About Us
‘The Straws’ had been dreaming of moving to Devon for many years, in the summer of 2014 we decided to pack up and make the dream become a reality! This is our story so far...
We relocated from Hook Norton in Oxfordshire, to North Devon in July 2014. I was under strict instructions not to leave ‘Hooky’ until the annual Beer Festival had taken place, so the following day we eventually said a sad farewell to all our lovely friends, and we shoe horned ourselves into the car, with everything including the kitchen sink, onward and forward with our adventure.
For the first two months we lived a fairly nomadic lifestyle, living in our faithful old bell tent, travelling around Devon, Cornwall, Wales and France. We had a fantastic summer visiting friends and exploring new places. However, with the school term looming it was time to find a home and start the new chapter of our lives. We rented for the first six months in Braunton, then found West Stowford Barton and best of both worlds, a crazy old house in a wonderful rural location and close to the sea. That was the start of Strawfields.
For the first two months we lived a fairly nomadic lifestyle, living in our faithful old bell tent, travelling around Devon, Cornwall, Wales and France. We had a fantastic summer visiting friends and exploring new places. However, with the school term looming it was time to find a home and start the new chapter of our lives. We rented for the first six months in Braunton, then found West Stowford Barton and best of both worlds, a crazy old house in a wonderful rural location and close to the sea. That was the start of Strawfields.
From then on in, it has been all the wonderful people we have met along the way that has begun to shape the next part of our lives. A huge heartfelt thank you to all the lovely guests that have already experienced a holiday in one of the cottages, huts or tents at Strawfields. We have thoroughly enjoyed meeting you all and hope you will return again soon. Also, a big thank you for all the lovely reviews you gave us, we really do appreciate all the comments you have left us.
Our most memorable holidays have been camping with family and friends, this inspired us to set up a small rustic campsite at Strawfields. We have camped in every kind of weather, from the perfect sunny warm camping weather on the cliff tops near Watemouth, to being totally mud splattered, head to toe, whilst encouraging an old VW van to release itself from the mud in Hartland, and even experiencing camping during major thunderstorms in France where a mini tornado whipped our tent from the ground in the middle of the night! Many many wonderful and memorable experiences with our family. No gadgets, no WiFi, just 'wildish' camping with open fires, large pitches, lots of space, fields and streams to explore, marshmallows, S'mores, Mancala, Uno cards and a good book to read!
Our most memorable holidays have been camping with family and friends, this inspired us to set up a small rustic campsite at Strawfields. We have camped in every kind of weather, from the perfect sunny warm camping weather on the cliff tops near Watemouth, to being totally mud splattered, head to toe, whilst encouraging an old VW van to release itself from the mud in Hartland, and even experiencing camping during major thunderstorms in France where a mini tornado whipped our tent from the ground in the middle of the night! Many many wonderful and memorable experiences with our family. No gadgets, no WiFi, just 'wildish' camping with open fires, large pitches, lots of space, fields and streams to explore, marshmallows, S'mores, Mancala, Uno cards and a good book to read!
You can never have too much body boarding.
Wild swimming Exmoor...bit chilly!
Top of the hill..."It's alright Mum, she'll be fine?!"
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River waterfall chute...so much fun!
Kayak with dolphins...did you see them Sue?!
Sorry girls, well and truly photo bombed!
Great fish and chips in Lynmouth.
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Coasteering at Broadsands...go Freddie!
The official Strawfields pond clearing team!
Amazing rock pooling and caves to explore.
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What's next for Strawfields?
We are lucky enough to be getting 3 beautiful Alpacas very soon. We will be offering Alpaca encounters and walking from Easter 2020.
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Come meet Duckleton, one of our new flock of Call Ducks.
This was Duckleton's foster mum, Heidi.
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The next stage of the ever evolving Strawfields plan is to get a community project involved and to start up a community garden and farm animal project. We are looking to work closely with mental health charities in the local area and the idea is then to be able to work together to create the next chapter.