Why we love holidays at Coombe Mill

We have visited Coombe Mill in Cornwall a few times now for family holidays and love it there. Our previous stays have been over Christmas but after Covid scuppered our Christmas break last year, we ended up rebooking for the summer instead. Coombe Mill is a fabulous place for a family holiday both in the winter and in the summer and we have loved all our stays there. Here are some of the things that we love about our holidays at Coombe Mill.

 

 

Feed run

The feed run is always the highlight of our stays at Coombe Mill. We love starting the day by heading off to help feed the animals. We make sure we save our bread crusts and vegetable scraps to feed to the pigs in the morning and it is lovely to have freshly-laid eggs for brunch after the feed run. The children enjoy their ride in the trailer travelling between the different animals. There are lots of different animals to feed – pigs, chickens, ducks, goats, deer and guinea pigs. In the winter we have also fed the sheep, alpaca and ponies but they mostly stayed in the upper field on our recent stay where there was plenty of lush grass to eat.

 

 

Thomas particularly loved visiting the chickens and goats during our holiday. It was lovely to hear his giggles as he chased the chickens, trying in vain to catch one, or had his hand tickled by the goats feeding from it.

 

 

The feed run is a great place for the children to make friends with each other. Sophie went from being ‘too shy’ to say hello to any of the children playing outside on Saturday evening to being in the thick of it on Sunday morning, making new friends and leading the way to the next animal.

 

The children all get their own Coombe Mill sunhat and a certificate at the end of the week for helping Farmer Emma feed and care for the animals.

 

Children’s play areas

Sophie and Thomas both loved the playground which includes a wooden climbing frame with a straight slide and twisty slide, swings, Little Tikes cars and other small ride-on vehicles, a trampoline, a big slide, a zip wire and a covered sand area with diggers. There is also a big round swing attached to one of the trees near the river and another tree swing in the fairy garden.

 

 

 

There is also a small crazy golf area and a small soft play barn. The crazy golf is next to the feed run tractor meet-up point so the children mostly played if we arrived a little early for the feed run while waiting for the other children to arrive. We didn’t visit the soft play barn on our most recent visit as we spent most of our time outside, but the children have enjoyed playing there on previous visits.

 

 

 

Games room

The games room has had a bit of a refurb since our last holiday which has improved it and made it bigger. Sophie and her new friends loved spending time at the games room when they weren’t at the playground. There’s a little cosy area to sit and read, plus books, toys and games available to play. For older children there is air hockey, table football, a pool table and table tennis.

 

 

 

The lodges

There are six Scandinavian lodges at Coombe Mill which accommodate 4-8 people (plus cots) depending on which lodge you’re staying in. Some of them have upstairs playrooms which are great for the kids to play in (the one in Polzeath is particularly good as it also has a reading nook and a soft play area). There are stairgates at the top and bottom of the stairs to help keep little ones safe and fireguards around the wood-burner in the lounge area. We’ve stayed in three different ones so far (Polzeath, Trevarno and Heligan) and found them to be spotlessly clean, very spacious and very comfortable for our stay. The lodges each have a dishwasher, washing machine and tumble dryer.

 

 

There’s a decking area in front of each lodge which is partly sheltered by the overhanging roof and a picnic table for outdoor meals.

 

 

There is WiFi available in the lodges, gym and games room which is fine for watching streamed shows although the upload speed is quite slow if you’re trying to WhatsApp photos to family. We had quite poor phone reception on site but were still able to make calls via the internet. To be honest, I quite like the feeling of being a little more disconnected from the outside world so this didn’t particularly bother me.

 

 

Eating outside

We made use of the outdoor barbecue area and the new pizza oven during our visit. This is near to the playground so the children were able to play and we could keep an eye on them while we were cooking dinner. There is also a BBQ hut which seats 15 people and is great if you fancy a barbecue but the weather isn’t quite so suitable!

 

 

 

The gym

I loved the new gym at Coombe Mill, which is for over-16s only. It was quite nice to have it all to myself each morning and enjoy a child-free workout with a nice view of the river.

 

 

 

The beautiful scenery and tranquility

Coombe Mill is such a beautiful and peaceful place. I loved sitting outside and hearing the sounds of the river and the occasional noises from the animals on the other side of the river. I’m always amazed by how many stars I can see on a clear night as well.

 

 

 

Going further afield

Coombe Mill is located in north Cornwall, near Bodmin Moor. There are plenty of places to visit within a reasonable distance of Coombe Mill. Places we have visited during our stays include the Eden Project, Lappa Valley, Lanhydrock, Padstow, the Lost Gardens of Heligan and Tintagel Castle.

 

 

We really enjoyed our week away at Coombe Mill this summer. It really is a wonderful place for a family holiday and we’ve already booked our next stay there! If you’re looking for a family holiday in the UK, I’d certainly recommend it.