The Hive

Sitting in the peaceful countryside on the Devon-Cornwall border, The Hive is half an hour from the beach at Bude, half an hour from Clovelly and half an hour from Dartmoor too. It’s a super-sized shepherd’s hut positioned in an excellent spot if you want to explore all that the West Country has to offer. And some of its highlights are right here on Bradford Manor Farm. This is glorious rural Devon with views all the way to Dartmoor on a clear day. You can walk through orchards, past fields of grazing cattle down to the River Torridge where you might just spot an otter. 

To set you off in the right direction, your welcoming hosts here, Faye and Paul, will furnish you with a map of the farm. They live in the farmhouse near the paddock where the shepherd’s hut is located. And they’ve made the hut pretty homely too. It’s a spacious one with a proper-sized double bed, a kitchenette with an oven, a log burner, a hot shower and a loo that flushes. This is a self-catering cabin that has everything you might need from a holiday home. Though it’s worth mentioning that the fridge is a few steps away in another space that’s all yours – a pitched roofed shed that’s fun as well as functional. As well as the fridge there’s a dart board and a few other games and bits and bobs plus space to store bikes and surf boards.

You might want to bring those with you. After all, some of Cornwall and Devon’s best beaches are within easy reach of here. Bude is the headline news – it’s just 16 miles away, about 30 minutes by car. Widemouth Bay and Crackington Haven are not much further. On the Devon side, there are the cliffs and coves of Hartland and the quaint fishing village of Clovelly. Inland, of course, there are plenty of country walks including those on the farm and those out on the moor.