Stalham holiday cottage rental, Catfield with walking, beach/lake nearby, log fire, disabled access, internet access, rural retreat, TV

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Holly Tree Cottage (cottage)

Home description

Holly Tree Cottage is situated in the heart of the Norfolk Broads, close to beautiful locations like How Hill Nature Reserve, Blickling Hall and Horsey Mill (all National Trust), and miles of clean, sandy beaches. Within easy cycling distance you can hire anything from a canoe to an electric day boat to a river cruiser to explore the Norfolk broads, or take a ride with one of a number of passenger boats. Parking for one or two cars is in our own courtyard away from the road, and there are bus routes to Wroxham, Norwich and Great Yarmouth which pass by the house.

We are located midway between the National Nature Reserves of Hickling and Barton Broads, which you can explore with the four adults bicycles available for our guests.

This is an ideal base for nature lovers, with many RSPB, Norfolk Wildlife Trust and other reserves within a short drive, one of the main reasons why we moved here in 2007. The beautiful, long unspoilt beaches of the North Norfolk coast are just 5 miles away, as well as many pretty villages and beauty spots within easy reach. Norwich, with it's fine cathedral and medieval feel is 12 miles away, and Wroxham, the capital of the Broads just 8 miles.

Holly Tree Cottage under a blue Norfolk sky	The mini-bridge over the pond, and cottage just visible in the background
The living room looking out onto the garden	Main bedroom with real Victorian bed (and modern mattress!)

To see more photos please visit http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/97812

The East Anglia / Norfolk region

The Norfolk Broads are popular for those looking to holiday in a picturesque, laid-back area with strong historical connections, friendly locals, and proper beer! Glorious beaches and sweeping coastlines, unspoilt countryside and wildlife, stately homes and medieval heritage, vibrant arts scenes, city entertainment and shopping, seaside fun, attractions and bustling market towns - this is an area full of interest, yet relaxed and easy going.

Of course, British weather is notoriously difficult to predict, but between June and September, temperatures around here are comfortable, and it is unusual for the sun to stay hidden for more than a few days at a time.

Stalham / Catfield area

We are within cycling distance of Barton and Hickling Broads National Nature Reserves, Howe Hill (National Trust), and Catfield Fen (Butterfly Conservation). RSPB reserves like Titchwell Marsh, Minsmere, Lakenheath Fen, Strumpshaw and Berney Marshes are all easily drivable, as are many other exciting areas of interest to nature lovers. The nearest beaches are at Waxham and Horsham (famous for seal-watching) just 5 miles away, and are clean and wonderfully free of commercialism.

An easy drive (or a bus ride) will take you to beautiful local centres like Horning and Wroxham, and just 12 miles away lies Norwich, a truly amazing city (where we have yet to discover a straight road!), the most complete medieval city in Britain with fascinating museums, a magnificent cathedral, a Norman castle, ancient pubs, cobbled streets, half-timbered houses, a jumble of medieval lanes and a delightful old Watergate down by the riverside.

How to get there

There are hourly train services from London to Norwich, the major city and centre of Norfolk, from which frequent local train services run to our local station Hoveton and Wroxham, just 8 miles away. From here you can easily take a taxi, or we would be happy to collect you from Wroxham if we can. Whilst a car will enable you to travel further affield, there are several bus routes which pass by our house, and we have four bicycles for those wishing to explore the area on muscle power alone!
For visitors flying to the UK, Norwich has a busy airport, but the nearest major airport is London Stansted, about 2 drive hours from us, but also well connected by train and bus to Norwich.
For those arriving by car, note that Catfield is just off the main A149, midway between Stalham and Potter Heigham, north-east of Norwich. The best thing is to give us an idea of when you plan to arrive, and then call us when you enter the village. We'll jump up and down outside our front door to show you exactly where we are!

Activities near Stalham

Facilities

Further details indoors:
Holly Tree Cottage is a completely separate part of a Victorian house in a pretty village, less than 100 yards from the local pub (with excellent food!) and the Post Office/shop.

There is a fully fitted kitchen with cooker, microwave, washing machine and everything you are likely to need. The living room has a stereo (easily attachable to your own MP3 player!), portable TV, DVD/CD player and digital TV recorder, with a comfortable leather suite and extensive selection of books, DVDs and CDs. WiFi internet access is included in the price, and we can even loan you a PC to check your email.

The kitchen, living and dining rooms, and shower room are all on the ground floor, at the same level, and so if you have a member of your party who prefers not to use stairs, we are happy to install a single bed in the ground floor dining room. Please note, however, that although the cottage could sleep up to 5, the facilities are really suited for a maximum of 4 people!

Holly Tree Cottage, whilst private, is attached to the main house, and one advantage of this is that if you need anything which is not already supplied, or are looking for suggestions or guidance, you have only to ask and we'll do what we can to help!

Further details outdoors:
Although Holly Tree Cottage is attached to our main house, it enjoys the best access to the garden through French windows, and here we have a covered gazebo area seating up to 6, perfect for enjoying dinner on balmy Norfolk evenings. There is also a 2 seater swing-seat next to our fishpond where you can watch the butterflies and dragonflies dance, and try and spot Trevor, our enormous carp!

Beyond the fish pond is an area which we are deliberately leaving to grow to encourage wildlife into the garden, as we are enthusiastic nature lovers. We are also in the process of going greener - we already have a wood boiler and rainwater harvesting tanks, and solar panels, an electric car and roof-mounted electicity-generating panels are planned in the near future!

Note that you'll only be sharing the garden with us, and we try to keep a low profile when guests are with us.

Further details

Having only started up Holly Tree Cottage last year, we still have a way to go! Over last autumn/early winter we tidied the garden a lot, clearing and planting wild flowers and fruit trees in the area beyond the pond, and are now eagerly waiting to see how this turns out. However, we still have work to do in the garden to get everything the way we would like it to be for our guests, and we've taken these factors into account when setting our rates for this year.
However, we successfully ran two holiday apartments for five years while we lived in Italy, so we're not exactly beginners, and have had very positive comments from our guests over the last 10 months. Of course, we're always very open to new suggestions, and will do all we can to make your stay with us relaxing and enjoyable.
All bedding and towels are included in the price, together with electricity and wood for the stove. Once it gets colder, there is full central heating fed from our wood boiler.

Conditions

Please note that the pond area is not fenced off, and we have shelters stacked high with wood for our boiler and stoves. For these reason we don't recommend Holly Tree Cottage to those with small children.

Guests with one or two well-behaved dogs would be welcome but please mention this when enquiring.

Rental rates

Period	From	To	Weekly	Nightly rate		Minimum  stay
				Weekday	Weekend
Xmas/New Year 2009	19 Dec 09	9 Jan 10	395£ 395	0-	0-	1 Week
Winter 2010	9 Jan 10	27 Mar 10	295£ 295	0-	0-	Flexible
Easter 2010	27 Mar 10	10 Apr 10	395£ 395	0-	0-	1 Week
Spring 2010	10 Apr 10	5 Jun 10	350£ 350	0-	0-	1 Week
Early summer 2010	5 Jun 10	3 Jul 10	395£ 395	0-	0-	1 Week
Mid-summer 2010	3 Jul 10	28 Aug 10	495£ 495	0-	0-	1 Week
Late summer 2010	28 Aug 10	18 Sep 10	425£ 425	0-	0-	1 Week
Autumn 2010	18 Sep 10	30 Oct 10	350£ 350	0-	0-	1 Week
Winter 2010	30 Oct 10	23 Dec 10	295£ 295	0-	0-	Flexible
Xmas/New Year 2010	23 Dec 10	6 Jan 11	395£ 395	0-	0-	Flexible

NB: Prices may be subject to change at the advertiser's discretion.

Bookings will be confirmed following payment of a non-returnable 25% deposit, preferably by direct transfer into our UK bank account, with the balance payable at least 4 weeks before you are due to arrive. The keys to the cottage will not be released until full payment has been received. Please note, however, that we cannot take payments by credit or debit cards.

Once your stay is confirmed, we'll be in touch by email a week or two before you are due to arrive, to make sure that all is well, and to answer any final queries you may have.

Guestbook for Holly Tree Cottage

"The owners, Cynthia and Mike, together with their pets, made us very welcome. We were delighted with the facilities provided - which exceeded our expectations and we were particularly impressed with the cleanliness of the accommodation. The quiet village location allows ready access to all Broads activities and Norfolk attractions - even using the hourly (as it was) bus service."

"We are so pleased we found this lovely place, it has been a lovely break for us all. So glad the dogs got on - we think Hubble has a real crush on Lucy! Good luck with your future guests, especially the 4-legged ones!"

"The accommodation was comfortable and very well equipped; the log burning stove and plentiful log supply kept us cosy and warm over New Year as the snow fell on the ground outside. Cynthia and Mike were very helpful in ensuring that we had a constant source of heat and hot water as the mercury fell. They also let us piggy back their broadband and procured us tickets for New Years' Eve at the friendly local pub."

Availability

See below for next 9 months' availability - to see the next 24 months click here

Send Enquiry

To contact this advertiser please visit: http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/97812

Contact details for the advertiser of home 97812
Name:	Cynthia & Mike Irving
Tel:	+44 1692 582039
Mobile:	+44 7732 847938
Languages:
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Advertiser joined: Aug 2009