“My family and I selected this property for our break to the Lake District based on the photos and description from Sykes Cottages website.”
Another tick in the box was the description stated the property was dog friendly, important for us as our dog always accompanies us on holiday. Smithy Cottage was comfortably large enough for our party of four adults and a large dog. The garden at the rear of the property is huge so offers room for children and dogs to run off some energy (however, care must be taken as there is a gap in the wall which leads to a stream running past). The dining room has a large table for up to six people (although the property actually sleeps five - 2 doubles & 1 single). Off road parking is excellent as two vehicles can be parked on the driveway for Smithy Cottage and a gate can be closed to secure to your vehicle. Bowland Bridge is well positioned to allow visitors to travel to various places in the South Lakes such as Grange Over Sands, Ulverston, Coniston, Ambleside, Grasmere and Bowness On Windermere with ease if you have access to a vehicle. If you enjoy peace and quiet then Bowland Bridge is the place for you and there's plenty of places to walk in the countryside if that is your type of holiday. Within a half hour radius of the property there are plenty of places you can visit to dine out, our recommendations are Sun Inn at Crook, Hare & Hounds at Levens and Brown Horse at Winster, further afield Flying Fleece at Ambleside and Bluebird Café at Coniston. A short drive or a decent walk from Smithy Cottage there are Gummers How and Fell Foot Park which offer amazing views of Lake Windermere. If you want to keep the kids occupied there are activities on offer at Fell Foot Park (Lake Windermere) and Coniston Boating Centre (Lake Coniston). Unfortunately, there were a number of issues we had with regards to the property: * Description states property is close to the Hare & Hounds pub and village store, neither of these businesses have been trading for some time so should be removed from the website description. Only the Masons Arms which is approx 10 minutes walk (a steep climb) from the property is available in Bowland Bridge * On our arrival there were numerous piles of dog mess in the garden, guests should be instructed to clean up after their dogs - as we always do * No sufficient welcome book was available, a generic booklet from LakeLovers is not good enough and guests should not be expected to rummage through drawers in the property to locate information on how the various amenities work * Warm water was not available upon our arrival, we had to contact the local office to get the maintenance operative to visit. He had to switch on the oil water heater as the heating element on the immersion heater was faulty * How was the property sufficiently cleaned prior to our arrival if warm water wasn't available at the property? (see above issue) * Sign at property states guests should use bottled water for drinking, this should be clearly stated on the description and guests shouldn't find this out when arriving as no local shop available * Wood burner was not available due to an issue with the flue, not needed thankfully due to the warm weather but missing part caused a constant smell of soot in the living room * No gate on the stairs to prevent children or dogs going upstairs unsupervised * Property description should clearly state dogs are prohibited from going upstairs, guests should not be left to find out when you reach the property * There was no working lock on the bathroom door to prevent other members of the party from walking in * Various doors in the property wouldn't remain closed, as a result dogs can get into rooms which they are supposed to be prohibited from * Settees in the living room were uncomfortable, when you sat on the settee nearest to the kitchen you actually sank into it * Iron at the property was unsafe, power lead was missing some protective covering so wiring exposed * Duvet sheet on double bed at rear of property didn't fully cover the bed (ie too small) Despite the listed issues our family still enjoyed their break at Smithy Cottage, it's just we feel that some attention to detail is required to make the property fitting to the price which guests are being asked to pay.
