As we wound our way along sinuous country roads towards Tuckenhay, it all felt comfortingly familiar – and by the time we turned left at the little bridge at the Waterman’s Arms pub, a mile from the mill, I was overcome with it. We ascended the driveway, just as I remembered it, and there, with its little blue door was 4 Castle Cottage. Knowing dad had once been in the very same place, it was as if, just for a moment, I had jolted back 40 years. I slotted the key into the door, and there it was: the place I’d found so enchanting, just the same, but for a gentle modern zhuzh.
I discovered that the cottages are still owned by the same couple, Peter and Kay Wheeler, as they had been all those years ago – and that since then, they have lovingly laboured on, restoring the whole site to create 22 properties (sleeping from two to 11 people), updating all the original buildings and adding a large outdoor pool and hot tub, two indoor pools, a tennis court, a football pitch, a children’s playground, a badminton hall and gym. This sounds major, but strangely, the new additions somehow feel as though they’ve been there all along. The whole place still feels homely, and you’ll occasionally still see Peter, now an effervescent octogenarian, wandering the grounds making sure everyone is having a lovely time.
And we did. The cottage was as homely as ever: with cots, highchairs and a wooden stair gate handmade by one of the mill team, and a lovely welcome pack with all the essentials, including milk, tea and biscuits. We took the boys to the bridge and threw sticks in the flowing water, had the pool all to ourselves for an hour, and even managed some “just the two of us” time rallying in the badminton hall while the twins busied themselves with a playhouse in the corner.
It was joyous. We walked alongside the mill’s leat to look at the views and find the tree from which the rope swing once hung, and through the grounds to the creak to watch the water trickle over the rocks. So much time had passed, but there were moments when it felt like no time at all.