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Children welcome

Children at Dittiscombe

Children will love the fresh air and freedom here at Dittiscombe. There is a play area set under the trees with a picnic table, swings, slide, climbing wall, sand pit, and a living-willow wigwam to hide in. There is a separate flat area for ball games, and plenty of freedom and space.

We provide a wildlife pack in each cottage for our visiting children called ‘Dittiscombe Wildlife Detectives’ which encourages them to look for the plants and animals that live here. Children can take mini safaris around our nature trail, past ponds and through woods. The information packs, books and field guides provided in each cottage will help children identify the local plants and animals they see.  There is more information about this on our Nature & Wildlife page.

Lovely holiday – thanks for making such an amazing valley for us to wander in and for putting thought into the play area for our children.

Easy outings with small children

• Park at Beesands, walk along by the shore towards Torcross, back inland next to South Milton Ley to watch the waterfowl, stop off at the small park for a go on the swings, then to the Cricket Inn for a cream tea.

• Park at Torcross and check out the old Sherman Tank to find out about the D-day landing practices, watch or feed the wildfowl in the Ley, pop down to the beach for a paddle, then back to the Start Bay Inn for the best fish n’chips in the family room

• Park at Strete Gate and have a paddle on the beach, then try out the orienteering trail situated in the walled nature and picnic area.

• Park at South Milton Sands and walk along the wooden walkway over the small stream, down the steps to the beach, and back to car park in time for an ice-cream at the cafe.

• Park in the Totnes Pavilion Leisure Centre and walk towards the river and weir; stop at the Steam Train station or Rare Breeds Centre. Then proceed to the Dartington Cider Press Centre for lunch, followed by a stroll through the Dartington Estate gardens.

Slapton Ley Field Study Centre in Slapton organises weekly events staged from mid-June to September including a Badgers and Bats evenings, family fun with mini-beast adventures, and guided walks within the sanctuary areas of the nature reserve.

Time spent just playing on the beach are the breath of life to children on holiday.  There are some very special places to go to.  Yarmer Beach at Thurlestone is great for rock-pooling as it has a good area of rocks to explore at low tide. For fine sandy beaches both Hope Cove and Mill Bay are perfect for building sand castles. Blackpool Sands is ideal for a family day out with excellent facilities on site including an award-winning green cafe, toilets, and water-sports hire and instruction.

Other great, clean beaches with facilities include Bigbury, Bantham (excellent for surfing and body boarding), Salcombe North Sands and Slapton Sands/Torcross.

For more information about beaches and facilities please visit the Good Beach Guide website.

For rainy days there is still plenty to do.  Spend a whole day at Woodlands Leisure Park (just 5 miles from Dittiscombe) for fun in the indoor play zone; take the family to Dartmouth Golf & Country Club for a swim, sauna, jacuzzi and gymnasium using our Privilge Plus membership at a reduced family price of £15 for the whole day; or make a visit to the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth which is open all day and has a daily programme of activities and events aimed at children.

There is more information on our About the Area page and further links below:

www.paigntonzoo.org.uk

www.livingcoasts.org.uk

www.pennywellfarm.co.uk

www.quaywest.co.uk