Sunday Times

Sunday Times

Cottage Supergroups … The Top Ten

Twelve comfortable and very well-equipped cottages, sleeping two to six each, on 350 acres of grass and woodlands, with beautiful views to the coast and hills of the northeast.

Facilities: there’s a fantastic 40 ft indoor pool, a sauna, a steam-room, sunbed, a spa room and a large gymnasium, an all-weather tennis court, a games room, an adventure playground, all-weather cricket nets and a two-acre trout lake for fly-fishing. Riding is available on the farm in the summer. Home-made meals can be pre-ordered to be waiting in the cottage freezer. It has won a fistful of awards, including the ETC’s Self-catering Holiday of the Year.

Ideal for: the hyperactive family – swim, pump iron, play tennis, bowl a few overs and walk those rolling hills.

But: no buts.

Eating out: The Angler’s Arms at nearby Weldon Bridge is a very atmospheric old coaching inn (although the actual restaurant is an old Pullman railway carriage).