Oh boy, what a view!

This has to be one of the best spots I’ve seen for relaxing in the sunshine with a glass of cold Sauvignon Blanc or G & T – whatever your poison – and drinking in the view (pun seriously intended).

I’m already (mentally that is) packing my bags and heading off to this newly renovated home, just a short stroll from the centre of St Mawes, with panoramic views to Place Manor, St Anthony’s Head and out to sea. The living room, dining room and most of the bedrooms also enjoy this great view.

St Mawes is a cracking spot for a break, one of the most beautifully sited seaside spots in Cornwall (on the Roseland Peninsula) with masses to keep you busy all day long. St Mawes boasts its very own Tudor Castle, built in 1538 after a spat with the French and Spanish fleets. Open all year round, St Mawes Castle has always been an important gun emplacement right up to the end of the Second World War.

And there’s a network of local pedestrian and car ferries, including the famous King Harry Ferry Bridge across the River Fal, to help you get around the area, with links to Falmouth and St Anthony. Discover the world of shipwrecks and ancient smugglers tales, whilst spotting dolphins, basking sharks and seals regularly seen around the local coastline - on an Orca Sea Safari, run most days from the historic port of Falmouth – only minutes away by ferry.