RENDEZVOUS
We are frequently asked for advice on activities in Devon by guests due to arrive at the house. There are indeed many activities on offer in Devon. Our web sites lists a selection of horse riding, paint balling, indoor climbing, JCB driving, fishing, sailing; to name but a few. However, most frequently, guests who arrive at Homecroft with long made plans for lots of outside activities end up simply staying at the house. There is a lot to do there; and the place has that sort of welcoming, calming effect.
Although the south-west of England features strongly on the itineraries of many visitors from within the uk and abroad, mid Devon is not so frequently visited. Mid-Devon is a stunningly beautiful agricultural part of Devon: with one of England's best climates. That last bit is only misleading if you are seeking a Mediterranean climate! It can be Mediterranean: but is usually a little more variable.
Most visitors to Devon go to the south or north coasts which have great beaches, quaint villages and lots of people. Or: they visit the increasingly sophisticated university city of Exeter with its large selection of diverse restaurants and coffee shops. Far fewer venture into the hinterland of mid- Devon where all the real agricultural activity takes place. Small market towns with regular farmers markets: stunning views: real local English pubs: excellent farm shops and probably the best gentle walks on single track, tree canopied lanes in England: if not Europe.
There are geese in the adjacent field and hens in a large compound who produce beautiful eggs which guests are free to collect.
The house has beautiful secluded rural views. In the winter, when the trees lose their foliage, you can see Dartmoor 20 miles distant. In the more verdant summer, you can see the top of the spire of the village church a quarter of a mile away. It is a calm place which is not comatose or silent but eclectively connected to the rhythms of the countryside.
There is a lot of wildlife around. If you are up early enough you will see deer, badgers, foxes, rabbits, squirrels, hares, stoats, weasels and even the odd adder in the garden and the surrounding field.
Rendezvous: A Relaxing Devon Escape for Families and Friends
"It is as though the land knows of its own beauty, of its own greatness, and feels no need to shout it" . Kazuo Ishiguro. The remains of the day.
I referenced this quote when I was looking for something which most accurately described the understated, undiscovered timeless beauty of mid Devon.
Rendezvous is a place for people to gather, relax, talk, discuss, reminisce, rediscover, reclaim, rescue.
Homecroft house is a 100 year old Devon family home located in the heart of the Devon countryside: within ten minutes easy walking distance of the doomsday book village of Cheriton Fitzpaine with it's community shop and two excellent pubs.
The house has a wide range of activities which offer entertainment for all age groups. A beautiful roofed pizza area; outside barbecue with a 20 seat outdoor table located under fairy light covered trees: flood lit table tennis: a large, imaginative outside small children's play area with comfortable seating for watching mothers; a sociable gathering fire pit; a large Scandinavian wood fired hot tub: a very unusual games room with darts and snooker and a layout which lends itself to family theatricals: a large, deep, heated swimming pool.
This is a different place. It is simultaneously beautiful and real: industrious without being industrial, and very welcoming. As a Scotsman I can remark, without a hint of irony, on the most unusual accent the locals have!
The university of Exeter, apart from its ever growing reputation for academic excellence, also offers a huge selection of entertainments available to the discerning who take the trouble to book. Plays by travelling theatre groups: presentations and talks by many visiting experts and celebrities.
If you are a sports enthusiast, there is Exeter rugby club which has developed from playing on local cow pat farmers fields to a powerhouse of European rugby in less than a decade.
Exeter city football club is not in the higher echelons of the football leagues but still offers a very entertaining day out to those who hanker after football on a more local level: as it was (is) before it became such a big businesses.
Mid Devon is about 1.5 hours drive through beautiful scenery to better known venues such as Rick Stein's food excellence in Padstow in Cornwall or the spectacular, world leading Eden project in St Austell.
There is a community shop in Cheriton Fitzpaine. Staffed only by cheerful, involved volunteers. It came into being by hard work and innovative thinking by a group of retired residents. They built the shop in the cemetery of the Methodist church! Brilliant use of space. It is a huge success and frequently used by guests at Homecroft house after they have come to terms with the fact that there is not a 24 hour tesco in the village!
One of the pubs in Cheriton Fitzpaine, the 15th century award winning gastropub "The Ring of Bells", has among many old pictures and curios on its walls, a cricket ball with a caption underneath which I think captures the essence of mid Devon rural life: " in memory of "That" catch"!! A comment which perfectly encapsulates the atmosphere of this area!
