Christmas Time at Coombe Mill
For the last two years we have spent Christmas away from home in the most wonderful setting, Coombe Mill in Cornwall.
Coombe Mill was originally a 16th Century water mill, but has been transformed into a beautiful and secluded hamlet of picturesque holiday cottages, Scandinavian and riverside lodges set amidst an idyllic 30 acre private estate between Bodmin Moor and the Beach.
Run by Fiona, Farmer Nick and their six gorgeous children Coombe Mill offers the best of farm life with a daily feed run that everyone gets to join in with. With the opportunity to drive a real tractor, feed and care for the animals and even find breakfast by looking for the chickens eggs, it is not only educational but fun for all involved.
They even have an extra special feed run on Christmas Day and you are positively encouraged to keep scraps of food to feed to Sally and her noisy piglets and check that Rudolph arrived safely back at the farm after his busy night.
Coombe Mill is the perfect base for exploring the delights of the Cornish countryside, or you can make the most of snuggling up in their cosy cottages complete with a real Christmas tree and decorations for you to decorate it yourself and roaring log burner on the go – they even provide toys for the kids to play with.
With indoor and outdoor play areas for the kids, a gym for the adults and 30 acres to explore there is plenty to keep young minds busy and wear them out. Fiona also offers craft sessions and we made decorations for the tree and table decorations in time for Christmas dinner.
One of the highlights of a stay at Coombe Mill is their miniature train which they run every afternoon. Not only do they get to ride on it, but they can operate the signal or wave it into the station.
On Christmas Eve the train turns into a magical Santa Express and the big man takes some time off from his busy journey and comes to see the kids in the tunnel with some presents. In the evening we ventured into St Tudy to celebrate Christingle and then it was back to Fiona and Nick’s house for a huge buffet.
We have stayed in two of their properties and it is difficult to say which is our favourite as they are so different.
Heligan is a contemporary and spacious log cabin with high ceilings, a light, airy but cosy feel, and a vast open plan living space that the kids adored.
It has three downstairs bedrooms and on upstairs plus those all important two bathrooms.
Tree Roots is the biggest of their properties and offers ample living space for large family gatherings round a social kitchen dining room which becomes the hub of the property making it perfect for special occasions like Christmas. With a play room full of toys and a separate living room on the same floor it is easy for everyone in the party to enjoy the accommodation and not feel on top of each other.
There is even a hot tub in the garden for an extra special treat!
I highly recommend Coombe Mill as a place to stay and cannot fault it at all. What is more is that they have a wonderful competition running at the moment to win Christmas 2015 with them. Sadly we won’t be able to stay with them over the festive season this year as hubby isn’t allowed any time off, but whoever does will have a magical time – I promise!
JuggleMum, Nadine Hill
What a lovely write up! It looks like Fiona takes care to create a wonderful family atmosphere and the actual residences seem really homely. Is the Christmas tree in the lodge where you stay provided or do you take your own? I saw that you had loads of pressies under the tree!
I can’t enter the competition as we already have plans for Christmas but it looks like a fabulous competition for someone lucky to win!
Kara
They provide the christmas tree and the decorations for you to decorate it. Transporting the presents was a bit of a challenge as there are so many of us – 9 all together but we ended up taking three cars and there was plenty of parking. Fiona is also happy to take in any deliveries of big presents before you arrive too
Louise
Gorgeous photos and words. We have visitied Coombe Mill but not stayed and it would just be heaven to go at Christmas – it really does look like the perfect place to be surrounded by nature and family love. xxx
Erica Price
It does look amazing – I was so envious of that stay that you won, even though I’m not sure how practical it would have been for us to go.
Clare aka Emmy's Mummy
I so love Coombe Mill and would love to enter, sadly it’s the first Christmas without my mother in law so don’t think we should be away too
sarah
It looks AMAZING! I would love to go there as would my children! Especially the ‘Feed Ride’ Awww, so precious. I’ve seen so many blog posts about Coombe Mill and Fiona seems lovely! Loved this post 🙂
Shell Louise
I’m really torn about entering. On the one hand, I think it would be wonderful because I’ve wanted to stay at Coombemill for so long but on the other I worry because I’m such a stickler for our Christmas tradtions, I don’t know if I’d be happy changing them.
We usually have all Ant’s side of the family round for a Christmas eve buffet then visit my mum and all the rest of my side of the family on Boxing day.
Seeing as the competition is open until the end October, I’m going to give it some more thought before I make a final decision 🙂
oana79
I am planning to enter this, Kara, our last Christmas has been absolutely horrid and we found that the only think that helped was travelling. Your blog post does the place justice!xx
Gemma
Wow how have I not come across this amazing place before. We would love to go here, off to check availability and get a quote!!
bluebearwood
I love the look of Coombe Mill and enter most years. Haven’t been lucky enough to win yet though. It sounds fantastic for little kids and I love that they give you a tree to decorate
Nell@PigeonPairandMe.com
I’ve heard so many great things about Coombe Mill, and Fiona’s such a good egg – we really must go there some time. I love the sound of Christmas in the country! I may well enter, if we work out what we’re doing for Christmas this year. It would be a fantastic prize to win.
Sarah Bailey
Oh my goodness what a magical sounding place to spend Christmas. x
Jen
We really need to do something at Christmas this year. It will be four years since my mum died and it is so hard
Sarah @afieldsomewhere
OMG! I didn’t know they had a HOT TUB!!!!! How did I miss that?
I entered the competition the other day. Had such a lovely time looking at the website with the kids. They loved the look of Coombe Mill and it would be such an amazing thing to do over Christmas. We live in the city so winter always gets me down a bit as it isn’t as easy to escape the madness. I’d love to be able to let the kids run free. Your pictures look great and a real magical experience. Now I know there is a hot tub I am counting the days till a winner is picked even more! Good luck.