Wonderfully spacious, boasting enough room for the whole family, Downwood Vinyard offers an ideal location for friends and family to get together.
10 steps to entrance.
Ground Floor:
Living room: 40″ Freeview TV, DVD Player, CD Player
Dining room: French Doors Leading To Garden
Kitchen: Breakfast Area, Electric Range, Microwave, Fridge/Freezer, Dishwasher
Living room 2: 40″ Freeview TV, Woodburner
Utility Room: Freezer, Washing Machine, Tumble Dryer
Conservatory.
Games Room: Pool Table, Table Football, Freeview
Bedroom 3: 2 x Single (3ft) Beds, Freeview TV, Jack And Jill En-Suite, Shared With Bedroom 1
First Floor:
Bedroom 1: Kingsize (5ft) Bed, Freeview TV, Roll Top Bath (In Room) Ensuite: Walk-In Shower, Toilet
Bedroom 2: Kingsize (5ft) Bed, Freeview TV Ensuite: Bath With Shower Over, Toilet
Bedroom 4: Kingsize (5ft) Bed, Freeview TV
Bedroom 5: Kingsize (5ft) Bed, Freeview TV
Bedroom 6: 2 x Single (3ft) Beds, Freeview TV
Bedroom 7: 2 x Single (3ft) Beds, Freeview TV
Bedroom 8: 2 x Single (3ft) Beds, Freeview TV
Bathroom: Bath With Shower Over, Toilet
Bathroom: Bath With Shower Over, Toilet
Oil central heating, electricity, bed linen, towels and Wi-Fi included. Initial logs for wood burner included. Cot and highchair. Welcome pack. 1-acre garden with patio, garden furniture, croquet and gas BBQ. 30-acre grounds with woodland. Hot tub for 6 (private). Outdoor heated swimming pool (private, 5m x 4m, Closed Oct-Mar) with changing facilities. Tennis court. Private parking for 10 cars. No smoking. Please note: This property has a water supply from a bore hole and there are steps in the garden.
This beautiful Victorian house, situated in 30-acre grounds, and is a small vineyard, close to the Georgian market town of Blandford, makes a great home from home for families or groups to enjoy Dorset. The property offers a small, outdoor heated swimming pool, a hot tub for 6 and a tennis court to enjoy at your leisure. Downward Vineyard has eight spacious bedrooms, all with TVs and three with en-suite facilities, and also boasts two wonderful living rooms, both leading into the large conservatory. There is also a large games room with a pool table and table football for all to enjoy, or why not go outside and play croquet in the garden?
Set in 30 acres of what used to be a vineyard, you can wander around the grounds, relax in the pool or hot tub, burn off some energy on the tennis court or have a barbecue for all to enjoy. Ashley Wood 18 hole golf course is accessible along a bridle way from within the grounds or would be a 2-minute drive from the property. Within easy driving, you can exploring Shaftesbury, Wimborne, Poole, Bournemouth, Dorchester, Weymouth and Portland, making Downwood Vineyard a good base for taking in the best the county has to offer. Slightly further afield you can visit the popular Isle of Purbeck, with its rugged and picturesque coastline, or take a ride on the Swanage Steam Railway, with its 6 miles of track going through scenic Dorset countryside. There are many family attractions nearby, enjoy a day at Monkey World, the Bovington Tank Museum, historic houses such as Kingston Lacy, Milton Abbey and Althelhampton, or the sandy beaches at Sandbanks, Bournemouth, Weymouth and Poole. Beach 18 miles. Shop, pub and restaurant 1½ miles.
With nearly 90 miles of stunning coastline, vast areas of open heathlands, ancient woodlands, and chalk and limestone grassland, Dorset’s diverse habitats support a rich variety of birds and wildlife.
A visit to the RSPB’s Arne nature reserve situated on the banks of Poole Harbour and in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is a must. Mainly lowland heath, it’s home to breeding Dartford warblers, while in winter, large flocks of wading birds come to the mudflats including avocets, black-tailed godwits, and spoonbills. There’s also a herd of sika deer and seals can often be spotted along the shoreline. At the visitor centre you can hire binoculars and find out more about the wildlife you might spot.
Nearby, the lesser-known and quieter RSPB Lytchett Fields has been transformed from arable land into a wetland haven where you can see green sandpipers, wigeons, and teal. Peregrine falcons, and marsh and hen harriers can also be spotted in the skies above as they hunt for prey. You might also be lucky enough to see an osprey which have recently been reintroduced to the area.
In the heart of Poole Harbour is Brownsea Island manged by the Dorset Wildlife Trust in partnership with The National Trust where bird hides give excellent views of the wildlife on the lagoon and surrounding reedbeds. Look out for common terns, sandwich terns, and water rails, and it’s one of the few places in England where you can see find red squirrels.
With country lanes, unspoilt meadows, and winding rivers, Kingcombe Nature Reserve hidden away in the Dorset countryside is the perfect place to escape into nature. Resident woodland birds include nuthatches, great spotted woodpeckers, and chiffchaffs, while dippers and kingfishers can be spotted along the water’s edge. There are bird hides, an orchard, and wildlife-friendly gardens, all set on a working farm, as well as a café serving locally sourced food.
The open farmland and copses of Durlston Country Park near Swanage are important not only for breeding birds but also migrants passing through in spring and autumn. Breeding birds include yellowhammers, linnets, and skylarks, while the exposed sea cliffs provide nesting sites for shags, fulmars, and guillemots. The park also attracts some rarities blown off course during migration, and in autumn, huge flocks of swallows and sand martins fill the air.
Portland Bill is another great place for migrating birds including dunnocks, chaffinches, and thrushes, as well as a variety of seabirds including Manx shearwaters, Arctic skuas, and kittiwakes. It has an impressive rarity list and is one of the best places to spot hoopoes in early summer. The Bird Observatory is a good place to visit too, with bird feeders, and volunteers can sometimes be seen ringing birds.
Head to Christchurch Harbour where the muddy creeks, mudflats, and marshland are home to a huge range of birdlife including wheatears, little egrets, and gulls. It’s also a another good place to look out for rarities such as golden orioles, wrynecks, and tawny pipits.
For a truly unique experience take a trip to Abbotsbury Swannery located on the stunning Jurassic coast, and the only place in the world where you can get close to a colony of nesting mute swans. During breeding season, you can watch cygnets as they hatch and don’t miss the twice-daily feeds where you’ll have the chance to hand-feed over 600 swans.
