Holiday accommodation and short stays in the Vale of Belvoir
Cherry Tree Cottage
We would like to welcome you to our beautiful home away from home, a quintessential English country cottage perfect for getting away from it all and exploring the hidden gems of the historic Vale of Belvoir.
With three double bedrooms, luxury bathroom, well equipped kitchen, living room and separate dining room we are happy to welcome groups of up to six guests for holidays, weekend breaks and short-term accommodation.
The cottage is cleaned to the enhanced Airbnb standard. Dogs are welcome in the downstairs rooms and have secure space for exercise in the garden. Humans and dogs will find the cottage an excellent start point for wonderful walks in the countryside, exploring the fields leading up to nearby Belvoir Castle – home of the Duke and Duchess of Rutland – or enjoying wonderful wildlife habitat along the Nottingham-Grantham canal.
To make an enquiry or booking request you are welcome to call or text our accommodation manager Ruth Russell on +44 (0) 7949 845346 / ruth@visitbelvoir.co.uk or find us on airbnb. Ruth is happy to answer any questions you have and to discuss your particular requirements.
You can also check availability and complete an enquiry form here.
The cottage is in Barkestone Le Vale, Leicestershire. We are easy to find on Google Maps.
The village is a short drive from the A52 which runs between Nottingham and Grantham and joins the A1 Great North Road and A46 Fosse Way. Nearby Grantham is just over an hour away from London by train.
If traveling by public transport we would recommend taking a train to Grantham, Bottesford or Melton Mowbray and completing your journey by taxi.
The cottage
Cherry Tree Cottage in the small village of Barkestone, in the historic Vale of Belvoir, is a beautiful self-catering holiday cottage dating back, we believe, to the 16th century. The cottage offers a comfortable, convenient and engaging country home from home for all visitors to the Vale. Our guests enjoy three double bedrooms each decorated and fitted out in a simple traditional style, a well-appointed kitchen and dining room and cosy living room with free access to streaming Internet TV and WiFi.
To book your are welcome to call or text our accommodation manager Ruth Russell on +44 (0) 7949 845346 or find us on airbnb.
Rooms and facilities
Downstairs you will find a living room, well-equipped kitchen and separate dining room. Upstairs we have three double bedrooms and a bathroom with luxury freestanding vintage bath and shower. Outside there is a garden with lawn and patio area with table, chairs, chiminea and small barbecue.
All three of the cottage bedrooms sleep two people. The Butterfly Bedroom is perhaps most chic, Cushions Bedroom most cosy for kids and at the end of the corridor the Master Bedroom is the most luxurious – read more.
The living room seats six comfortably on two sofas and an armchair and provides the perfect place to relax and unwind.
The room is kitted out with a large smart TV and a subscription to at least one Internet streaming service so you can enjoy a cosy night in and stay in touch with the world beyond your windows.
We aim that the kitchen has the equipment you need to live as well as you do at home so you’ll find a better than usual selection of knives, bowls, pots, pans, utensils and crockery. If there’s something you’d expect to find and it’s not there we’d love to know about it so we can provide it for future guests.
Kitchen equipment includes:
washer-dryer
double electric oven
four-ring gas hob with extractor fan
microwave oven
fridge-freezer
dishwasher
toaster
kettle, teapot and cafetière
range of baking trays
good selection of pots and frying pans
The seperate dining room provides an airy space for you to enjoy your meal. Its antique dining table and chairs seat six comfortably.
The dining room is also where you will an under-the-stairs cupboard to hang your coats. The cupboard also has a vacuum cleaner you are welcome to use and a high chair for use by younger children.
The cottage’s vintage style and practical simplicity are on show in the bathroom, where you will find both a freestanding bath for long luxurious soaks and a modern power shower to get you moving in the morning.
Enhanced cleaning standards
We love Cherry Tree Cottage and take great care of it so that we, and you, can expect to be delighted by its cleanliness and warmth on arrival and throughout each stay. The housekeeping team (usually us, the owners) clean to the Airbnb ‘enhanced clean’ standards every time and don’t leave until the place is sparkling and the beds freshly made with crisp cotton linen.
Pet friendly
We welcome dogs! Our two stay at Cherry Tree regularly and we are only too happy to allow guests to bring their dogs or other (house-trained) pets. Fabulous country walks along the canal or through fields start right from the village and there’s lots more exploring to do across Belvoir and further. We only ask that pets stay downstairs and are not allowed on the living room furniture.
Warm and sustainable
We aim for your stay to be comfortable whatever the weather. The cottage is currently heated by a gas boiler and radiators to ensure you can always be warm and we have made sure the system is programmed so the house is cosy when you check in. If the heating programme doesn’t deliver what you need at any moment you are free to turn the temperature up or down. Just rotate the outer casing of the thermostat on the dining room mantelpiece.
The cottage’s electrical supply benefits from a roof of solar panels generating power from sun so please feel free to make full reasonable use of the house electricity.
We are pleased to say that our local council operates a comprehensive recycling scheme and we encourage guests to put all recyclables in the brown wheelie bin. If you are interested, the council’s website lists what they recycle here. At time of writing (October 2021) the items they recycle include glass, plastic bags and plastic film, along with the usual list of tins, paper and plastic bottles.
Local area
Cherry Tree Cottage is a fantastic place to come to if you are looking for serenity and a countryside experience but it also the perfect spot to access everything the Vale has to offer, as well as the excitements and history of nearby Nottingham, Melton Mowbray, Grantham, Leicester, Newark and Lincoln – all within 20-50 minutes by car. Come for a weekend or a week and you’ll never have an excuse to be bored – or hungry!
We have packed these pages with links to help you find places of interest but our top tip is simple: we recommend you take time to explore the area. Even a short walk through Barkestone’s streets has surprises in store…
For essential groceries we recommend the village shops at Bottesford (9 mins by car) or Bingham (12 mins). Both are lovely rural spots. Bottesford has a sleepier feel, Bingham is bigger and has better supermarket options. Note for sat-nav purposes you want the Leicestershire Bottesford not the one in Lincolnshire. Stathern also has a village store and coffee shop to look out for if you’re going that way.
For an extended shopping trip I think we’d recommend the town of Melton Mowbray (24 mins) over Grantham (20 mins). Melton is a more pleasant drive with less traffic and is the regional food capital, known for its pork pies and cattle market. On the way back from Melton you can detour to the renowned Long Clawson Dairy to try their Blue Stilton and Red Leicester cheeses. But if you need something more prosaic – screen wash, lightbulbs, a carpet (!) – Grantham has it.
If high street shopping’s on your list of must-do’s then Nottingham‘s the place to head. Known for its wide choice of big brand and independent shops as well as refreshment choices, it’s less than 20 miles away and easy to drive to along the A52. Note the centre is notoriously tricky to navigate for newcomers so you might prefer to check the train timetable from Bottesford or Bingham.
Food and drink
Fine dining and pubs are both within a short walk of the cottage door.
Walk, cycle or drive west out of the village and you’ll quickly find yourself at Dickies Farm Dining (0.7miles) and only a few minutes more away from The Anchor Inn (1.1 miles). If you don’t fancy walking along Plungar Lane you can reach The Anchor via the canal towpath. Please book in advance to secure a table.
Alternatively you can walk, cycle or drive east to the Windmill Inn at Redmile for a drink or a tasty meal. If the weather’s good and you can manage stiles and the occasional cow then the walk is very much recommended. From the cottage, nip over the road into Fishponds Lane, take the style just past the cow byre on the left and head along the marked path towards Redmile church steeple, to the left of Belvoir Castle.
For the finest of dining the restaurant at Langar Hall is under 6 miles away. Highly recommended for a special meal.
Walks
Belvoir is a fabulous place to experience tranquil English countryside, from woodlands and waterways to hills and pastures, and no visit to Cherry Tree Cottage is complete without at least once walking the stretch of canalside that runs just 500m from our door.
This section of the Nottingham to Grantham canal is no longer navigable by boat and has become a wonderful natural sanctuary, a real hidden gem. You can walk a 30-40 minute loop taking in the canal, church and old schoolhouse or use the canalside as a convenient path to the neighbouring villages – and pubs – of Redmile and Plungar.
We are building up a data bank of walk descriptions with maps for guests. Please feel free to follow these (and it would be great hear how you got on) or to use the map on our kitchen wall to plan your own walks. If you’d like your own maps of the area, try Ordnance Survey Explorer maps 246 and 247.
From the cottage walk to the right along New Causeway, left down the alley, right on Middle Street and left into Rutland Square and you’ll find Barkestone Hub, also known as Chequers, the old village pub name.
The Hub is open to all at certain times of the week and it’s a nice spot to have a coffee, snack or beer – depending on time of day – and say hello to the friendly folk of the village. The Hub’s a community non-profit so every £1 spent supports social activities and people in need in the village and surrounding areas, and occasionally national charities. Currently (June 2023) you can go along for coffee on Wednesdays 10am to 12pm, soup lunch on Fridays 12pm to 1.30pm and drinks/social on Friday evenings from 6pm.
It’s well worth checking out the Hub’s facebook page or the noticeboards at the bus stop (up near the old school house) and outside the Hub for up to date timings and special events. It’s not uncommon for the Hub to organise gigs with touring musicians and worth watching out for other special events and fairs.
And if you’d like to rent space for your own party or event then the Hub may be able to help.
We hugely appreciate the positive feedback we have received from our guests. This is just a selection.
“We stayed at Ruth’s place for two nights for my 24th birthday. A truly beautiful place, very comfortable beds, and sparkling clean! Six of us stayed and there was plenty of room for all of us! The kitchen is by far the most well equipped out of every air B&B we’ve stayed at in the…
Matthew, October 2020
“The cottage was warm, comfortable and well equipped. There were plenty of walks straight from the door. Ours was a very short stay in this area but the cottage was very well located for what we wanted to do. Excellent wi fi was a plus when we needed to work.”
Elizabeth, October 2021
“Comfortable, clean and cosy. We all really enjoyed our stay and found it easy to relax. An ideal location to explore the Vale of Belvoir!!
Robin, September 2021
“Cherry Tree is such a beautiful cottage, peaceful, great walks in the in countryside, Belvoir Castle not far away. It was perfect for what we needed – comfy beds, and the kitchen was well equipped. Would recommend. The Windmill pub, in thd next village is walkable and does fab food.”
Lisa, July 2021
“A really well equipped and comfortable cottage which makes a lovely base for a holiday in the area. This was our second visit as we enjoyed it so much.”
Annie, October 2021
You can read more reviews on our Airbnb page, hosted by accommodation manager Ruth.
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