Family travel: Woodend Villa, Torquay

The three things we missed most in lockdown were family (especially as our little lady was born on the day that schools shut and we all had to stay home..), then restaurants (remember how we used to just pop out for a quick dinner without even thinking twice about touching a pepperpot/door/working out if we could avoid the rain if we ordered and ate really fast?!) and... swimming. 

I got really into swimming whilst pregnant and Mr 5 had JUST learnt to swim when pools shut. I was pretty sad thinking that we wouldn't be able to have a dip for who-knows-how-long whilst Covid lingers. 

But then we stumbled on Woodend, a villa in Torquay where we stayed for a week during the summer holidays... which has its own pool. And what a pool: warm, with a chunky shallow end for the kids and room for some great (diagonal) lengths. We took our island (been waiting to use that for a while, with a pump it only took half an hour to inflate..!) and the pool was the centre of an amazing break. 

We had a fantastic week at the villa - Mr 3 called it a 'cottage' but with eight bedrooms and an occupancy of up to 29 people, that was a bit of a misnomer! Some of our other favourite things about the Torquay pad included the hot tub, poolside bar (poolside Pimms, yes please), and spaciousness. 

On top of everything you'd expect from a home-away-from-home (towels, bedding, every kitchen utensil you could dream of needing) there were lots of fun extras - from karaoke in the lounge with disco lights for a drunken singalong night of dreams, to a colour-changing BT phone box in the garden (with a cut-out Boris Johnson inside... Torquay voted a strong leave in the Brexit vote..), and a big Mac computer, cocktail shakers, Nutribullet, and borrowable bikes, every corner of this amazing house had something to do. 

There were bunk beds, books and toys for the kids, which they loved (the fart megaphone might have been one of Mr 5's holiday highlights..), although it wasn't an explicitly child-friendly cottage. The local beach, Meadfoot, was perfect for my boys to beach-comb and crab-hunt amongst the pebbles, although it was very tidal. 

We seal-spotted nearby, and took day trips to beautiful villages like Cockington and to Dartmoor, where we swam in the river Dart. 

The owner, Adrian, was a great host, easily on-hand for any questions and very friendly. If you're looking for a Torquay holiday base, you'll have a great time at Woodend.