Crannacombe Farmhouse

Thank you so much for your lovely review and we are very pleased you found the farmhouse so comfortable and flexible for your family. It is in a very central location for exploring many parts of the South Hams but off the main roads so offers seclusion and beautiful scenery too, but within 10 minutes of Kingsbridge and a pleasant, scenic drive to Salcombe and Dartmouth too. We look forward to seeing you all again!

We are pleased you generally liked the property and it was a pleasure to meet you all. The farmhouse is old and full of character as you mention, and I hope the quirks associated with a character property you mention werent too much of a problem! I am afraid most working farms arent ( because they are often surrounded and central to their own land) within easy walking to a pub or shops but there are many pubs/ cafes/ restaurants for all tastes in nearby locations in the area and in Kingsbridge itself , which is 10 minutes drive away.. We are about 17 minutes drive from the nearest sandy beaches of Bantham and Thurlestone and 20 minutes from Salcombe, and 10 minutes from Kingsbridge with all the different independent shops and 2 supermarkets and many eating venues.There are also 3 good pubs with 10 minutes drive at Woodleigh, Churchstow and Califonia Cross , along with a super pub at Bantham and Thurlestone and several very good cafe , farm shop and garden centre eating places within 5 -10 minutes drive from our farm. The quiet country lane we live in joins , at the top of our little lane, the main road into Kingsbridge, Salcombe and the other way back to the A38, which does make it quite central to getting to the coast and Dartmoor. There is a village shop at Loddiswell and an excellent Spar shop at the nearby garage at Califonia Cross and an excellent farm shop / cafe on the main Loddiswell/ Kingsbridge main road only about 7 minutes drive from the house. Also at the top of our lane, .75 ml away, there is a lovely large cafe with wonderful views for light meals and refreshments at Heron Orchards ,which is very dog and child friendly with apple orchards to walk , cider and soft drinks ( Heron Valley) to buy, and very attractive inside and outside eating areas. We hope the drives to reach shops, pubs, etc , you mention didnt spoil your holiday too much and of course , if asked ,we would have been pleased to recommend nearby eating places, etc. this info is also in a folder in the property for guests to peruse.

We are pleased you generally say you had a " lovely holiday " with your family at the Farmhouse. To clarify on some of your " niggles" . The ensuite bathroom is described as having a Victorian style Bath Shower tap fitting which will, through its nature( depending on how much water is being used elsewhere in the house, ) tend to fluctuate in pressure, but there is a Mira electric shower over the bath (with normal adequate shower pressure , or it wouldnt work) ) in the family bathroom, along with a similar to the ensuite shower/ bath fitting on the bath taps. The downstairs shower room has very strong pressure on the shower. The loo in the family bathroom is also sometimes affected in refilling after a flush by how much water is being used in the rest of the house. However, our plumber reassures us our mains pressure in the house is very good generally and sometimes it just needs a little patience to let this toilet refill if lots of water is being diverted elsewhere at the same time. It is unfortunate to describe it as "mean" to only supply one toilet roll for each bathroom / toilet as this is intended, in a selfcatering property , as a " starter " provision for when you arrive. We do however provide washing up liquid, all cleaning and washup cloths in the kitchen and bathrooms, kitchen sponges, bath cleaners, and a good few dishwasher tablets which most guests find sufficient for their whole stay. There are a handtowel and bath towel for each guest along with several tea towels and a bath mat for each bathroom. There was a dish mop under the sink which you dont seem to have found but as mentioned before, there were new dishcloths, sponges and a pan scraper provided right by the sink. The extractor in the kitchen has already been replaced with a new one by our electrician on your checkout day, which was the 1 st day we could get him. We are puzzled that all the cupboards smelt musty but will investigate and report to the cleaners. There were several problems during your stay which you informed us of immediately they happened and we sent an emergency plumber and emergency appliance repairer, both who came out within a very short time , (less than 24 hours), of us being informed, which I hope you found a satisfactory service.We also washed your grandchilds terry nappies in our machine while we were waiting for him to come (a few hours later in that day,) which babies Mum was very appreciative of. The tarmac hump at the entrance of one of the parking areas serves the purpose you mentioned re possible road water. It was installed by the highways and has never been mentioned as a problem to anyones cars driving in and out in the past , we hope that it wasnt a big problem to you or your families cars. There is another big overspill parking area directly opposite for anyone finding this tarmac hump a problem but no previous guest has felt they would prefer that than to parking so near their house on the dedicated parking area. I hope this clarifies some of the problems you found. It is an old character property and comes with quirks and some small problems that sometimes we can practically do nothing about. Hopefully, they did not spoil your, or your family's, holiday.

Thank you for your review and it was lovely to hear you had a comfortable time at the farmhouse. It is a very old character farmhouse with all associated quirks , some of which can be helped with modernisation and some it is hard to do much about if you want to retain the character.. The downstairs shower is powerful and upstairs the one in the family bathroom is a modern electric shower and the one in the ensuite is a tap /shower fitting on a bath , so that one obviously isnt pressurised but is working of a mains supply. We are .75 ml off the main road into Kingsbridge and Salcombe from the A38. The lane to our farm is a no through road which ends just past our farm with approx 9 passing places, a lot more than most of the little lanes in the South Hams. Of course, as you noticed, this makes for a quiet and unspoilt location but it is only a few minutes drive up the lane to the main road which is one of the major roads into the South Hams.( even if it doesnt look like it!) There are 2 good size supermarkets , Tesco and Morrisons, at Kingsbridge which is 10/15 minutes drive on a main road from the farm once you get to the top of the lane. Supermarket deliveries can also be had here from all the major supermarkets. The nearest beaches, Thurlestone and Bantham , are about 20 minutes away, of course depending on high season holiday traffic in the small lanes which lead to most of the beaches in the South Hams.. Also, we are lucky here to have the facility of 1/2 ml of river frontage and a little beach area right on the farm. As described in our ad, the 5 th bedroom is off one the double bedrooms , the door had to be removed and replaced with a curtain doorway to conform with fire regulations, but as you say, it makes a convenient family suite, especially with small children. Thank you again for your review and we are glad you enjoyed your holiday.

We are sorry you found problems with the farmhouse during your stay. As you can see from previous feedback, including the week before your stay, these problems you found took us by surprise. As to the cleanliness, it would have been much better, rather than cleaning yourself if you had pointed out the problems you found on arrival, we live nearby, are very approachable and we could have easily recalled the cleaning company to put the issues right with no problem.As you can see, we are surprised as this issue is not mentioned in any other reviews. We are not aware of damp issues in the kitchen larder cupboard and are very surprised you found it necessary to wash all the crockery before use but apologise if you found that to be so. As most of the beds are modern divans with bases right down to the floor I presume the cobwebs were under the antique iron bedstead in the main bedroom. I am sorry and will report this to the cleaning team. However, this is a 400 year old farmhouse in the countryside and I am afraid cobwebs often come back nearly as fast as they are removed from changeover to changeover. There is a good electric shower over the bath in the family bathroom and a good pressure new walk in shower downstairs . The description of the ensuite bathroom mentions the hand held shower (which generally will not have the pressure of an electric shower), but there are 2 other good pressure showers in the property. The step is part of the quirks of an old farmhouse and warning notices are in place. We do not say we are suitable for disabled , or partially disabled guests as it does have several changes of levels in hallways, etc , common in such an old building. The kitchen extractor is being replaced at the end of the season when we can redecorate around it but functions on the highest setting( which is needed to possibly avoid triggering the nearby fire alarms when there is a lot of smoke or steam about from cooking) there is also a window to open right by the cooker for extra ventilation. The property has 2 entrance doors with modern locks, I am afraid we do not see what more we can provide other than the key provided. Again, we have not had any negative previous feedback on this so were puzzled by your comment re security and our unprofessional approach to it. We cannot see what else could have been provided as the doors are locked from inside if the catch on the thumblocks are dropped and they are there to prevent guests being locked in (if they mislay a key )in a fire situation. The TV had to be changed on the day of your arrival as we were told the Sky engineer had a 2 week wait to come ( and you obviously needed a TV facility for your stay ) so a new Smart TV was purchased for your booking. This has many channels and apps available but I will check the description of TVs on the website and amend as necessary. Obviously, we did not have time to do this before your arrival as this was all sorted out on the morning of your arrival day when the Sky engineer visit was promised 2 weeks away and the TV engineer thought to purchase a new Smart Tv was the best solution to a “ “ no tv reception available” problem.! We are disappointed you did not enjoy your stay but feel some of these problems could have easily been rectified or explained if you had spoken to us and given us the chance to do this, which we would have been pleased to do.

We are so pleased you really enjoyed your stay in the Avon Valley and appreciated the farmhouse and the beautiful views /countryside the farm is set in.

The Farmhouse is , as described ,exactly.75 miles down a no through country lane from the main road running into Kingsbridge from the A38.It passes several other properties with the same postcode but with the name of the properties on the facade or walls facing the lane. There are very few properties with the same postcode down the lane before reaching us and we are sorry if several of your party found the farm and farmhouse difficult to locate. Once in this “ no through”lane, because of its “dead end “status, if they had kept going past the 1/4 mile mark to the .75 mile distance as described,,there should have been no chance of not locating the property, as it is also easily seen (and named on the fence of the garden )on the RHS side of the lane. As it is a farm we own the land on both sides of the lane preceding our actual farmhouse and buildings so that part of the farm obviously shares the same postcode, but, has no buildings with it until you reach the farmhouse ( located on the side of same lane) Multiple twisty little lanes are a feature of the South Hams countryside but the upside is their nature does mean the destination is generally peaceful and secluded from the traffic noise of main roads once you have successfully negotiated them! We do hope, (other than this arrival blip for some of your party) that you all enjoyed the characterful property and its scenic location in this beautiful river valley . And , of course,the wonderful weather we experienced in June!