Awdry House
Sleeps 16-18
Cotswolds
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.
Country kids
Cycle the easy way with route maps that take you past plenty of cafés and pubs with Towpath Trail Bike Hire. Paddleboard on the River Avon with Original Wild. Or explore Bath and its museums that include the Roman Baths, Bath Architecture Museum, the Herschel Museum of Astronomy, and the American Museum.
Meet goats, sheep, pigs and donkeys in Southwick Country Park near Trowbridge at Hope Nature Centre’s petting zoo. Discover Dinosaur Valley, meerkats, foxes and alpacas, and sand and water play at Avon Valley Wildlife and Adventure. Or climb the scramble net and cross the rope bridges at Bowood House Adventure Playground.
There’s fun for all the family at Bowood: a glorious house and gardens for you; aerial walkways, a vertical drop, balance beams, boat swings and climbing frames for them. Or how about Avebury’s standing stones, the largest stone circle in the world, or the mysteries of Stonehenge?
Play 18 holes of adventure golf over rushing waterways and waterfalls at Victoria Falls. Visit Bath City Farm to meet miniature Shetland ponies, Dexter cattle, chickens, ducks, and Wiltshire Horn sheep. Or ride the longest ground-level 5” gauge railway in the West Country at Strawberry Line Miniature Railway.
For the grown ups
Book yourself a little luxury with a massage or facial from beautician Shami. Follow it up with a cocktail-making masterclass through Tipsy Parties. Or set up a night of suspicion with 1st Call Murder Mystery: was it Colonel Mustard in the study with the spanner? Or get busy with garters, bunting and quilt with The Crafty Hen.
Can’t go without exercise? Two tennis courts in the village stand ready to bear the brunt of your backhand and can be booked for the princely sum of five at the Post Office. Swim at Corsham Leisure Centre or Bradford on Avon, al-fresco at Bath Lido or wild in River Avon. Or climb outdoors with Joel Self.
Take a brewery tour of Bath Ales. Hack around the estate or the countryside at Lucknam Park. Blast some pretend pigeons with Coombs Clay Shooting. Ride the adult karts at M4 Karting (on a track, not the motorway), or play golf at 45-hole Cumberwell Park, the immaculate Manor House Club or Kingsdown, the oldest club in Wiltshire.
Enjoy a two-hour stand-up paddleboarding experience with Original Wild. Try inland surfing on the all-year-round machines at The Wave in Bristol. Walk the Box Heritage Trail. Explore gardens and properties at Dyrham Park, Bath Abbey and Nunney Castle. Or chill at Bath’s Thermae Bath Spa or The Gainsborough Spa.
