The House
You'll feel any worries slip away as soon as you step through the big oak door at Pinklet; it's as if the whole place lets out a soft sigh and welcomes you in. This is a proper country cottage, dating back to the 16th century, full of rustic character – thick stone walls, exposed beams, flagstones and oak floorboards, and original fireplaces.
Go through to the huge kitchen/dining room, light and airy with a well-equipped kitchen to one end and to the other a big sturdy dining table that sets the scene for those special family celebrations. Bi-fold doors open onto the garden, when it’s warm you can open them wide and let the sunshine roll in.
From the kitchen stairs take you up to Bedrooms 1 and 2; Bedroom 1 has full height windows with views over the garden and the hill that rises opposite the cottage, where cows contentedly graze most of the year.
Back in the porch, go left to the living room, where an inglenook fireplace has a wood-burner and original bread oven. Next is the games room with a pool table and a wood-burner; open-tread stairs lead up to Bedrooms 3 and 4, along the landing are the stairs to the kitchen. Off the kitchen are Bedrooms 5 and 6.
Outside of kitchen/dining room there's a terrace with garden furniture, across the lawn is the covered hot tub. The gardens stretch along the entire length of the cottage so there's so plenty of room for the younglings to run about and there are swings for them to play on.
Local Area
You can walk from Pinklet across the fields to Seend Locks; watch the boats that pass by on the Kennet & Avon Canal, look out for swans and moorhens, stroll in the woods, cycle along the towpath, have lunch at The Barge Inn.
A little further afield there’s a multitude of things to do; pop into Devizes just up the road, get your bits and pieces, visit the museum, sample the local brew on a tour of Wadworth Brewery. Garden lovers will adore Bowood House and Gardens and Ilford Manor Gardens, history buffs will appreciate Lacock Abbey, Farleigh Hungerford Castle, Avebury Henge and Stone Circles, and of course, Stonehenge.
Go to Bradford on Avon for a browse around the town, a boat trip on the canal, and iof you’re early enough, breakfast at the waterside Lock Inn. Have a day out at Longleat, or go sightseeing in Bath where you can take in all the famous landmarks - the Roman Baths, the glorious Abbey, and the Royal Crescent.
Catch the eclectic buzz of the markets in Frome, head to Bristol for a mega day out in the city, or closer to home, pootle about in the car spotting the famous Wiltshire white horses carved on the chalk hillsides. So much to do, so much to see!
And that reminds us. A Wiltshire joke: Why don’t they have French Fries in Wiltshire? Because there’s no Devizes for Chippenham…. (groan!).