Now booking for Spring, Summer & Autumn 2012, including short spring breaks. Get away for as little as <£9 pp/pn!

Enquiries also welcome for winter 2012 and beyond.

Pond Cottages, Great Edstone - ' in the heart of North Yorkshire'.

Google/ satnav address: 2 Pond Cottages, Great Edstone, Kirkbymoorside, York YO62 6PA

Bethesda is a charming old terraced cottage overlooking the village green of Great Edstone.

It is situated just yards from the village church and with views across the surrounding areas:
- to the north, the North York Moors National Park;
- to the east the Vale of Pickering;
- and to the south, the Howardian hills, recently designated an 'Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty'.                         Please note: our  cottage is a no smoking property.

Great Edstone is located 2 miles from Kirkbymoorside, on the edge of the North York Moors                   and a 10-minute drive from either Pickering or Helmsley.

This website should give you all the information you need to know about our cottage.                                   To book, please telephone, e-mail or write to us with your dates, and we will contact you as soon as possible to confirm availability, or see the booking page on our sister site, www.cottageguide.co.uk/bethesda.

On-line booking is also now available via the Welcome Cottages website: http://www.welcomecottages.com/sites/welcomecottages/pages/PropertyDetails_C.aspx?QS=D4AEEAA9-A084-45F2-8BD2-90AFF1394134~C~W42934~HCG~216~GBP~0~0~~A~N~14~d03456fa-0ac1-4e72-acd8-af52ede03679~35361~0~130~N~N~N~N~N

Accommodation

The cottage has been recently renovated to a high standard, with attractive and sympathetic furnishing to provide comfort and relaxion. It is fully equipped to sleep up to 4 adults plus maybe a toddler or one or two babies.

The Living room (left) is a large family room, with open log fire, exposed beams and comfortable seating, including two new 2-seater settees.

For relaxation, we also provide a flat-screen television (digital - Freeview),  DVD and VHS players, plus a good selection of games, puzzles, books, children's videos & a few DVDs.

The bay window (with window seat and distinctive 'Yorkshire sliding-sash' window) overlooks the village green. The green was once the village pond, which is why these houses are known as 'Pond Cottages'.

This leads into a lobby area with ample space for coats and boots etc. There is a separate enclosed cupboard under the stairs for the usual hoover, etc..

The lobby leads through to a light and spacious dining kitchen (below), well-equipped with washing machine, dining table and 4 chairs, plus dishwasher, electric ceramic hob, fan oven, microwave, family-sized fridge/freezer, etc (not shown in picture).
The large picture window overlooks the rear garden. The bathroom (with toilet) is on the ground floor. The cast-iron bath has a new retro-style instant electric shower over.

On the first floor there are two good-sized bedrooms.
The front room has a comfy double bed, with views over the village green.
The back bedroom, with pleasant views over the rear garden and the nearby churchyard, has two single beds, or one can be tucked away under the other to create space for (for example) a cot/playpen - provided free.

A further staircase leads to an attic room (with low sloping ceiling, used as a playroom), with a locking velux window which looks out to the rear garden, the delightful little church & churchyard nearby and the rolling hills surrounding the village. Whilst we do not let this as a bedroom, many of our guests find the space ideal as third upstairs room for younger children to use as their own "special place". It includes train and car playsets, farm animals, puzzles, etc. 

Outside

At the rear of the cottage (photo above) there is an attractive garden, enclosed all round with trellises and climbing plants. On the small patio is a table with parasol and four outdoor chairs. There is also a woodstore and a small shed for coal, bikes, etc.

At the front is a small pebbled south-facing garden.

Local information

Nearby Kirkbymoorside ('Kirkby' to locals) is a delightful small market town, with a wide central street typical of the North York Moors. There is a good range of small shops (including baker’s, butcher's, Co-op, Spar, etc.), some excellent pubs and a number of good value take-away restaurants. There is also a weekly market every Wednesday.

10 minutes away to the east, Pickering offers the North York Moors Steam Railway (featured in ITV’s “Heartbeat” and the Harry Potter films), supermarkets, swimming baths, a Norman castle, and a fascinating array of shops and antique markets for a (rare!) rainy day.
Helmsley, with its castle, walled garden, shops, tea rooms, etc., is a 10-minute drive west of the cottage.

The cottage is on the doorstep of the North York Moors national Park (http://www.moors.uk.net/), which provides excellent opportunities for walking, pony trekking, mountain biking, or just a drive through the lovely scenery.

Within the park, Dalby forest (about 10 miles away - http://www.forestry.gov.uk/dalbyforest) hosts some exciting mountain-bike tracks (hire bikes available), forest drives and 'off-road experiences'.

The East Yorkshire coast with its well-known resorts - Scarborough, Robin Hood’s Bay, Whitby, etc. - is only half an hour away (http://www.discoveryorkshirecoast.com/north_york_moors.htm)                  

Castle Howard, Rievaulx Abbey and Flamingoland theme park are all within easy reach (15-20 minute drive).

York, with its many attractions (Minster, medieval walls and streets, Jorvik, National Railway Museum, great shopping, etc.) is a relaxing 40-minute drive away (via empty roads through rolling countryside!)

Facilities

Linen (sheets/ duvet covers) and hand/bath towels are provided - please bring your own beach/ swim towels if needed.

A folding ('travel-style') child's cot and high chair are provided.

Pets are welcome (one well-behaved dog - please contact us with any queries here).

The cottage is a no smoking property.

Free electricity (cooking/ heating/ hot water). The cottage is very cosy but for winter there is some central heating (3 storage heaters), plus (for extra cold periods!) a fan heater in the bathroom, panel heaters in the bedrooms and a convection heater for the kitchen. Free stocks of logs and coal, etc. are provided for the open fire.

Parking for one car is available immediately in front of the cottage. Other vehicles can be parked nearby in the village (within view of the property).

Availability:

The cottage is available all year round (see 'Booking details' page for more information).

Booking:

Fiona and Francis Scott  (Bethesda)

Tel. 01482 631316 or 631271

Mobile: 07766 815279

Correspondence address (for enquiries/ bookings, etc.)
Bethesda c/o The Vicarage, St Barnabas Drive, Swanland, East Yorkshire HU14 3RL, England

e-mail: FandFScott@aol.com

* Why Bethesda? The name is Aramaic (Hebrew) for 'house/place of healing'. It comes from a story in the Bible (John chapter 5) when Jesus finds a paralysed man sitting by a pool called Bethesda. The man believes the pool has healing properties, but he has no-one to lift him into the water. He is wonderfully healed, at first does not know quite how, but before long realises (and tells others) that 'it was Jesus who had healed him'.

We hope our cottage - facing as it does the former village 'pool' - will be a place to find rest and relaxation, and freedom from the stresses and pressures of modern life.