The Retreat Finally Gets a roof!

Last Monday the thatcher started the roof on the retreat. Its not yet finished, but heres a photo of the work so far :-)

Autumn Photo

Its really autumn time here now and the colours are fantastic.

Picture from Jon and Helen Geach with their boys Alex and Oliver and our doggy Ellie in the photo near the Pinetrum. - Thank you!

New Baby Alpaca - Kiwi

Daisy has just had a black little girl (who has been named Kiwi due to the rugby!). She is a real fighter and was trying to stand within 10 minutes of being born!

New Staff and Changes!

Unfortunately Gabriela and Tomas will be leaving us in mid October to go travelling around New Zealand so we have 2 new staff members replacing them! We have had lots of staff changes this year - so to give you the low down on our new staff....

Julie is full time will replace Gabriela and will live on site. She will be responsible for managing cottage change overs and and welcoming guests with us!

Dave is full time and will replace Tomas but lives in Burrington (not onsite like Tomas). He will be our new Grounds Keeper and will also look after the animals.

Pete is part time and is our new handyman, he lives in Barnstaple and is great when anything goes wrong!

Linda is our part time office administrator. She looks after weddings and also take calls and helps out with bookings for the cottages. Linda lives in Bideford and collects the fresh food from Torrington for the Secret Garden breakfast on he way to work.

George is our part time skilled gardner who is great! He will be looking after the bedding areas and the new green house (coming hopefully this autumn). George lives in Torrington and comes to work on his motorbike. He is an encyclopaedia of plant names!

Jo is part time and covers Julie's days off and helps out with change overs. She walks to work from the village!

Nikki is part time and looks after our book keeping and keeps an eye on the phone! Nikki lives in High Bickington and has been with us for 2 years.

Congratulations to Jo and Julian Ferrari

Our Runaway Bride and Groom!

Millbrook Projects - New PV Panels - completely self sufficient (on sunny days :-))

We have added to our already great range of renewable energy sources with another array of PV Panels.
The PV panels are just under 8kw (2 arrays) and are in the fields.
They track the suns rays to produce electricity all day long!

New Wedding Photos Go Live

We have added a selection of new wedding photos to the website - have a look!

www.millbrookestate.co.uk/weddingphotos

Higher Hacknell Farm Meats

You can now order all your meat and ready meals from Higher Hacknell Farm in our neighbouring village to be in your cottage on your arrival or for during your stay!

www.higherhacknell.co.uk

They are definitely offering the best organic meat in Devon and the Ready meals can be just popped in the freezer or oven when you wish!

It's a Boy!

Fawn our alpaca popped out a baby boy this morning (the same colour as his mum :-)). So we called him Fawnie!
He was born in the top fields and Kate had to carry him down (He's very sweet!).

Wed Magazine Devon - Photo Shoot at Millbrook

Just some first look picture of the photo shoot that Wed Magazine did at Millbrook at the beginning of May! If you want to see more you will need to buy Wed Magazine (It's only £3.50 delivered to your door!)

Click Here to Order

Hush a bye baby - Millbrook Air Works Wonders

We had a delighted couple this morning. Their 7 week old baby for the first time ever slept through the night during their stay in Lakeview - usually she wakes up every hour!!!

Arrive in Style on your wedding day

Why not arrive in style with our boom trike on your wedding day.
1.6 VW Beetle Engine 'low rider' trike

Collection from High Bickington to Millbrook from £100.

Charlie's 4th Birthday

It's Charlies 4th birthday today - 4 whole years since Ellie our other dog had her 10 puppies.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARLIE and all his brothers and sister

A Grand Day Out!

Being typical people that live in Devon and don't always explore Devon we decided to buck the trend and go for a day out. The sun was shining and we headed to National Trusts Castle Drogo about 40 minutes from Millbrook.

We are National Trust Members and enjoy looking around stately homes and grand gardens. Castle Drogo was fantastic! The most modern castle to be built in England.

We had a lovely walk around the gardens and a fantastic Devon Cream Tea in the cafe.

Our Silver Award (and the photo!)

On Friday 15th April we attended the Visit England Excellence Awards Ceremony in Birmingham (In the great hall) with other local finalists.

It was a lovely evening and we became a Silver Winner for the Self Catering of the Year 2011!

Sarah at the Big Sheep and Bovey Castle also took Silvers for Devon.

The Awards Cake

Just something I thought was good at the awards ceremony last night!

Snakes don't work

Just to let all of you know don't believe everything you read on the internet!

Snakes do not keep chickens off the garden :-)

Treasure Trails at Millbrook

The treasure trail at Millbrook has now been completed and will be going live from next week.
The trail includes cryptic clues on small signs around Millbrook.

Wild About Devon Millbrook Fact Sheet

Have a look at our Wild About Devon Fact Sheet - giving you information on the type of wildlife you will see during your stay at Millbrook.


We are working with Treasure Trails Devon to create a Treasure Trail of Millbrook and High Bickington incorporating the Wild About Devon Fact Sheet!

Enjoy England Awards - This Friday!!!

We are attending the Enjoy England Awards this Friday (15th April) in Birmingham University. We have been shortlisted to receive a Gold or Silver for Self Catering Accommodation of the year 2011!
Fingers Crossed!

Click Here for the other finalists

Breakfast Hampers

We now can provide a breakfast hamper on arrival from our local farm shop in Barnstaple - Orchards

The hamper includes enough breakfast for at least 2 days for 2 people

They provide Sausages, Bacon, Orange Juice, Milk, Bread, Baked Beans, Muesli, butter, jam, mushrooms, tomatoes (and we provide free range eggs)

The price for this hamper is £20 and we require 48 hours notice to order.

New Staff

Julie our new gardner


Joanne our new housekeeper

Tricia has now moved on to a new job (she will still be helping to cover holiday so you may still see her around!) and we have 2 new part time staff to welcome to Millbrook

Joanne - Our new housekeeper
Julie - Our new gardner

You will see both of them around Millbrook

We still have Gabriela, Tomas and Nikki at Millbrook

New Dualit Kettle and Toaster sets

We have replaced our old kettle and toaster sets in Corncott, Wheel Room and Pulley Mill with Brand New Dualit Sets.

Wed Magazine Feature

Have a look our Devon Wed Magazine Feature

Vic and Adam Hair - First Wedding Photo

Photography by JJ Photography
Taken on the Swing Seat in February 2011

More Guinea Fowl

Today we released 6 Guinea fowl into the woods - they seem very happy!

New Muscovy Duck

This is Elvis a duck that landed at Millbrook on Saturday morning. We have now bought him a priscilla (although we have put her in a duck hut to settle in as he is rather too amorous for her!). He is very friendly and likes to be fed!

stars

Its the most amazing starry night. No light pollution (a little cold!) but you can see every single star as clear as day!!
It takes my breath away and Im used to the clear nights here!

Millbrook Cottages in Devon Life Magazine

Article from March Devon Life Magazine

Enjoy England Awards

Millbrook Cottages in North Devon is competing for the title of best self-catering holiday of the year!

We will be joining 3 other Devon Businesses to compete for Devon and The South West in the Enjoy England Excellence Awards on April 15th!
Bovey Castle (Hotel of the Year), The Big Sheep (Customer Service) and Millbrook (Self Catering) are all bidding for a Gold Award on the night.
There are 4 national finalists but we will definately recieve a silver - fingers crossed for us and the others!

Visit Devon

Enjoy England Excellence Awards

Snow Drops all over!!!

We have lots of crocus, snow drops and daffodils out already at Millbrook. Heres a sneak peak!

New Chickens (no eggs!)

We have adopted some new Chickens from fantastic Artist George Hinder in Somerset
Looking forward to having so more of Georges work

New Start Days and Short Breaks

As of 8th February Pulley Mill and Lakeview (new bookings only) will take bookings arriving on a Friday or Monday only all year around.
Friday will be for 3 nights (or 7 or 10 etc)
Monday will be for 4 nights ((or 7 or 10 etc)
Prices will no longer be per night but based on the short break.
This year we may have some nights in between so will open this up for booking on line where possible.

I hope all this makes sense - if not just give me a call 0800 298 22 88

New Double Glazed Windows

We are happy to announce that we now have all double glazed windows in all our properties at Millbrook. The new windows in the Mill are argon filled and painted with Farrow and Ball Lime White Water Based paint!

Its a busy week

Its a really busy week this week at Millbrook!

We have new windows starting to go into the Mill with The Wheel Room first
A new hot tub floor and new hot tub lighting (we had a new radio last week!)
A new floor in corncott bathroom
An outside toilet is going to be installed in one of the old kennels
The Geese are being moved in with the Goats (not sure how that will go down :-))

Photos of the windows to follow on Friday.

New Bosch Tassimo Coffee Maker in Lakeview

Millbrook in the 1970s

Having a New Years Tidy out!
Just found these an article, letter and photos from a guest that stayed at Millbrook in approx 1974! Thanks to Clive and Ella Gooding (our neighbours) for the information.
It looks a little different!

Click Here