Specialities

Details

Category: Specialities

Family holidays are at our core – the type conjured up by nostalgic reminiscing. Multi-generational gatherings with children playing barefoot in a cottage garden while grown-up laughter rings out from rattan seating.

Read more …

Details

Category: Specialities

From going-nowhere to enchanting-enhancers, here’s our top picks for making a stay at Tom’s Cottage extra special…

Read more …

Details

Category: Specialities

A country Christmas or Cornish New Year doesn’t come better than at Tom’s Cottage. And if a Twixmas breakaway or a complete getaway from it all is your thing: we’re the perfect spot.

Read more …

• columns

  How does midwinter look at Tom’s Cottage?

  Cosy – with woodburner in the sitting room, laid and ready to light on arrival; and a complimentary basket of logs for the first evening. The central heating will be busy in the background keeping the house nicely snug.

  Decorated (unless requested not to). Garland over the fireplace, wreath on the front door and robins peeping through fir branches. How a country cottage belongs to be at Christmas.

  The dining room, with table big enough for a feast - comfortably seating 8 adults. Next to the kitchen (that’s produced more roasts than we could possibly count) so handy, but with a connecting door to shut away the washing up!

  Festive fayre - local mince pies and clotted cream welcome guests on arrival, along with a seasonal chocolate bonus to share.

  Christmas stockings! A Tom’s Cottage speciality: left in bedrooms by early-bird elves just before guests arrive; if the stay includes Christmas Day itself.

  

  

  

  columns

  How do the big days traditionally pan out at Tom’s Cottage?

  Christmas Eve is the warm up: tune in to Radio 4 for the King’s College Carol Service, break open the sherry and prep some veg for tomorrow. Light the woodburner and play a game of Monopoly (Cornish edition in the den). Nip out to Midnight Mass at St Kew or St Teath (we’ll update local services here when they’re confirmed).

  Christmas Day: open stockings on waking. Walk the dog and get the kitchen together if cooking lunch, and nip to a morning service if you didn’t make it to church last night. Or, if eating out, go for a walk on Bodmin Moor/head to the beach for a Christmas dip. (When confirmed, we’ll add mass swim beaches/dates here). Mid afternoon watch the King’s Christmas message (BBC 1) by the fire and open presents. Settle in for a game of charades, followed by Who Am I – sticky note on forehead style. Snacks and chocolate reign – it’s Christmas!

  Boxing Day – time to blow out the cobwebs. A stonking good walk and lunch out if you cooked yesterday. A woodland amble or the Camel Trail are more sheltered if the weather’s inclement. Home to watch a movie by the fire (and eat baked potatoes with leftovers).

  New Year’s Day: a replay of Christmas Day, but more relaxed! A big lunch at home or out and some fresh air; followed by games by the fire.

  Local church services 2024 (2025 updates when they become available)

  • Sunday 15th Dec: carol service - St Kew, 6pm
  • Sunday 22nd Dec: nine lessons & carols - St Endellion, 6pm
  • Christmas Eve: sung eucharist - St Endellion, 11.30am
  • Christmas Eve: christingle - St Kew, 4.30pm
  • Christmas Eve: crib service - St Teath, 5pm
  • Christmas Eve: holy communion - St Kew, 11.30pm
  • Christmas Eve: midnight communion - St Teath, 11.30pm
  • Christmas Eve: midnight mass - St Endellion, 11.30pm
  • Christmas Day: sung eucharist - St Endellion, 11am

  

  

  

  columns

  Tom’s Cottage Twixmassy Days (the sparkly outings)

  • 15^th Nov - 3^rd Jan Heligan Night Garden (Cornwall Tourism 23/24 Festival of the Year)
  • 18^th Oct - 22^th Feb Eden Project ice rink skating
  • 18th Nov - 11th Jan Watergate Bay skating - new for 2025!
  • Mid Dec – 6^th Jan Mousehole Harbour Lights
  • St Teath village square: after dark - for its fairly light ceiling
  • Hot chocolate at The Upper Deck, Rock overlooking the Camel Estuary (shut Christmas & Boxing Days); after a return ferry trip to Padstow
  • A clifftop amble anywhere in Port Isaac Bay - for panoramic zestiness

  

  

  standard

  Eating out over the festive season

  We’ve found 3 places locally serving Christmas lunch (all of which we’d be delighted to dine at)…

  • The Golden Lion, Port Isaac (12 noon – 3pm) 01208 822345 + online reservations
  • Port Gaverne Hotel (12 noon – 4.45pm) 01208 822973 + online reservations
  • The Oystercatcher, Polzeath (12 noon – 5.45pm) 01208 862371 + online reservations

  
  Other great eateries for the wraparound period –

  • The Old Inn, St Breward 01208 850771 serving food every day except 25^th Dec (renowned locally for their Sunday lunches)
  • Bowood Park Golf Club, Camelford 01840 213017 kitchen closed Christmas Day but serving both Boxing Day and New Year’s Days carveries along with their regular Sunday carvery (which gets booked out fairly quickly)
  • The Mote, Port Isaac 01208 880226 + online reservations. Festive opening period: from 20^th December (excl Xmas Day). Specialises in seafood
  • The St Tudy Inn 01208 850656 + online reservations (dinning room closed Boxing Day as well as Christmas Day). Above average food in country pub style
  • St Kew Inn closed Christmas & Boxing Days as a seasonal gift to the staff, this fairy tale pub has ambiance as well as being a gastro-delight
  • The Pickwick, St Issey 01841 540361 + online reservations, Xmas menu 1st - 24th December, good food

   

  standard

  Our favourite Farm Shops & Other Festive Supplies

  Our favourite Farm Shops for brunches, fresh produce and last minute shopping

  • Trevathan Farm Shop, St Endellion 01208 880164 (we suggest reserving a table for large parties or in busy periods). Great for families
  • St Kew Farm Shop 01208 841325 Bistro dining and stylish gifts (good veg options on menu)
  • Boscastle Farm Shop 01840 250827 Award winning all round, and we can certainly endorse their beef dishes!
  • Lifton Farm Shop 01566 784605 on your way into Cornwall on the A30 (½ hour from Tom’s Cottage) – biggest range of produce for a major shop

  Other festive supplies

  • Fee’s Food - the deli that delivers! 01208 869222 Provisions, bakery and the absolute best ready meals; all delivered to Tom’s Cottage. Make an online order or phone with any queries.
  • Wadebridge Wines these guys know their stuff and still wrap bottles in tissue paper! From treat wines to obscure tipples (we prefer maderia over sherry or port), there’s almost a Dickenson feel to this place.
  • Cedar Croft, St Tudy 07823 331226 – the christmas tree plantation! If it’s part of your Christmas to decorate your own tree, this is the place locally to go find one (but please do let us know so we don’t provide one!) Wander the fir forrest and choose your own (an elf with a saw will fell it) or select a potted living version with roots-on. The log cabin shop is blinged right up to Santa standard. Open 10am – 4pm, 22nd Nov to Christmas Eve (closes at midday on the 24^th).
  • Tretawn Farm Christmas shop, St Kew Highway - tasteful decs, fresh wreaths and ethically grown trees; all with a modern retro vibe. Likely to be offered steaming mulled wine! (Our new go-to place) Open weekends from 29th Nov, 10am - 4pm Look out for their Farmers Market on the 3rd Sunday of the month.
  • Bruallen, Delabole 01840 212555 is our local flower shop – a small business fronted by an award winning florist. Need a surprise delivery of seasonal flowers or potted hyacinths bursting into bloom? Call into the shop and collect or phone to arrange them being dropped right onto Tom’s Cottage doorstep.
  • Duchy Nursery, Lostwithiel, and Bodmin Nursery both have fantastic cafes, great shops and masses of horticultural delights to wander around
  • Warren’s butcher, Launceston 01566 772244 Just 1 minute from the A30 at their Pennygillam shop and ½ hour from Tom’s Cottage, this is the place to pick up a festive order en route.
  • New for 2025: Warren's Butcher is now also at Rock (what was Watt's) 01208 862239 - great meats and good service (we highly recommend!)
  • Button Meats, Michealstow 01208 851116 deliver domestic orders to the Tom’s Cottage area (usually on a Thursday or Friday, but this would vary according to the Christmas calendar). Email us for our full delivery address prior to phoning in an order, or drive over to Buttons to collect. Great sausages by the way!

  standard

  Shopping list tips

  Meat eaters may be best advised to phone an order in to avoid disappointment, particularly if fancying duck or goose. We suggest a crown of turkey (boned & rolled) for ease of cooking – sourced from 1 of the butchers above, it’ll still eat like a dream.

  We like chipolatas and bacon rolls with turkey; along with bread sauce (made from a packet is fine) and cranberry sauce or similar. On occasions we revert to a really old-school Christmas menu of roast rib of beef and batter (Yorkshire) pudding.

  Our favourite festive vegetarian dish is a pastry parcel surrounding a block of cheese with a cranberry sauce layer; with an egg wash sprinkled with seeds. Serve with all the winter veg (or as an everyone Boxing Day meal). Super simple.

  Don’t forget the roasting potatoes (we add sweet potatoes), parsnips, brussel sprouts and frozen petit pois.

  It seems crazy, but we’ve developed a Christmas Eve roast gammon habit – as a warm up! This gives us cold ham to compliment other leftovers to carry us through Twixmas. Roast squash and peppers, red cabbage and cauliflower cheese all goes well with hot ham (plus a smear of mustard).

  Don’t be mean with the roast veg – the leftovers swirl up into a delicious soup.

  As for the Christmas pudding: pop it in the microwave to dodge hours of steaming. Clotted cream is an essential accompaniment in Cornwall (forget the brandy butter!)

  The finishing touches to us are satsumas, nuts, dates, cheese and biscuits, and pickled onions/beetroot. And Christmas crackers – for the jokes, the hats and the trinkets. It comes but once a year after all! 

  standard

  Christmas Markets and other festive warm-ups

  Ready to get in the festive spirit? Ditch the frostiness and embrace some local merriment...   

  • 15/16 Nov: Cornish Winter Fair, Royal Cornwall Showground, Wadebridge
  • 22/23 Nov: Pencarrow Artisan Christmas Fair, Pencarrow House, Washaway
  • 22/23 & 29/30 Nov, 6/7 & 13-24 Dec Father Christmas at The Eden Project  
  • 4-7 Dec: Padstow Christmas Fayre NEW FOR 2025 - recrafted into a community run event with free entry, this promises to be an extra special event with lots going on
  • 5/6 Dec: Cornish carols with the Washaway Gallery Choir, Pencarrow: 5th evening 7.30-9pm & 6th matinee 2-4.30pm
  • weekends in December & 23/24 Dec: Santa Specials Bodmin Railway, plus 'Quiet Santa Trains' 7 & 21 Dec at 10am (please note: Bodmin Railway is dog-free in December)
  • 6 Dec: Christmas Fair, The Old Inn, St Breward 10-4
  • 6 Dec: The Christmassy Christmas Show of Christmassy Christmasses (family theatre), St Endellion Hall: 12pm & 3pm performances
  • 6 Dec: Christmas Party Night, Pengenna Manor 6.30-11.30pm
  • 6 Dec: Endelienta Ensemble, St Endellion Church 7.30pm
  • 10/11 Dec: (TBC) Christmas Market, Sea View Farm Shop 
  • 12-14 Dec: Cornwall Christmas Market, Royal Cornwall Showground, Wadebridge  
  • 21 Dec: Tretawn Farmers Market, St Kew Highway 10-12.30 (Christmas Shop open all weekend)

   

  {/s}