7 The Grove - Bed & Breakfast in Devon

In the heart of lovely, higgledy-piggledy Totnes is a whitewashed house with pert blue windows and doors, friendly Bethan and John, pretty flowers and good art. Guests have an open-plan room for delicious breakfasts. Bedrooms are bright and uncluttered with excellent beds and handsome rugs. They have too, created an enchanting garden of surprises which all are welcome to roam. It’s about a quarter of an acre in size and begins with a small courtyard area filled with pots, then up to three small ponds, fed by rainwater and supplying the garden with frogs and newts. Beyond these are riotous flower beds in which wildflowers are allowed to romp. John encourages the self-seeded to survive. Poppies, hollyhocks, forget-me-nots and columbine rub shoulders with more formal planting; fruit and fir trees provide shade and roses, honeysuckle and blackberries scramble up walls. In summer the greenhouse groans with tomatoes and grapes, along with hibiscus, oleander and a bright red geranium. Behind a stone wall there is a vegetable and fruit garden where priority is given to produce that is good to pick at and eat raw. Bliss.