Lakeside Cottage - at Incombe Farm

Really comfortable and warm converted stables next to our main house but with privacy, standing in an idyllic private valley. Lakeside cottage is overlooking our small lake (about 1/2 acre). Peaceful countryside with buzzards, woodpeckers, a barn owl, ducks and pheasants and occasional deer, sometimes even an otter. See them at your breakfast table or in our indoor/outdoor veranda with large circular table and overhead heater. We are 1.7 miles from Shaftesbury's many shops, restaurants/pubs. The cottage contains two attractive bedrooms, one twin (can have beds pushed together to make a double - please let us know) and one double (King-size bed). Each bedroom has its own modern en-suite bathroom with good showers over the bath and we are told the beds are all comfortable and all with duvets. There is a small cosy sitting room with dining area that has outstanding views of the lake and rolling hills and a tiny but well equipped kitchenette with v. small fridge, microwave and gas hob. There is also a good sized utility room/back kitchen with kitchen sink unit, normal sized gas oven and grill, dishwasher, washing machine, under counter refrigerator with icebox, a small freezer and an iron/ironing board. Please note: Access to this back kitchen is either through the twin bedroom or via the courtyard. Full central heating and all radiators have individual thermostatic controls. Parking: There is space around the back of the cottage (by the kitchenette entrance) for 2 cars and a small lawned area with round wooden table and 4 chairs. Apparently for those living North of the border, the new veranda would be known as a 'sitooterie'. There is also a table and chairs beside the lake for our guests' use. Our two free range chickens walk past your cottage daily and hopefully you'll get 6 eggs from them on arrival in your kitchenette. They may walk through your garden – Korma and Tikka Guests can walk over our fields of 25 acres including a small wood and also have access to the lower lawn and pond and our hill behind it. Sensible shoes or boots in the wood. Swimming in the lake is not allowed for health and safety reasons. We do have sheep from Spring until about early November so please shut gates if you open them. We are a Bird watchers paradise with over 55 different species counted by a keen annual birdwatcher. We have the full list in the cottage from a Little Grebe, Kingfisher, Hobby, Buzzard, Skylark, Redwing, Barn and Tawny owls, Linnet, Green and Great Spotted Woodpecker, Tree Creeper, Grey wagtail, Swallow, House Martin, Nuthatch and many more species. We border on the Cranborne Chase (area of outstanding natural beauty) so we enjoy a starry dark night sky that is unpolluted from normal light sources. The dark starry nights are particularly good to see in Autumn and Winter, and March and April. Footpaths close by. Bring binoculars if you can as so useful here for everything. Joggers can run up and down the drive and around the fields or roads (circular route via Twyford) or across our hilly land! We respect our guests privacy and as we work from home we are usually around so we are more than happy to answer any questions and suggest places to visit. Dorset countryside at its best in the heart of Thomas Hardy country, with the ancient market town of Shaftesbury just 7 minutes away with its famous 'Hovis' Gold Hill and Shaftesbury Abbey museum in Abbey Walk. There is a small Street market in the morning on Thursday in Shaftesbury High Street (now pedestrianised) up by the Guildhall end, with a wonderful fresh fish stall (sometimes with fresh lobsters, large prawns and fresh large crabs, halibut, turbot and many other fish from Brixham, a bread man selling all manner of homemade breads including sour dough, a cheese stall selling local cheese including some sheep cheeses, and also a stall selling plants - occasionally additional stalls too. Great shopping with a few privately owned little shops of all sorts. Fun to explore. Includes a classic men's clothier (Squires) and delightful boutiques including Cole and Cole - upmarket country clothes, as well as a Butcher (Prime Cuts) near Cole & Cole and Greggs the bakers, Abbots fruit and veg shops, florists, gift shops, jewellery shops and even a mini department store Hine and Parsons (absolutely typical English and good), Post Office, Restaurants, Boots the Chemist and Bargains (a sort of pound shop but not quite - includes toys, hardware, cookery equipment, and so much more). A street market once a week including a Brixham Fresh Shellfish and other fish, a local delicious Cheese stall, Plants and a Artisan bread stall selling sour dough and other speciality breads on Thursdays 9.00 am to 5.00 pm opposite Hine and Parsons and next to the Town Hall and St Thomas's Church. Walk down Gold Hill, famous for the old Hovis Advertisement and also walk along the attractive Park Walk near Costa Coffee and see stunning views towards us and the distant hills of South Dorset & the Blackmore Vale. Then head for the Queen Elizabeth the Queen mother's Garden - now being made a butterfly and bee paradise on the other side of the promontory. Here are fabulous views over towards Duncliffe Wood and Gillingham direction with benches to sit and ponder. Within 30 to 40 minutes drive are a wealth of activities including, Stonehenge (world heritage site), Stourhead Garden & House and lake (National Trust) is one of the greatest landscape gardens in the world creation of Banker Henry Hoare in 1740's on his return from the Grand Tour and planted with rare trees, Rhododendrons and Azaleas, with Pub, Cafe, excellent Gift Shop and Garden plants for sale there and pretty Church by the stunning Lake. Mainly flat walking and therefore good for wheelchairs and buggies. Salisbury with its magnificent Cathedral and tall spire 123 metres high, and it also has the Magna Carta - Salisbury Museum opposite with Early man, Roman and Saxon items housed in 17th-century rooms with some Turner watercolours, Longleat House, home of Lord Bath with famous Safari Park including naughty monkeys, Wimborne, with the quaint miniature 'Wimborne Model Town' and the very attractive Wimborne Minster Church with a very special Astronomical clock from the 14th C. Wimborne has lovely shops and tea rooms and cafes as well as a small theatre, Sherborne Old Castle once owned by Sir Walter Raleigh and close by is Sherborne New Castle and Garden centre, Beautiful Sherborne Abbey and pretty town of Sherborne with good shops. Montacute House (National Trust Elizabethan beauty completed in 1601) with amazing Long Gallery and attractive gardens (45 mins), Dyrham Park (National Trust) (60 mins) near Bath, a magnificent 17th century Mansion House and Deer Park with historic herd of fallow deer roam across 270 acres and Arboretum, Inside the impressive mansion, built by hard-working civil servant William Blathwayt, discover fascinating interiors little changed in 300 years, as well as a rich collection that includes superb Dutch art and ceramics of the period. Then there is Bath!.... (Bath is 60 mins) a must if you haven't been there. The fabulous Roman Baths are my absolute favourite but also visit the inspiring Bath Abbey (look up at the famous Vaulted ceiling) and walk to The Royal Crescent, as well as Bath's shops which are superb. Have tea at Sally Lunn’s - it is much more than a world famous tea and eating house in but also one of the oldest houses here and home of the famous Bath Bun. More local to us is Old Wardour Castle ruin (22 mins & English Heritage) and a circular walk to The Foresters Pub and back is recommended for those who like long walks (walk takes 2 hours there and back from car park at either end). The Haynes Motor Museum at Sparkford, For children visit the Bison Centre at West Knoyle (21 mins) with lots of farm animals and pets corner as well as the Bison - buy bison burgers or meat etc from farm shop there, or visit the Larmer Tree Pleasure Gardens at Tollard Royal with children's trails. Blandford Forum (19 mins from us) has the Royal Signals Museum, and the Hall and Woodhouse Brewery Centre, and the Blandford Fashion Museum and just outside Blandford is the Shillingstone Railway Project (16 mins) - it is well worth going. There is a steam engine, various railway carriages, the original platforms and station buildings, and a great cafe. But above all, you get to meet a really great crew of volunteers, who are dramatically and rapidly transforming the station and track. Please check all websites for opening times. Own car is essential for getting around the countryside. You can walk to Shaftesbury from the cottage through pretty small country lanes but it takes about 50 minutes, whereas by car it takes about 7 minutes and is only 1.7 miles. 2 car parks - 1 at lower end of High Street in Angel Lane close to Post Office and the other at the top of town behind the Tourist Information Centre (there is an old supermarket for sale by it). See our folder in the cottage for more details about attractions or walks. Bring you bikes but beware, it is hilly around here. There are flatter roads once you get down to Twyford heading for Sturminster Newton or go up to the Higher Blandford Road C13 that is flattish to Blandford Forum. Please note that we only take 7 day or more bookings in July and August as it is High Season. When weather allows, there is garden furniture including table and chairs by the cottage and also a swing chair seat, a table and 4 chairs on the lower lawn by the pond. Kettle type barbecue available. Please bring your own charcoal and firelighters. Tesco in Shaftesbury sells this. Pick your own herbs for lunch or dinner in the spring and summer in a raised bed in front of your kitchen window.