We stayed at Ivy Cottage this week with our two sons aged 5 and 3. We found the cottage to be the perfect size for us. It was warm, comfortable and clean. This proved to be a perfect base for all the attractions we wanted to visit. The kids especially enjoyed all the lambs in the field right next to the cottage. Keith greeted us on our first day and made us feel welcome and that, had we needed to, we could've contacted him or Jane during our stay. We would definitely recommend this cottage to friends and family.

In July 2014 we stayed in the Cornmill cottage (3 bed rooms) at the Stowhouse Farm for 11 nights . We are a family of five from Dortmund, Germany, and our children are 14, 12, and 7 years old. The cottage is well equipped with everything a family needs to spend a good time. As Pub food is not enjoyable for a longer time, we were able to prepare our own food in the nice kitchen. The kids enjoyed the living room with the huge modern TV and the DVD-recorder. Stowhouse Farm is a very peaceful place surrounded by farmland with sheep and horses. The kids were enjoying the countryside and talking to the animals.
Keith and Jane were arround to help, whenever necessary. I have found my running route through Cornsay, 5 km small ashpalted road with nearly no car. Well maintained public footpathes can be used through the nice countryside and a nature reservation. From Stowhouse farm we undertook many 1 day sight seeing trips to Beamish Museum, Raby Castle, Durham, etc.. Hopefully we can come back soon.

Bramble Cottage was the perfect place for a peaceful and relaxing holiday. It was clean, comfortable, beautifully presented and situated on a 50 acre farm with sheep, horses and chickens. The view from the living room and kitchen windows was lovely, green fields filled with sheep, lambs and magnificent trees. There were lots of walks around the farm with superb views, we even saw curlews landing in one of the fields. Although our weather was reasonable for mid-May, we were very grateful for the central heating for the chillier parts of the day. Jane and Keith were extremely welcoming, making our stay very enjoyable and we were more than pleased with the lovely eggs which came from their very free range chickens. The cottage was very well placed for visiting the numerous interesting places that County Durham has to offer and we would not hesitate to recommend Bramble Cottage to anyone who is looking for a quiet, rural retreat within easy reach of both the City of Durham and the beautiful wild North Pennines.

My wife and I have family nearby and so have stayed in this area many times but only once in self catering in a place nearby which we thought was not brilliant so we found this one on Tripadvisor. We booked Ivy cottage (2 bedrooms) for 9 days.

We stayed here late October 2013 but I have just got round to catching up with my reviews.

We arrived early evening as it was getting dark having been on the road since about 10am. The directions to reach the property were fine as we knew the area a little but the promised sign at the entrance had been removed and so we turned in to the drive without being certain we were in the right place. We parked up in the pouring rain and went to find the key which was not there. I rang the owner who apologized and explained the beds were not done and could we come back in an hour. This was a bit disappointing but luckily we have relatives 10 minutes drive away so we stayed with them.

When we came back all was ok however when we explored the property we found it did not have a washing machine and dryer. We found this property on Trip Advisor and on that website it does not point out that the cottage we stayed in has to share a laundry. It also does not point out that you have to pay about £6 per wash. The info about the separate laundry is clear on the owners website but the fact you have to pay is not so clear.

As we had problems with our arrival the washing facilities were put on free vend which probably saved us £30 over our stay.

On our first night the boiler kept turning itself on and off during the night and I was woken up many times and could not work out how to turn it off as it was a model I had not seen before. The owner came by the next day and showed me how to work it.

The bathroom fan was linked to the light switch and was quite noisy. The problem was that it ran on for about 30 minutes after the light was turned off and so you could not use the bathroom light at night without waking others up. There was no isolating switch.

My wife likes to have a shower but we found this impossible as there did not seem to be enough water pressure to get the temperature right so the shower was far too hot. The owner did explain this was an issue with the type of boiler and it could be controlled by turning on the bathroom tap - but we could not get it to work so it meant we could not use the shower.

During one night I was woken up by a terrific rushing water noise and found it was the WC cistern which was filling up in seconds and then flushing constantly. I turned off the isolating valve and this was fixed the next day when I called the owner.

When we put items in the fridge I found there was a lot of water on the packaging which I needed to pour away constantly. The owner said this was normal condensation but I think maybe the fridge door seal was not fitting correctly. I also had a problem with one of the gas rings which kept blowing out.

As far as farm goes it is in a great location with fantastic views and it is peaceful if a little isolated. There are shops and pubs about 10-15 minutes drive away.

The accommodation was clean and simply furnished. There were just 2 of us so we had sufficient room but I would not have wished to stay here with others as we would have been falling over each other. We had visitors over and certainly with 4 adults the lounge appears very small indeed.

It is a shame we had so many little issues as I would have scored this place rather better. The owners were readily available though when we had problems and this is a good plus point.

Cornmill Cottage is perfect for a quiet break - the cottage is well equipped, clean and in a perfect spot to tour the Durham area.
We loved it and will return.