We usually have travel plans early in a new year, since Edward’s birthday falls in the first week of January and it’s become our habit to spend it somewhere interesting. Life events have sometimes influenced our choice of location, especially so this year when it seemed sensible to stay close to home.

We booked a weekend at Endsleigh, then, the third in the trio of hotels in the Polizzi Collection following our successful stay at The Star Inn last Autumn. You may recall that Edward and Amy were married at Tresanton in 2021 as well, so we were curious to “complete the collection” as it were. A family connection is that Amy’s parents live in the adjacent village and our original plan was for them to join us for dinner and Sunday lunch, but for some reason (!) a holiday in St Lucia was a more attractive idea in early January 😉

The initial approach to Endsleigh wasn’t quite as we’d imagined! Parking’s in the stable yard and the picture of a grand country house in our mind’s eye couldn’t really be further from the reality. However, once here we learned more about its architectural style from a book on the coffee table as we sat in what is said to be the finest example of Cottages ornés in England.

Our suite was lovely, with a comfortable sitting room,

and a spacious bedroom, both overlooking the garden.

Whilst the bathroom had all the modern amenities we’d expect, our preference will always be for a sleek, purpose-built and contemporary design, so we’d consider this to be a merely functional space and not somewhere we’d choose to linger!

Anyway, we’re off to a cracking start!

Amy had booked a night away à deux for them long before I arranged Endsleigh, so they collected Oliver from his kennels on the way and we met up in Tavistock on Saturday morning. There’s something about catching sight of those we love in a strange place and it was a delight to spot them in the crowd of shoppers there outside the Town Hall.

We had coffee and a wander around the Pannier Market before returning to our cars and making our way back to Endsleigh for birthday celebrations.

Of course there was birthday cake…and later, a lovely dinner and evening of excellent company with plenty of lively conversation.

Sunday morning dawned misty and cold.

One small dog was eager to get out and about however, so we wrapped up warm and headed out to explore.

It was all very atmospheric and totally different from the Endsleigh shown on the website here. Still beautiful but in a different way!

I was curious about the figure there in the lawn.

But even after a closer look, I was none the wiser.

We made it as far as the Shell Grotto before turning back in search of hot drinks.

I admired the magnificent dogwood on the way - thank goodness for our gardener daughter in law to tell me exactly the variety too. (And shame on me for forgetting it because I didn’t write it down instantly)

All too soon it was time for the youngsters and their dog to head home.

We, however had the afternoon and evening since we were staying one more night. Having waved them goodbye (and “see you tomorrow”) we jumped in our car and went on an adventure!

By now, the mist was lifting and the views were utterly magical.

In no time at all we were in Cornwall, taking the road to Bude and the seaside, where the surfers were already in the water and everyone else was wrapped up warm against the bitter wind.

Well, it was lunchtime by now…and a pan of garlic prawns never tastes as good as out in the fresh air by the beach, does it?

Sunday afternoon in January by the English seaside, which could almost be mistaken for California…except here we wear hats, coats and gloves to the beach!

We were a rather quieter pair at dinner that night, surrounded by a very different and more gregarious crowd from the couples who had been here over the weekend. All became clear the following morning, for as we checked out to head on home, a group of people dressed in tweed shooting style were gathering for their safety drill.

We gathered our bags and left them to it. We planned to call in on Amy and Edward for a coffee en route home and to end our grand weekend in style.