Rutland Lodge
Wellswood, Torquay
The Victorian holiday villa
Rutland lodge offers the perfect setting for large groups and family holidays. The villa is the largest and oldest of the 4 properties and has been beautifully restored and carefully modernised to offer many of the same home comforts you would expect from a new build house, without withdrawing all the character from the building. There is a new whirlpool that can seat 9 on the rear terrace, which also has dining tables that seat 30.
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The house is ideally located in Wellswood, with the local beach of Meadfoot a 15/20 minute walk away, via Wellswood's parade of shops. Along here are artisan delis, independent bread and cake shop, Co-op supermarket and the Kent's pub.
Rutland's kitchen has a gas hob with electric fan oven, freezer & large fridge. The large dining room has two long tables and can seat 24, perfect for those large group meals. The villa also has a large sitting room that seats 10.
All of the Villa's bedrooms have en suite and a TV/DVD player. Fibre optic WiFi is across the site.
Meadfoot Beach
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Meadfoot beach is a 15/20 minute walk down past Wellswood shops, through the playing fields of Ilsham on to Meadfoot cove. This cove is a delightful undeveloped beach with a rocky pool area to the left where dogs are allowed, round to a sandy beach on the right hand side with a beach cafe.
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There is plenty of free parking along the seafront, but will get filled up in summer. Further parking is available in either carpark at the end, or by the playing fields.
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Ansteys cove is a 15 min walk from Rutland through Ilsham park. There are quite a few steps down to this cove!
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Babbacombe Bay is a 15min walk either along the road or by the coastal path which gives stunning views over towards Lyme Bay. There is a variety of cafes there plus the award winning Fish+Chip shop - Hanburys. The Cary Arms is an excellent choice for casual dinning or a drink, as it overlooks the Bay towards Exmouth.
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St Marychurch is a mile on from Babbacombe with its old fashioned shops and Bygones Museum. The model village is located at the back of Marychurch and has plenty of parking.
Other Activities close by:
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Kents cavern is just around the corner, past the shops. This tells the story of the story of the Bay through millions of years.
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The bowling ally is a ten min walk down the hill.
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There are regular ferry trips over the Bay to Brixham and round past Start Point to Dartmouth. Its possible to do a 'Round-Robin' on an open top bus to Paignton, then steam train to Dartmouth + back via the ferry. Details from the tourist office on the right hand side of the harbour.
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The 'Living Coasts' wildlife centre is the huge netted covered building on the left of the harbour, which is run by Paignton Zoo. A joint ticket is good value, with Living Coasts being more suited to younger children, but everyone finds the zoo fascinating.
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Cockington Village is a quaint area just beyond the train station, which has pink thatched cottages at the centre. A walk leads through to the Manor house which is operated now by Torbay Coastal Trust as a craft centre. It has a truly fantastic chocolate shop in the new built section at the rear.