|
|
|
| Home | Rooms | Services | Menu | Locality | Directions | Tariff | Contact | Availability | Our Home |
OUR HOMEThe House and Garden TodayThe original cottage was quite small, with just four rooms encased by two foot thick stone walls. The house has since been extended at both ends, with a conservatory at one side and a kitchen, with a room above, at the other. The back of the house has also been extended along its entire length, and this now provides ample private accommodation for the owners.
A lot of work over many years has also transformed the garden into a special delight. The woodland garden was designed and created from scratch, the terraces have been largely replanted, and we have a very interesting vegetable garden on many different levels. Our Son
The original team got to within ninety-seven miles of the Pole before being forced back: one hundred years later the team reached the same point and then continued on, and in so doing, finished the business their forefathers began. Their efforts go towards establishing a new charitable trust to be called The Shackleton Foundation, to honour the original crew and celebrate their pioneering spirit. We are immensely proud of Henry, a shipping lawyer by profession and all that he has achieved and, if you wish to find out more about it then click on the relevant links:- For a video of his recent BBC interview - click here (large file - 20mb) History of Woodside Cottage
In 1884 the body of Laura Shortland, the daughter of Willam Dimes who owned the manor house, was discovered fully upright, with a blow to her forehead, in the pond at Oldstone. She had only recently married her husband who had probably deserted her in bigamous circumstances. Diviners who recently stayed at Woodside Cottage found no trace of a ghost here, but they did pick up some very nasty vibes when close to the pond. Philosophy for an Upmarket B & BWe bought Woodside Cottage B&B as a going concern about eight years ago, with intention of filling an obvious gap in the market for a place like ours. At that time, the general public perception of B&Bs was not very flattering; B&Bs were still associated with dreary urban guesthouses run by forbidding landladies. However hard many guesthouses have since tried to raise their quality standards, they still suffer from enforced uniformity and compliance which denies them almost any expression of individuality. Hotels face much the same problem, only more so and they have become very expensive in times of recession. We, on the other hand, are essentially a home first, around which our business has been built.
Instead of listing dozens of jolly entries in our Guest Book, we have decided to select just one from a lovely Australian couple who stayed with us for three weeks, and which we believe epitomises what we have to offer:
Here are some of the special extras we think are very hard to find in other places:
Blackawton Dartmouth Devon TQ9 7BL © 2000-2009 Woodside Dartmouth B & B |
So all the space for our guests is exclusively at the front of the house with its fabulous views.
The greatest care and attention has been paid into preserving the originality of the cottage, so that although all rooms have now been most thoughtfully improved to provide every modern comfort and convenience, the essential character and charm still remain. 
In October 2008 a group of five men (all of whom are descendants of Heroic Age explorers including Shackleton's great-grandson and great-nephew) embarked on a commemorative expedition to celebrate the centenary of Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship the Nimrod, used on Shackleton's 1907-9 expedition. Our son, Henry Adams (great-grandson of Jameson Boyd Adams) participated in this event fulfilling a childhood dream of reliving his great-grandfather's polar experience. 
Woodside Cottage was built at the end of the 18th century, from stone in the local quarry, as the gamekeeper's cottage for the Oldstone estate. The manor house was almost totally destroyed by fire in 1895 and very little of the building now remains. Oldstone was a Saxon settlement dating from the 11th Century in an ideal position close to Blackawton with roads directly to the coast at Strete, and to Townstal (the upper part of what became Dartmouth), Kingsbridge and Totnes. This is of course still true today. 
The standards we set are not contrived but are naturally and instinctively of the very highest order. We maintain an absolutely traditional interpretation of hospitality, so we can truly welcome our guests into our lovely home, and help to make their stay as comfortable and enjoyable as possible.