Buntingsdale Cottage

A simple cottage with a private garden with fruit trees. In the quiet countryside, in the grounds of Buntingsdale Hall, a private hall (where we live as a family) with woods and a lake. Two miles from Market Drayton. A fabric pool White painted and simply decorated, a little cottage in the grounds of Buntingsdale Hall. It’s nice because it’s in proper countryside, with a private garden with fire pit and access to the private lakeside (shared with us and our guests, about 5 acres) just over the private drive, about 20 meters from the cottage About 2 miles from the local Sainsbury’s (open til 11), 4 miles from Market Drayton, 25 miles from Shrewsbury Wild swimming at the end of the drive, 15 min walk or 5 min drive (parking available) A prewar brick building restored as a cottage. Painted white, with simple, neutral furnishings, and cotton duvet covers and pillows. The kitchen has been restored with a huge slate milk sink from a Welsh farmhouse. Exposed beams in bedroom three. Shropshire Veg Box and Fordhall Farm (meat, cheese, charcuterie, veg) will deliver to the door (preorder; veg box Fri for Sat; Fordhall ASAP for delivery Friday evening) In the woods, next to a huge country house, with visits from badgers, foxes, buzzards and rabbits. Access to large private lake and wild lakeside, with river's edge. In summer, there’s a conservatory with sofas, a table for six and a gas bottle fire. All the beds are full sized, but the bedrooms are small. The kingsize and double need to be got into from one side (ks other side if you are mobile) There’s a kitchen with a full sized cooker, coffee maker, dishwasher, fridge and freezer, and a big sofa. Big white plates and big glasses! There’s now a lair in the attic, for gaming (bring your own console) or watching videos on beanbags; projector, screen, DVD player and DVDs, board games, desk. It’s dark, as no windows (please note; not for sleeping in, and unsuitable for small children as it has steep stairs and a drop- the door is lockable with a key to keep tinies from opening it themselves). The attic room is accessed from the kitchen via a steep stair; (we discovered it as a nice space when renovating the rafters above the bedroom) In winter, we only let to two people as its too cold to use the conservatory, and would be wrong to heat it (it's not insulated, so no point heating the whole of Shropshire!); there's a table for four (but more space for two) and a big sofa in the living room/kitchenette, and an electric stove. But you are welcome to have more people if you just need somewhere to sleep. It’s only electric heating, so electric blankets on the beds and electric and gas fires There's electric heating in the bedroom and bathroom, and an electric blanket on the beds. I will put £100 on the electric stick, which should be ample, but any more you will need to drive in to Drayton to the convenience store to load it, if you use a lot of electricity. There's a TV and an Amazon firestick and DVD player and DVDs, games, in the conservatory, and another DVD player and projector in the attic (maybe everyone can be happy with film choices?) We now have proper wired internet! We have dogs, and lots of dog walkers walk past. The lake is private and locked, used by you and us and our guests and dogs! Part of the surroundings of Buntingsdale Hall, a Baroque country house in woodlands and farmland. Do walk around the outside of the hall and private lake. The cottage has its own private fenced garden, with high fences and trees, a shed and bbq area. Re the virus; we have a new protocol re cleaning and disinfecting. We have a risk assessment in place, and a checklist. Most of the cottage has hard floors and can be mopped; the furnishings are simple and can be washed or steamed. We will keep clutter to a minimum and pillows and duvets, cushions and throws are rotated so as to be clean for each guest. We will sadly see very little of you, as you can self check-in. I have left instructions on how everything works, and will leave it on. Do text or phone me if you have any questions. This is all following the guidance. But we live next door and are happy to answer questions; also do email me for information beforehand. We can supply extra baking or cooking things, board games etc, just say. Very quiet and green, with dark skies at night. A locked private lakeside for just our use, shared with us and our dogs and closest neighbours. In the middle of woods, left to run wild. A rural area, but within 2 miles of Market Drayton (7 minutes by car, 35 minutes on foot), a historic market town with a street market every Wednesday and Saturday morning. Canals, cinema, pubs and Indian restaurants, swimming pool. Locally lots of walking, wild swimming in the mill stream. Close to Fordhall Farm, a community farm with children's activities and a great farm shop and cafe. Twenty minutes drive to Shrewsbury, a medieval town with cool shops, restaurants and a craft market. NT houses, Attingham, Erdigg. Drivable to Lake Bala, Llangollen for white water rafting and steam trains! Good walking and biking routes from the door. Bus to Shrewsbury a short walk away. 2 miles to Market Drayton. 1.5 hours plus 40min taxi London-Stafford. Quiet and secluded. Sorry, you can't play music outdoors in the evening. Unless its an acoustic guitar etc! You can have a fire and chat, though. There are lanterns, a fire brazier, and a bbq. The cottage is in a hamlet, so while neighbours aren’t very close, everyone likes it to be quiet. The heating is electric, so the bedrooms are warm but the conservatory will be colder, especially in winter...or hotter in summer. The living room has an electric stove. The conservatory has a moveable gas stove. The access is partly over gravel paths, and grass, so consider this with wheelchairs/pushchairs and wheeled suitcases. Also some of the paths are really uneven due to tree roots, including the patio area in the cottage. I’m afraid there aren’t handrails on the paths. I’m sorry; we are working on this. The cottage is about 30 feet from the carpark. Over gravel or woodland and grass. Infirm guests will need a hand The sink is weirdly high and huge, made out of slate. There is a dishwasher. There is only one bathroom (but it has an electric shower, so enough hot water for all - over a bath). The twin bedroom has a window that opens to inside the conservatory, rather than to the outside. The cottage has sofa space for five, and a chair, in the conservatory, and a kitchen table and chairs for six there too. There’s a sofa for three in the kitchen. There are bikes and kayaks you can take down to the lake, and walks from the door. Nice walker-,children- and dog-friendly pubs. Good running trails and short bike trails in the woods. Longer ones and climbing 20mins away at Grinshill. It’s very dark at night, and there’s no streetlights. A torch will be good, but there are some lights from the carpark. There’s WiFi in the cottage that works well; internet calls and video streaming is ok. There’s Apple TV but no free view.There’s also a DVD player and DVDs in the cupboard under the TV. Just to note, we have large friendly dogs and chickens. The chicken roam free in the cottage garden, shut in at night. Please feed (provided) and water and collect eggs. Please keep the cottage garden gate shut to protect them; they will be eaten if not! If you don’t want them, they can easily go to their other cage, just say. The dogs are free range in the common areas (but not your garden!) We can supply wood for the brazier; first lot free, then could you leave £5 a barrow load - wood in the shed by the cars, with a barrow; please leave cash in the cottage.