The Lodge

I am lucky enough to live within striking distance of North Yorkshire and so for many years have visited the numerous and varied family attractions with my children. If I hadn't I would undoubtedly have taken holidays here just for these attractions alone, and The Lodge is slap bang in the middle of it all.

As I pulled up on to the drive of The Lodge my first thoughts were "how pretty" then as I walked through the door I thought "Wow". For me, the kitchen is the heart of a family home and using this definition, The Lodge definitely has a fabulous heart. A holiday here offers young families everything. Plenty to do and visit for all tastes, a proper home from home with everything you need and beautiful surroundings.

What more could you want?

The Lodge is a charming 19th century, family friendly, stone built cottage which has been sympathetically and beautifully renovated.

On arrival you enter the property via the front door and the porch, which opens in to the large family kitchen/dining room. This room is a real plus point of the house with plenty of room for the large dining table and chairs, a large modern fully fitted kitchen and room for children to scoot around on the floor! The kitchen is very well stocked with equipment, it passes my "can you prepare a Christmas dinner and bake a cake in this kitchen?" test!

It also contains a fridge and freezer, a dishwasher, a ceramic hob, a microwave and a washer dryer. There are windows to three sides of this room giving it a sunny, airy feel; the window in the dining end of the kitchen is an old fashioned wooden sash window with a window seat. The whole family can be using this room at once whether it be for meal preparation, reading a book, playing a game, doing some artwork, or playing on the floor, maybe even a spot of baking with the children if you get a rainy day. In the kitchen you will find a children's baking set, children's cookery book and aprons.

There are two doors leading off the kitchen - one to the sitting room and the other to a corridor. Hanging on the wall in the corridor is a large framed map of the local area, centred on the cottage, which will help you to plan out your child friendly walking routes from the front door.

The first door on the right of this corridor also leads to the sitting room. This is a good sized room with high ceilings, which all the rooms in the cottage have, really adding to the sense of space. It has two large comfortable sofas, perfect for curling up with a good book and a glass of wine in the evenings with your ipod plugged in to the dock or for children's story time. There are two bookshelves containing maps, guides to the local area and some novels for adults and older children and a huge wealth of tourist info, organised into folders for different areas, eg a folder for families, a folder for cyclists, a folder for places to eat, etc. There is no chance of getting bored on holiday here. The window in this room is another wooden sash window with a window seat. There is also a TV, DVD and video player and a supply of children's television DVDs.

Leading off the left of the corridor is a family bathroom. It includes loo, sink and bath with hand rails and an overhead shower and folding glass shower door. There are some nice little touches in here like Baylis and Harding soap and lotion dispensers for guests and child and baby soap dispenser. There is plenty of space for bathtime, drying off and getting into PJ's.

At the end of the corridor is the double bedroom with plenty of room for the full size wooden cot provided. The window has views out over the garden and countryside. The king sized bed is dressed with good quality white linen and the mattress firm and very comfortable. 

The second bedroom lies between the main bedroom and the sitting room, meaning that your little ones are always very close. It contains two lovely wooden comfortable single beds, again dressed with good quality white linen. This is a beautiful large room; even with two beds, a large wooden cot and a freestanding wardrobe there is still plenty of space for play. There is a wall cupboard containing a good variety of games for older children too.

The garage can be reached via a locked door off the corridor. This houses the boiler, hot water tank and a tumble dryer and is used as storage for garden items, the ironing board, clothes airer, laundry basket, vacuum cleaner, etc. You will also find a good supply of small children's toys and games in here that can be used indoors or out.

Parent points:

• The garage contains various items that may cause harm to children so please ensure that it is kept locked at all times and the key is kept out of reach of children
• The bookcases in the sitting room are half height heavy wooden ones and are not attached to the wall.

On arrival at the house you will pull on to the driveway that has room for two cars. You will pass through the metal garden gate (with lock),into the fully enclosed garden, and on to the front door. The garden stretches around the front, side and back of the house. The front consists of gravel and paving stones, and there is a path along the side of the house leading under a climbing rose arch, that leads to the very well stocked back garden. It is a typical country cottage garden with all sorts of shrubs, trees and flowers.

The lawn is the central part of this back garden, perfect for little ones to play on the lawn or in the sand pit, supervised by parents who can join in or watch from the sunny patio area adjacent to the lawn. This patio area with table and chairs also allows for outdoor dining. There is a locked gate from the back garden to the open fields and there are no nearby houses so guests have complete privacy.

Parent points:

• The garden is terraced. There are a couple of steps up to the lawn and along one side of the lawn there is a short drop down to the footpath. There is another small step up to the patio which lies at the opposite side of the lawn to the house.
• The garden is fully enclosed by wooden horizontal fencing; this fencing is gapped fencing but the gaps are not wide enough to squeeze through and the fence is too high for a small child to climb.
• On the other side of this fencing, along one side of the garden, is a road which although only a very minor road, at peak times does have occasional cars that travel at high speed along it. The driveway is not enclosed so extra care needs to be taken here with young children.

• Enclosed grounds
• Outdoor toys and games
• Bed guards
• Cots and cot linen
• Microwave
• Steriliser
• Highchair
• Booster seat
• Hand blender
• Plastic plates, cups and cutlery
• Potty
• Toddler bibs
• Baby Gym
• Cuddle and Dry baby towels
• Baby flannels
• Bath splashmat
• Changing mat
• Night lights
• Children’s toys
• Beach toys
• Bath toys
• Sand pit
• Children’s cookery kit
• Art and craft materials

For the children…

The Lodge is ideally situated for all sorts of child friendly places to visit - Visit England have also awarded this property with accolades for families, along with walkers and cyclists too. You could stay here for a fortnight and visit a different attraction each day and still not see them all. Rebecca has left copious amounts of information in the house about these places in a folder specifically marked as child friendly places to visit. Rebecca is always looking for ways to make The Lodge a real home from home and to make it as easy as possible for families. There are numerous toys and games for both indoors and outdoors and plenty of space to play.

Not only are there cultural places to visit and things to do, there are also walks suitable for little ones that can be done from the doorstep or around the beautiful grounds of Castle Howard, just three miles away. If Geocaching is your thing, there are a number of caches around. Why not take a picnic? A picnic rug and equipment are provided. The beaches of North Yorkshire are only a 25 minute drive away so Rebecca has provided buckets and spades to take with you.

For the whole family...

Holidays are so often filled with precious moments that one person is missed out of because they are behin the lens of a camera. At The Lodge, Rebecca can arrange for you to have a private photography session with the local 'Cherub' photographer for Bounty, Vanessa Wilcox. She is CRB checked and has Master of Photography accreditation - her website is  www.vanessawilcoxphotography.co.uk/. The perfect way to capture your holiday and your little ones and even you, at your best.

The Lodge is set on the edge of a small hamlet not far from Malton in North Yorkshire. It is surrounded by open fields. 

Castle Howard is just 3 miles away, where you can wander in the idyllic gardens, woodland and along the lakeside walks, and children can let off steam in the adventure playground. There are often special events held here too so it is worth checking the website to see what may be happening when you are there. Why not take a picnic – there is picnic equipment provided in the house or go for the real up market experience and order a luxury picnic from Malton Relish.

The town of Malton is just 3 miles away. Malton has been a thriving rural community for 2000 years, settled originally by the Romans, and has been central to Northern history. Malton's classic town centre with its archetypal market place is a joy to visit. Malton is a compact and once walled riverside town with many restaurants and cafes, a weekly market, supermarkets and numerous other shops. The area had become quite a “foodie” destination with the twice yearly Malton Food Festival, it’s monthly farmers’ market and wealth of restaurants.

How about a trip back to World War 2 at Eden Camp, less than 6 miles away? It is an award winning modern history theme museum, but don’t let the museum word put the children off. Even my museum allergic children loved it! 

Flamingo Land Theme Park and Zoo is only 7 miles away. Guaranteed fun for the whole family.

The historic city of York is just 17 miles away, an easy drive or why not catch the train from Malton? It takes about 25 minutes and deposits you right next to the National Railway Museum. This is a must for any train enthusiasts young and old and if you are really lucky you may be visiting at a time when Thomas himself is there! 

Also in York is the Jorvik Viking Centre, one of the most popular UK visitor attractions outside of London. The Jorvik is based on the site of one of the most famous and astounding discoveries of modern archaeology and is an incredibly popular family museum. As you travel around the Viking-age city of Jorvik aboard state of the art time capsules you will encounter the old-Norse speaking citizens, see inside their houses and back yards, experience a blast of smoke from a blacksmith's furnace and enjoy the smell of home-cooked stew inside the home of an amber worker. 

You could even have a go at archaeology yourselves at The Dig, described by The One Show’s Dan Snow as "One of the best family days out. No other experience gets you as close to the excitement of archaeological discovery".

The city of York itself is well worth a wander around. You can walk part or all of the Roman walls, stop and watch the street entertainers, take an open top bus tour, ride The Wheel, shamble down The Shambles and go for a not to be missed afternoon tea in the world famous Betty’s Tearooms. 

Fancy the beach? What about a day out to Scarborough’s safe sandy beaches, 25 miles away. You could also visit the Sea Life Centre here and the miniature railway at North Bay.

Have a Bob the Builder fan in the family? Diggerland is just under an hour away in the car.

There are numerous indoor play centres and swimming pools around, all the details are at The Lodge.

Dalby Forest is 12 miles away, a Forestry Commission owned forest with walking and cycling routes and a Go Ape site where you can take to the trees and speed down zip slides. 

There are many more family attractions, details of which are all at The Lodge.

Before booking, please read our Terms and Conditions. Bookings are generally taken for full weeks and the availability tab shows 7 night blocks; however many Owners are happy to consider bookings for additional nights and to consider different starting and departure dates outside of the busy periods.  Please enquire by clicking on an available period in the Pricing and Availability tab above.

Price includes: linen, towels, mid stay change of linen for bookings of two weeks or more, standard end of stay clean, electricity and heating.

Additional services/charges: babysitting, shopping, deli meals available and payable locally. Freezer meal service available and payable on an honesty system.