Willow Cottage - Ashford-in-the-Water, The Peak District

Hi there everyone 😀

I know I still have lots to share with you about our break on the Isle of Wight back in September, but thought I'd have a bit of a change today and tell you about the cottage that we stayed in recently when we spent a week a bit closer to home, in the very lovely Peak District in Derbyshire.

When did we visit?

16-23 November 2019

How many does it sleep?

6 - in two nice size double rooms and one twin

How much was it?

£474

Who did we book with?

Sykes Holiday Cottages

We always look forward to our November break ... we never go too far and it’s always a good opportunity to take a bit of time out before the Christmas season gets under way in earnest.

For the last few years we’ve tried to do something ‘Christmassy’ ... last year it was the Longleat festival of light, the year before it was Castle Howard for Christmas. This year we had Chatsworth and their Christmas Markets on the cards.

We were staying in Willow Cottage in Ashford in the Water and had been watching the flood warnings closely the week before we went. The cottage is right on the River Wye and we watched the warnings move from red to amber, back to red and then amber again.

Having spoken to the owner we were reassured that flooding was very unlikely as the property had never flooded before and though the cottage was very close to the river there were plenty of other places for the water to go.

Our journey up was fairly uneventful, with the heavy flooding of the previous week having all but receded, and we made a couple of stop offs on the way ... Chatsworth garden centre for lunch and a quick mooch round the Peak Shopping Village at Rowsley.

We arrived bang on time at 3pm and yes, the cottage was very close to the river, which was pretty high and flowing very rapidly ... as was the parking spot for the car ... but the weather forecast didn’t look too bad.

I have to say that it’s the first time we have stayed in a cottage where we were greeted by sandbags at the front and back doors ... which certainly gave us food for thought.

The cottage is in a lovely spot though, in the heart of the village but tucked away at the end of a lane with nowhere to go past it to ... other than the river. So we expected it would be a nice quiet spot, which was just what we wanted. It was well within walking distance of the village pubs, cafe and shop and we were both looking forward to spending some time reacquainting ourselves with the village.

There was nothing to be disappointed about inside the cottage. There was plenty of room, but it had a real cosy feel to it and it looked spotlessly clean.

Whilst I do have a few photos of the inside of the cottage to share with you I must apologise for the poor quality ... I'm blaming it on the time of year and the light levels. Hopefully they are good enough for you to get an idea of what it was like.

The front door opened into a nice big country style kitchen, with plenty of storage, a dining table and chairs and a downstairs loo off it ...
The cosy lounge was through the kitchen at the back of the property ...
From the lounge window you could really see just how close, and how high, the river was ...

The stairs lead off the lounge to three bedrooms, two doubles and a twin. The twin was a little tight but the two doubles were nice and roomy, again with plenty of storage ...

... and another great view of the river from the double at the back ...

The bathroom, again was very roomy, with a bath and separate shower cubicle ...

Before unpacking we did have a quick wander down to the deck in the garden, next to the river. This is the view looking towards the Sheepwash Bridge. Hard to imagine that some visitors earlier in the year had written in the visitors' book about swimming in the river ...
This is the view of the back of the house from the bottom of the garden ... looking a little bleak at the moment, but the pictures on the Sykes' website taken with plenty of summer blooms looked just lovely ...

We were soon unpacked, showered and settled down in front of the TV for a cosy Saturday night in with a bit of Strictly.

Our likes over the course of our stay ...

• The location of the cottage was perfect for us, both in the fact that it was in the heart of the village and the situation of the village within The Peak District. It was very easy to get out about and there were lots of interesting places to visit without going very far.
• The space ... for just the two of us the cottage was very spacious. There was plenty of room and plenty of storage space, which is always useful as it's good to be able to stow all your bits and pieces away.
• It was lovely and clean ... no nasty or grubby spots at all.
• The kitchen had plenty of everything that we needed and was well set out and good for cooking in.
• Lovely cosy and comfy beds.
• Nice reliable Wifi.
• The heating was very easy to control ... and nice and quick to warm up.

Anything that could have made it better ...

• It would have been good to have been able to come in and out of the cottage via the back door, where there was a bit of a porch, so muddy walking boots could have been taken off before getting fully in, but both garden gates were padlocked so this wasn't possible during our stay.
• A log burner would have been a real treat.

Would we recommend this property to our friends and family?

Most certainly

Would we stay in this cottage again?

I think there is every likelihood that we would stay here again. It was a lovely cottage in the perfect spot for exploring that higher part of The Peak District ... somewhere that we are never likely to tire of 😀

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