Lancashire holiday chateau / country house: Barnacre, Preston

What can I say that will do this house justice? It's decorated and furnished to an exceptionally high standard, with plenty of beautiful finishing touches. The views from every room in the house are wonderful and the house is a place that makes you feel like you're at home almost immediately. It's also really sound-proofed, so for those who wanted to sleep in, they weren't woken by the children who were too excited to sleep! Nestled between 2 reservoirs, the house is a haven for wildlife and there are some great walks on the door step, many of which are suitable for children (ours ranged fromn 7-12) - even our reluctant walkers!

The house is in a remote location (TIP: ask Helen to email the directions to you) but within 10 minutes drive of Scorton. If you want a get away from it all holiday, this is the place to be. The Lake District, Morecambe and Blackpool are all within 20 - 40 minutes drive too.

As for our hostess, Helen , she was such a huge help - from the moment we booked nothing has been too much trouble - she even rang me with the name and number of a local flowershop, as she was driving past it!

There's nothing bad to say about this house - I'm definitely going to rebook it! Thanks for helping to make my mum's 60th, a birthday to remember.

When driving to Board House the roads seem to get smaller and smaller, to the point that I began to wonder if I was going in the right direction, persist across the cattle grids though and you will be rewarded!

The setting manages to be beautifully isolated and yet within easy reach of supplies and daytrips. The rooms were lovely and the fantastic barbeque/kitchen facilities were great for preparing (very) fresh fish!

Thanks to Helen and Jeff from the whole party.

Well, where to start. The pictures in the ad looked really good, but being there was just something else. For our last two days in Europe, this was a delight. There were nine of us, (seven kids included) and I swear that each one spent half an hour looking around and enjoying the place. And Hildegard was still saying 'I want to live here' as we left. For the kids, such things as big wall mounted flat screen TV, PS2 and a computer with high speed internet worked.

We were greeted by Helen on arrival, with a fast guided tour and then entrusted to look after the magnificent house. Better yet, the kitchen was stocked with bacon, eggs tomatos, bread, cheese, beer and wine. Heaven.

Fabulous walk over Nicky Nook to Scorton (watch out, don't get lost when you go down the from the resevoir - keep right). And the pub in Scorton was great too.

Thanks Helen and Jeff.