Willow Cottage, Devon. A Luxury Self-catering Retreat In Dartmoor.

From luxurious Willow Cottage, Michael Edwards explores primal Dartmoor and the chic English Riviera.

Before The Mad Axeman, Frank Mitchell, escaped from Dartmoor Prison, never to be found … Before bogs formed that can swallow a man without trace …. Before Sir Conan Doyle set the mystery of The Hound of the Baskervilles amongst most the swirling mists and craggy tors …

Long, long before these days, Dartmoor was once a temperate rainforest. A paradise lost. Now on this granite stump of a volcano, extinct for some 280 million years, England’s highest point south of the Pennines is a 358 square miles National Park.

Amongst the blackface sheep, heavy haired Galloway cattle and emblematic ponies, Dartmoor has become paradise regained. A place for epic hiking, biking and wild swimming adventures through tors and tussocks. With legendary hostelries, like the Rugglestone Arms in Widdecombe in the Moor, available for refuelling and rehydration.

On the shoulder of the Dartmoor National Park, Willow Cottage, just one of Devon Hideaway’s properties is a perfect one-bedroom romantic retreat for exploring Devon’s charms.

Few of Devon’s characters from yesteryear would recognise one-storey Willow Cottage as the type of cottage that they lived in. With underfloor heating permeating through the light wooden flooring and light flooding through the dual aspect kitchen, Willow Cottage is a contemporary and spacious take on the traditional cottage. A far cry from the Victorian labourer’s abode.

Once this region close to Bovey Tracey and Newton Abbot was famed for its china clay. In fact, the local pub, just over a mile’s walk away, is The Claycutters Arm. After a hard day, a claycutter would have dreamt of an evening sat on the two-seater sofa in front of a 54 inch wall mounted screen, signing into apps for Disney+, Netflix and Prime etc. Then it would be a well-deserved night’s sleep in a kingsize bed.

Although the bathroom has a large walk-in shower, featuring both rain-fall and directional, the star attraction is the hot tub on the patio. What would yesteryear’s slate-miners and farm labourers have given to relax aching muscles in a bubbling hot-tub?

At the heart of foodie Devon, Willow Cottage has a well-equipped kitchen for cooking with local ingredients: tall fridge-freezer, 4 ring hob, oven and a dishwasher to clear up afterwards.

True food aficionados head for Ashburton, which hosts its own food festival for its plethora of independent shops. As well as a deli, a fish deli sells species from brill to turbot and also creates dishes such as bouillabaisse, Moroccan fish tagine and the Spanish fish stew zarzuela. If you’re looking for something a little different to accompany your meals, Jaded Palettes of Ashburton recommends some interesting wines. Away from slaving over a hot stove, there is also the late September / early October England Seafood Feast based at over 30 eateries through the English Riviera of Brixham, Paignton and Torquay.

It is just a three-minute walk to two fishing ponds, home to four carp species: with a 12 pounder, the biggest catch so far. The tennis court, floodlit for evening play, is even closer.

Though of course, Devon is for exploring. Head north or south to take on portions of the South West Coast Pathway. So spectacular is the scenery that you may be tempted to return to walk its entirety, which usually takes over 50 days. For a shorter, more cerebral challenge, set aside two hours for the Ted Hughes Poetry Trail, featuring 16 poetry posts at Stover Country Park.

Head to the National Park Visitor Centre, in Princetown, for maps and suggested routes for exploring Dartmoor. It’s well worth taking the short walk to Dartmoor Prison Museum, whose exhibits tell of a history that began with the imprisonment of French soldiers and sailors during the Napoleonic Wars and American combatants after the 1812 war. More recent exhibits show the shoes issued with arrow marked soles to track down escaped prisoners, cardboard models of F1 cars created by prisoners to pass the time, and a knuckleduster improvised from 6-inch nails.

For a serene and peaceful contrast, call-in at Buckfast Abbey, on your return journey to Bovey Tracey. In 2018, the Benedictine Abbey celebrated its millennium. A wall-to-ceiling stained glass window of Jesus Christ and a tranquil sensory garden are among the highlights.

As well as Willow Cottage, sleeping two, Devon Hideaways has properties available for families and larger groups, at the tiny picturesque hamlet of Little Dunley and also throughout Devon.