A Summer Roundup & Autumn Arrives on the Farm

Summertime in Cornwall

Summer came and, as usual, always seems to go far too quickly! Life at Butterwell Farm has fallen into a slightly slower pace, as the children returned to school this month and our autumn guests will start to see the change in the season and be able to enjoy a quieter version of Cornwall.

I did promise a monthly newsletter, but I very quickly realised in early July that a summer round-up was a little more realistic for me! More time for me to also enjoy some Cornish summertime fun and the children being off school. I can now focus on more progressive tasks such as this blog/newsletter, which I do love to write and bring to our guests each month.

I have had a fantastic response from many guests visiting this summer that have read my blog in advance of their visit and planned much of their holiday around my recommendations. Guests have followed my walks to the letter, restaurant suggestions, visited surf clubs and much more. It has been extremely rewarding to know my efforts are worth it and our guests enjoy reading and using my blog.

Rock Oyster Festival

I will start at the beginning of the school summer holidays at the end of July, as a family we enjoyed our first ever visit to Rock Oyster Festival. A small family-friendly, foodie festival just twenty minutes from Butterwell Farm situated on the banks of the Camel Estuary looking up-river towards Wadebridge. It really was a stunning setting. We enjoyed food demos and small plates from fabulous local chefs, endless entertainment in the “Little Fish” family area, and of course dancing into the evening to the Sugarbabes headline act! If you are thinking of visiting Cornwall at the end of July we would highly recommend this great event on our doorstep.  They offer ‘earlybird’ discounts so it’s worth a look and planning ahead.

Dates for your 2025 calendar 24-27 July 2025!

Updates from the Farm and Closer to Home

This summer has seen the completion of one big project to tick off the to-do list – the BRIDGE! We have a beautiful big steel bridge that connects our land across the River Camel and allows our guests to access our ancient woodland and temperate rainforest area as well as the Camel Trail. Yes, that’s what the pile of railway sleepers was for! Sam has made some necessary repairs to the steelwork, replaced all the sleepers and repainted the whole thing (with LOTS of coats). It has been a little tedious at times, but a result we are all happy with.  It is now time to get back over the bridge with the tractor to start collecting firewood to supply all our cottage log burners for to ensure a cosy winter stay.

For more day-to-day updates on the estate management at Butterwell Farm, follow Sam on Instagram @butterwell_sam

A very exciting new addition to our village is Keaters Farm Shop. It is located on the main road through Nanstallon village, open daily, selling meat, dairy, vegetables, ready meals, and much more. Not forgetting the all-important ice creams! A great asset to our community and for our guests who will benefit from all the goodies on offer there.

Back on the farm we have been busy bailing the hay from our two paddocks ready to feed the sheep this winter. It is always a beautiful sight on a sunny summer’s day watching the bales being made. With our healthy brood of hens we have had an endless supply of eggs for our guests to enjoy this summer, and there has also been a great demand for our tasty hogget and mutton direct from Butterwell Farm. Mid-season we had to get another big batch of burgers made up due to their popularity.

We have enjoyed some stunning walks from our doorstep, always exploring our estate and finding exciting things to see at every time of the year. We have been picking apples, pears and blackberries, and batch cooking crumbles with them. We have wondered up to the Camel Valley Vineyard to enjoy a drink on the terrace, just a short fifteen-minute stroll from Butterwell Farm cottages. It is a breathtaking view from up there and lovely to see a different aspect across the valley. They are just about to start harvesting and are still offering tours and tastings throughout the autumn on Mondays and Fridays. Book online.

Nature Notes

This summer’s exciting nature story involves two otters called Pip and Mira. Pip and Mira were rescued as pups by the UK Wild Otter Trust charity, at their rehabilitation centre based in North Devon. We invited the founder of the charity to Butterwell Farm to access its suitability as a release site, and of course it was ideal. We were fascinated to learn even more about otters from such an expert, and to also hear about his inspiring story that led him to set up of the charity over forty years ago.

We often spot otters on our stretch of the River Camel and many of our guests have had magical encounters during their stays. Fishermen have been known to tug of war for a fish on the end of their line with an otter, and we have witnessed cubs playing in the river right in front of the main house in broad daylight.

Otters are in fact solitary animals that only live an average of five years. If you spot two adult otters together then they are either mating or fighting! Otters become sexually mature at the age of two and keep their cubs with them for about a year. So it is not uncommon for otters to only have one or two litters in their lifetime. They will have anywhere between one and five cubs, with three being most common. We were most surprised at the range of their territory with males roaming up to twenty miles, and females about twelve to fifteen miles!

It was a very special experience for our family to watch the release itself. Otters are beautiful creatures, but we had to make sure the children didn’t try to put a finger in the cage as I am pretty sure they would have had it off! The staff from the centre released them into a small wooden holt not far from the river and immediately put down some food for them (some trout and chicks). It only took them a few minutes to emerge from the holt and wander off into the undergrowth. They then knew this was their safe location where they could come back to for food and shelter, from which to gradually build their confidence and venture further and further afield. The pups would eventually split up, become independent, and never return to the release site. For a couple of weeks we had to return to the site each day to put down more food for them (not quite knowing whether it was the otters that had come back for the food or perhaps a different creature).

One of the charity’s volunteers took some beautiful photos of the release which we are thrilled to share with you in this blog. Butterwell Farm really is a mecca for nature and wildlife, and we know this is the reason so many of you choose to come and stay with us; to experience the closeness to nature you can find on our special site.

Summer Beach Days

Of course, it wouldn’t be a proper Cornish summer without a few beach days! We spent most Sundays down at our closest and favourite beach, Polzeath. Our eldest son enjoys his Surf Life Saving sessions here as well as sessions with our recommended surf school Surf’s Up Surf School.

We also made a trip to Daymer Bay, enjoying some takeaway fish and chips from Rock Fish and Chips on the beach at sunset. And a new favourite, Polly Joke Beach. Polly Joke is accessible by a five-to-ten-minute walk along the stunning coastal path. It felt really secluded and magical, with caves to explore and so much ‘treasure’ to collect. Another day we decided to take the paddleboard down to the tiny quaint port of Port Quin in-between Polzeath and Port Isaac – it is a really fun little bay to explore by paddleboard, kayak or swimming. Cornish Coast Adventures are based there if you would like to book a guided adventure from Port Quin. There is also a sauna there you can book – perfect for after any water activity!

Eating out this Summer

Summer holidays in Cornwall involve a lot of Cornish pasties on the go, fish and chips, and of course ice creams! Our go-to Cornish pasty is from Malcolm Barnecutts bakery, and they have a new fantastic restaurant/takeaway in Wadebridge. It is slightly out of town with lots of parking. It is a great place if you are looking for good value, ease or just want to pick up a picnic for the beach. It is not just pasties on the menu, they also offer great salad bowls, hot sandwiches and a great full English breakfast!

We also got to visit a pub we had been to before but has recently been refurbished and re-launched by famous top chef Adam Handling MBE, The Tartan Fox, near Newquay. It’s sustainable British pub food with a luxury approach. It had a fantastic cosy atmosphere, excellent service and it’s family and dog friendly. One firmly going on our list of recommendations.

We also enjoyed a couple of trips to our favourite local breakfast at the St Kew Farm Shop, a fun trip to Herd Burger in Newquay with the children (amazing burgers and milkshakes, and good value children’s options too), and finally a feast of local mussels cooked at home from Porthilly Shellfish. Porthilly Shellfish farm mussels and oysters in the Camel Estuary just downstream from us and you can order directly from them to enjoy at home. We used a tried and tested Rick Stein Moules Mariniere recipe which the whole family enjoyed.

Lastly, on a beautiful sunny September day, I got out with my friends for a walk from Rock to Daymer Bay and back again. The tide was out so we were able to walk on the beach for most of the walk. Passing through Greenaway Beach and cutting up to The Mowhay for brunch. A lovely cosy café/restaurant with a lovely outside garden seating area where we enjoyed sitting in the sun. The food and coffee were fantastic, and there is a lovely women’s clothing shop, Aspiga, located just next door.

For more eating out suggestions don’t forget to use our bespoke guide on your next visit: Eating Out Cornwall.

Upcoming Availability and Autumn Offers

We do still have some availability this Autumn. Low occupancy discounts available in our bigger properties. And don’t forget to use our Autumn discount code autumn10.

Kingfisher Cabin:

9-11 October £300
5-7 November £296
11-13 November £296
18-22 November (4 nights £444, 2 nights from £296)

Cobnuts Stable:

8-12 October:
1-bed £467 (2 nights from £282)
2-bed £513 (2 nights from 308)
3-bed £557 (2 nights from £335)

26-28 October:
1-bed £417
2-bed £455
3-bed £493

31 October-2 November:
1-bed £372
2-bed £412
3-bed £452

13-18 November:
1-bed £503 (2 nights from £296)
2-bed £570 (2 nights from 335)
3-bed £635 (2 nights from £374)

26-28 November:
1-bed £296
2-bed £335
3-bed £374

Apple Tree Cottage:

2-11 October (7 nights from £620, 2 nights from £310)

14 October-30 November (7 nights from £738, 2 nights from £360)

Buzzard Barn:

5-7 October £380

14-18 October (4 nights £600, 2 nights £400)

2-30 November (7 nights £830, 2 nights £457)

Review of the Summer

Thank you to all our wonderful guests who have taken the time to leave us reviews and feedback. They are so incredibly important for our small family business, and we appreciate each and every one of them.

Our review of the Summer comes from Chris O’Callaghan who stayed in Buzzard Barn:

“An exceptional stay in a perfect location. We maximized every opportunity to use local recommendations for cycling, winery and eateries. Whole family loved the house and the local area. Lots of small touches made the stay extra special, including enjoying the farm’s lamb and eggs and exploring along the private river. Faultless stay with everything we could possibly need considered and provided for. Super responsive hosts too. Thanks – recommend this place 100%!”

Thank you so much Chris!

Our preferred review platform is Google reviews. To read all our reviews head to our review page. If you haven’t left a review for a previous stay and have a spare moment to write something, then please do head over to Google Butterwell Farm to leave a review.

Dare we mention the C-Word!

Whether we are ready or not, Christmas is just a few months away. Have you made your plans for the big day yet? Christmas at Butterwell Farm is guaranteed to be magical. Frosty mornings in front of the fire with real Christmas trees a feature in all our properties. With cosy country pubs just up the road and crisp winter riverside walks on your doorstep what could be more perfect? Book online now.

Fishing

As we near the end of September the sea-trout run seems to be dwindling with the cooler temperatures. We have been seeing one or two fresh fish daily over the last few weeks, but fishing for them has been tricky.

With the slightly warmer temperatures last week we noticed large numbers of peel in the river below the Butterwell beats, which suggests there will be good spawning for trout this year.

The end of September marks the end of the sea-trout season, and, at time of writing, there are just under seventy sea-trout in the catch return, the largest being 5lb.

Two salmon have been caught and returned in the latter half of the month by Mike Laughlin and Jake Dodge of 6.5lb and 9lb respectively, and a close encounter with a third fish that managed to evade capture. This brings optimism that this could be a better year for the salmon fishing.

The river has just dropped back down after heavy rainfall over the weekend brought it up approximately two feet. Given the forecast it seems we got a lot less rain than was predicted, but hopefully enough to entice some salmon into the system.

We write a fishing report each month from the River Camel for Trout and Salmon magazine. We also publish this on our website and it goes out in a monthly newsletter to all our angling guests. If you would like to be included on this mailout, please just let us know. For more information about fishing at Butterwell Farm please look at the fishing pages on our website. For more day-to-day updates on fishing and the estate management at Butterwell Farm, follow Sam on Instagram @butterwell_sam