Escape to the Country at Mocketts Farm Cottages, Isle of Sheppey, Kent

PackThePJs has visited Kent a lot over the last year or so. However, the Isle of Sheppey was unchartered territory for us, so when we were invited to stay at Mocketts Farm Cottages (with our dogs) we said yes with no hesitation.

Location

The Isle of Sheppey lies off the north coast of Kent, approximately 40 miles from Central London. Being so close to the Capital, you won’t believe how remote and relaxing the Isle is! Once you cross The Swale on the super tall road bridge, it’s like being in a different world. Our accommodation was located in Harty, an isle in its own right within the Isle of Sheppey. It is towards the south of the island, surrounded by fields and marshland. There is, in effect, a 5-mile driveway to reach the accommodation (and the nearby pub, few houses and farms and a church) – it’s a single width lane, but you rarely meet anything coming the opposite way. All you need to look out for are all the partridges zipping across the lane as you drive along!

Mocketts Farm Cottages

Pulling into the drive for the farm, signposted Mocketts Farm Cottages, little did we know that when we turned the corner we’d be faced with a group of lovely ‘country contemporary’ cottages of differing sizes and styles.

We parked alongside a substantial duck pond (nothing domesticated about the ducks – if you threw food at them, they ran away!); there’s picnic tables alongside the pond where you can sit out in nice weather. The pond is fenced off on the sides facing the accommodations and the car park.

There’s plenty of space to park many cars, and it’s not far to walk to the accommodation with your luggage.

We were allocated Marsh View Cottage for our stay. Our group consisted of three adults and four young teenagers, and our pet dogs.

Marsh View Cottage

Marsh View Cottage is the longest accommodation on offer as it has two double bedrooms on the ground floor, as well as kitchen and living room. This makes this cottage ideal for anyone with limited mobility who’d rather not climb the stairs. The best way to tell you about Marsh View Cottage is by a photographic walk-through of each room.

Ground Floor Bedrooms

As you enter the property, and turn left, the corridor leads to the two downstairs bedrooms. At the very end you enter a substantial (by this read huge!) bedroom that has windows to the side, looking down to the marshes, and to the front towards the duck pond. There’s a comfortable large super king bed (two singles joined) with side tables, a dressing table/sideboard and large wardrobe. If you need to put a travel cot up, there’s space for 3 or 4! Mounted on the wall is a TV.

This bedroom has an en-suite shower room. The shower is really powerful, and the water is plentiful and very hot (as in scalding, so turn the control knob cautiously!)

Back out onto the corridor and you find a door leading to a large accessible bathroom/wet room. This is also accessed by the second double bedroom on the ground floor. This bedroom has a window that looks out over the fields – a great place for spotting marsh harriers and rough-legged buzzards. And hares. Lots of really large (we think pregnant) hares!

The bedroom has a double bed, side tables, a set of drawers, and a TV. And access directly into the disability-friendly wet room.

Kitchen

The kitchen, as it should be, is in the centre of the downstairs. It’s the social hub of a house and therefore it was good to find a really good-sized farmhouse kitchen table with plenty of chairs for every one to sit around it. The welcome basket containing bread and cake, and the milk in the fridge, was a lovely treat.

Everything you could need was available in the kitchen. All the main appliances – American-style fridge freezer, microwave, kettle, oven/grill/hob, dishwasher, washing machine. Lot of plates, cups, glasses, cutlery and cooking utensils, and a good choice of pans, trays and cookware.

The window in the kitchen overlooks the fields to the back of the property. On our last day, Huw was standing at the sink waiting for the kettle to boil; he looked out the window and watched a pheasant and a hare racing one another, with another pheasant acting like the finishing line … he said it was very funny (the hare won).

Living room

From the kitchen you enter the hall area with staircase leading upstairs and an under-stair cupboard containing an ironing board, camp bed, vacuum cleaner, mop, and a hairdryer. There’s also a two-seater sofa here, which I believe can be converted into a bed.

The living room has a plentiful selection of sofas and chairs surrounding a large coffee table. It’s a lovely bright room, with patio doors that lead out to the front of the cottage. There’s a Freeview TV, DVD player, and a corner unit full of books and board games. You’ll also find the WIFI router here, in case you need to reset it. The WIFI is actually really good (great news for all the teenagers!)

Upstairs

At the top of the staircase you have two identical bedrooms, each containing twin beds, bedside tables, a set of drawers with a TV on top, and a clothes rail. Both rooms have Velux windows, making them light and airy.

Between the two bedrooms is a family bathroom, with a bath and shower over it.

Accessibility

The entire downstairs of Marsh View Cottage is wheelchair friendly. The doors and corridors are wide and uncluttered. The surface is flat from the carparking area to the cottage. My brother, who has problems walking, would have no issues here. He would stay in the double room on the ground floor that has direct access to the accessible wet room.

Pet friendly

Jack, Izzy and Maggie joined us in Kent. With the kitchen and corridors downstairs being hard-floored/tiled, it was great for dogs. Understandably there are some strict rules to adhere to. They mustn’t go upstairs, in the bedrooms or on the furniture.

They must never be left unattended. Outside your dogs must be kept on leads at all times, and you must clean up after them. You are staying on a working farm so your dogs must not upset the local wildlife. This part of Kent is a dog-walker’s dream – get out and explore some of the many trails.    

Flexible living

What I like about Mocketts Farm Cottages, and Marsh View in particular, is that there’s flexibility in the way the beds are made up (several beds can be singles or joined). There’s often room for camp beds for additional people, or sofas that convert. It’s a great place for a family gathering, or friends – if you need more space, then rent one of the other cottages too.

Games Room

Adjoining the accommodation complex is an open garage with a games room above. Within this room – for all property visitors to use – there’s table tennis, pool and fussball/table football. Many a competition took place here during our stay!

Fine Dining

If you don’t fancy self-catering for your whole visit, you’ll be pleased to know that an 8-9 minutes walk down the drive leads you to the Ferry House Inn. This is a fabulous venue serving great food, sourced locally. We enjoyed a meal here, and we will review this separately.

However, if self-catering is what you want, there’s a large Morrison’s supermarket not too far away in Sheerness.

Wildlife

If you love wildlife, birds in particular, then 1: you MUST visit here, and 2: don’t forget your binoculars! While we were waiting for Huw to return with the door key to our cottage, we saw owls and a tethered falcon that had landed in one of the trees overhanging the duck pond. We then heard the whistle and he returned to his trainer. As we explored the area, over 48 hours, here’s our list of what we saw:

Barn Owl, Black-headed Gull, Brent Geese, Collared Dove, Coot, Egret, Falcon, Grey Heron, Kestrel, Mallard, Marsh Harrier, Merlin, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Oystercatcher, Partridge, Pheasant, Rough-legged Buzzard, Sparrow Hawk, Tawny Owl.

Given that we were primarily sightseeing, I think this list says a lot about the amount of wildlife to be spotted on the Isle of Sheppey!

Why Visit Mocketts Farm Cottages?

Mocketts Farm Cottages are truly remote … if you want peace, quiet and tranquillity, you get it by the bucket load here. Want to sit quietly and do some painting or wildlife spotting … this is the perfect place. It is unbelievably peaceful. The only noise at night were the owls, and in the morning the occasional formation of honking geese flying overhead. The ducks are really antisocial – they just ignore you. Even when I tried to get them in a photograph, they swam out the frame!  

If you need to get away – to escape life for a few days – consider staying here. It is the retreat you are crying out for! Oh, and to say it again, don’t forget your binoculars!

Disclaimer

We were invited to stay in Marsh View Cottage, but all our opinions remain our own.