No partridges at the farm, although we do have a pear tree! Here’s our  child-friendly, Cornish Tredethick Twelve to kick off your festive season: 1 Eden project.  The world-class Eden Project is just seven miles away.  As well as the amazing tropical and Mediterranean biomes, there’s a winter ice skating rink with child-friendly skate sessions. […]

Christmas at Tredethick Farm Cottages in Lostwithiel, Cornwall, is a magical time for families. Our cosy cottages, with log burners and real Christmas trees, are the perfect place to relax and recharge after a busy December and a beautiful place to see in the New Year. Children will love our daily animal feeding and our gentle ponies, Ladybird and Toby, […]

We used to euphemise family walks as ’adventures’ to try to mobilise the troops to shuffle out on another fresh-air Sunday amble. It didn’t work for long. Recently we’ve taken an easier path – bribery.  Enthusing about hot chocolate, coke and shell-on prawns in a quiet, tempting voice is remarkably effective. The stunning 1.5 mile, […]

January is a serious, sober, list-type month contrasting with the heady days of Christmas.  Tredethick has been closed to guests from the end of the New Year week, until this weekend coming.  No scooting children, chatting parents, or cottage lights. On a cloudy night the farm is pitch black and the silence feels lonely. On a […]

Children feeding our close-knit herd of pygmy goats by hand and then giving them a big, big cuddle is a familiar sight at Tredethick. Farmer Tim will ceerfully offer a free holiday to any child nipped while giving our goats their breakfast. Why? Because it’s never happened yet! Pygmy goats are friendly, fun and utterly […]

 I find cooking a necessity rather than a pleasure. But preserving fulfils something primal in me. Tim and the children will attest that I am rarely happier than when boiling my shiny cauldron of a jam pan on our temperamental farmhouse Aga. Here’s a few summer recipes from produce we pick on and around Tredethick. […]

My vision of the perfect beach has changed since motherhood. Gone is a halcyon Maldivian reverie of deserted white sand, glamorous bikinis, searing heat and reef diving. My idyll now comprises toilets, sandcastle-suitable sand, good coffee and rock pools. Rock pools are Cornish beaches USP. We have fantastic tidal reach here which means surreal temporary […]

I’m sitting in a darkened, still room as I type, recovering from the rigours of a tricky Monday. Tricky Tuesdays are what, I believe, Eden Project staff call rainy Tuesdays over the summer when staff are in full force to handle large quantities of visitors. Today was a Monday, but still tricky. The girls and […]

The romantic story of the Sleeping Beauty gardens restored to their pre Great War grandeur may appeal to older visitors, but the Lost Gardens of Heligan is also an absolute delight for younger members of the family. Recent additions include the rope bridge across the Lost Valley, the poppy field, Horsemoor Hide(with live wildlife webcams […]

 The back roads to Royal Cornwall Show, past Ruthernbridge and Lanivet are magical, meandering and lined with wildflowers. They seem which materialise once a year for the annual family day out. There are landmarks like the farm with bright blue gates and the shaded valley garden filled with gunnera. Tim and I are joined by […]