Get away for Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day traditionally sees couples looking to spend time together in a romantic setting. It’s also a time for everything related to romance to become more expensive – “I love you” cards, red roses, heart-shaped chocolates, engagement rings etc.

 

The hospitality and leisure industries also take advantage of couples wanting to celebrate Valentines, with restaurants inflating their menu prices, hotels hiking the cost of an overnight stay and travel agents touting short stay deals to romantic cities.

 

How can couples enjoy quality time together on 14 February without feeling part of the commercial merry-go-round?

 

Imagine this. Arrive by car at a farm cottage built from sustainable materials overlooking its own paddocks. Enter the cottage to find a welcome hamper with tea, coffee, biscuits, home-made cake,  locally-baked bread, jam and free-range eggs from the farm. Inside the fridge, there’s already milk, orange juice, water and butter and space for your champagne and chocolates. Once you’ve had a quick cuppa and snack you can head off into the countryside by car or on foot to explore.

 

As darkness draws, you can watch buzzards soaring overhead as they look for their final meal of the day, listen to the sound of pheasants as they settle down for the night and, if you’re lucky you might even spot a member of the owl community as they prepare for nocturnal hunting. You’ll almost certainly hear them.

 

Having the cottage to yourself means you can either rustle up a romantic meal in the fully fitted kitchen and eat by candlelight at your ‘table for two’ (or four) or head off to one of the many excellent restaurants nearby.

 

In the morning, there’s no need to worry about missing out on breakfast if you’re not up by 9am as you can prepare and eat it whenever you want. And the hens are on standby to provide more eggs if you’ve run out. The rest of the day can be spent as you please. There’s plenty of things to do locally, whether you want culture, shopping, history or simply more eating and drinking.

 

Woodside Cottages are also perfect if you’ve got children that need to tag along for your Valentine’s break. The Cottages each have a double and twin room with their own ensuite facilities and we provide books and games for children in case they need to be kept occupied.

 

Valentine’s Day facts

• Valentine was a Christian priest who, it is said, married couples in secret in the Roman empire during a time when marriage was banned. He died on 14 February.
• Valentine’s cards are traditionally sent by a secret admirer, leaving the recipient to guess who the sender might be.
• It is customary for a man to give his valentine either a single, or a dozen red roses. These should be bright red as dark red is symbolic of death.
• When Valentine’s Day falls in a leap year the woman can ask a man to marry her.

 

My Valentine’s Day predictions for 2017

• The rise of social media will change the dynamic of Valentine’s Day messages, with platforms such as Twitter going into overdrive with public proclamations of love.
• Over a billion Valentine’s cards will be sent in the UK alone
• The recent surge in home baking (Mary Berry springs to mind) means more people will try to impress with heart-shaped cakes and biscuits.
• The cheap pound will bring more overseas couples to the UK to celebrate Valentine’s weekend. So book now if you want to stay at Woodside Cottages!