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13th November 2008 - by Carol Smith
  
Bodenham Farm B&B, Much Marcle
  
Bodenham Farm Bed and Breakfast, Much Marcle, Herefordshire

We stayed at Bodenham Farm over Big Apple weekend. That made anyone American reading this sit up and take notice, didn’t it? Big Apple, in England? Yes - New York doesn’t have the monopoly, Much Marcle has its very own Big Apple. it’s Herefordshire’s biannual celebration of all things apple. Apple trees, apple tarts, apple cakes, apple pies, apple chutney, apple orchards, apple juice and, most importantly, cider.

We’re cider fans, so we’d long promised ourselves a visit in October. We found Bodenham Farm on the Much Marcle village website. A quick visit to the accommodation section convinced us we wanted to stay at Bodenham Farm. It was the Highland Cattle that did it - they’re so cute!

We were lucky to find that they still had a room free, so we booked it. We arrived at about 5 o’clock on the Friday evening. We’d driven all the way over from Surrey, and the difference from the busy South East of England was immediately obvious. Brian and Lynda were quick to welcome us, show us our room and then serve us tea and some excellent cake in the luxurious guest sitting room. Take a look at their website for photos of the house, rooms and grounds.

After relaxing with tea and cakes, a shower in the luxurious walk in shower and unpacking we headed off to one of Brian and and Lynda’s recommended eateries. We didn’t feel rushed to get back after dinner, we were given a key and were able to have a leisurely relaxing evening.

Saturday morning dawned bright and - ... late. Well we were on holiday. We ordered breakfast for 8.30am and just about made it in time! No chance to fall asleep again, Brian kept us entertained with his own unique brand of humour. How can he be so cheerful in the morning?? Breakfast was a positive feast, with a whole menu to choose from. If you go to Bodenham Farm you have to have eggs for breakfast. They couldn’t be fresher - the hens at the farm laid them the previous day. And they’re happy hens, wandering round their own field. All except for one, that is, who seemed to want to wander further afield and kept following us around the garden.

Ready for the day we grabbed a Big Apple leaflet and headed into the centre of the village. We’re cider lovers and were surprised and delighted to discover that there are no less than three cider mills in the village. Westons is a large company while Lyne Down and Greggs Pit are small producers. We’d enjoyed a glass of Westons cider the previous evening so it was fascinating to tour the mill and see the whole production process.

If you’re driving, be careful at the cider mills, they’re generous with their tastings. Fortified we headed for some of the other attractions. Awnells farm was fascinating. It is an old fashioned farm, in the care of the Countryside Preservation Trust. Onwards, we climbed the church steeple to the ringing tower, sat inside (yes inside) the trunk of the ancient yew tree in the churchyard and then headed off to Hellens. Hellens is a historic house normally open to the public between Easter and the end of October, but they open the house for tours at Big Apple weekend. We watched the Morris men dancing in the grounds before being stunned by the display of apples in their barn. We were just in time for the tour of the house.

Wow, if you haven’t visited Hellens, we suggest you get on a train, boat , plane or whatever it takes to get you to Much Marcle. It’s unlike any house we’d ever seen before. It’s not big or grand, but it has atmosphere by the bucket load. It must be haunted. We finished our afternoon with apple teas in the village hall before heading back to the farm. The weather was kind, a welcome surprise after a wet and depressing summer. It was a lovely sunny day and Brian and Lynda introduced us to the rest of the residents at the farm.

There’s a horse called Bess and four Highland cattle called Daisy, May, Freya and JJ. We sat in the garden drinking more of Lynda’s tea, before deciding where to head to for dinner. Brian and Lynda were happy to recommend a selection of eateries.

We were home early that evening as we wanted to watch a programme on the television. We could have watched the TV in the guest lounge, but our room was so lovely it seemed a shame not to spend some time in it. We chose to have another shower in our luxury shower room and then watch TV in bed. On Sunday we headed off to the hills, the Malvern Hills, for a bracing walk before pointing our car reluctantly towards home. But we’ll be back. We feel Bess and the cattle are our friends - oh yes, and Brian and Lynda too! Herefordshire has so much more to offer and we want to do more exploring. We might stay longer next time. They are converting some barns into holiday cottages.

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