The Loft at Southleigh

05/07/2023

We've done it again! Yay - we're really proud that people consistently rate us with full marks after their stay!

We still have a few gaps in the calendar for the months ahead so please do check out our listing and come to stay in the beautiful Devon countryside - find out what our previous guests are raving about!!!

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/48293309

22/05/2023

We’ve just had another 5 ⭐️ review ! Happy guests, make us happy!

We still have some availability over the half term here at The Loft at Southleigh.

The weather looks set to be phenomenal down here in Devon this half term. With the wild flowers in full force, all the attractions fully open, the sea temperatures rising and just a short journey from Dartmoor, Exeter and Haldon Forest, why not treat yourself to a few days rest and relaxation down here in this beautiful part of the world.

PM us via this page or book direct via our Airbnb page https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/48293309

07/04/2023

The sun is shining, spring is in full swing, lambs are being born and eggs-a-plenty here for Easter.

Due to a last minute cancellation we have availability from 9th -16th April.

Minimum 2 night stay - with a discount down to £85/night plus cleaning fee (£35) if you book direct with us via this page or by phone
🥚 🌸 😊

07/03/2023

That’s this years pregnant ewes brought home for lambing.

With lambs due from 21st March onwards we have timed it to fit with the Easter holidays so that guests in The Loft can witness the excitement of lambing if they are lucky.

With dates still available from 7th -16th April for a minimum of three nights, have a look at our AirBnB page for more details or contact us direct through FB.

18/05/2022

When a family check out from The Loft, one of the first things I do before giving it a good clean is check to see what has been written in the guest book.

It’s such a lovely thing to be able to share our home with people and it makes us feel really proud to think that out of all of the places on planet earth they could have chosen, they chose us!

I thought it would be a nice thing to share some of the comments from some of the families, it makes us feel very proud.

03/05/2022

Growing our own food and having food available to us all year round is really important to us.

It was five years ago, next month, that we arrived here and set about two key projects that would help us achieve our dreams.

First was to get ‘The Loft’ up and running and be ‘guest ready’ ASAP.

Second was to set up a food growing system that allowed us to grow fruit/veg/meat/eggs year round so we could take steps to no longer rely on supermarkets and also start to save money by avoiding buying things.

The Loft is now in its second season of welcoming guests and the veg areas are now providing produce every day of the year (some more than others).

This year round supply of produce enables us to provide all guests who arrive at The Loft with a hamper of seasonal, home grown produce that we have grown on our land without chemicals and with a bare minimum of food miles, if any.

As society navigates its way through the climate emergency these things are going to become increasingly important and so hopefully will become more mainstream. For us, we want to be setting these things up now by choice, rather than by necessity, so that they will be in full productivity sooner rather than later.

Some of the photos below are of our rare breed sheep grazing our orchard, our mixed flock of hens and their multicoloured eggs, our fruit garden, herb beds, vegetable beds and polytunnel as well as all of this years seedlings full of potential for future guests hampers. The only thing missing is our free range rewilding pigs, which are due to arrive this week, and bees which we are currently without since or colonies died over the winter.

We love growing food, we love sharing our space with other people and we love sharing that food with them when they arrive.

Why not book now for an Autumn break and visit when the veg and fruit is in full flow.

20/04/2022

A short compilation of wildlife visits to
Our neighbours pond over the last few months. Amazing viewing. Can’t wait to have a pond ourselves!!!

Wildlife at the Pond - Doddiscombsleigh Spring 2022

05/04/2022

Wow, what a day yesterday was!!! 3 Bookings in the same day!!! It looks as though the chaos at the airports, on the tunnel and at the ports is making people think again about where they spend their summer holidays.

To add to that we have had confirmed the piggies are coming at the end of this month. We are having the ginger one and one of the spotty ones.

Lastly our first hen has just gone broody so some eggs will be put under her in the coming days for chicks in about three weeks.

30/03/2022

That’s it!!! Having redecorated and given the whole place a deep spring clean we are ready for the re-opening of The Loft just in time for Easter.

Currently there are three bookings in place from the 8th onwards which leaves dates from 1st-7th April still available. Summer dates also still available but two summer bookings already made.

Feel free to contact us direct or visit our AirBnB page direct and book in just a few clicks.

The pint at the end of the day at our local was very nice indeed.

13/03/2022

Still some Limited availability over Easter holidays.

With Easter on the horizon and spring poking its flower heads through winters soil, is it time to treat you and yours to a last minute break?

We feel so privileged to have wild daffodils blooming along every river and stream valley, wild garlic erupting from the woodland floor and bluebells starting to wait in the wings in the place we call home.

A short 5 minute walk from The Loft takes you on a public footpath through some beautiful old oak, ash and hazel coppice woodland.

A longer 15 minute drive and you are on the River Teign where it flows through a deep river valley, rammed with flood plains and daffodils galore.

A longer 40 minute drive and you are in the heart of Dartmoor National Park with everything that is has to offer available to you.

Our daughter is doing the Ten Tors walking challenge with school and wanted to take us to see, in her opinion, the best part of Dartmoor that she has trained on yet. These photos are just a small glimpse of what we saw.

Message us direct or find us on AirBnB for more details and photos.

Please share and help spread the word.

13/02/2022

The Loft’s orchard grows again in 2022.

It was always part of our dream to have an orchard full of fruit and nut trees, all blossoming and fruiting throughout the year and supplying us with a wide range of produce for use on our smallholding. Our sheep however had other ideas!!!

Sheep love browsing the tips of the branches and having a good old scratch on saplings as they walk past so we always knew that if we were to have an orchard, and rear our own rare breed lamb and hogget, then we would need to put in some extra effort.

This extra effort, along with the cost of each tree, means that we can really only plant between 10-15 trees per year rather than the whole paddock, which is our eventual aim.

Each tree is supported by a hazel stake (by-product of our hedgelaying) and tied to it with some old bicycle inner tubes ( courtesy of cycling fans in our village). This is to give the tree some support in the face of the wind which comes up our valley off of Dartmoor. Believe me, they need it on some days!

The tree is then fenced off with some chestnut posts (sourced from a nearby Devon wood) and hazel rails (more by-product from our hedgelaying) to stop the sheep from rubbing against the stake or tree.

At the bottom of each trees hole, we put a good handful of home made leaf mould and compost to help provide nutrients, but also to provide microbial and mychorizal biodiversity which will help the new trees gather nutrients from the immediate soil and improve its water absorption capabilities (important in case of droughts!)

We will then add a good and deep layer of wood chippings (yet another by-product from our hedge laying) to help reduce the grass growth around the tree which means the tree will get more of the share of the nutrients around it.

The end result of this is an annually growing orchard which is now at 50+ trees. These include all kinds of heritage varieties of apples as well as pears, plums, damsons, cherries, quinces, green gages, crab apples, chestnut, cobnuts and rowan berries. We plan to plant some walnuts and almonds next year to increase our nut yield.

The hope is that in about 10 years we will be more self sufficient in our own fruit and nuts and the wide range of varieties means we have nut put all of our eggs in one basket. Fingers crossed!

In the meantime what we get to have every year is a beautiful and growing blossom display which lasts from end of April to mid May. The smells and colours of each variety are so different, it’s like an edible rose garden. The bees love the flowers, the birds love the buds, we love the fruit and the wasps and birds love the fallen fruit. Throughout the year the insects love them all and the bats love those insects. It’s a wildlife haven in its own right and it will get better year on year.

So why not come and stay at The Loft during blossom season this year. Have a picnic under the trees, read a book beside the bees or just be mindful as you sit and meditate with Dartmoor on your horizon.

Or, book an October visit and pluck some of the different fruits from the trees and see what your taste buds think of the different varieties.

We love it and we think our visitors will too!

11/02/2022

Even smallholders need a spa day every now and then!!!!

As a treat to ourselves, before silly season kicks off, we have just returned from two hours of sauna, whirlpool bath, herbal steam room, tropical showers, lava steam room and swim.

It was lovely, just simply lovely. So lovely in fact that we thought we should let people know it exists only 10 minutes away from The Loft and only cost £20 each for two hours!!!

So, whether you come to explore the Moor, the beaches, the rivers or the food that is available nearby, know now that you can add a spa session to your visit. It is something we will definitely be doing again soon!!!

https://finlakeresort.co.uk/spa/