Local Area Information
Nettleton is a small, peaceful village with many character properties and surrounded by open countryside. A useful shop is less than 60 seconds walk from Dovenby cottage and an award winning pub/restaurant is a 20 minute walk away. Whilst nestled in a tranquil village we are ideally situated to visit a wide range of places of interest, or to take part in various activities.
Activities
Walking: There are various walks from the front door and we can
provide routes. Our favourite walk takes around 40 minutes each way and takes you through an exclusive golf course to the beautiful village of Castle Combe; which is apparently Britain’s most photographed village. Another great walk starts in the nearby village of Hinton, circles Dyrham and passes through the impressive National Trust Dyrham park.
Cycling: The area is famous for cycling, with a multitude of quiet,
flat country lanes, plus various hillier circuits; for the more adventurous, perhaps join the ranks attempting nearby Hinton hill.
Golf: There are numerous excellent golf courses nearby, with the
famous Manor house golf course extending right to the edge of Nettleton.
Running: As keen runners we know the local routes and will even
take you out if you fancy a run to earn your dinner.
Motor racing: Castle Combe racetrack is just minutes away and you
can either watch motor racing, have a go on the skid pan, or drive some laps on the race track. We offer secure parking for those of you bringing performance cars to race on the track.
Badminton horse trials: The badminton estate extends to the fields next to the cottage and we are ideally located as a base to visit the world famous horse trials.
Concerts: We are close to Westonbirt arboretum and Dyrham park which host a number of open air concerts each summer. The WOMAD festival is also at nearby Malmesbury. Bristol also has a lively music scene.
Villages, towns, cities
Castle Combe is on our doorstep and has been host to several major films, then slightly further afield you may already recognise historic Laycock, which has featured on TV from Harry Potter to Jane Eyre. It has lovely country walks and an interesting Abbey to also see.
Moving up to slightly larger places we are also close to Tetbury; where Prince Charles has a shop selling goods from nearby Highgrove, plus a wide range of tea shops, boutiques and its 25 antique shops. A previous capital of England, hilltop Malmesbury is a lovely small town to wander ‘round and some 40 minutes away Roman Cirencester is a fantastic old town, with something for everyone. We are around 45 minutes from Cheltenham spa, which has some great shopping, plus of course the famous race course. But if you want something larger both Bath and Bristol can be reached in little over 20 minutes by car. We can give good advice regarding what is worth seeing in both cities, as well as places to eat, places to park, short cuts in,etc.
Places of interest
Nearby National Trust property Dyrham park is a grand baroque house in
272 acres of garden and parkland, housing a large herd of deer. Whilst in Laycock the National trust Abbey is well worth a visit. Forestry commission Westonbirt arboretum attracts visitors from near and far to explore the 17000 trees, dating back to the 1850’s. We offer two complimentary passes for this trip, which entertains young and old alike. Bowood house is another great place to visit and similarly offers entertainment for everyone with an adventure park, house with items from Queen Victoria and Napoleon and 100 acres of parkland designed by Capability Brown. Longleat is around 40 minutes south and is one of the UK’s premier attractions. The Stately home is simply stunning and the drive-through safari experience is not to be missed.
A little further away, but well worth a visit, both Avebury stone circle and Stonehenge are under an hour away. In addition to seeing the famous stones the recently converted Avebury manor is a great visit for all ages. We only did this recently and were very impressed, as was our 5 year old surprisingly; it's quite different!
Food and drink
We can provide numerous recommendations of places to eat and drink, as well as interesting places to buy local food. Upon booking let us know
what you are interested in and we’ll send you helpful information. The superb Old house at home in Burton is a 2minute drive, or 20 minute walk away.
We’ll also provide extensive local information in the cottage for you to refer to during your stay and we’d love to talk you through other ideas of things to do. We’ll do whatever we can to make your stay a memorable one and whilst this list just scratches the surface of activities on offer we can also help with a variety of other activities and places to visit.
