Middle Farm Cottage Winterbourne Monkton

Middle Farm Cottage is on a farm track, just outside Winterbourne Monkton. It's a detached stone cottage. It's been done up recently so things like the bathroom and kitchen are new. It sleeps four, in two bedrooms. One has a kingsize bed, the other has twins. One bathroom, with a shower over the bath.

The stairs are quite steep and narrow. It's a 4 Star "Rose" rating from English Tourism, which is good for a cottage. It means it's comfortable and well equipped.

You've got a proper garden. It's enclosed and looks out over the fields. There's a lockable store for bikes and boots, handy if you've been walking.

Inside, there's underfloor heating downstairs and an electric fire in the living room for atmosphere. The kitchen has a dishwasher, and there's a washing machine in the utility room. There's a cot if you need it. Bedding and towels are included. No pets, I'm afraid.

The location is the main thing. You're about a mile from the Avebury stone circle. You can walk there across the fields if you don't mind a bit of mud when it's wet. It's a proper ancient site, not like Stonehenge where you have to pay to get near. You can just walk among the stones. The English Heritage page has the opening times for the manor house and museum. The National Trust looks after most of it.

From here, you can walk to Silbury Hill and the West Kennet Long Barrow on the Ridgeway path. The Cherhill White Horse is about five miles west. It's all very quiet countryside.

Marlborough is a ten to fifteen minute drive. It's a nice town with a wide high street, some good cafes and pubs, and a market on Wednesdays and Saturdays. For bigger shops, Swindon is about twenty-five minutes away.

If you want to go further, you're about an hour from Bath, and a bit less from the outskirts of Oxford.