Awdry House
Sleeps 16-18
Cotswolds
Gardens and grounds
Your parking spots are ready, the countryside stretches for miles and you’ve got two tables and eight chairs out on the balcony on which to ice up your gin and sit in the sun with a salad whilst admiring the view of the Cotswolds below.
Living spaces
Books sit on the coffee table, the cushions are plumped and Awdry House comes packed with homely features. Take it easy on the L-shaped sofa or gather in the main sitting room for family evenings in front of Sky TV or Netflix on the large smart TV, or just raid the DVDs.
Awdry House comes packed with Victorian features. Chunky skirting boards, blinds and wooden shutters create a solid, classical feel, but it never forgets it’s serving a 21st-century crowd. Tap into the BT Infinity Wi-Fi, or go analogue and get some games going long into the evening.
Cooking and dining
You’re on holiday, right? So sit back and treat yourself. Call up our pro chefs from Nibbled Catering for special occasions, Mother Hen Catering for small dinner parties, or Wild Fig for sharing platters, grazing boxes and grazing tables. Or get stuck in yourself creating hearty family meals on the dual-fan SMEG range oven with separate grill.
The dining room is capacious: get 16 around it to butter bread, pass the Prosecco and catch up with late-night dinners that drift past bedtime. Or eat out in the sunshine on the balcony with the two tables and eight chairs with a view across the garden and a second glass of fizz from Great Western Wine offering itself to you.
Take the night off and tuck into takeaways, with Indian, Balti and Bangladeshi from Bengal Bear, Mother and Wild in Corsham for small plates and British tapas that change with the seasons, and Chinese from Imperial Garden. Or bag yourself a Sunday roast at the Quarryman’s Arms.
Get involved with the supper menu, straight from the on-site kitchen garden, at The Methuen Arms, such as Ston Easton Farm lamb or Butcombe Gold beer-battered fish. Enjoy spring lamb, pork belly or duck breast from Michelin Bib holder The Longs Arms. Or how about roast Cornish hake or dry-aged ribeye Steak from The Pear Tree?
Bedrooms
With views of the beautiful Wiltshire countryside, all eight bedrooms here are havens complete with en-suite rainshower wetrooms and their own TV. Sleep tight in all-white Egyptian cotton with Hypnos or Newbridge 3000 pocket-sprung mattresses with toppers.
Bedroom one comes with a queen-size bed with garden views, while bedrooms two and three offer a kingsize or king plus one single bed. Bedroom four and five provide a kingsize bed or two singles, while bedroom six can offer a king or a king and one singles, or three singles.
Bedroom seven is a kingsize with rural views that will take a cot, and bedroom eight is a queen-size with TV sofa bed, countryside views and a Juliet balcony from which to view them.
Children welcome
Just the very mention of Thomas the Tank Engine might be enough to have your youngsters asking if we’re there yet at every twist and turn of the Wiltshire roads. Tell them this was the childhood home of the Rev Awdry and they’ll be sold for sure. Then tell them, with eight bedrooms, you can bring the whole family. Job done.
Whichever bedroom they choose, children will enjoy a rainshower wetroom and their own TV. If they ever switch it off, they’ll love being wrapped in Egyptian cotton and sleeping on Hypnos pocket-sprung mattresses. After a day exploring the area and a bedtime Thomas story, they’ll be asleep in a jiffy.
But that’s not before eating out on the balcony in the sunshine, staying up late to catch family favourites on Sky TV, BT and Netflix, and posting envy-inducing shots to Instagram on the BT Wi-Fi. Or bag a book from the shelf, escape to the snug, or join the grown-ups around the dinner table for cards and games.
What people say
Massage, masterclasses and mini-railways
Book a massage with beautician Shami or a cocktail-making masterclass. Play tennis in the village, discover the beauty of Bath, or play 45-hole Cumberwell Park Golf Course. Paddleboard on the River Avon, meet animal friends at Southwick Country Park, go wild at Bowood House, or chill on the narrow-gauge Strawberry Line Miniature Railway.
